The 4/05/08 MCAT Club

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pingouin

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Welcome, all April 5, 2008, MCATers!!!!

This is your official place to stress, vent, hang out, party, cry, yell, or whatever else you need to do in the week before and just after your MCAT.

As a reminder, when your test is done, you are welcome to come here and discuss your experience with it. Discussing general passage topics is OK- ie, "I had PS passages on circuits, thermodynamics, and optics." However, you are NOT allowed post specific questions, passage information, or answer choices from your test. Any posts which contain specific content from the test will be deleted, and a 1-week post hold will be placed on your account. Look here for more information on this.

:luck: :luck: :luck: :luck: :luck: to each and every one of you!!!!!!!

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hmm.. a few days left and ive kinda given up... im really taking a chill attitude for this week and i wonder if thats going to hurt me. im so ready for it to be over.. ick
 
I am an April 5th test taker and hopefully after this I will never have to think about the MCAT again. Far too much time spent on this exam, looking forward to getting it over with.
 
Suck to be me. I have 2 days left to improve my verbal or choosing a new strategy. Hoping for a miracle here :) .
 
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Suck to be me. I have 2 days left to improve my verbal or choosing a new strategy. Hoping for a miracle here :) .

What type of problems are you missing in verbal? Are they general comprehension things, or inference/point of view? A strategy that works for me is to find out what the subject of the passage is (ex. dogs) and what it is the reason for talking about the subject (ex. why dogs need to go on walks). Then I try to understand what each paragraph does ( Is it a supporting paragraph, counter example to an opinion, etc.) I jot down a few lines about each. I find this helps me gain a better understanding. My verbal has been consistently 10 on the AAMC tests ( 3-10) , which is up from the 7-8 range.Try to do a passage in 8 minutes ( 4 reading and 4 doing the questions) this will leave you 4 minutes at the end to go back and go over other stuff.
I got a 7 last April, so I hope this Sat. it will go down a little different.
 
Thanks for the advice. I am going try to figure out which type of questions I missed
and do what you said.

Good luck on your MCAT.
 
Try to ID the type of questions you miss, and look carefully at the explanations. From this you can get a sense of what the right answer "looks" like and why, which will guide you when it comes down to those two answer choices you can't choose from. That's brought me up from an 8 to 11 average.
 
I can't wait till it's over. Taking 17 hrs, working (nontrad), and studying for the mcat has been an experience. I personally don't like the kind of verbal passages that have lots names of groups and subgroups. The best of luck to all of you.
 
yeaa no kidding...i'm takin freakin 21 hours this semester and the mcat. my life has disappeared the last few months. it sucks...

for verbal, i just make sure to get each passage down in 8 minutes and i'm good. i don't think that jotting down notes strategy is a good one. that is what kaplan teaches you...but it just uses up your time and you can't finish. i'd rather spend <3 min reading the passage and having 5 min to answer the questions. idk i guess i was lucky and i started doing okay on verbal from day1. i got a 9 on the 1st one cuz i couldn't get down timing. from then on out i did the no more than 8 minutes/passage timing and i've gotten 10s everytime since.

i have trouble with physics timing myself. i dont know...i run out of time and am unable to read the last passage. i always end up having to answer the questions without reading ehh...usually costs easily 1-2 pts. tomorrow is my last practice test and i'm gonna try a 7 min/passage strategy and see how that goes for physics. i dont know...bio don't have a problem with time but i do need to correct myself on misreading the question or answer choices *siighh*
 
I am in the same boat as a previous poster: I have been so relaxed this week that I hope it will all turn out alright. I have literally put everything besides verbal stuff on flash cards (I have like 200!), and this week has been devoted to making sure I know everything on them! Tomorrow I am going to study all day, but after that... my MCAT studying days will (Hopefully) be done forever.

...And writing that last sentence really made me realize how far I have come in the past four months. I started studying January 1st. My scores were not good at all, as it had been a few years since I had taken chemistry or physics. On my diagnostic I scored something around 5V/6P/7B in January. Now I am consistently scoring in the high twenties (~28).

