SN2'd first day

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TexasSurgeon

TexasSurgeon

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EDIT: This was supposed to be a thread about the first day of SN2. However as with all intelligent life, things evolve. This thread has now become a support page for people following the SN2 plan. You can think of it as Alcoholics Anonymous for people studying to take the MCAT using the SN2 plan.

EDIT July 1, 2014:
If you are interested in @mehc012's Anki Deck, DO NOT SEND A PM. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/7if6wgaif98rkoa/mehc012 SN2edCh4s.apkg
**A NOTE: @mehc012 and several others (myself included) want to tell you guys that studying from another person's deck will probably not be as beneficial to you as creating your own cards. Yes you can take advantage of @mehc012's generosity, but you won't get the same advantage. Study the material. Create cards as you go along. You will find it more helpful to your studying. **

EDIT July 22, 2014:
The following is @TBRBiosadist's official MCAT Verbal Reasoning Strategy:
@TBRBiosadist's strategy that got [him] from a 7 average to scoring 13-15 average..

Spend the bulk of your time reading. Up to 3 minutes per passage.
  • Read the first and last paragraph thoroughly to begin with. Understand what the authors main point will be because 90% of questions require nothing more than a general idea.
  • After this, read the entire passage slowly enough where you dont feel like you need to reread sentences for understanding.
Next is just answer questions, there is a few tricks here that work about 90% of the time
  • Unless the passage is asking you about a specific detail, dont look back. READ EVERY ANSWER THOROUGLY AND THEN Answer what makes sense from the general point of the passage. Its very easy to prove a wrong answer to be somewhat correct if you dig hard enough, dont. Answer what your gut says and move onto the next question, dont contemplate to much. With that being said...
  • Answer like you were dropped on the head as a child. Alot of times if Im arguing between two answers, there is the answer that is 100% correct, and one that is 90% correct. Be an idoit and choose the one that seems like it is correct. However.....
  • "Always" is a word to avoid. If an answer uses this word, or definites like it, it is something to avoid. I would say 80% of the time the wishy washy answer is more correct then the highly affirmative one. This leads to my final point....
  • 100% of the time you are not actually looking for the "right" answer in verbal, this isnt PS or BS where 1+1 almost always equals 2 (unless we are talking about the different sedimentation values for Ribosomes). In verbal you are looking for the answer that isnt wrong. Often times an answer will seem very "right" but one aspect of it is clearly wrong, as compared to an answer that isnt wrong, but doesnt seem as right as that answer, these are meant to fool you. Choose the answer that isnt wrong.
I understand that I few of these tips may be at odds with each other. Ultimately you must adjust slightly for each passage, but it comes down to one thing. Read thoroughly. Read every sentence in the passage. Read every question. Read every answer. Then the correct answer will be fairly obvious. This may seem like it takes longer, but it takes much less time than skimming, and then trying to find the correct information later.

Or to summarize in one sentence

Understand what the hell the author is arguing

EDIT July 26, 2014:
@DoctorInASaree uploaded a guide to Verbal Reasoning. If you're interested, it's worth a look. Here is the link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2byivymmqwlvjms/MCAT VR Primer DRSAREE.pdf

EDIT 2, July 26, 2014: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/sn2d-first-day.1074344/page-52#post-15510851
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Just finished the first day of SN2...man is it long and exhausting.

The first day is BR physics chapter (translational motion) + 1/3 of the passages. I felt like I wasn't able to apply the stuff I read into the stuff I was tested on.

Has anyone felt this way when following the schedule? It just seems like the contents of the chapter didn't really stick in my head when I took the practice passages. Will this improve over time?

EDIT 3, March 4, 2015:

For verbal, if you are feeling lost and confused, I highly highly recommend you to look into the MCAT Strategy Course by @Jack Westin. I've been working with him, and nothing comes close to his course and teaching. It's a strategy course, so it will cover everything, not just the VR/CARS section.
 
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poop420 said:
Ha if this MCAT stuff doesn't work out the lab is where I will be.. I find the simple silence of lab work and the constant failure that fallows it very humbling ...
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Constant failure drove me mad. Especially when you can't graduate because of it. Yeaaah.
 
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SwedishMD2B said:
I work with viruses. Cytomegalovirus. I do vaccine development, drug design, and look for novel drug targets. But I don't really care what virus I work with.
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CMV irritates me since Stanford just started screening for it in donation and now I can't do anything but normal whole blood.
poop420 said:
Do you guys partake in any interesting research ?? or have any other science love outside of the general MCAT type stuff.. IM a bacteriophile !!! I love bacteria soooo much mycobacterium tuberculosis and i are practically lovers !!
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Listeria monocytogenes is cooler 😛

But in my regular Micro course, we were ID'ing soil bacteria and mine (from normal soil near our school) turned out to be an unknown species from Exiguobacterium, which is a kind of rare extremophile group usually found in super cold or salty environments. It was really exciting for a run of the mill Bio lab!
 
