The 08/05/08 MCAT Club

[utjsm08]

Thought we should get this thread started!

My name is Jon and I'm a re-taker from May 10th. Was really hoping for a 30+ but ended up with a 29P. PS 12 VR 07 BS 10 . One point on verbal is what is making me retake!!! Good luck to everyone, and lets hope the AAMC gods will be in our favor on test day....bc my May 10th test was hard as hell.

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[Leugim0710]

It sounds like some real mcat dates have easier versions than others. Do you think it is just people's perception or is this the case. Do you guys think that they score these mcats accordingly? I hope that's the case but it is kind of unclear. I felt that especially our physical sciences (August 5) was hard and I was scoring in the 30s in both all Kaplan full lengths and AAMC. What do you guys think?

I felt the same way as you, the PS was to me the hardest, time killed me, I was scoring very good for PS in my practice exams, yet I feel unsecured in the PS for the actual test.

 

[cloosh]

I felt the same way as you, the PS was to me the hardest, time killed me, I was scoring very good for PS in my practice exams, yet I feel unsecured in the PS for the actual test.

i felt exactly the same way

 

[Huntertrek23]

did anyone else have the passage about muscle fibers in the PS section? That was my first passage, and it really threw me off.

I, too, almost didn't finish the PS section, but found the VR and BS were not too bad, and even interesting at times.

I wonder if the curve will even out the scores, since this seems to be a common trend (at least on this board)

yeah, that was my first section in PS. It felt more like bio information and not really any physics was tested. there was also a question on density which was either easy or deceptively hard.

 

[mons86]

Hey guys, do you remember if the VR passage second to last about the art stuff had more questions than the last passage about split-ticketing? Just asking because I had like 3 mins left for the last passage and had to try to make an educated guess on some and blind guess on some too. Thanks.

 

[moto_za]

oh that density question....same?

 

[MDean86]

oh that density question....same?

No, you didn't take into account the half-life of the muscle fiber. They talked about it near the end of the passage.


...just kidding.

 

[ladyoflies]

so i forgot to ask about this...i did not get to answer one question due to timing on verbal and unfortunately had to leave it unanswered..should I have voided my test??

No. Voiding's for situations like if you got violently ill either just prior to or during the exam and you had to leave early. Or if time finished before you could get to a passage or two. Definitely not for missing one question. It could be difference between a 12 and a 13 but most likely, you'll get the same score if you had answered that question (right or wrong).

 

[lrkoehle]

Definitely don't void your test over one question, at most it will be a one point difference in your score, which hopefully if your prepared properly will mean a 44 instead of a 45.

What do you guys think our curves will be like for our test date? I hope with that passage on psoriasis hopefully bio will have a relatively nice curve.

 

[cloosh]

honestly i think they will curve more on PS rather than BS. i personally didn't find BS too bad, it was just harder to read.

 

[lrkoehle]

I had the strangest dream last night. As far as I can remember I was in some store stressing about when the MCAT scores will get posted, and for some reason I had a gun...All of a sudden these two cops came by and startled me or something so I shot and killed them (too much GTA IV?). I spent the rest of the dream running from the cops and cutting through people's backyards, and the whole time I was stressing cuz I wouldn't be able to go to medical school if I got caught for killing cops. In the end they caught me. Like I said, it was a weird dream, and I blame it on the stress of waiting for scores. Am I weird? Probably...

 

[Mombosuthu]

I had the strangest dream last night. As far as I can remember I was in some store stressing about when the MCAT scores will get posted, and for some reason I had a gun...All of a sudden these two cops came by and startled me or something so I shot and killed them (too much GTA IV?). I spent the rest of the dream running from the cops and cutting through people's backyards, and the whole time I was stressing cuz I wouldn't be able to go to medical school if I got caught for killing cops. In the end they caught me. Like I said, it was a weird dream, and I blame it on the stress of waiting for scores. Am I weird? Probably...

Next time you're in a situation like that, you have three viable options, depending on your location and how bad the law is after you:
1. Run to the nearest safe house and SAVE.
2. Get in a car and speed to the nearest Paint N Spray.
3. Get some bribe stars to bring down you wanted level.

Hope this works for you.