I really, really hope test day goes alright. The only section I am really worried about is verbal, because I have this fear that I am going to get discouraged due to the uncertainty of my answers an panic on the section. I'm sure it will all go alright, though.
 
dude, all you have to do on verbal is outsmart it and don't overcomplicate it. use your own common sense. did you ever take any debate class or anything? mcat verbal totally structures their questions like a debate arguing for or against the author's intent. just seriously choose your answer by eliminating all the crappy ones first that make no sense...you'll get the write answer i promise.
 
fellow april 5th mcater chimin' in.

I hope everyone enjoys the next couple days (either chillin or studyin) Good luck on test day and no matter how the exam goes, just remember to ask yourself after: "what comes before part B??"


PARTAY!!!! :laugh:



sorry.. all these ek verbal test are getting to me lol :smuggrin:
 
soo i just took my last practice test, AAMC 10 and got a 36. I would e insanely happy with that score... God i hope i do well on Saturday. Now what Im worried about is that i am already plannign stuff to do for when i GET my score.. lol
 
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soo i just took my last practice test, AAMC 10 and got a 36. I would e insanely happy with that score... God i hope i do well on Saturday. Now what Im worried about is that i am already plannign stuff to do for when i GET my score.. lol

yea man, i got a 42 on AAMC10 a few days ago. i hope i can pull that score off again this weekend!
 
HOLY **** DUDE! Seriously? have you gotten scores that high on any other tests? highest I got was a 39
 
i got a 42 on AAMC9 and a 41 on AAMC7...but only need a 39 on AAMC8 :(
 
Yeah I really hope that the AAMC tests are like what AAMC throws at us saturday... I've been getting marvelous scores on them and I'd be really happy if I could pull it off on the real thing. I did PR for so long (till 3 weeks ago) that I was seriously expecting a 30 at MAX but now a 30 almost happens without doing orgo (haha i wish i could). Tomorrow i'm gonna run through formulas and Friday Entourage marathon. what's everyone doing to relax friday (or stress)?
 
39 on kaplan full length 4 (14 PS 11 V 14 BS) and 38 AAMC 7 (13 11 14) and 39 on AAMC 4 ( 12 13 14) but that seems a little crazy.. a 13 on Verbal?? ahah right
 
to make sure i knew where it was. it was in the middle of nowhere!!! in what looked like a POS, old building. my friend took his pcat in a huge auditorium!! bs bs bs bs

oh well i have the test tomorrow morning. wish me luck!

good luck everyone :)
 
I know there are a lot of you on this forum that are taking the test tomorrow with me. Good luck, stay focused and you will all be fine!


I can't believe it's already here!
 
If any of you are still awake, go to sleep! Vihsadas commands it! If I find you online right now...I'm going to post-hold you for 1 day for your own good. :laugh: Come back tomorrow when your test is over!
 
My daughter is taking the exam this morning. When do you think she'll get her results?:confused:

Best of luck to all of you!:)
 
After months of preparation, this morning i woke up 3hrs early to drive 1.5hrs to the test center. When I finally got there, right before the supervisor asked for the ID"s, I remembered the judge who I saw at court last week, took my license away(too many speeding tickets!!). I wasn't able to take the exam because of no photo ID, stupid me. I tried everything I can to let me take the test and ended up being dragged out of the test center by the police!!!!lol!!!im just wondering what will happen now that i have missed the test, how can i reschedule to0?when i log in it still says im scheduled for april 5th, I wanna take it april 18 or 19 but im afraid it will be full. any similar experience?
 
If any of you are still awake, go to sleep! Vihsadas commands it! If I find you online right now...I'm going to post-hold you for 1 day for your own good. :laugh: Come back tomorrow when your test is over!
Liar liar pants on fire! :laugh:

Seriously- :luck: to everyone who's taking it today! Report back on how you're feeling after you're done and (I must say this again- federal law requires it) PLEASE DON'T POST ANY OF YOUR TEST CONTENT ON SDN!!! Please please please please please.... (see 1st post for details).
 