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mehc012 said:
CMV irritates me since Stanford just started screening for it in donation and now I can't do anything but normal whole blood.

Listeria monocytogenes is cooler 😛

But in my regular Micro course, we were ID'ing soil bacteria and mine (from normal soil near our school) turned out to be an unknown species from Exiguobacterium, which is a kind of rare extremophile group usually found in super cold or salty environments. It was really exciting for a run of the mill Bio lab!
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Screening for it? Pretty much everyone has it, like 90%+ of the population.
 
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SwedishMD2B said:
I work with viruses. Cytomegalovirus. I do vaccine development, drug design, and look for novel drug targets. But I don't really care what virus I work with.
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Hey, that's what I'm doing right now! Mostly vaccine-development with CMV though. Thought I wanted to go to grad school for virology before I decided on medical school.
 
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SwedishMD2B said:
Screening for it? Pretty much everyone has it, like 90%+ of the population.
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I know, that's what irritates me. The odds of the patient they're giving the blood to NOT having it and NOT being surrounded by relatives or caretakers who have it (and it's not primarily blood borne, so it's not like they're not exposed) is low...then combine the low probability that the patient is severely immunocompromised enough to show symptoms if they do get it...but now 90% of donors can't give platelets or DRBCs.
 
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mehc012 said:
I know, that's what irritates me. The odds of the patient they're giving the blood to NOT having it and NOT being surrounded by relatives or caretakers who have it (and it's not primarily blood borne, so it's not like they're not exposed) is low...then combine the low probability that the patient is severely immunocompromised enough to show symptoms if they do get it...but now 90% of donors can't give platelets or DRBCs.
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Oh thats not good. CMV doesn't bother anyone, except AIDS patients and immunocompromised people. Then of course the big concern is intrauterine transfer of a seronegative mother who has a primary infection.
 
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hey peeps how are you ? just started the grind again on wed after finals, heck those As are pretty nice and worth sacrificing a couple of SN2 days, ill be catching up and ending my material review maybe a day late, first FL on friday and exam is in on 27th of August.
It has been maybe 4 weeks I haven't practiced verbal. I decided to use the @TBRBiosadist method, of thinking of every paragraph from the the writers point of view and guess what? my scores went from missing 3-4 questions 4 weeks earlier on the TPRH verbal to missing 1 (it is usually the answer i double think and doubt myself) thats like amazing.
Concerning other sections i still miss quite a few and I am actually depressed when I see your scores. 😛 (they are not that bad but yet what in the name of holy moly are all those 100s)
So I have about a month and 8 days left, FLs, TPRHSW, reviewing ...
@SwedishMD2B what do you think was most representative of your BS section when practicing.

(On another note welcome me to anki land: I have used flashcards before but spending 75% of my time doing 735 cards for the finals and be the only in my class to ace them got me hooked)

Happy studying Y'all
 
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SwedishMD2B said:
Oh thats not good. CMV doesn't bother anyone, except AIDS patients and immunocompromised people. Then of course the big concern is intrauterine transfer of a seronegative mother who has a primary infection.
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EXACTLY. This is why it bothers me so much.
 
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poop420 said:
Do you guys partake in any interesting research ?? or have any other science love outside of the general MCAT type stuff.. IM a bacteriophile !!! I love bacteria soooo much mycobacterium tuberculosis and i are practically lovers !!
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Cancer research! It's very interesting to me, especially the transition to metastatic cancer
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
Cancer research! It's very interesting to me, especially the transition to metastatic cancer
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I've done short (1yr) stints in cancer research, genetics/Sz research, and an odd chemistry/archeology hybrid. Also data analysis for an engineer/research collaborative project.
 
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You guys know any good resource to better your understanding of slopes on a graph ?? and a list to memorize all those factions you come across doing the PS section
 
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Said it before. Huntington's disease and expression patterns from stem cells of various sources, eventually (depending on how our results are coming) crossing over into using vector agents to fiddle with the expression

Boils down to alot of media changes, plating and PCR at 12 oclock at night
 
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Oh and after todays verbal I altered my strategy slightly. I read the first and last paragraph first, then do my thing. doesnt take much extra and allows me to dissect the author more. 3 100s later said it was a good tactic
 
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And the answer to whether we sleep...no. I got work n stuff yo. 6 hours is a great night's sleep for me. Above 4 and Im in good shape. Best part about where I work is I can spend the entire time listening to EXAM KRACKER'S AUDIO OSMOSIS WITH JORDAN AND JOHN... consequently I've listened to the entire series about 30x
 