 

[MDean86]

I had the strangest dream last night. As far as I can remember I was in some store stressing about when the MCAT scores will get posted, and for some reason I had a gun...All of a sudden these two cops came by and startled me or something so I shot and killed them (too much GTA IV?). I spent the rest of the dream running from the cops and cutting through people's backyards, and the whole time I was stressing cuz I wouldn't be able to go to medical school if I got caught for killing cops. In the end they caught me. Like I said, it was a weird dream, and I blame it on the stress of waiting for scores. Am I weird? Probably...

My recurring nightmare is that on the day that the scores are released I only let myself see the first digit of my composite and it's a 2. It's really starting to freak me out, I'd really like to get into med school this year...

 

[lrkoehle]

Next time you're in a situation like that, you have three viable options, depending on your location and how bad the law is after you:
1. Run to the nearest safe house and SAVE.
2. Get in a car and speed to the nearest Paint N Spray.
3. Get some bribe stars to bring down you wanted level.

Hope this works for you.

haha, I read the first couple words and was super confused, then I got it. I couldn't stop laughing.

 

[Mudfever]

There are a lot more people posting on the Aug 7th MCAT forum. Either that means there were less people on our day, Our group is simply trying to stay away, or something else?

I leave for the Beach in the morning. So no more thinking about it till next week. Or at least I will try.

See you all in a week.

 

[lrkoehle]

I think our date just has a less active group of people on here, considering both days were morning exams. I am sure the AAMC makes sure there are only enough exam dates per year so they are always close to full. Maybe our exam was so difficult that they are all staying away, but I don't think it was worse than most any other testing date.

 

[J ROD]

Sorry, 8/5

I post alot.

Here's a freebie!!!

 

[MDean86]

There are a lot more people posting on the Aug 7th MCAT forum. Either that means there were less people on our day, Our group is simply trying to stay away, or something else?

I leave for the Beach in the morning. So no more thinking about it till next week. Or at least I will try.

See you all in a week.

Well both the 8/5 and 8/7 scores are released on the same day, so I think more people signed up for that test knowing it would give them an extra two days to study. When I signed up I didn't realize that was the case or else I probably would have just taken the 8/7 test.

 

[Mudfever]

Well both the 8/5 and 8/7 scores are released on the same day, so I think more people signed up for that test knowing it would give them an extra two days to study. When I signed up I didn't realize that was the case or else I probably would have just taken the 8/7 test.

I think you are correct. At first, I was going to take it on the 7th b/c of the 2 xtra days, but then realized that it wouldn't make a difference.

Had to check in here one last time before I pack the car. See you in a week.

 

[minhaj]

Anyone else feel more confident about their test performance than before?

 

[pianoman90]

Well seeing as how the 8/7 thread has more posts, I'll quit lurking around this thread and make a post here.

I took the 8/5 MCAT (retaking from 7/13/07, where I made a 23 - 8,6,9) and agree with everyone else. I was making high 20s, low 30s on Kaplan FLs, and mid to high 20s on AMCAS FLs.

PS - this was the hardest section for me because I ran out of time and had to guess on a few questions. That never happened to me on any of my practice tests. I guess the nerves got to me at the beginning and I felt like I could've managed my time better. Time consuming quesions like balancing rxns, calculations, etc...got the better half of me. But seeing as how we all feel similarly about this section, maybe the scale will reflect this.

VR - these passages were longer, but they were an easier read than the Kaplan ones. I don't remember much about this section, but I know that verbal has always been my lowest scoring section and I felt good about this one.

BS - my best section, but the organic on this one was difficult. I thought the bio passages were easy as long as you read them, filtering out the pointless details and finding the meat of the passage.

 

[valtonen]

1. How was the testing site? The computers? The general environment?

The seats were very comfortable, but there was quite a bit if noise. A bunch of computers kept booting up making that windows log-on sound. The earmuffs helped a bit but not much. I started later than others and so I had to listen to everyone typing the writing sample when I was still on verbal which sucked.

2. What were some general topics tested in PS and BS?

There was a complete lack of lenses and mirrors which pleased me. The PS focused heavily on general chemistry and had little physics, imo. For practice, I did all of the AAMC exams and all of the TPR exams and most of the GS exams. The real MCAT was very similar to the AAMC but it was a little bit more random. They asked questions that I had seen before in some places.

