So, we've got the 3/28 and the 4/18, but no 4/4/08 yet. Anyone else taking it on this date?
The 4/4/09 MCAT Club
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The curve is a combination of how people did in the past on the same questions you got and how people did on the same day of your exam.
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I've seen people mention on here that the point scale is set before the test is administered, since the questions/passages have been used before or experimented with before so they know how test takers should do. Now, I'm sure if there was an anomaly which people did substantially worse than predicted, the scale would be curved. But the chances of that are slim.
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The more I think about the test the worse I feel that I performed on it. I feel that I totally flopped on PS and had to guess on more questions than I normally did on AAMC's.
I have thought about starting to study (or I guess continue) again in the possible case I have to retake in late May. I reasoned that I would be better off retaining the stuff I know now and keeping my "MCAT" skills sharp rather than take this next month off and try to study for a retake in a short period of time.
I have thought about starting to study (or I guess continue) again in the possible case I have to retake in late May. I reasoned that I would be better off retaining the stuff I know now and keeping my "MCAT" skills sharp rather than take this next month off and try to study for a retake in a short period of time.
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I'm thinking about the same thing, Knights, since my Kaplan material expires on May 1st - but then I don't want to jinx myself! I know its over but I get stuperstitious with exams/sports lol.
I gamble and bet very conservatively, and so i usually profit. I would be willing to put down a little money on the bet that both of you did fine. People guess all the time on these things, and are frequently right. Almost every practice test I took i had to guess, thought I bombed it, and was pleasantly surprised. First, you're usually only guessing between two answers. Second, that guess, although not conscious in nature, is often influenced by something you read or some other problem you did but can't remember. That thing which makes you choose one answer over an other doesn't always, but I've found ussually does, have some element of truth to it.
I doubt it's worth it to start at it again right now. I'd be surprised if anyone could really start up again, 3 days later, with the same level of intensity and tenacity it takes to really kill the thing in 2 months. Better to tell yourself you did OK and take some time off. My two cents: I'm sure you two did great, because even 38+ takers doubt their answers in that agonous dreadful month after the test. I find just reading that everyone else guessed and found parts hard is enough to make this month (so far) bearable.
I doubt it's worth it to start at it again right now. I'd be surprised if anyone could really start up again, 3 days later, with the same level of intensity and tenacity it takes to really kill the thing in 2 months. Better to tell yourself you did OK and take some time off. My two cents: I'm sure you two did great, because even 38+ takers doubt their answers in that agonous dreadful month after the test. I find just reading that everyone else guessed and found parts hard is enough to make this month (so far) bearable.
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Same knight. I keep replaying things in my head ... not how I wanted it to go. Miller has a good point though, and most of the time your guess it not a guess ... it's an educated process of elimination. I don't think you should start up right away. We should all give ourselves time to cool down, and deal with whatever happens when we get the scores. I bet it will work out okay ... also, remember that quick retakes usually don't beef up scores unless something really bad happened on test day - ie you were sick, had a panic attack etc.
I gotta say that after reading you all's comments for the last couple of days, I am very surprised how similar we all feel! It absolutely amazing and I guess nice to know that the after shock is something that more or less we all are experiencing. I went into this test with 36-38 avg. on Kaplan FL's and 36 avg on AAMC and I walked out thinking I got a 27! I walked in like I was Chuck Luddel at the UFC and I walked out thinking I got my ass beat.
If our discussions bear any remote resemblence to how most people that took the 4/4/9 test feel. then we should be ok based on the curve. You know I've had a chance to mull things over for a couple of days now and I came to the conclusion that the questions were not that hard but there was not enough time per question to be too sure on any of them. Most of it is a blurr for most of us. Also, I think what we have to realize is that we only remember the really hard questions. The easier ones we simply answered, moved on and eventually forgot about. I find it really hard to sit there and try to guess how many I got right or even wrong for that matter because at 1 min per question, there simply was not enough time to justify any answer for sure. I guess, assuming we studied and did well on the practice answers, we just have to assume that wer were on "auto pilot" and don't remember all the ones we guessed with relative ease. A friend of mine that took the test last year told me taking the MCAT was alot like being in a bar fight. Looking back, I have to say that that analogy was spot on! I was punching and kicking the whole time. By the way he thought he bombed PS and BS and he ended up with a 11/10/12. That goes to show, its hard to go off your feeling because the whole thing was more or less a blurr with some nightmarish parts that we simply can't forget.
