September 10th, 2009 MCAT club

[unDRdog]

Alright everyone...I know its early but 3 months will blow by very quickly!!! Hope everyone is reaching their study goals and finding their own rhythm during this marathon!!!... Thought i would create this to track our progress/hold each other accountable/share thoughts leading up to our exam...time to narrow our scope of focus and kill this freakin thing!!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jaiku]

did you guys think it was similar to the practice aamc exams?

hope everyone did well!

i am taking mine this saturday!

I dont know about others ....but I personally felt that I was taking aamc 11. Verbal passages seemed to be longer than avg aamc passages ...Good luck for your saturday exam!

 

[tritonhopeful]

First of all...let me congratulate everyone for even building up the nerve to take the exam today voided or not. I was talking to my test center proctor and only 65% of those registered to take actually sat for the exam.

Overall, I'm in an indifferent state. The test felt like AAMC #11. I though PS was random and a challenge but definitely not undoable. On verbal, go ahead and through the numbers 1-15 in a hat and pick one, and that could be my score. Just hoping for some luck on that one. BS i thought was fine. I felt lucky that there weren't too many reaction questions in organic, more experimental based (NMR specifically). WS...who cares.

The one thing I am hoping for is a respectable curve; any curve really that is more generous than AAMC 10.

Good luck this next month focusing on school and/or work. Above all, congratulations again.

 

[fatalerror]

P.S: Didn't like it. My strength is physics and chemistry yet I found this section to be very odd. There was almost no physics with the exception of the first passage (magnetic field, electric field etc). The rest of it was almost obscure chemistry, no buffers, electrochemistry, kinetics (and no physics) etc. Rather some stuff one might skip over when reading a text. I didn't really finish, had to guess for large parts of it, and didn't have time to return to perform calculations like I usually do. I think I could have got the same score on this section without studying of any kind.

Verbal: Its what I expected, although I didn't really finish properly. That's my fault though, arrogance, I thought I had plenty of time and spent too much time on some questions, the last passage was slightly more complex than I thought, and I didn't have enough time to answer all the questions (kicking myself for that, really bad decision on my part). Keeping focused was really the biggest problem because the passages were boring.

BS: Seemed too easy, the curve will not be forgiving here. Some relatively easy orgo, almost no genetics, some basic molecular stuff, cardiac muscle passage, bone, some hormone regulation I think.

All in all, it's really odd because I thought PS was my strong suit, yet I think today I got around a 6 on it, really bad. What's the lowest people here got on the PS? Because I think after this one I might hold the record. On the other hand, BS, something I was very worried about seemed simple (although I'm sure it will be compensated by a harsh curve).

 

[MNIkid87]

PS: wasn't too bad for me, I do NOT remember the defibrillator passage though...what was that about?

Verbal: except for the passage with the oral narratives, where i had to make one or two educated guesses, it went pretty well for me.

Bio: For some reason this was a piece of cake for everyone...I started the Bio section and for some reason couldn't remember my organic chem....so I must have messed up quite a bit / lost quite a few points there.

 

[dudechiefboss]

Hey guys, I took the exam today as well. I am a re-taker from 7/31/09, which was a very different test from this one.

The PS section was comparable to AAMC and the previous mcat I took...some weird calculation involving magnetic field and two voltage sources...there always seem to be some questions in the PS that incorporate the bicarbonate buffering system of the blood..

Verbal, as with most people, is the bane of my existence...the first passage i was cruising along thinking everything is fine and dandy, but BAM some crap about oral presentations and calenders w/respect to industrialization...ugh....frustrating.

The WS wasn't too bad, the second prompt i had difficulty coming up with examples, so i made stuff up...the graders are going to hate reading about Obama!

The bio section was MUCH easier - i hope i am correct in this - than the previous mcat exam i took...no pure genetics or molecular biology question...i was suprised to see a recombination question on there - i didn't see anything like that on the practice exams...the organic was fairly simple...endocrine system is always interesting - tricky questions with just a single word changed in the answer....

I had an experimental passage on bird's beaks and inhabiting different islands...saved that passage for the last ten minutes of the exam...anyone else have this one?

Quick question: i forget the CNG passage, what was the context (without getting too specific).

 

[Baboo Bhaiya]

Hey guys, I took the exam today as well. I am a re-taker from 7/31/09, which was a very different test from this one.

The PS section was comparable to AAMC and the previous mcat I took...some weird calculation involving magnetic field and two voltage sources...there always seem to be some questions in the PS that incorporate the bicarbonate buffering system of the blood..

