The 07/18/08 MCAT Club

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supafield

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Unless I'm inept at finding threads it looks like there is no threads for this date or most of the July ones...

So good luck to all of you writing, this is my second go of it... and I want to do really well.... and am happy to offer advice about the whole process from my first time around.... feel free to ask

take care
 
man really detailed response supa how you remember the passages and stuff I definitely forgot some of the stuff until you mentioned it lol.
 
i dont think i would want to remember what was on the test. ive been good so far in terms of keeping myself busy etc. but we're getting closer and its going to be even more fun. (sarcasm)

After writing (several hours later) I remembered a little.... but not well....
Then I went away for two weeks and minus the plane ride I completely stopped thinking about it....

So when I got home today I decided to give my own summary given that I used to be so active in this thread before haha and I honestly think I remember the passages better two weeks later than when I was answering the questions lol....

We'll just have to see how it goes.....

I think any perceptions of ease come from the fact that everyone was worried they were going to get a monstrous section or two.... because that test while not really difficult was similar to the AAMC's in difficulty.... and maybe it's just me... the AAMC's aren't crazy but they aren't easy... It wasn't like I was knocking off 13's on every section even when I felt it went well so I'll make a very bold prediction and say.... people score around their averages...

Very bold I know but I think it just might happen haha
 
your idea makes sense supafield. we totally expected KILLER passages and stuff but didn't really get it which is why it felt easier to us. that makes a lot of sense. haha.

but yeah. i also wouldn't be surprised if my score was somewhere around my average of the aamcs
 
Ugh, supafield why did you have to remind me of the heat transfer passage. Here's my input on the test

PS: Not much to add, there were only two passages that were "weird" the atmosphere/tree one and the rotational passage. Typically, those passages like normal MCATs only had a couple of tough questions regarding the actual passage content. The heat transfer passage had me on a couple of questions, I thought I understood it well but one or two questions threw me for a loop. The rest as everyone mentioned was basic review material. Probably a tough curve, I'm hoping for my MCAT score average: 10
Prediction: 9-10

Verbal: I was cranked on the 5 hour energy shot drink, it gave me more energy than usual but also caused some jitters, I hope it didn't affect my thinking too much. Because of the energy shot I was flying through the passages, and unlike normal where there's 1-2 passages that trip me up I thought I grasped the gist of most of them. Whether or not I fell into traps and make my normal blunders is the question though. Hoping for my average: 10
Prediction: I really have a hard time gauging verbal, I'm going to say 8-10

BS: By this time my nerves had calmed down, as everyone mentioned nothing too terrible and no tough genetic passages! So happy. I made a couple of stupid errors though that I'm kicking myself for. I'm guessing this is a tough curve as well. Hoping for my average: 11
Prediction: 10-12

see ya in a couple weeks
 
haha I didn't know the site either thanks guys now I have to check, I was just going to avoid it lol. Great!
 
Looks like the 8/5 kids also had a mice passage in BS. I wonder if that means it was an experimental passage on ours??
 
i had a really difficult mice passage in my BS section last year (8/14/07). I wonder if it's the same annoying passage that keeps coming up? Weird if it's the case.
 
I hate mice and any passage about it. for some reason I don't remember the mice passage, whatever i got wasted after the test so I prolly don't remember anything haha.
 
Gotta love the post-mcat boozefest. Less than two weeks until the post-mcat score release boozefest!
 
Some good news to report! I tracked down my 2 MIA profs today. One I caught after her class ended and the other was actually in his office (OMG). The former said she'd write my letter "today", and the latter said he'd do it "soon". I gave them both prepaid Express envelopes, so I can track when they're sent out & they'll get there overnight. Now I can only pray they'll follow through... but I'm hopeful! Goes to show you have to be persistent with profs sometimes...

I was SO nervous before approaching them this morning, I'm not sure why-- since they'd both already agreed to write me a letter last month. It's like I was worried they'd change their minds or something... I swear I was more nervous today than before taking the MCAT!! But anyway, now I feel a lot better. 😀
 
Are the scores ever released sooner than the "predicted" release date? "Approximately 30 days" would mean that scores are released Aug 17, but AAMC says they'll be released Aug 19. Sorry for the neurotic question, but my application at BU won't be complete until I get my scores back...
 
This waiting is really starting to get to me now. I just need to know my score so I can finally put it behind me and keep applying (unless I bombed it).

And It's funny how I keep wavering between thinking it went really well and thinking I screwed it up pretty badly even after reading through this forum. :scared:

I thought PS was OK with a few curve balls, but I didn't have the really hard passages that some people mentioned like CDs and axes. VR seemed pretty standard to me, except for one question in the statue section that I thought definitely had two right answers. Writing was the typical scramble to find examples, and I was surprised that BS was so lacking in orgo. This was good for me, though, because I'm much better at bio and I liked the passages about the mice and genetics. I usually just can't figure out orgo to save my life, so the one orgo passage took me a while, but hopefully I guessed well.

I mean, I think that's what my score comes down to anyway - how well I guessed on the few problems in each section that I didn't know for sure.