If our discussions bear any remote resemblence to how most people that took the 4/4/9 test feel. then we should be ok based on the curve. You know I've had a chance to mull things over for a couple of days now and I came to the conclusion that the questions were not that hard but there was not enough time per question to be too sure on any of them. Most of it is a blurr for most of us. Also, I think what we have to realize is that we only remember the really hard questions. The easier ones we simply answered, moved on and eventually forgot about. I find it really hard to sit there and try to guess how many I got right or even wrong for that matter because at 1 min per question, there simply was not enough time to justify any answer for sure. I guess, assuming we studied and did well on the practice answers, we just have to assume that wer were on "auto pilot" and don't remember all the ones we guessed with relative ease. A friend of mine that took the test last year told me taking the MCAT was alot like being in a bar fight. Looking back, I have to say that that analogy was spot on! I was punching and kicking the whole time. By the way he thought he bombed PS and BS and he ended up with a 11/10/12. That goes to show, its hard to go off your feeling because the whole thing was more or less a blurr with some nightmarish parts that we simply can't forget.
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Wow. I just discovered SDN forums and I immediately went searching for a thread like this one.
Physical sciences killed me. I usually finish with ~15 minutes to spare to go over calculation-based questions. The 5 minute warning popped up when I had 2 passages left over.
I voided. duh.
I just wasted a good 2.5 months of my life studying for the MCAT, since I decided to stick with my first score.
Physical sciences killed me. I usually finish with ~15 minutes to spare to go over calculation-based questions. The 5 minute warning popped up when I had 2 passages left over.
I voided. duh.
I just wasted a good 2.5 months of my life studying for the MCAT, since I decided to stick with my first score.
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Such a good analogy. Lol honestly way too true. I've been in a few scraps in my day ... and it really does have the same kind of surreal feeling where you are just shocked and working on some primal instinct. I must say though, I was this way only for about 3/4 of PS, then I got back to normal. I can say though that I was so glad how many full length tests I took because even though I thought it was hard, I was so used to doing tests that I was able to function. I think the curve will be good for PS ... I'm not sure about BS - some are saying it was easy, others have issues with certain passages (crab, limb growing, transferrin - just what I've heard), and VR will probably be a little easier than AAMC. Namely because the VR curves were just weird for the last few AAMCs. CBT 10 was hard, I got a 34/40 on it and still got a 10??? That's just off. We'll all be good.
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SO glad to have found the thread.
As seems to be the case with most, I almost died during PS. I was literally shaking. Normally, I have a good fifteen, twenty minutes left over in the section and have a fair grasp of what Im doing. I had four minutes left to do two calculations and skimmed/guessed on more than I should have. What a horrible way to start.
Luckily, I think it got better from there. VR was nothing special and BS only incited worry on occasion. I think. To be honest, most of my memory of taking the test consists of PS passages and an internal voice chanting, not enough time, not enough time, not enough .
Good luck to everyone!
As seems to be the case with most, I almost died during PS. I was literally shaking. Normally, I have a good fifteen, twenty minutes left over in the section and have a fair grasp of what Im doing. I had four minutes left to do two calculations and skimmed/guessed on more than I should have. What a horrible way to start.
Luckily, I think it got better from there. VR was nothing special and BS only incited worry on occasion. I think. To be honest, most of my memory of taking the test consists of PS passages and an internal voice chanting, not enough time, not enough time, not enough .
Good luck to everyone!
One thing is for sure folks.... we are all in this boat together!
So don't think you're alone or anything like that.
I know one thing: I will never ever forget this whole crazy experience from the start (endless studying and practice exams until my eyes were ready to pop out of my skull) all the way to the actuall crazy "surprisingly nothing like any practice exam" part of it. Its been a mind F***ck all the way from start to finish and its only going to continue for 4 more weeks . Anyways.. I feel privileged and happy that I am able to get you all's insight and experiences. At least I know that I am not out of line for feeling the way I do about how things went last Saturday.It makes me feel like I am part of a platoon or something in the middle of war. We'll get through this together!
Keep up the good spirits guys and good job for making it thus far no matter what the outcome. We have all worked very hard to even get to this point and we should be proud of ourselves. Premeds are a bunch of hardworking, competitive, dreamers. That is who we are!
Anyways, so much for the preacher talk. Good job and keep the comments/suggestions/etc. coming.
So don't think you're alone or anything like that.
I know one thing: I will never ever forget this whole crazy experience from the start (endless studying and practice exams until my eyes were ready to pop out of my skull) all the way to the actuall crazy "surprisingly nothing like any practice exam" part of it. Its been a mind F***ck all the way from start to finish and its only going to continue for 4 more weeks . Anyways.. I feel privileged and happy that I am able to get you all's insight and experiences. At least I know that I am not out of line for feeling the way I do about how things went last Saturday.It makes me feel like I am part of a platoon or something in the middle of war. We'll get through this together!