Verbal, as with most people, is the bane of my existence...the first passage i was cruising along thinking everything is fine and dandy, but BAM some crap about oral presentations and calenders w/respect to industrialization...ugh....frustrating.

The WS wasn't too bad, the second prompt i had difficulty coming up with examples, so i made stuff up...the graders are going to hate reading about Obama!

The bio section was MUCH easier - i hope i am correct in this - than the previous mcat exam i took...no pure genetics or molecular biology question...i was suprised to see a recombination question on there - i didn't see anything like that on the practice exams...the organic was fairly simple...endocrine system is always interesting - tricky questions with just a single word changed in the answer....

I had an experimental passage on bird's beaks and inhabiting different islands...saved that passage for the last ten minutes of the exam...anyone else have this one?

Quick question: i forget the CNG passage, what was the context (without getting too specific).

I totally agree... I think this test in particular had about 5 questions (PS and BS combined) of this one concept alone - bicarbonate buffering in plasma

 

[student113]

Ugh I realized I made an insanely stupid mistake on PS, and potentially got 1 or 2 others wrong that I can think of. Do you guys think the curve on this PS will be generous? I hate obsessing but can't stop.

 

[crazymedgirl]

Yeah, I also made a really stupid mistake on PS.....was kicking myself when I realized 2 hrs later in the writing section... don't really remember the question but something involving realizing that current was charge over time and I forgot to convert time from hours to seconds...pretty pathetic;(
I actually had more trouble w/BS than PS overall but people are saying they thought PS was hard so maybe the curve will be better there...

 

[student113]

haha yeah we need to stop driving ourselves crazy. Do they publish this "curve?" Maybe there's a mechanism like in the USMLE tests where a random portion of the questions are discarded. We will never know!

 

[medscholhopeful]

oh dear i dont think the test was insanely hard, it felt like an aamc practice test but dat does not mean i did well on it cos i was expecting all the heavy hitters like acid/base electrochemostry/kinetics.. electricity blah.. but instead i got the weird chemistry based one with antimony and solubility.. i mean it just seem like stuff u glaze over when studyin.... I KNOW THE CURVE IS GONNA BE HARSH ON THIS ONE!!!! there goes my 30...

bio was not too bad i wish i had reviewed the NMR stuff more for the ochem part, and that bird wit long beaks..oh lord wat a trip..the endo stuff was cool but i have neva understood the whole menstruation/ovarian cycle crap so had to guess on a couple...

btw verbal passages were stupid long... with all dat copernicus and oral representaion crap wtf!!!! i guess i'll retake in jan...eeehmm i heard a rumor that u can pay the aamc to find put ur scores before release date.. n e truth to this???

In anycase i think this is a classic case of expecting and preparing for the worst while ignoring the basics!! lesson learned here... i am so hoping for a miracle!! sigh

 

[Recoil]

Okay gang, i am back. Yes, took my little longer to get back home for 2 reasons.

1) Stopped for Chinese food on my way.
2) I was trying to catch a last glimpse of test center chick..I think she was in her early 20s. She is pretty hot (brunette)..ahhhh



Anyway, I thought Physical sciences was pretty tough. Tougher than AAMC practice tests. I kind of struggled with 1st passage regarding magnetic field. defibrillator passage was pretty easy to understand but the questions were tough. I couldn't solve most of them. I tried to think and use different equations but couldn't think of which equation to use so i ended up guessing on most of the question in that passage. it was very frustrating my those calculations suppose to be easy but they were not straight forward. Like use this equation to find this. It was more like use these values and to solve for something and then use that answer to solve for something else. Didn't feel comfortable with it. Antimany passage was pretty tough too...



Verbal:
passages were long and hard to understand completely. I kind of ran out of time on last passage which had 5 question (Oral presentation, i think). I had 4 minutes and kinnda tried skimming the passage and tried to use question stem and eliminate answers. But not sure how that worked.


BS:

Was much easier than i expected. One experimental passage about Osteoblast. I had to guess on few questions on 7th passage (organic chemistry, Compound A and B, methly propinate etc). Not too happy about that. But overall, BS was pretty similar to AAMC


I am worried overall.. I don't know (but that chick was smokn

How was it compared to our Aug 25th test? (That's the one you took right?)

 

[RedSoxSuck]

How was it compared to our Aug 25th test? (That's the one you took right?)

Yea, i took it on the 25th. Physical sciences was pretty similar to august 25th . Verbal is Verbal. BS was alot tougher on the 25th than it was today.