Here's hoping and <2 weeks to go! 😱

I also wonder if they could put the scores up earlier ...
 
I am sure it is possible for the scores to be released earlier. However, with two test dates ahead of us in the queue (July 8th and July 10th) I think it is safe to say they will not be ready any earlier than the 19th.
 
with all the negative reflection on the mcat that i have had in the past few weeks, i am starting to look for low tier MD schools-any ideas? i know this isnt the right thread, but out of curiousity where is everyone else applying?

i really wonder if we will get our scores on the 19th or on the 15th? i am contemplating how i will look at the screen... 😳
 
So I'll almost certainly be at work when the scores are posted. The question I'm wrestling with is do I check the scores at work, or do I wait until I get home? Can I possibly even wait? What if my scores really suck and I start freaking out in my cube? Or crying on the drive home?
 
with all the negative reflection on the mcat that i have had in the past few weeks, i am starting to look for low tier MD schools-any ideas? i know this isnt the right thread, but out of curiousity where is everyone else applying?

i really wonder if we will get our scores on the 19th or on the 15th? i am contemplating how i will look at the screen... 😳

Why do you believe the scores will be released on the 15th?
 
lol the scores are definitely coming out on the 19th haha the 15th then i would just wait until the 19th lol.
 
i dont really know why i thought the 15th, a few of the people i know also took the mcat on the 18th and they said the test scores sometimes come out the friday four weeks after

i guess we will see, i am not even looking at my own score till i look at sdn and see how everyone else fared. perhaps that will calm me😀
 
I read through the comments on the 8/05 mcat and they had longer verbal passages as well. Maybe this will become a trend.

I took the January 25th test and got my score back the day before (monday) the site said it would be posted (tuesday).
 
hey guys... hope you've been staying sane.

The past few weeks have really sucked. I walked out of the exam feeling cautiously confident, but the more I've thought about it the more I worry about my performance. I've been working full-time at a pretty demanding job so I've kept busy but it doesn't stop the anxiety.

The more I think about it the less confident I get (especially about PS... but I'm only focusing on the 2-3 questions I know for SURE I got wrong so who knows). Argh, I want my score but I just want to forget the whole experience at the same time. And what do you know, school starts in 3 weeks. Yay for no summer
 
Mcant, you have family here. Everyone shares in your mcat anxiety (I like your name btw). I feel our scores will appear on the 18th after 5 PM eastern time.

I have been thinking through various strategies to look at the screen when I check my score. I think the best approach is to look at the section you feel strongest in first and then look at the total score. Anyway else agree?
 
Hey everyone!

So exactly how does the curve work? Because it would REALLY suck that since the majority of us feel as if this test was one of the more awesome tests out there (given the type of questions and topics that were on there) are we all bound for 21's???

Ok I'm being sarcastic, but really, how do the averages work out for each section? If everyone does awesome on the bio, for instance, then even if we got 40 questions right, are we still bound for a single-digit score?

I'm probably being stupid, but it's ridiculous to think that besides worrying on whether I should trust my own capacities to rock this test, I ALSO have to worry how the rest of the nation did on this exam...this whole process is seriously so ******ed :scared:
 
I am done with the MCAts, I have decided to become a bum for the rest of my life. its more efficient and less stressful haha.
 
In the land of the truly bizarre, I had a dream last night that I got a 49J and that the J didn't meet the cut-off for any of the schools I applied to and I was rejected from everywhere.

On a sidenote, does anyone know how we add our SS# to the Thx site or does it take it off our AMCAS application?
 
Based on all the posts that I have seen on the forum, it looks like everyone has aced the exam....I did not think the verbal reasoning was that easy...but it seems that the consensus on the site is that verbal was pretty straightforward, bio easy, and PS was slightly challenging...I think I should kiss the idea of curve goodbye...haha👎
 
I think the verbal was tougher than people were making it out to be... and it's usually my strong section with 11's and 12's on the AAMC's....

The passage material wasn't that bad which may give a sense of ease but there were a fair number of those ambiguous question regardless of how tough the passage was to read...

Mind you it wasn't brutal... so as far as curves go you're probably looking at something similar to any other AAMC test.
 
I am glad to hear that...Specifically, I thought that the passages on Statue and literature were slightly difficult, particularly for the statue passage, the questions were really long and vaguely worded...maybe it was b/c I left that passage for the end and I had to rush through it; btw, does anyone remember how many questions were on that passage?


Having said that, I think the curve for Bio will be a really nasty...no orgo and doable material....

Again, I could be wrong, as this forum is merely a small representation of the overall people who wrote the tests.

I think the verbal was tougher than people were making it out to be... and it's usually my strong section with 11's and 12's on the AAMC's....

The passage material wasn't that bad which may give a sense of ease but there were a fair number of those ambiguous question regardless of how tough the passage was to read...

Mind you it wasn't brutal... so as far as curves go you're probably looking at something similar to any other AAMC test.
 
To be honest all of the sections were challenging, I just thought BS went exceptionally well. None of the sections were "easy" like some people are claiming, I found PS to be pretty tricky and VR was very long.

