September 2015 MCAT Thread

Started by DAF16
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DAF16

DAF16

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7+ Year Member
Registration for the September MCAT opens up soon, so I thought I would make the thread.
Who else will be taking the test in September?
 
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Hi all, I'm a Sept 12th writer, as well.

I'm curious to know when everyone is planning to take their AAMC full length. I had originally meant to save it for last, 10 days out from test day, but someone mentioned that it is a good idea to take it even earlier to make sure that I'm studying in the right direction. Thoughts?

Also, I'm trying to decide if it's a better idea to take fewer, harder practice (EK 1-4) with more time in between to nail down concepts than it is to take more that may not be as representative (Kaplan and TPR) with less time in between to do a post-game analysis. Has anyone been finding it beneficial in either direction?
 
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THANK YOU guys for being nice enough to share practice test info, realized I need a few more practice tests and move date to 9/12. My laptop is RIP and so I've borrowed a chrome book from the little library down the street which apparently does not support TPR tests online but does seem to support Kaplan and e-MCAT. So will have to do any TPR at the Bigger library further down the street. Lol Lucky I like libraries. 🙂
 
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Anyone have any advice on how to tackle the psych section? I went from a 125 to a 122..and my overall score dropped 2 points..

Ironically I thought I did very well on psych for fl3. In retrospect, everything just seems so vague and the question stems always prompts me to use the strategy of eliminating all the worst answers to arrive at an answer that seems least wrong. There were probably at least 5 questions where I singled it down to 2 answer choices and chose the wrong one..

My weakest area in the BS section is definitely sociology..
 
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just took Kaplan FL 6 today and got my highest score yet (508 - 127 in each section). happy I'm starting to show consistent improvement from 506 on FL4 and 505 from FL5. Hoping to hit 510+ consistently on Kaplan. Gonna start taking EK exams pretty soon afterwards. hoping for 516+ on September 12th date!
 
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Anybody have any tips for improving on Physical sciences? Doing pretty well on the other three sections, but consistently getting killed by P/C. Chemistry is my weakest subject.
 
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Dro133 said:
Anybody have any tips for improving on Physical sciences? Doing pretty well on the other three sections, but consistently getting killed by P/C. Chemistry is my weakest subject.
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Doing actual problems with mathematical reinforcement instead of the straight memorization/association often seen in biochemistry/biology. Once you do, much of anything P/C becomes correct intuition (with some math to confirm said intuition)
 
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jimmypod said:
Doing actual problems with mathematical reinforcement instead of the straight memorization/association often seen in biochemistry/biology. Once you do, much of anything P/C becomes correct intuition (with some math to confirm said intuition)
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Thanks! Are there any practice materials that you recommend specifically for this purpose?
 
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How are you guys going about using the question packs? Is there a way for us to just do parts of it at a time and submit them separately without completing the whole thing so we can review the answers by the chunks?
 
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FutureD.O said:
How are you guys going about using the question packs? Is there a way for us to just do parts of it at a time and submit them separately without completing the whole thing so we can review the answers by the chunks?
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I did them in chunks of 30, one chunk per day, alternating subjects, until they were done. I thought it was a good way to start doing practice problems before jumping into full-length exams. But beware, because in my opinion (and I think this is the general consensus around here) those questions are way easier than what you'll see on full-length practice tests from TPR or EK, if you're planning on using those. So I guess what I'm saying is that others might recommend doing them after taking the practice FL's, to give you a more representative idea on how you might do on the real thing. But to answer your question, yeah, you can submit them in chunks - it'll submit and grade the whole question pack, but when you open it up again the next time it will start over anew so you can go to another chunk of questions. You get a maximum of 20 "attempts", so as long as you're not doing only like 5 questions at a time, you should be fine.
 
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sfkniner81 said:
just took Kaplan FL 6 today and got my highest score yet (508 - 127 in each section). happy I'm starting to show consistent improvement from 506 on FL4 and 505 from FL5. Hoping to hit 510+ consistently on Kaplan. Gonna start taking EK exams pretty soon afterwards. hoping for 516+ on September 12th date!
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Congrats! Same for me - I was stuck right at 500 - 502 for like 5 tests in a row, then I finally got a 506 and a 509. Today I got my second consecutive 509!

I'm done with content review, so starting tomorrow I'm going to lay off the Kaplan and attack all of the AAMC questions. My uGPA is pretty crappy so I'm hoping to hit the high teens or better as well.
 
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ChrisMack390 said:
Congrats! Same for me - I was stuck right at 500 - 502 for like 5 tests in a row, then I finally got a 506 and a 509. Today I got my second consecutive 509!