3. Were verbal passages longer than your practice ones? Timing issues?

I ran out of time for the last passage and only had about 4 minutes to do 6 questions. I felt that I did well on all the previous passages, however.

4. Was difficulty similar to AAMC?

The difficulty was comparable but I found the real MCAT to be slightly harder.

5. Any other thoughts?

The PS was hard. People are saying this and it is totally true. I am used to getting 13-14 on the AAMC PS sections, (usually only 2-4 questions wrong) but on this thing there were a handful of questions where I wasn't completely sure, which kind of sucked. I always finish the sciences early so I went back and checked the ones I marked and was able to figure out the answers to several of the questions that I couldn't get earlier. That was nice

 

[valtonen]

Can anyone shed light as to what Genetics topics were tested? Was it Punnett squares, Hardy-weinberg, pedigrees, transcription, mutations?

Mutations, Pedigrees, Transcription

 

[lrkoehle]

Anyone else feel more confident about their test performance than before?

I feel more confident, but I think it is because at this point I have forgotten a bunch of the specifics from the test. I imagine my confidence level will change as the 9th gets closer.

 

[Leugim0710]

I feel more confident, but I think it is because at this point I have forgotten a bunch of the specifics from the test. I imagine my confidence level will change as the 9th gets closer.

Some days I feel very confident, but there are others that I feel like sh... However I feel better than the first time I took the exam back in 2007. I also feel that physics was the hardest.

 

[futuredoctor10]

The PS focused heavily on general chemistry and had little physics, imo

Ooh I hope this trend is repeated on 8/22. And no lenses/mirrors? Double bingo.

Although it sounds like they made up for it by having difficult/tricky questions regardless, right?

 

[valtonen]

Ooh I hope this trend is repeated on 8/22. And no lenses/mirrors? Double bingo.

Although it sounds like they made up for it by having difficult/tricky questions regardless, right?

it was a very tricky mcat definitely... most of the prac. aamc's i knew the vast majority of the answers without a doubt and then about 5-10 or so questions where i narrowed it down to 2 possibilities and made my best guess. the real mcat had quite a few of those narrowing questions which are not the kind i like :| when i say best guess, usually im getting these kind right but im just not completely sure about them.

the non-passage questions in the bio. section were a joke and im certain i got 100% of them right. the passage based bio. questions were again fairly tricky, however.

 

[minhaj]

I feel more confident, but I think it is because at this point I have forgotten a bunch of the specifics from the test. I imagine my confidence level will change as the 9th gets closer.

I looked up a bunch a answers I wasnt sure about on ps and seemed to have gotten them all right. thats why i feel like i did pretty well. And except for one passage on bacterial respiration, i think i did pretty well on bio. verbal i have no clue on. on the other hand, if i get too confident its gonna suck if i bomb the test.

 

[lrkoehle]

Some days I feel very confident, but there are others that I feel like sh...

I think we are destined to feel that way until the 9th. I keep wondering though, do you guys think that people who score like a 40+ or even 35+ get these up and down feelings before they get their results?

 

[lilspark]

I feel the same way as you guys, I felt that physical sciences was very hard and to think that I was scoring in the 30s on the practice tests. There were some questions (especially from the passage with orbiting satellites) I am still wondering about. There was also some passage about temperature and velocity under water that was confusing to me. I have taken Kaplan, AAMC and even Berkley practice tests, but I never felt like that before. I felt horrible after physical sciences but tried to keep a positive attitude for the rest of the test. Verbal and Bio I can't say because I don't even remember much. Hopefully, some of those questions were experimental and there is such a thing as curving, because I don't want to have to take this thing again.

 

[minhaj]

There were some questions (especially from the passage with orbiting satellites) I am still wondering about. There was also some passage about temperature and velocity under water that was confusing to me.

I did pretty well on the passage about satellites, but the one about underwater temp and velocity was probably the hardest passage in the ps section. I dont remember any questions from that one but I atleast missed one or two in that passage.

 

[MDean86]

I did pretty well on the passage about satellites, but the one about underwater temp and velocity was probably the hardest passage in the ps section. I dont remember any questions from that one but I atleast missed one or two in that passage.

I agree. I had a really hard time understanding the graph and if I remember correctly there were at least 2 questions that called for graph interpretation. I thought it was extremely confusing and could have been presented in a more logical way.