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Sleep whats that ?? I cut down my sleeping time to 6 hours from 8 and I actually don't feel any different .. I'm going to see if i can make it to 5 hours but don't want to be sleep deprived so i will monitor myself carefully
 
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@TBRBiosadist - Hi! I'm working on a Verbal guide, and I am hoping to include some of your strategies that you've posted in this thread. May I?:nod:

TexasSurgeon said:
Cancer research! It's very interesting to me, especially the transition to metastatic cancer
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Agreed! This is why I'm soo interested in Rad Onc.🙂

azor ahai said:
may i please have a copy of that spreadsheet?
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I'll PM you the file later today!
 
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Yah those are pretty cool! It would be a great way to organize myself. I am not starting my SN2 plan until September but I would be so interested in seeing the file you made if willing to share! 🙂
 
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Hey guys, so I have a pretty important question. I'm new to this country and really don't know much about any school application process much less medical school so I got so caught up in studying for the MCAT I forgot all about the application to medical school stuff lol. Can you guys share any insight with me ? What should I have done, I will be taking my exam in November so I know that's really late which might put me at a disadvantage .. But should I be working on things like LOR and my essays?? I'm pretty clueless about the entire process my school adviser is in his late 70's he is the sweetest guy but isn't too sane most of the times.Also I wanted to get some volunteer done to beef up my application do I have time to do that before school come asking about by ECs? Any help will be appreciated or a list of stuff I should be doing .. THANKS IN ADVANCE
 
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poop420 said:
Hey guys, so I have a pretty important question. I'm new to this country and really don't know much about any school application process much less medical school so I got so caught up in studying for the MCAT I forgot all about the application to medical school stuff lol. Can you guys share any insight with me ? What should I have done, I will be taking my exam in November so I know that's really late which might put me at a disadvantage .. But should I be working on things like LOR and my essays?? I'm pretty clueless about the entire process my school adviser is in his late 70's he is the sweetest guy but isn't too sane most of the times.Also I wanted to get some volunteer done to beef up my application do I have time to do that before school come asking about by ECs? Any help will be appreciated or a list of stuff I should be doing .. THANKS IN ADVANCE
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The school won't come asking about ECs...it's included on the first part of the application you submit.
Honestly, with an MCAT in November, you're looking at a REALLY late application. Seems a bit risky to me.
 
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mehc012 said:
The school won't come asking about ECs...it's included on the first part of the application you submit.
Honestly, with an MCAT in November, you're looking at a REALLY late application. Seems a bit risky to me.
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I've always considered taking a gap year to go back to my country of origin visit my family and do couple months of research when i get back in the states. probably that's the best thing to do that
 
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poop420 said:
I've always considered taking a gap year to go back to my country of origin visit my family and do couple months of research when i get back in the states. probably that's the best thing to do that
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I would personally, but then, I'm in the midst of my 2nd or 3rd gap year as it is (I did not decide to apply for med school until after graduation, so I've been building an app ever since!)
 
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mehc012 said:
I would personally, but then, I'm in the midst of my 2nd or 3rd gap year as it is (I did not decide to apply for med school until after graduation, so I've been building an app ever since!)
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Thanks for your insight , you said it was risky may i ask why? Do med school look at you and see that you applied before and weren't good enough to get in? Do tIy look at a failed app cycle negatively because I thought that the only negative about giving it a try is a few bucks. But then again I have no idea how much it costs lol. Or do you mean I would limit my possible schools if I did this??
 
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poop420 said:
Thanks for your insight , you said it was risky may i ask why? Do med school look at you and see that you applied before and weren't good enough to get in? Do tIy look at a failed app cycle negatively because I thought that the only negative about giving it a try is a few bucks. But then again I have no idea how much it costs lol. Or do you mean I would limit my possible schools if I did this??
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You are far better off having 1 solid app cycle than 1 meh one followed by a solid one. Aside from the expense (which is definitely more substantial than a couple of bucks), reapplicants are looked upon differently. A reapplicant will be expected to demonstrate what they have done to improve their app from the presumed 'not enough to get in' of the failed cycle.
Think of it like the MCAT...sure, you can retake and score well, but it is better to do it once, well, than to have something on the record raising eyebrows and inviting closer scrutiny.

Applying in December (which is when a Nov MCAT score will be back) means that your app will not even be looked at until many students have already been interviewed. It's undeniably a bigger risk (in terms of not getting in) than applying on time.
 
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Anyone feel like weighing in on my situation? Hehe, I'd appreciate it tremendously.