Keep up the good spirits guys and good job for making it thus far no matter what the outcome. We have all worked very hard to even get to this point and we should be proud of ourselves. Premeds are a bunch of hardworking, competitive, dreamers. That is who we are!
Anyways, so much for the preacher talk. Good job and keep the comments/suggestions/etc. coming.
I really like the bar fight analogy (even though my last fight was in 9th grade haha). Sorry girls, I don't think we're trying to alienate you with fighting and war metaphors. Practice tests are like sparring around with your friends; the risk is minimal. It just sucks: that the last thing you want on a test is that im-about-to-fight feeling. Sympathetic stimulation sucks when you're trying to think. Little sounds become super audible, pupils constrict, blood flow goes to muscles and a little bit away from the brain. So, as mentioned, we move into autopilot. I'm pretty sure that although it isn't ideal its uniform across takers, or pretty close... I guess the glycogen breakdown is good for the brain.
With regards to BS- I'm a little worried for myself that everyone found it unchallenging. I was a biochem major, and took everything major except developmental biology that my school offered (including 3 evolutionary bio classes) and I thought it was tough. I perfect scored this section on a few AAMC tests as well, and thought this was harder than any of them. Cholera was easy, Ochem way managable, transferrin tried to be tricky but i thought i got it, crabs sucked but i'm ok with my educated guesses, blood pressure was def. tricky, and the limb regeneration was outright hard. Fresh, I think I would've nailed the section but this is the real thing, no excuses... Stand alones were cake. I'm surprised I thought it was hard considering usually it's my strongest section.
With regards to BS- I'm a little worried for myself that everyone found it unchallenging. I was a biochem major, and took everything major except developmental biology that my school offered (including 3 evolutionary bio classes) and I thought it was tough. I perfect scored this section on a few AAMC tests as well, and thought this was harder than any of them. Cholera was easy, Ochem way managable, transferrin tried to be tricky but i thought i got it, crabs sucked but i'm ok with my educated guesses, blood pressure was def. tricky, and the limb regeneration was outright hard. Fresh, I think I would've nailed the section but this is the real thing, no excuses... Stand alones were cake. I'm surprised I thought it was hard considering usually it's my strongest section.
i agree with you 358 miller, i thought bs was hard. i usually feel so confident with bs, but i feel that i had to make a lot of educated guesses. im scared that the curve wont be that great since other people found it to be easier. im pretty sure the curve for ps will be in our favor, and i have no idea for vs! i was looking at some old mcat clubs, and there was one where the vs was really easy, and people who thought they would get 12-14 (and usually did on practice exams) ended up with 10s!!! there were a bunch of 6's as well. that curve was awful, and i hope that doesn't happen to us.
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Me too ... I think it was a typo.
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No, I agree with you about BIO actually. It was harder than the other AAMC, and there definitely was more outside knowledge needed for passages - especially crab and regeneration in my opinion. I just took a hardcore molecular biology class and my professor wrote a paper concerning limb development in embroys that we had to read and study for our final. Had I not read that paper 2 weeks before the test, I would have been completely out in that passage. I normally NEVER try to stray from what is in the passage, but that one had some implications you pretty much had to make from outside, in my opinion. I think the bio was harder than AAMC 3-10 to be honest. I think there will be a decent curve on it. Also in bio I'm 99% sure I changed a discrete question that was initially correct and it's killing me .... argggh.
Yeah, totally agree with you. Some people here are saying that it was straightforward, but I thought that it was more difficult than most AAMC's, especially AAMC 10. I material wasn't too hard, but it wasn't a cakewalk either like some of the AAMC BS sections. I for sure never really studied that regeneration stuff. The crab passage and melatonin passage were all based off the passage and interpreting the data, but I remember that there were like 2-3 questions where I was like "WTF , like 3 of these answer choices look pretty descent". There was not as much distinction like in AAMCs where two of the answer choices are clearly crappy, and you only have to read the other two answer choices again to find the difference between them. The BS seemed like there were 2-3 descent answer choices, and you had to choose the "best" answer like in verbal.
I think people are saying BS wasn't as bad is because they are comparing it to PS section....
Let's hope for a good curve
, like 3 of these answer choices look pretty descent". There was not as much distinction like in AAMCs where two of the answer choices are clearly crappy, and you only have to read the other two answer choices again to find the difference between them. The BS seemed like there were 2-3 descent answer choices, and you had to choose the "best" answer like in verbal.I think people are saying BS wasn't as bad is because they are comparing it to PS section....