I'm done with content review, so starting tomorrow I'm going to lay off the Kaplan and attack all of the AAMC questions. My uGPA is pretty crappy so I'm hoping to hit the high teens or better as well.
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thanks and great job!! ahh lets hope we can both hit 510+ on our next test! I need to get started on the AAMC material before my September 12th test
 
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I just took my 2nd Kaplan FL and I got the same score as my 1st Kaplan FL (489). My exam date it September 12th and now I am extremely worried about increasing my score. What do you guys think? Should I extend it out to later in September or keep seeing if my score improves?
 
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premed-molecule said:
I just took my 2nd Kaplan FL and I got the same score as my 1st Kaplan FL (489). My exam date it September 12th and now I am extremely worried about increasing my score. What do you guys think? Should I extend it out to later in September or keep seeing if my score improves?
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Are you done reviewing the content? What kind of practice did you do between the two FLs?
 
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It appeared to me that the AAMC Questions Packs (vol 1) are mostly questions pulled from previous exams, some of which I have completed fully, others only in sections, and some not at all-many questions pulled from AAMC 7-11. I do not know about the recently released second volumes. Did anyone find passages within the Questions Packs, vol 1 or 2, that are Not from previous exams?

I did decide to reassemble some passages by topic from the previous AAMC exams that I have, and then go into depth. For example I collected about 7 passages on biochemistry and genetics related passages-most of them written as experiments, since I have trouble with these.

This led me to identify some MCAT favorites:

Just a few examples:
Na+/K+ pump
Amino acids
Nervous System

What "MCAT Favorites" have you guys found?
 
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Here is an example: On the e-MCAT Bio Question Pack Vol 1, specified for preparation for MCAT 2015, Passage 9 is Passage 10 on AAMC 10.

Regardless of what preparation materials you guys have used, have you spotted any MCAT Favorites?

For example, did you do a few Kaplan tests that seemed to have a lot of amino acid passages? What are the topics that "stick out" to you guys? 🙂
 
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IMO @drbeat14

Physics:
Fluids, Optics, Sound waves, Pressure (all relate to bodily systems easily), circuits (series vs parallel circuits as it relates to the vascular system)

Genchem/orgo:
Acid/base, electrochem, carboxyl group stuff, separation techniques and other lab techniques, oxidation/reduction

Biochemistry:
Amino acids, Metabolism, Krebs/glycolysis etc, enzyme kinetics, carbohydrate stuff, membranes and transport... basically everything

Bio:
Nervous system, endocrine system, respiratory, cardiovascular, know your punnet squares and inheritance patterns, kidneys a favorite, bacteria and the difference between gram positive/negative, differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes and DNA/RNA
Old favorites:
Cell cycle and female reproductive cycle haven't seen these appear a lot though​

Psych/Soc: Again this is an 'everything' topic to me since there hasn't been enough exams to know what is 'high yield' but what I've seen pop up on almost everything is:
Developmental stages, parts of the brain in relation to what they do, theories of emotion, Social process (all the group stuff), difference between prejudice/stereotype/discrimination, disorders, sociology theories, social stratification and mobility
 
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Thanks for sharing. I've noticed similar topics. I don't know what to do about psych either since it is new- though it is much more conceptual and intuitive.
 
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I'm going by MCATJELLY's spreadsheet that lists everyone's performance. My score was subpar to most everyone on the sheet. I'll refrain from saying exactly what I got, though.
 
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lol @PooshBag. No need to apologize! I have that panicked feeling AT LEAST once a day! And @HopefulPilot is right-that sheet is an interesting compilation, but not helpful, at least for me, in terms of measuring progress at this time. 🙂
 
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HopefulPilot said:
July 14th AAMC FL: 56%, 85%, 49%, 81% - 67% overall

July 24th OG: 70%, 83%, 60%, 70% - 71% overall

Kap FL 2: 498
Kap FL 3: 503
Kap FL 1: 498

I felt that the AAMC FL was the best logically if that makes sense. I wasn't done with content review but was able to derive answers from passages or apply basic knowledge of a concept to answer the question. The kaplan tests have been really good for content review but don't feel the same at all compared to the AAMC FL and OG. Most of their questions are relatively discrete and way more difficult.

Also, Kaplan’s scoring is depressing… I just have to keep telling myself that it’s not accurate.
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If anything seems easy - that's your situation: you just need to pull up P/C and Bio sections and that's it. You can surely do Kaplan 505-507 in 2 weeks - which will mean 513+ on real thing.
 