 

[srzm]

Today, I wrote the test in toronto and there was a fire drill that sounded for 30min during VR!!! I would like to call on anyone who was in that testing center. I think we need to join together to try and fight this.

I know we need to do this as a group since I have already had the pleasure of trying to get AAMC's help I assure you, its useless.

please write if you were at the test center.

 

[Omk13]

Hey guys.
So I pretty much concur with everyone else. Felt like an AAMC practice test. Felt pretty good on everything. There were a few wacky questions on physical, and bio was real easy except for a couple questions...but now I am worried about the curve lol
Coming out of the testing center I felt really good about it but thinking about it now I am starting to second guess myself.

The curve will be pretty bad on this test...hopefully not though.
I am predicting anywhere from a 27 to a 36 lol

 

[bananaspajamas]

will similar passages appear on the 09/12 test? and will teh content focus be the same?

 

[Compass]

will similar passages appear on the 09/12 test? and will teh content focus be the same?

Unlikely. The closer two tests are, the more likely they are completely different.

 

[shaggybill]

That first physics passage shot my confidence to hell. After spending way too much time on that passage, I felt pretty crappy for the rest of the section.

Verbal, as always, was my strongest area. I feel pretty good about it. That last passage though was almost impossible to read. The girl beside me would NOT stop coughing, and every time I got into the reading groove, she would hack up a lung again and totally destroy my concentration.

WS - how stupid is that section....?

I agree with most people on here that the BS section was fairly easy. I was so happy that there was so little orgo on it, since I've only had Organic 1. The passage on hormones threw me off though because I hadn't looked at that material for so long. Thank God for FLAT PIG. The bird/island passage was kind of confusing, but to me it seemed like the graphs told you everything you needed to know in a fairly straight-forward manner.

 

[taler8988]

That first physics passage shot my confidence to hell. After spending way too much time on that passage, I felt pretty crappy for the rest of the section.

Verbal, as always, was my strongest area. I feel pretty good about it. That last passage though was almost impossible to read. The girl beside me would NOT stop coughing, and every time I got into the reading groove, she would hack up a lung again and totally destroy my concentration.

WS - how stupid is that section....?

I agree with most people on here that the BS section was fairly easy. I was so happy that there was so little orgo on it, since I've only had Organic 1. The passage on hormones threw me off though because I hadn't looked at that material for so long. Thank God for FLAT PIG. The bird/island passage was kind of confusing, but to me it seemed like the graphs told you everything you needed to know in a fairly straight-forward manner.

Isn't is Flat PEG?

 

[unDRdog]

Again, congrats to everyone!!!! ITS OVER... It will be interesting to see how the scores compare to the AAMC averages bc BS section was pretty easy. I am curious to see if the curve is pretty harsh bc one thing that made the PS difficult is that some of the questions were very very simple. Sounds funny, but i hope that wont mess the curve up for you guys!!! I'm sure everyone will do well
@RedSox sucks...Did you find the taking the test after your first attempt gave you an edge on subsequent attempts..IE...was it easier bc you were familiar with the timing, testing center, test anxiety, etc? I thought the PS answer choices were not like AAMC bc many seemed so closely related. very tirckey...anybody agree? Verbal seemed very very very long..doable but long

 

[RedSoxSuck]

@RedSox sucks...Did you find the taking the test after your first attempt gave you an edge on subsequent attempts..IE...was it easier bc you were familiar with the timing, testing center, test anxiety, etc? I thought the PS answer choices were not like AAMC bc many seemed so closely related. very tirckey...anybody agree? Verbal seemed very very very long..doable but long

Hey man, Yea i was alot more calm. Even though Physical sciences got my temperature up. But overall, i was more calm even though there were problems which i had no idea about. It was more like this: It started out rough and then got easy and then got rough and then got easy..i dont know tho.

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Hey gang, so is this the general consensus?????


Physical Sciences:

Was pretty tough/tricky. Heavy calculations and they were not fairly simple calculations. Overall, the section was weird and tougher than AAMC..


Verbal:
Verbal is verbal. But the passages were long and not too interesting except few.


Biological Sciences:
Up to far with AAMC.

 

[dudechiefboss]

I would say PS had some weird questions, but i think most achieved a raw score in the 40s

Verbal blew, very long and difficult toward the end - hopefully a experimental passage/questions in this section

BS was straight forward, but some odd questions, no dense organic passages...again, i think most achieved a raw score in the 40s - four wrong might get you to a scaled score of 12? who knows

I don't remeber any possible experimental questions in the bio section that the mcat wouldn't count...can anyone think of any?