Let's hope for a good curve
yeah, I know how you feel. Pathetic biochem major here who missed the question on amino acid structures because he was running out of time and didn't reason through the answer choices. That has been killing me for some time now....
Sorry for the typo. Thats cool that you read that paper, you must have been stoked! I actually read tons about iron a week before because my buddy was dealing with anemia and some other conditions and we were trying to figure his crap out (literally, it was black...) But I'm glad some other people thought that the BS was hard too. All I have to say now is props to non-bio majors. Seriously, If all you have to do is take ochem, gen bio, and one or two other courses I feel like you're woefully underprepared for the MCAT BS. I think it does require a certain type of thinking which differs from the other two sections, which is greatly helped by upper level undergraduate courses, If not outside knowledge of the information altogether. So if you can still kill that section as an english or music major, I'm sure you'll do fine picking up stuff in med school. Knight, I'm sorry you missed AAW. Tons of people were talking about that after my exam in the parking lot who knew it but also had to rush through it, and miss it! That passage sucked too, in the other questions. Luckily I did that passage second, but I'm sure I got mine on the limb regeneration and crab organelle question.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but according to AAMC there is no Curve. Here it is word for word from the bottom of " Understanding your Score" page:
Whatever you do, don't make a decision to test at a particular time of year because you think you will get a higher score because other examinees may not score as well—the test is not scored on a curve
So, I guess the whole "curve" thing was just baloney?
http://aamc.org/students/mcat/prepar...dingscores.htm
Whatever you do, don't make a decision to test at a particular time of year because you think you will get a higher score because other examinees may not score as well—the test is not scored on a curve
So, I guess the whole "curve" thing was just baloney?
http://aamc.org/students/mcat/prepar...dingscores.htm
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Yeah, Bio wasn't that easy. I don't think any one section was more difficult than the other, I felt it was a very balanced test in terms of difficulty. Nothing was easy, it was difficult as any MCAT should be, but it wasn't like other times were PS or BS completely outweighs the other in difficulty.
I just had a physio test the week before on that capillary passage, but it was really worded in a different way so I'm worded I didn't blow it on double jeopardy (I didn't do as well as I normally do on that physio test because I was worried about the MCAT and taking practice tests instead, oh well).
Karloff, yes, there is no "curve" but when people mention curve they most likely mean the raw score to scaled score conversion. The passages/questions on the MCAT have been used before or experimented with before so the test makers know the degree of difficulty for each exam, so it is curved in that sense that not all MCAT's are of equal difficulty so the raw score to scaled score conversion is preset based upon the degree of difficulty for that exam.
I just had a physio test the week before on that capillary passage, but it was really worded in a different way so I'm worded I didn't blow it on double jeopardy (I didn't do as well as I normally do on that physio test because I was worried about the MCAT and taking practice tests instead, oh well).
Karloff, yes, there is no "curve" but when people mention curve they most likely mean the raw score to scaled score conversion. The passages/questions on the MCAT have been used before or experimented with before so the test makers know the degree of difficulty for each exam, so it is curved in that sense that not all MCAT's are of equal difficulty so the raw score to scaled score conversion is preset based upon the degree of difficulty for that exam.
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They set scaled curves before the test based on how students have scored on the exams in the past. Therefore, if you have a hard test ... the scale is going to be more forgiving. Getting 40/52 may be a 10 on a BS test full of passages that students have performed easily on, but 40/52 on a test full of difficult passages may be a 12. Also, they review all the data after and if everyone did low compared to their scale, they adjust. So yes, it is 'curved,' but not in the way a normal exam would be.
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I had to work on that passage for a long time to realize that it was basic stuff that was broken down to a very high level that we normally wouldn't need to know.
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For the most part, but the material on my previous physio exam was exactly on that except they just used different terms for the pressures.. mainly because the two professors were using language that they admitted themselves was outdated. I just spent too much time on two questions in that passage, but it didn't effect my timing/finishing for BS.
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Hahaha, we got some time to go.
I don't want to look at my score report and see my lackluster score from two years ago.. (If I only didn't blow PS back then!! hopefully the same doesn't happen)
I don't want to look at my score report and see my lackluster score from two years ago.. (If I only didn't blow PS back then!! hopefully the same doesn't happen)
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I've been forgetting about it pretty well ... I like that. Were all gonna be good.
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Yeah, I got over the initial shock, and have too much on my plate until this semester is over, so I'm distracted for now. Last three weeks for me, I just can't decide if I look on post-date or wait until after my two finals are over a day later.
