Starting to freak out (5/19)

[cugatron]

Hey guys,

I'm currently kinda freaking out. I took the AAMC FL 1 today and I got a 498 (125,122,126,125). I don't know what happened to the CARS section, and I'm feeling completely demoralized by this score. I've been studying so much and my test is less than 2 weeks away (5/19). I'm going to spend the next 2 days reviewing the exam and try to really understand the questions I got wrong. One thing I noticed is that I was second guessing myself a lot. For most questions I would narrow it down to two answers, and ended up picking the wrong one of the two. For the CP section, I think I could do more review of some topics and improve because I noticed that there are still some things I need to review (electrochem, etc). I have no idea what to do for CARS, but I guess I'll finish the CARS Q packs and do CARS every day to get used to this section. My BB was my best, but still not as good as I would want it. I thought there would be more enzyme kinetics questions. I think like with CP I could get the content down better and improve. The same goes for PS, there were some terms I wasn't familiar. And I need to review a lot more.

All this being said, I only have 12 days left. Do you think it is possible to improve to possibly get a between a 505-508 (URM)? If not, do you think it's best that I try to move up my test?

These are my scores on practice material so far:
Sample test: 53%/77%/58%/76%
SB: CP 52%, BB 42%, PS 63%
NS Diagnostic: 123, 125, 125, 127
NS FL1: 127, 125, 126, 128 (untimed)
NS FL2: 125, 125, 124, 125 (timed)
Bio 1 QP - 65%, Bio QP 2 - 72%

Thanks

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[fldoctorgirl]

Hey guys,

I'm currently kinda freaking out. I took the AAMC FL 1 today and I got a 498 (125,122,126,125). I don't know what happened to the CARS section, and I'm feeling completely demoralized by this score. I've been studying so much and my test is less than 2 weeks away (5/19). I'm going to spend the next 2 days reviewing the exam and try to really understand the questions I got wrong. One thing I noticed is that I was second guessing myself a lot. For most questions I would narrow it down to two answers, and ended up picking the wrong one of the two. For the CP section, I think I could do more review of some topics and improve because I noticed that there are still some things I need to review (electrochem, etc). I have no idea what to do for CARS, but I guess I'll finish the CARS Q packs and do CARS every day to get used to this section. My BB was my best, but still not as good as I would want it. I thought there would be more enzyme kinetics questions. I think like with CP I could get the content down better and improve. The same goes for PS, there were some terms I wasn't familiar. And I need to review a lot more.

All this being said, I only have 12 days left. Do you think it is possible to improve to possibly get a between a 505-508 (URM)? If not, do you think it's best that I try to move up my test?

These are my scores on practice material so far:
Sample test: 53%/77%/58%/76%
SB: CP 52%, BB 42%, PS 63%
NS Diagnostic: 123, 125, 125, 127
NS FL1: 127, 125, 126, 128 (untimed)
NS FL2: 125, 125, 124, 125 (timed)
Bio 1 QP - 65%, Bio QP 2 - 72%

Thanks

Tricky. You've only had one practice exam > 500, which isn't super promising. With only 12 days left, I would say you should probably postpone your exam. You say you don't know what happened with CARS, but even with improvement in that section (you average 125 on your other practice exams), you're looking at a 501. Is it possible to get 505-508? Yeah, I think so, if you get lucky on your test day. But do you want to bank on that?

I would recommend postponing, unless you can really fix whatever's wrong before then. The only thing I can recommend is continue content review and teaching yourself how to answer MCAT-style questions, take a practice exam the last day you can change your MCAT date, and reschedule if you don't score 503+.

 

[ServiceFirst]

Be careful second-guessing yourself as exam day gets closer (I found myself doing this a lot). Your average scores serves as the closest indicator to how prepared you are, but outlier scores can indicate rattled nerves/second-guessing rather than actually not understanding material.

 

[lajessmess]

These are my scores on practice material so far:
Sample test: 53%/77%/58%/76%
SB: CP 52%, BB 42%, PS 63%
NS Diagnostic: 123, 125, 125, 127
NS FL1: 127, 125, 126, 128 (untimed)
NS FL2: 125, 125, 124, 125 (timed)
Bio 1 QP - 65%, Bio QP 2 - 72%

Thanks

I'm also a 5/19 test taker! I feel your anxiety. What I find a little strange is your section bank scores are really not bad at all. I've been averaging 504-507 in Kaplan and NS. Did you do your section bank timed? Because I got CP 65% BB 60% PS 55%, so really not TOO far from your scores. Maybe you were just nervous taking the AAMC FL? Have you done FL 2 yet?

Good luck.

 

[cugatron]

I'm also a 5/19 test taker! I feel your anxiety. What I find a little strange is your section bank scores are really not bad at all. I've been averaging 504-507 in Kaplan and NS. Did you do your section bank timed? Because I got CP 65% BB 60% PS 55%, so really not TOO far from your scores. Maybe you were just nervous taking the AAMC FL? Have you done FL 2 yet?

Good luck.

I think I was a bit nervous but have also been going through some personal things, so I'm not sure if that contributed to my performance. I've decided that I'm going to void my test when I take it 6/19 and then take it again on 6/29. I think that by then I'll be much more prepared for it. Right now I'm still reviewing AAMC FL1 and will take AAMC FL 2 later in June when i'm closer to my newer test date. BTW I did the Section bank untimed.

 

[Hospitalized]

I highly advise pushing back until at least July, maybe even August or September. Your CARS score is going to cut you out of the running from practically everywhere at this point. 10 days is NOT enough time to significantly improve your CARS. You need at least 4 weeks to make enough improvement to get a score that's >124. In addition, you have content gaps in the other sections which is cutting down your overall score.

 

[cugatron]

I highly advise pushing back until at least July, maybe even August or September. Your CARS score is going to cut you out of the running from practically everywhere at this point. 10 days is NOT enough time to significantly improve your CARS. You need at least 4 weeks to make enough improvement to get a score that's >124. In addition, you have content gaps in the other sections which is cutting down your overall score.

I'm going to void and take it on 6/29. I'm leaving my job from now till then to just have the test be my main priority. I think that I'll be able to improve by then. I'm a URM and have a 3.87 cGPA and a 3.97 sGPA so I think even if I get a 505 or above I'll be okay.

 

[lajessmess]

I'm going to void and take it on 6/29. I'm leaving my job from now till then to just have the test be my main priority. I think that I'll be able to improve by then. I'm a URM and have a 3.87 cGPA and a 3.97 sGPA so I think even if I get a 505 or above I'll be okay.

I think that's a great idea, studying for this test is so time consuming. You can do it! Best of luck op.