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Dro133 said:
I did them in chunks of 30, one chunk per day, alternating subjects, until they were done. I thought it was a good way to start doing practice problems before jumping into full-length exams. But beware, because in my opinion (and I think this is the general consensus around here) those questions are way easier than what you'll see on full-length practice tests from TPR or EK, if you're planning on using those. So I guess what I'm saying is that others might recommend doing them after taking the practice FL's, to give you a more representative idea on how you might do on the real thing. But to answer your question, yeah, you can submit them in chunks - it'll submit and grade the whole question pack, but when you open it up again the next time it will start over anew so you can go to another chunk of questions. You get a maximum of 20 "attempts", so as long as you're not doing only like 5 questions at a time, you should be fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I was a little confused on how to approach doing the qpacks. I am hoping for them to feel much easier once I start them..
 
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HopefulPilot said:
July 14th AAMC FL: 56%, 85%, 49%, 81% - 67% overall

July 24th OG: 70%, 83%, 60%, 70% - 71% overall

Kap FL 2: 498
Kap FL 3: 503
Kap FL 1: 498

I felt that the AAMC FL was the best logically if that makes sense. I wasn't done with content review but was able to derive answers from passages or apply basic knowledge of a concept to answer the question. The kaplan tests have been really good for content review but don't feel the same at all compared to the AAMC FL and OG. Most of their questions are relatively discrete and way more difficult.

Also, Kaplan’s scoring is depressing… I just have to keep telling myself that it’s not accurate.
Click to expand...

What were your break downs for each section if you don't mind sharing? I am really curious about the discrepancies in scoring between kaplan and the aamc with people not scoring near perfect scores like on the spreadsheet..
 
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Are you guys using Kaplan's In-Class FL tests? Or the 7-subject review + 528 FL tests? It's always a little confusing.

Also if anyone wants some old AAMC tests (45 scale; great for verbal practice if anything)... PM me.
 
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Feels like I've plateaued..anybody have any advice? I always thoroughly go through each of my FLs. Writing 9/12 with a goal of 517+.

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TPR Review Test 1 = 500 (124/126/125/125)

Pretty sad that my total went down, though I kind of expected that my P/S was going to go down, because I didn't really review the psych disorders and neuroanatomy material that much this past week. Lots of careless mistakes too. I'm not too worried about that section. Definitely happy that my CARS is improving and I'm hoping to hit 127 in my next FL. Also glad that my B/BC went up, but it's frustrating that I'm missing a handful of questions that I knew and definitely should've answered correctly. Same goes for the C/P section. Plus, Gen Chem is killing me! My PI would be very disappointed in all the redox/inorganic chem questions that I'm missing.... But at least I know my biochem material! Hopefully, there really is a greater focus on biochem for the real MCAT.

Are you guys heavily studying pendulums/projectile motion/centrifugal forces and material that aren't that related to medicine? I didn't really study those, but there are always questions about them in the TPR FLs, and that kinda affects my score a tad.
 
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@Gibbward I'm not either AAMC said physics was going to be executed on the exam in relation to the body so I haven't bothered with much of those physics things. It does kind of worry me though. I'd be curious to hear if anyone had questions on those topics on the real exam or had any classic physics style questions (pulleys, ramps, inclines etc).

I hate that TPR includes them because it makes me score go down since I mostly get them wrong
 
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I wish there was an easier way to compare EK and TPR scores - a way to convert between % correct vs. the MCAT scale.

I've only done 1 of each. I did TPR 1st followed by EK. My scores went up but I can't tell if that's just because EK is easier than TPR? Any inputs?
 
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I think the general consensus from SDN is that TPR and kaplan FLs tend to be harder than EK. Then, NS FLs tend to be the easiest among the 4. I hear that NS and EK are great though because they "feel" very similar to the official AAMC FL, so your performance on the real thing might be better represented by your EK score.

lostnconfused said:
I wish there was an easier way to compare EK and TPR scores - a way to convert between % correct vs. the MCAT scale.

I've only done 1 of each. I did TPR 1st followed by EK. My scores went up but I can't tell if that's just because EK is easier than TPR? Any inputs?
Click to expand...
 
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I did half of the AAMC guide questions today (did bio and chem/phys) and I thought they were brutally hard. Much more difficult than anything I've seen from Kaplan. I'm really worried now because everyone has been saying Kaplan is so much harder...
 
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drbeat14 said:
I was just wondering how many people have taken a Psych. or Soc. class?
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I took AP psych in high school and sociology in freshman year. I'm glad I kept both notebooks around because sometimes TPR explained things really poorly. Simple concepts don't need to be complicated.

Ugh less than 1 month left. I'm gonna take another NS FL tomorrow. With only 2 weeks left before school begins, I don't know if I'll be able to reach my goal. 508-510 is the new 30 right? I'm currently rocking a 503. :dead:

/thinks happy thoughts
 
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