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If you choose to resist, I wish you luck. I think it would probably be best - not to distract from your exams, but I know I personally couldn't resist.
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Yeah, I'm very tempted to check, but I'm just afraid if its not in my AAMC range I'll be angry, upset, depressed, whatever and not focus on my last two exams. On the otherhand, if I get my average or better I'd be ecstatic.
Longshanks.
I don't think you should look. Even if you find out that you did great, you would still be distracted from excitement. Obviously if you didn't do so hot, you would me mentally finished. So, either way, if you have finals, its not wise to see the scores, although much easier said than done. Besides, if you wait and see after finals and you find out you did good you can celeberate for a week straight!!!!!!!!!!! you want to take the high and run with it, not go take finals. Either way, I think most of us who prepared did fine. I was getting 37-38 on practice exams and I have no idea how I did. If I got a 38 I would not be surprised and if I got a 27 I would not be surprised either. Its weird. there is no way to tell based on feelings. Its all a blurr with the exception of some nightmarish parts. Lets hope the nightmarish parts, which for me were about 4-5 questions per section, was all that we missed and we got theother ones right. This way we can still potentially end up with 12's although we are scared ****less now.
I don't think you should look. Even if you find out that you did great, you would still be distracted from excitement. Obviously if you didn't do so hot, you would me mentally finished. So, either way, if you have finals, its not wise to see the scores, although much easier said than done. Besides, if you wait and see after finals and you find out you did good you can celeberate for a week straight!!!!!!!!!!! you want to take the high and run with it, not go take finals. Either way, I think most of us who prepared did fine. I was getting 37-38 on practice exams and I have no idea how I did. If I got a 38 I would not be surprised and if I got a 27 I would not be surprised either. Its weird. there is no way to tell based on feelings. Its all a blurr with the exception of some nightmarish parts. Lets hope the nightmarish parts, which for me were about 4-5 questions per section, was all that we missed and we got theother ones right. This way we can still potentially end up with 12's although we are scared ****less now.
Karloff-
I am feeling the exact same. I scored from 36-38 on all my aamc's but have that feeling that the test was a blur and have no idea how i did. I can see anything. During the test I had very positive feelings and thought things were going great, but now I'm remembering some of the questions and the answer options and trying to remember which i chose. I'm worried i had a false sense of security during the test and fell for all their traps thinking everything was dandy. The other day on a long run I had this sinking feeling that I scored pretty well but not well enough...
I am feeling the exact same. I scored from 36-38 on all my aamc's but have that feeling that the test was a blur and have no idea how i did. I can see anything. During the test I had very positive feelings and thought things were going great, but now I'm remembering some of the questions and the answer options and trying to remember which i chose. I'm worried i had a false sense of security during the test and fell for all their traps thinking everything was dandy. The other day on a long run I had this sinking feeling that I scored pretty well but not well enough...
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Same here! During the exam I had this positive feeling that everything was going smoothly. But now as I reflect back, I can see that some questions, like most of you said, were dubious. But I do give myself a sense of security by beliveing that the exam was harder than any of the AAMC's I have taken. Right?
By the way, those of you who had the amputation passage in BS, do you remember how many questions were in that passage? I think It was either 5 or 6.
You guys will be alright. If you felt good and confident while taking the MCAT then I am sure you did great. Man, I wish I was scoring in that range on my practice tests. In the event that something bad did happen I am sure you guys who are scoring that high on practice tests consistently wouldn't do worse than scoring 2-3 points below your range. That is still a considerbly high score and very competitive for med schools.
On the other hand I just feel screwed. I was hitting 32's on my last couple practice tests and if things didn't go so well (PS!!) and I score a couple points lower than normal then I will have to retake
.Passages like the amputation one are exactly the problem. For all I know I missed all of the questions. Its been a weird 10 days and I am sure another 20 more weird days to come. man.. I hope I did well because I don't want to go thru this madness of preparation, the test itself, and the 30 longest days afterwards another second time. You know what I mean?
It's been hell from start to finish. Hopefully on 5/5 we find out that our scores are good enough and there is no need for retake. I should be fantasizing about some sexual encounter with a gorgeous girl but instead I am fantasizing about a good score. How weird!
I think MCAT makes people temporarily insane in the membrane.
It's been hell from start to finish. Hopefully on 5/5 we find out that our scores are good enough and there is no need for retake. I should be fantasizing about some sexual encounter with a gorgeous girl but instead I am fantasizing about a good score. How weird!
I think MCAT makes people temporarily insane in the membrane.