PS: a little bit harder than AAMC or maybe I wasn't awake yet :)
Verbal: Easy reading, tougher questions.. similar to AAMC
Writing: Easy.. 1 q's is exactly the same as TPR's practice haha... too bad I didn't do the practice haha
Bio: Okay surprising only 1 orgo passage .. and 1 tough really tough bio experiment

Predict around 30.. might retake in June.

PS: I feel bad for you :(,robert0e23
 
yeaaa, the verbal i thought was easier than normal.

the PS i dont know if it was harder but i had a hard time finishing. i had to not fully read that last passage to make sure i could finish.

BS - barely any organic! sooo tight. thumbs up.

i think i did about the same or maybe slightly better on VR than in practice.
PS i probably got my lower range on practice tests.
BS i may have gotten slightly better than on practice.

hell, im gonna make a big post on this haha
 
Phew! Round one is over! I hope you guys killed it. But for now, just relax and plays some video, go to the gym, or spend some time with your girlfried/boyfriend. YAY!!

Morning MCATers are done!!
 
it is the same as AAMC practice tests! seriously, it is no harder, no easier. same format, same everything.

PS: i had a hardtime finishing...had to skip over reading the last passage. the main thing that threw me off was all the AAMC practice tests had 5 NPQs for the last 5 questions. i had 6 questions left so i was like "yess, only NPQs remaining!" and then BOOM another passage. a passage for 3 questions and then 3 NPQs. other than that, it was the same as AAMC practice tests. it wasn't any easier or harder either. also, AAMCs 7-10 are prolly the most accurate to the real one because they have LESS wordy passages. the passages weren't too wordy at all on mine. if it was wordy, it was useless to read and wasted your time. i did this a bit, woops. so prolly scored on the lower end of my practice test average since that last passage.
let's see....there was a galvanic cell passage...some fusion one...uhh no mirrors/lens at all...umm no waves....i don't remember anymore. ill prolly randomly remember things as the day goes on.

VR: the passages i thought were easier than AAMC practice ones. the questions may have been a lil more tricky themselves but i'm not sure. i think i did about the same as usual on this...a 10 probably. if i was lucky maybe an 11! i finished a bit early too...

Writing: same as usual. i never actually practiced the writing and my conclusions on both were definitely crappily written haha. they were like 3-4 sentences and useless haha. oh well. the body was good! i think! it was easy to get off on tangents a lil...my 1st body paragraph was always slightly longer than my others. woooppss. oh well!

BS: there was barely any organic. it was pretty tight. there was one passage on basic organic mechanisms! i had just reviewed this last night so i was like "sooo tight." the bio itself seemed biochem heavy. glad i took biochem last semester! umm some passage on endocrine system...i just had an anatomy test 2 days ago that was heavy on the exact passage topic hahaha. that was pretty awesome...i don't remember what else to say. as i already said, ill prolly remember more as the day goes on and i'll post more.

anyways, the MCAT isn't too bad! my main complaint was the computers were SLOW as hell and it would several seconds to move from passage to passage after hitting next. then of course your time was -5 seconds from when you hit the next button :mad:. it didn't making navigating through it easy. i just didnt go back at all cuz it would have wasted time. i finished a few minutes early...

the funny thing was there was this girl during one of the breaks...after physics part and she asked me if i had studied a lot for this test. i was like "umm, a little bit." and she goes "i was lazy...and didn't study at all." i jus nodded and smiled but in my head i was like "hahahha you're ****ed!"
 
the funny thing was there was this girl during one of the breaks...after physics part and she asked me if i had studied a lot for this test. i was like "umm, a little bit." and she goes "i was lazy...and didn't study at all." i jus nodded and smiled but in my head i was like "hahahha you're ****ed!"
Hahaha and it was probably true! Congratulations on being done! And thanks for the post.
 
Wow, I wish I felt more confident on it, like you guys! I thought that it was all pretty tough, except for the writing.

PS: I thought the passages were much harder than the practice tests that I took. It didn't really seem that it emphasized the same material that the 6 practice tests that I took did. Also, two or three of the passages seemed to cover similar material, which I thought sucked. PS was so hard that it made VR seem harder!