 

[unDRdog]

I would say PS had some weird questions, but i think most achieved a raw score in the 40s

Verbal blew, very long and difficult toward the end - hopefully a experimental passage/questions in this section

BS was straight forward, but some odd questions, no dense organic passages...again, i think most achieved a raw score in the 40s - four wrong might get you to a scaled score of 12? who knows

I don't remeber any possible experimental questions in the bio section that the mcat wouldn't count...can anyone think of any?

What do you mean by "raw score in the 40s"

 

[RedSoxSuck]

what do you mean by "raw score in the 40s"

40+ / 52.

 

[marble30]

What do you mean by "raw score in the 40s"

I think he meant like 40-something out of 52 on BS.

 

[Omk13]

Damn so is everyone thinking that the curve is going to be really rough? That kinda scares me more than a hard test with an easy curve.
The curve on AAMC 10 killed my score :O

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Does any of you NERDs (myself included) play Madden?

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Damn so is everyone thinking that the curve is going to be really rough? That kinda scares me more than a hard test with an easy curve.
The curve on AAMC 10 killed my score :O

I think Curve should be nice for Physical Sciences and For biological sciences who knows.

 

[RedSoxSuck]

Are you are texas longhorns fan? Dallas Cowboys?

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

The PS section was longer and harder than any of the AAMC exams. I was worried about getting titration or thermodynamics (mainly heat engines, etc) passages and thankfully, the exam didn't have those. I didn't think the PS was insanely hard but I felt unsure about more answers than I've felt with the practice exams. I had to actually think a decent amount for some questions.

The verbal was basically as how recent MCAT takers had put it: the passages are longer but the questions seemed more straight-forward. Towards the end though (mainly the oral history one), the questions got more difficult. Overall, I'd say I felt about the same as I did for all the AAMC practice exam verbals.

The BS was actually somewhat enjoyable after PS and VR. I was worried that it might be genetics or orgo heavy but it wasn't bad at all. I was really excited to see the NE, cardiac, and endocrine passages since I consider myself to be well-versed in physiology. The orgo passages weren't too bad either; they seemed on par with most of the orgo passages in the practice exams.

Overall, I feel that it was a pretty fair exam. Sure, there were some obscure wtf?s but overall, it was pretty much what I expected it to be.

I'll post some more later regarding what passages I had and stuff, but I think Baboo Bhaiya covered that pretty well. He has a far better memory of what the passages were about than I do heh. Hope it went well for everyone!

 

[Lala0512]

I took my test yesterday. It actually wasn't as hard as I expected.

 

[Lala0512]

I really think that our exam was VERY different from those that were offered throughout the summer. I think most of them were genetics/biochem heavy. Our exam had 3/4 genetics experimental questions (Pacemaker Cells passage) and thats it. It was heavy on Female Reproductive System and the Endocrine System.

Biological Sciences WAS NOTHING like Verbal

Btw, I did void the exam.

I voided mine too! I thought the verbal section was super hard. It could also because I'm a little rusty. I've been busy reviewing General Chemistry. I was surprised on how much the test covered the female reproductive system.

 

[Lala0512]

did anybody else not finish the entire PS section? I spent way too much time reading and struggling on the defibrillator passage and it through me way off

i find it surprising that everyone is so happy with the content and format of the test today.

I didn't finish the PS section either. When I got to the last passage, I realized that I only had about 2 minutes left. Imagine the horror! I had to guess for the entire passage. I didn't get the defibrillator passage either. I actually was hoping they'd have electrochemistry. I guess I assumed the test would be a lot harder so overall I thought it was pretty much the same as the practice AAMC tests.

did you guys think it was similar to the practice aamc exams?

hope everyone did well!

i am taking mine this saturday!

Cornell, it was pretty similar to the AAMC practice exams. The verbal section is just as brutal. I thought the Bio section was a little easier. I was stumped on the passage with T cells because I forgot to review that section. The O Chem passages were not bad at all. I actually kinda liked the one about epoxides.

WS - how stupid is that section....?

The writing section was weird. I just now realized that the prompts are listed on the AAMC website. Gosh, I need to begin practicing these prompts. The one about television was kinda strange.

 

[Berla Isabella]

I really think that our exam was VERY different from those that were offered throughout the summer. I think most of them were genetics/biochem heavy. Our exam had 3/4 genetics experimental questions (Pacemaker Cells passage) and thats it. It was heavy on Female Reproductive System and the Endocrine System.

Biological Sciences WAS NOTHING like Verbal

Btw, I did void the exam.

Hi, is voiding your mcat means that no medical school will ever know that you took it or that you will receive your score, and if you again take it the next time is considered your first?