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Hi, Everyone,
I just found this forum and my fellow 04/04/2009 MCAT takers;-) I feel that I had very similar feelings toward the test to that of Karloff, especially for the biological science section. I spent way too much time on the crabs passage( I was having a hard time tying the questions to the graphs) and had to randomly guess on the entire limb regeneration/amputation passage as I only had three minutes left for it. I think I got at most 25% of those questions correct, and I would be ecstatic if I get a ten for biological science section( which I usually scored 13+ in practice). I never took any advanced biology classes and I think it really hurt me, as for this test, with no advanced developmental/molecular biology course, it is nearly impossible to reason everything from the passage within the time constraints.
Physical science section was my specialty(M.S. and B.S. in Chemical Engineering). I always scored 14+ on physical sciences sections in all Kaplan and AAMC full lengths with at least 20 minutes to spare, but on test day, I only had three minutes to spare and am vividly uncomfortable with my answers on at least three questions, which would bring my score below 14 on the AAMC scale. For verbal, I never could tell where my scores would end up as they were anywhere between 7( AAMC 5) and 13( AAMC8, I think), averaging 9 or so. I only remember the monkey, dinosaur, military policy, and some literature study passages because I was debating between two choices frequently on questions in these passages. Like many have already put down, I would not be surprised if I end up with a 35, or 27. I know for sure that I will not hit my Kaplan average( 39) or AAMC( 36), I just worry that it will be below 32 and I am banking on my physical science section scores, which have always been the most dependable for me. Not to sound condescending, the actual physical science section on test day would look intimidating to someone with a "weakness" in physics, I think, with such long passages stuffed with extraneous information just to intimidate one. I would say 90% of the information in the tether passage is extraneous, or "framework worthy" at best. There were some calculations involved, but there was usually an easier way out when one really had the concept down. Also, some physical science passages have turned into verbal ones as well ( the cobalt one being a prime example). The excessive reading as compared to the practice ones, is what is throwing timing off for many of us, I think. Oh, I am really hoping that the scaling on the BS and PS sections will be somewhere between Kaplan full lengths and AAMCs, or I think I will be "executed" on the BS section. It is "comforting" to a certain level, nevertheless, to see that I am not the only one who felt 04/04 was brutal in BS, also.
I just found this forum and my fellow 04/04/2009 MCAT takers;-) I feel that I had very similar feelings toward the test to that of Karloff, especially for the biological science section. I spent way too much time on the crabs passage( I was having a hard time tying the questions to the graphs) and had to randomly guess on the entire limb regeneration/amputation passage as I only had three minutes left for it. I think I got at most 25% of those questions correct, and I would be ecstatic if I get a ten for biological science section( which I usually scored 13+ in practice). I never took any advanced biology classes and I think it really hurt me, as for this test, with no advanced developmental/molecular biology course, it is nearly impossible to reason everything from the passage within the time constraints.
Physical science section was my specialty(M.S. and B.S. in Chemical Engineering). I always scored 14+ on physical sciences sections in all Kaplan and AAMC full lengths with at least 20 minutes to spare, but on test day, I only had three minutes to spare and am vividly uncomfortable with my answers on at least three questions, which would bring my score below 14 on the AAMC scale. For verbal, I never could tell where my scores would end up as they were anywhere between 7( AAMC 5) and 13( AAMC8, I think), averaging 9 or so. I only remember the monkey, dinosaur, military policy, and some literature study passages because I was debating between two choices frequently on questions in these passages. Like many have already put down, I would not be surprised if I end up with a 35, or 27. I know for sure that I will not hit my Kaplan average( 39) or AAMC( 36), I just worry that it will be below 32 and I am banking on my physical science section scores, which have always been the most dependable for me. Not to sound condescending, the actual physical science section on test day would look intimidating to someone with a "weakness" in physics, I think, with such long passages stuffed with extraneous information just to intimidate one. I would say 90% of the information in the tether passage is extraneous, or "framework worthy" at best. There were some calculations involved, but there was usually an easier way out when one really had the concept down. Also, some physical science passages have turned into verbal ones as well ( the cobalt one being a prime example). The excessive reading as compared to the practice ones, is what is throwing timing off for many of us, I think. Oh, I am really hoping that the scaling on the BS and PS sections will be somewhere between Kaplan full lengths and AAMCs, or I think I will be "executed" on the BS section. It is "comforting" to a certain level, nevertheless, to see that I am not the only one who felt 04/04 was brutal in BS, also.
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I completely agree vegousc, I rarely had issues finishing BS on time on the AAMC tests, and was consistently scoring 12-13's on the last few, yet I am completely unsure as to whether I pulled off an 11 or 12, or bombed it with an 8 or 9. I have no idea, and I don't like it.