VR: Was OK. I didn't think the passages were very hard, but the questions definitely were. I ran short of time on the last passage so I didn't answer them with all of the knowledge from the passage.

BS: With the exception of a couple of passages, I thought it was tough! Also, there was a tough inheretance question that I was like "WTF?" on!

I hope I am just being over-analytical, but I thought it was TOUGH.
 
Wow, I wish I felt more confident on it, like you guys! I thought that it was all pretty tough, except for the writing.

PS: I thought the passages were much harder than the practice tests that I took. It didn't really seem that it emphasized the same material that the 6 practice tests that I took did. Also, two or three of the passages seemed to cover similar material, which I thought sucked. PS was so hard that it made VR seem harder!

VR: Was OK. I didn't think the passages were very hard, but the questions definitely were. I ran short of time on the last passage so I didn't answer them with all of the knowledge from the passage.

BS: With the exception of a couple of passages, I thought it was tough! Also, there was a tough inheretance question that I was like "WTF?" on!

I hope I am just being over-analytical, but I thought it was TOUGH.

well yea, i mean, the PS on this one weren't EXACTLY the same TOPICS as the ones on the practice tests. there are soo many topics to choose from that you have to know all of them. i just thought the difficulty level of the passages+topics were about the same tho. i just didnt have time to read the last passage so i had to answer it based on logical deduction haha. there was no doppler effect, lens/mirrors, waves, tho, which i thought was nice. there was some sound passage but that was also covered in the passage. i dont know...what else?

on the BS, i think i know what inheritance problem you were talking about. there were two of them...one was one of the most basic genetics questions tho. the other one was...yeah a lil hard. i just kind of guessed based on what made sense. i wish i could say more on here because i know you smartasses on here would know the answer! dont wanna get in trouble tho :)
 
Took it today in a testing center with only 1 other test taker. The administrator showed up at 7:56 and the temperature in the testing room def. favored endothermic reactions, but the equipment was decent at least.
PS: definitely hit some topics that weren't overly emphasized in the prep, but not too bad (I'm a physics TA, this is my long suit)
VR: About what I expected, although in retrospect the passages were a little less difficult than normal, but all really long.
BS: Pretty tough, I thought, especially the biochem questions.

Was totally shocked to get a writing prompt I had practiced before. . . wish I would have put more effort into the practice one!

Now it's off to get rubbed for 90 mins (mothers are the best!)
 
Took it today in a testing center with only 1 other test taker. The administrator showed up at 7:56 and the temperature in the testing room def. favored endothermic reactions, but the equipment was decent at least.
PS: definitely hit some topics that weren't overly emphasized in the prep, but not too bad (I'm a physics TA, this is my long suit)
VR: About what I expected, although in retrospect the passages were a little less difficult than normal, but all really long.
BS: Pretty tough, I thought, especially the biochem questions.

Was totally shocked to get a writing prompt I had practiced before. . . wish I would have put more effort into the practice one!

Now it's off to get rubbed for 90 mins (mothers are the best!)


Getting rubbed by mommy sounds a little freaky/sick to me...

I guess different strokes for different folks!!:laugh:
 
BS section had some extremely wordy passages I thought. Probably the toughest BIO i've taken in all 14 practices that I took.
 
what?? dude, the bio was easiest section!

the physics was hard. i was trippin out on the physics since i didnt have time to read the last passage. the bio tho...i don't know...i know i missed some but i thought it was better than all the AAMC practice tests! barely any organic and tons of biochem! i dont know...maybe it just hit my stronger areas. taking biochem last semester made it easier...also having an anatomy test 2 days ago was pretty nice
 
Could we have had different ones? I took it with some others that had done consistently well on BIO and all of them felt the same way. That ebola passage was extremely hard, seemed more like a Kaplan BIO but sounds like you beasted it, I hope others thought it was tough or Im done for.

I did ok on my last practice and I know I missed more on this test which sucks, I'm curious if the curve is more like the AAMC's or in the middle of them and Kaplan. I have no idea how to gage what I got, this next month is going to drive my crazy.
 
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