I'm in my 3rd gap year as well (same as @mehc012) and was planning on taking my MCAT in September. I've spent the past 2 years contemplating whether or not medicine was truly for me and finally arrived at a decision early this year.
I haven't been doing a Master's or anything science related. In fact, I did a complete 180 and went into the world of finance after finishing undergrad (great money, but what a soul sucker!).

I quit my job a few weeks ago to dedicate my time (read: life) to the MCAT and am going back to school this Fall to upgrade myself, so to speak. Studying is going so-so, but definitely not as top-notch as some of you here.

Is it wise to take so early on? Or should I postpone until later (i.e. 2 or 3 years from now)? I do feel a bit rushed and my pre-req knowledge is rusty simply because I haven't seen this material in ages... I'm also quite strong with Soc/Psych so that doesn't scare me. Honestly, only the sheer number of hours added to the new MCAT scares me.

P.S. I lurk here a lot and you guys are incredibly supportive, so I figured this was a great place to ask. 🙂
 
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DreamofDerm said:
Anyone feel like weighing in on my situation? Hehe, I'd appreciate it tremendously.

I'm in my 3rd gap year as well (same as @mehc012) and was planning on taking my MCAT in September. I've spent the past 2 years contemplating whether or not medicine was truly for me and finally arrived at a decision early this year.
I haven't been doing a Master's or anything science related. In fact, I did a complete 180 and went into the world of finance after finishing undergrad (great money, but what a soul sucker!).

I quit my job a few weeks ago to dedicate my time (read: life) to the MCAT and am going back to school this Fall to upgrade myself, so to speak. Studying is going so-so, but definitely not as top-notch as some of you here.

Is it wise to take so early on? Or should I postpone until later (i.e. 2 or 3 years from now)? I do feel a bit rushed and my pre-req knowledge is rusty simply because I haven't seen this material in ages... I'm also quite strong with Soc/Psych so that doesn't scare me. Honestly, only the sheer number of hours added to the new MCAT scares me.

P.S. I lurk here a lot and you guys are incredibly supportive, so I figured this was a great place to ask. 🙂
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So if you are dedicating all this time to this test I think that you should be able to just go ahead and take it whenever your scheduled test date is before the MCAT is changed. Then in the fall you can start your classes and do what you need to do to get ready for the application cycle. If you are unhappy with your score just take the new MCAT since it seems like you are confident with the additional subjects.. I also think you will be in better shape for the PS/BS sections since you will be taking your sciences which just emphazise that material even more.

Kudos to you for following your dream! Good luck 🙂
 
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A little late but cancer research crew holla!

I'm taking it on Aug 1st. Took AAMC 8 today and got my lowest so far.. 10/7/12 (29). I didn't pace myself at all, going to learn from this mistake. Still trying to figure out VR 🙁
 
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ONE PROBLEM I WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT IF IT WASNT FOR ONE DAMN PROBLEM THAT I GOT WRONG BECAUSE I DIDNT READ ALL THE DAMN ANSWERS! I hate it when its my own stupidity and not my lack of knowledge that is my downfall
 
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TBRBiosadist said:
ONE PROBLEM I WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT IF IT WASNT FOR ONE DAMN PROBLEM THAT I GOT WRONG BECAUSE I DIDNT READ ALL THE DAMN ANSWERS! I hate it when its my own stupidity and not my lack of knowledge that is my downfall
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Chill. I thought you lose your motivation to study if you do well. So, that question you missed should charge you to continue studying.
 
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exactly, but at the same time i need to freak out. I like to start my studying every day with a good cry and some screaming.



Im a very odd person....


I freak out when Im doing well, I freak out when Im not doing well. Basically I just achieve a state of cat like readiness where the drop of a feather causes me to slam off the wall.
 
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TBRBiosadist said:
exactly, but at the same time i need to freak out. I like to start my studying every day with a good cry and some screaming.



Im a very odd person....


I freak out when Im doing well, I freak out when Im not doing well. Basically I just achieve a state of cat like readiness where the drop of a feather causes me to slam off the wall.
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A good cry and some screaming!? Boy you are an interesting character.
 
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TexasSurgeon said:
I hate BR. Their policy to finish the all the tests in 45 days is stupid and serves no purpose.
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Neither does their continued resistance to move into the 21st century. To get a proper website and online ordering. And why must you buy the exam's in 3's? What if I just want one or two? Makes no sense.
 
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Hey all, new to this forum and interested in this SN2 dealie. My exam is in October so got some time. Hoping to find some good advice in this thread, good luck studying all!
 
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DolphyA said:
Hey all, new to this forum and interested in this SN2 dealie. My exam is in October so got some time. Hoping to find some good advice in this thread, good luck studying all!
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You don't have some time. You need to get on it! You have 3 months, go go go.
 
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