I just want to know for sure... my roommate just took the DAT and got his scores back the same day, I am incredibly jealous. Even if my worst fears are confirmed, I still want to know so I can sign up to retake and start studying again... blah.
Hi, SteinumStein,
Thank you for "empathizing" with me on BS section. I am sure you did better than I did as I expect little-to-no credit for that crabs passage and no credit for the limb regeneration one( five or six questions, I think). I had time to think about the questions for the crabs passage during the past week and am sure I missed at least three of them. I also missed at least two discretes. There goes ten to eleven questions already and unless I was near perfect in everything else, I just could not see myself pulling off a 10. On Kaplan FL, missing 12 questions could be a score of 11 in BS, but brutal as the real BS was, I would not equate its difficulty level with some of the Kaplan FLs. The reason I find it difficult, I think, is because I got hit on both of my Archille's tendons. My strengths in genetics and orgo were sidelined big time in this BS, but quite a few forum members here found the BS easy for them, in contrast, so the scaling might not be generous at all. I felt the orgo and cholera passages were "give me"s and I have the eerie feeling it is going to come down to the crabs and limb regeneration passages.
For the DAT, If I heard it right, it is more of a knowledge based test. One usually knows how(she) did and there are no killer passages that one has to reason through. Because of the "predictable" nature of that test( there is only so much science knowledge to be tested in a tradtional format), the test results can be out faster.
Anyhow, I am 100% sure my MCAT score will not be great and am actually more worried about VR than BS now(I already gave up hope on BS), as I had no idea about how I did on VR. I am a non-traditional student who also got my Bachelor's in a foreign country, so without a decent MCAT score, I am out for sure. Oh, I already started looking at DO schools and am actually leaning towards DO as they seem to be more friendly to non-traditional students like me. At least, they would take my foreign transcripts, so long as I get them evaluated. I had 4.0 undergrad GPAs and am currently in grad school getting my second master in science，which would be snubbed by Allopathic schools. I am hoping that my MCAT score would stand out somewhat among D.O, applicants, but who knows? Western's MCAT stat is quickly approaching 30 nowadays.
Sorry about my rambling, it is just that the actual MCAT feels "weird" and had too much of a "luck" factor in it that would not fairly differentiate those who could score between 32s and 37s, which the most fierce competition lies among in admissions, I think. The materials tested were highly unbalanced both within and between test administrations, which should not happen in a standardized test with such a long tradition. To digress, I know for sure the test writers made a mistake in one question stem on the orgo passage. It did not affect my choosing the right answer, but following the direction in that wrong question stem costs me at least 45 seconds. In a test that every second counts, that is deplorable. I also heard about that tragic incidence of questions given having no relevance to the passage whatsoever, with no apologies given by AAMC whatsoever. I think AAMC has become a little too comfortable with its self-righteousness, and if things continue this way, I would not be surprised if a lawsuit is brought against it in the future.
Thank you for "empathizing" with me on BS section. I am sure you did better than I did as I expect little-to-no credit for that crabs passage and no credit for the limb regeneration one( five or six questions, I think). I had time to think about the questions for the crabs passage during the past week and am sure I missed at least three of them. I also missed at least two discretes. There goes ten to eleven questions already and unless I was near perfect in everything else, I just could not see myself pulling off a 10. On Kaplan FL, missing 12 questions could be a score of 11 in BS, but brutal as the real BS was, I would not equate its difficulty level with some of the Kaplan FLs. The reason I find it difficult, I think, is because I got hit on both of my Archille's tendons. My strengths in genetics and orgo were sidelined big time in this BS, but quite a few forum members here found the BS easy for them, in contrast, so the scaling might not be generous at all. I felt the orgo and cholera passages were "give me"s and I have the eerie feeling it is going to come down to the crabs and limb regeneration passages.
For the DAT, If I heard it right, it is more of a knowledge based test. One usually knows how(she) did and there are no killer passages that one has to reason through. Because of the "predictable" nature of that test( there is only so much science knowledge to be tested in a tradtional format), the test results can be out faster.
Anyhow, I am 100% sure my MCAT score will not be great and am actually more worried about VR than BS now(I already gave up hope on BS), as I had no idea about how I did on VR. I am a non-traditional student who also got my Bachelor's in a foreign country, so without a decent MCAT score, I am out for sure. Oh, I already started looking at DO schools and am actually leaning towards DO as they seem to be more friendly to non-traditional students like me. At least, they would take my foreign transcripts, so long as I get them evaluated. I had 4.0 undergrad GPAs and am currently in grad school getting my second master in science，which would be snubbed by Allopathic schools. I am hoping that my MCAT score would stand out somewhat among D.O, applicants, but who knows? Western's MCAT stat is quickly approaching 30 nowadays.