There's a difference between people saying the test went well and people saying the test was easy - the test definitely wasn't easy! I'd expect a curve similar to the AAMC exams
 
Based on all the posts that I have seen on the forum, it looks like everyone has aced the exam....I did not think the verbal reasoning was that easy...but it seems that the consensus on the site is that verbal was pretty straightforward, bio easy, and PS was slightly challenging...I think I should kiss the idea of curve goodbye...haha👎

I am nervous about the verbal. Just 'cuz I clearly remember there were a few Qs I debated a long time over... and I'm not sure whether I changed the right answers into the wrong ones or what. Verbal's aways a crap shoot for me though. On practice AAMCs, I ranged from 9 to 15... and the tests that I scored well on didn't particularly feel easier than the tests I scored poorly on. Sometimes I felt really good coming out of the verbal of one of my poorer tests! lol So... plus, verbal always made or broke me, because my sciences never got beyond a 13 for either section, and I frequently got <12. Lowest PS was a 10 and lowest BS was a 9. Could easily imagine going lower than that on this test tho', 'cuz like you said, seems like there's basically no curve.

So worst case scenario I could get a sub-30 score. Best case scenario could pull 35+. IRL, I think I might pull lower 30, which would not bode well for my < 3.5 GPA. Frankly, I'll be happy as long as my score is 30+, even tho' I've done much better on practices.
 
Anyone brave enough to make predictions?


haha I may be cursing myself butttt..... P 11 V 10 B 12 W R

A little worried about that verbal though and you never know how a curve may treat ya but given my past experiences I would say my score will be something around there.....

Haha I'm hoping at least.... in aug 06 I was able to call my score without the WS perfectly but unfortunately that prediction wasn't high enough lol.
 
This is probably a bad thing to do

(ranges on aamc tests)

PS - (9-12) So lets say 10

VR - (8-11) Again 10

BS - (9-13) 11 is my guess

31 ish....... Lets face it... I have no clue.. haha
 
Oh why not

PS: 12 (AAMC range = 12-14)
VR: 9 (AAMC range 8 - 12)
BS: 13 (AAMC range 11-12)
WS: Q

So a 34Q. I'm being overly optimistic, I think my PS will be lower. 34 was my goal from when I started studying so I figured I'd stick with it haha
 
dam I was going to estimate around 25 for myself hope i did good ahhh!

I am one of the few not confident at all and not looking forward to score release 🙁 especially with all of the high confidence with others on this board for this 7/18 test

Very sad, but hey, sith happens.
 
I am one of the few not confident at all and not looking forward to score release 🙁 especially with all of the high confidence with others on this board for this 7/18 test

Very sad, but hey, sith happens.


Don't worry about it. This is my second time and one thing I have learned is that confidence does not always mean that much. The score is going to be, what it is going to be. We cannot change that. Good luck everyone, and if the scores don't turn out, you can always take it again.
 
eeeeep! looks like the 7/8 and 7/10 scores are up. but no one is posting their score yet. wish they would. i'm freaking out for them, freaking out for us, ok, really starting to freak out for us. but in a good/excited way? i don't know.

as a sidenote it sucks that i haven't had any mcat dreams (except one very early that I do not remember anything about). so please post yours so i can have a few laughs and live vicariously through you. thanks!
 
Ha, it is fun to read the excitement in those threads. One week to go and we can do the same. Although I will never personally meet any of you in this lifetime, just know it has been a pleasure waiting and reading your comments. I pray each of you find success. I am going to go to a cave and hibernate for a week.
 
eeeeep! looks like the 7/8 and 7/10 scores are up. but no one is posting their score yet. wish they would. i'm freaking out for them, freaking out for us, ok, really starting to freak out for us. but in a good/excited way? i don't know.

as a sidenote it sucks that i haven't had any mcat dreams (except one very early that I do not remember anything about). so please post yours so i can have a few laughs and live vicariously through you. thanks!

I'm skeeeered. Some girl or guy was averaging around 36 or something and ended up w/ a 27L. :barf:

I'm having serious doubts now about how I did...
 
I'm skeeeered. Some girl or guy was averaging around 36 or something and ended up w/ a 27L. :barf:

I'm having serious doubts now about how I did...

In that same light there are a few that were averaging scores that would have anyone around here yelling re-schedule you're not ready.... and then they pulled off quite respectable scores....

haha one person on there was averaging a 29 or 30....
then predicted a 11,8,10 and got a 14,11,10 and was like ya I'm kinda happy... geez... I would be estatic if I scored 5-6 pts above my averages and prediction...
 
I'm skeeeered. Some girl or guy was averaging around 36 or something and ended up w/ a 27L. :barf:

I'm having serious doubts now about how I did...

yeah those stories do pop up. i had a friend who was averaging 36-40 on his practice amcas mcat's...but the first three times he took the mcat he got a score of like 23,27,26. He finally got like a 33-35 on his 4th time and now he's at duke. so don't worry all, eventually you'll get it.
 
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