 

[lrkoehle]

Was there two different versions of the test on this day? I don't remember anything about satellites, and I had plenty of time to check that I answered everything so I know I didn't miss that passage. Maybe I just forgot about it, but it sounds like the kind of passage you would remember, like the psoriasis passage.

 

[MDean86]

Was there two different versions of the test on this day? I don't remember anything about satellites, and I had plenty of time to check that I answered everything so I know I didn't miss that passage. Maybe I just forgot about it, but it sounds like the kind of passage you would remember, like the psoriasis passage.

I didn't have the satellite passage either. Don't sweat it, not everyone takes the exact same test. It's usually just a difference of a passage or two.

 

[kweekes80]

don't worry about PS guys trust me. i took it on july 10 and the ps seemed similar to yours, lots of general and little physics, and there was alot of stuff that i wasn't sure of. I ended up doing around my aamc ps, so i wouldnt worry about it. as long as you gave it your all and didnt do anything like not get to a passage or something or leave alot of questions, i think you should hit what you did in aamc. there were a good 7-10 questions that left me scratching my head afterwards, not to mention the rest that i couldnt recall cause it was a blur! somehow i got a 12, and got 11s on aamcs, i was real surprised. So bottom line i would be confident that your score will be in your practice test range.

 

[lrkoehle]

I'm not too worried about PS, because I went on break after it thinking that if the whole MCAT was that easy then it would be a breeze. Truthfully, I am kind of happy to hear that others thought the PS was hard (sorry, I hate knowing that the worse everyone else did the better I will have done, but that's how they score it). From what I keep hearing I am happy I didn't have this infamous satellite passage.

 

[futuredoctor10]

I ended up doing around my aamc ps, so i wouldnt worry about it. as long as you gave it your all and didnt do anything like not get to a passage or something or leave alot of questions, i think you should hit what you did in aamc

Ah good to hear. I figured if the real MCAT PS section is much harder (which most seem to agree with), then the curve would be better. At least this gives us some comfort in knowing to just work through the AAMC PS without getting flustered, because you should score in the range of practice tests. Thanks for the info! (I take the test 8/22) ;-)

 

[minhaj]

don't worry about PS guys trust me. i took it on july 10 and the ps seemed similar to yours, lots of general and little physics, and there was alot of stuff that i wasn't sure of. I ended up doing around my aamc ps, so i wouldnt worry about it. as long as you gave it your all and didnt do anything like not get to a passage or something or leave alot of questions, i think you should hit what you did in aamc. there were a good 7-10 questions that left me scratching my head afterwards, not to mention the rest that i couldnt recall cause it was a blur! somehow i got a 12, and got 11s on aamcs, i was real surprised. So bottom line i would be confident that your score will be in your practice test range.

If i get my aamc average, i will be more than ecstatic. my average was 13.4 . I dont think I pulled it off on this one though. Lets hope for the best!

 

[lrkoehle]

Am I the only one who didn't take any AAMC practice tests? I only did the kaplan ones, but the real test felt pretty easy to me. My instructors told me the kaplan tests were harder than the real one, so I thought that would make the test day easier for me.

 

[minhaj]

Am I the only one who didn't take any AAMC practice tests? I only did the kaplan ones, but the real test felt pretty easy to me. My instructors told me the kaplan tests were harder than the real one, so I thought that would make the test day easier for me.

I took the kaplan FL's but I felt like the real thing was nothing like it. Kaplan is more plug and chug if you will, whereas the real mcat was more based on critical thinking.

 

[lrkoehle]

I took the kaplan FL's but I felt like the real thing was nothing like it. Kaplan is more plug and chug if you will, whereas the real mcat was more based on critical thinking.

That seems to be more of the general consensus on here, but I didn't notice a big difference between the two. I hope that doesn't end up being a bad thing. The 9th can't get here fast enough.

 

[lrkoehle]

I just looked at the august 15th MCAT posts, and looks like we didn't have that hard of an MCAT compared to them. I hope they still give us a generous curve though.

 

[minhaj]

I just looked at the august 15th MCAT posts, and looks like we didn't have that hard of an MCAT compared to them. I hope they still give us a generous curve though.

yeah, i honestly thought our test wasn't that hard. it was fair, well except for bs. so i am not counting on a generous curve.