 

[Compass]

Yes, that's voiding.

 

[Baboo Bhaiya]

Hi, is voiding your mcat means that no medical school will ever know that you took it or that you will receive your score, and if you again take it the next time is considered your first?

You are right about everything.. except that if one voids the mcat, he does not receive his score

 

[Baboo Bhaiya]

Hey.. what happened to my post on the passages from yesterday? did a mod remove the post or what? I dont think I had posted anything that obvious about the MCAT...

 

[Baboo Bhaiya]

Isn't is Flat PEG?

It differs for EK and Kaplan. EK says it is FLAT PIG, but the I in PIG does not stand for anything. Kaplan says that E in PEG is endorphins.

 

[bluv1212]

Physical sciences was harder than the AAMCs. I had to spend more time than usual on a lot of problems, and i answered my last discrete with like 4 seconds on the clock. With that said, i had to just glaze over the last passage and just answered the best i could. I hope the curve is forgiving here.

Verbal was decent except for my last passage, which was ridiculous. Usually i can read the passage and answer all the questions in 5 minutes, but i had to guess on the last 2 or 3. It was probably slightly harder than the usual AAMC's since i usually finish on time or early.


Bio- finished with 15 minutes to spare to go over marked questions. I thought it was way easier than an AAMC. But, i hope i'm not overlooking anything.

But i gave this test my best, so i'm will leave the rest to god. Hope you all did well.

The scenario that it would be incredibly easy to accidentally void your test popped in my head and it's actually creating a little anxiety. I mean i didn't read the words but its been such a reflex to click score the exam, that i didn't even think about it... I'm sure i clicked score though. HOPE this doesn't happen to anyone.

 

[unDRdog]

Hey.. what happened to my post on the passages from yesterday? did a mod remove the post or what? I dont think I had posted anything that obvious about the MCAT...

I dunno...i saw some random indian guy wearing a tuxedo smoking a cig in the testing center yesterday though....maybe he deleted it!

 

[Berla Isabella]

You are right about everything.. except that if one voids the mcat, he does not receive his score

Oh, okay thanks.

 

[RUc10]

Test wasn't what I expected.

I was dreading the PS section but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I wish I had went over lenses more and magnetism because there were at least 6 questions between the two.

Verbal has always been my best section but this VR section was ridiculous. I feel like the passages were wayyy too long. This was the only section I didn't finish.

Bio... felt like it was easy. A few anatomy questions. A few organic questions,I think 2 related to NMR. A few genetics questions as well. I finished bio with more than 5 minutes left.

 

[BarcaBest23]

Hey, I'm freaking out a bit now that I saw some threads of people talking about a question of finch migration on islands, I do not remember having a passage on that on the BS section of the exam. Hopefully I did not skip it because that would be brutal. I remember reviewing my questions at the end several times because I had a lot of time since I flew through it (it seemed pretty easy). Please let me know whats up. thanks.

 

[Compass]

MCAT tests sometimes have 8 passages, 6 which everyone have, and 2 of which you get one or the other.

 

[RobHan]

I am with you. I couldn't recall anything about "finch" either. We must have got exactly the same test, but different from the others. A bit odd?

Hey, I'm freaking out a bit now that I saw some threads of people talking about a question of finch migration on islands, I do not remember having a passage on that on the BS section of the exam. Hopefully I did not skip it because that would be brutal. I remember reviewing my questions at the end several times because I had a lot of time since I flew through it (it seemed pretty easy). Please let me know whats up. thanks.

 

[Againstalloddz]

i didn't get the finch one either. Dont sweat it, me and my friend took the exam at same time in same testing center and had 1 different passage in every section

 

[BarcaBest23]

Alright thanks guys for the info, was worried for a second that I had skipped a whole passage. Good luck on the scores.

 

[chunlei]

The test is not so difficult but strange. VR is way too long. BS does not include complicated organic reactions which is weird. PS is okay with me.

 

[Againstalloddz]

i want my score now!!!! I have no idea how I did...I think PS was ok, I know BS went well, no freaking clue on verbal. So I'm going to guesstimate that I got anywhere from a 26 to a 36.

Sooo...I'm either at grenada, harvard or somewhere in between.

This is going to be a long month......

 

[FutureMed1]

I thought the PS section was a bit more challenging that the AAMC exams, but doable. VR can go either way, really. BS was on par with AAMC exams and easier than other real contemporary MCATs; however, I know I made several careless errors on the BS section. What do you think would be the scaled score in BS if you missed 12 or so?