 

[GeorgianCMV]

I was pretty happy with the PS we got, then with 30 seconds left, realized I left out that 4 question passage. I am having trouble remembering what it was about, but I think ions. Had to bubble in 4 C's at the last second. Can anyone give me any reassurance about this? VR was tough for me, but the rest of PS and BS went so well that I decided not to void. I am scared about PS though since that happened.

 

[CrownwithCoke]

i thought that the scores were coming out on sept 7th? is it on the 9th now?? thats so far awayy

 

[J ROD]

i thought that the scores were coming out on sept 7th? is it on the 9th now?? thats so far awayy

Love the name!!

We probably will get our scores on Sep 8th, since there is a trend with Tues dates being released on Mon.

 

[lrkoehle]

yeah, i honestly thought our test wasn't that hard. it was fair, well except for bs. so i am not counting on a generous curve.

I agree, but it doesn't hurt to hope for a nice curve. To me, the test was quite reasonable, but for some reason I lost focus and allowed one passage on BS to throw me off a little. Up to that point I felt like I had been killing the test. I spent about 20 minutes on the psriasis passage, but still finished BS with 5 extra minutes to review (I always fly through BS). I am just nervous that perhaps that passage threw me off on a bunch of other questions in that section. My goal was a 40, and I am still holding out hope for that (even though my practice tests peaked at 38 the saturday before the test).

 

[minhaj]

I agree, but it doesn't hurt to hope for a nice curve. To me, the test was quite reasonable, but for some reason I lost focus and allowed one passage on BS to throw me off a little. Up to that point I felt like I had been killing the test. I spent about 20 minutes on the psriasis passage, but still finished BS with 5 extra minutes to review (I always fly through BS). I am just nervous that perhaps that passage threw me off on a bunch of other questions in that section. My goal was a 40, and I am still holding out hope for that (even though my practice tests peaked at 38 the saturday before the test).

I really do hope we have a nice curve. Thank god i didnt have the psoriasis passage. the one i had the most trouble with was the one with gel electrophoresis/restriction enzyme crap. I dont know why but I have been feeling really crappy about my performance for the past few days. btw, if you studied for the test with a goal of making a 40, then you know you atleast are going to get a 35.

 

[lrkoehle]

I really do hope we have a nice curve. Thank god i didnt have the psoriasis passage. the one i had the most trouble with was the one with gel electrophoresis/restriction enzyme crap. I dont know why but I have been feeling really crappy about my performance for the past few days. btw, if you studied for the test with a goal of making a 40, then you know you atleast are going to get a 35.

I think we had different test forms, because I don't recall any gel electrophesis stuff. I was actually pretty strong on electrophoresis, so I wish I had that. My biggest complain about the MCAT relates to that, in that I don't think they test enough material. It is such a guessing game of what will actually be tested, and if you are lucky and get a test with topics that you rock at then its onto med school with full ride scholarships. However, that same person could take a different MCAT with the same difficulty and different topics, and end up barely getting into some low level medical school. That's probably the only reason I would have preferred the longer written test, but I never took a written one so I don't know.

All of us have those days where we feel like we screwed up big time on that damn test. I just try to convince myself that the practice exams are really good indicators of actual test performance, and that I will do good enough on it. Also, I am sure mostly all those people who do really well on their MCATs stress just as much about their scores as all of us are right now.

I'd like to think I will get a 35, but somedays I don't (I also freaked out the right after the exam that I may have accidentally voided it). My practice test average was about 36 with mostly 36's and a couple above and below with a high of 38 on a kaplan test. I set my sights on getting a 40 because I know it was such a high score that it would force me to stay motivated. If my goal had been a 35 I would have hit that, felt satisfied, and then relaxed my studies and potentially dropped my scores.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

Anyone else feel more confident about their test performance than before?

It's funny.... for me, I felt better the further away from the test we got, until about a week before scores came out. Then panic mode set in!! Hopefully you guys won't get to this point!

 

[lrkoehle]

It's funny.... for me, I felt better the further away from the test we got, until about a week before scores came out. Then panic mode set in!! Hopefully you guys won't get to this point!

I fully expect that to happen to me. I am just happy that I can relax now before school starts up again, then the week before scores come out I hope to be too busy studying to stress myself out.