Sorry about my rambling, it is just that the actual MCAT feels "weird" and had too much of a "luck" factor in it that would not fairly differentiate those who could score between 32s and 37s, which the most fierce competition lies among in admissions, I think. The materials tested were highly unbalanced both within and between test administrations, which should not happen in a standardized test with such a long tradition. To digress, I know for sure the test writers made a mistake in one question stem on the orgo passage. It did not affect my choosing the right answer, but following the direction in that wrong question stem costs me at least 45 seconds. In a test that every second counts, that is deplorable. I also heard about that tragic incidence of questions given having no relevance to the passage whatsoever, with no apologies given by AAMC whatsoever. I think AAMC has become a little too comfortable with its self-righteousness, and if things continue this way, I would not be surprised if a lawsuit is brought against it in the future.
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I know this sounds 'weird,' but I'm happy that people are posting these concerns about the test. I pretty much felt this way from the beginning, and it seems like the majority of posters right after the test were dismissing some of the big issues. The bottom line is that - for me- I thought it was a fairly difficult test all around. It gives me comfort to know there are other people who shared my concerns, and also leads me to believe that the scaling will be to our advantage. Best of luck, and do whatever you can to stop thinking about it!!
Vegousc-
I know how you feel as I am also a non-traditional applicant and was hoping that the MCAT would be my savior here. I'm sure you did really well, even on those sections and passages your feeling unsure about. Since pretty much everyone felt the same, except a few people who were lucky and knew specifics about those passages, your 13+ BS average most likely showed. In some of the AAMC practice tests I was sure I got 10's or lower in BS (esp. in #6) and I was happily surprised with 12's and 13's. Don't count yourself out for your MD if thats what you want. Not that there is anything wrong with DO schools, but if your heart is set on allopathic go for it. From what I can observe, some combined GPA and MCAT value are what keep you being immediately eliminated and the rest is who you are and what else you've accomplished, and 2 masters is nothing to scoff at, not to mention engineering majors are not as common as boring biochem majors like me.
I know how you feel as I am also a non-traditional applicant and was hoping that the MCAT would be my savior here. I'm sure you did really well, even on those sections and passages your feeling unsure about. Since pretty much everyone felt the same, except a few people who were lucky and knew specifics about those passages, your 13+ BS average most likely showed. In some of the AAMC practice tests I was sure I got 10's or lower in BS (esp. in #6) and I was happily surprised with 12's and 13's. Don't count yourself out for your MD if thats what you want. Not that there is anything wrong with DO schools, but if your heart is set on allopathic go for it. From what I can observe, some combined GPA and MCAT value are what keep you being immediately eliminated and the rest is who you are and what else you've accomplished, and 2 masters is nothing to scoff at, not to mention engineering majors are not as common as boring biochem majors like me.
Hi, 358Miler and everyone,
I am glad that there seemed to be more than a few of us who did not feel good about the BS section for 04/04 MCAT. I do not want to sound overly negative, but could it be that those who had troubles in the exam are more likely to post out of "frustration", so we might have a "distorted" view of the difficulty level? I have noticed that the 04/04 thread had the fewest posts out of all past test administrations this year( which could be due to the fewest number of 04/04 test takers). The 01/30 and 03/28 ones have a lot more test takers posting about the difficulty level, which would be a little more "reassuring", I think.
I also scored the lowest on AAMC6 BS, which was the only AAMC BS that felt "weird" to me, the bacteria conjugation and the one passage-one question still vivid in my mind. But I remember some "give me" questions or those I can answer from outside knowledge even in the weird passages in that BS. I did not feel there were any give me questions in the crabs, limb regeneration, melatonin, and transferin passages in the 04/04 BS. I remember having to reason through every question in these passages, which I never had to do in a practice exam. I felt there were no "safety" questions for me except for the orgo ones, but I felt there were usually at least half of them in practice ones. Do any of you feel the same way? For VR, do you feel that the dinosaur and monkey passages, although unique and interesting to read, have questions that are so hard to answer because it lacks a central thesis( or did I miss the thesis for the passages altogether?)
I am glad that there seemed to be more than a few of us who did not feel good about the BS section for 04/04 MCAT. I do not want to sound overly negative, but could it be that those who had troubles in the exam are more likely to post out of "frustration", so we might have a "distorted" view of the difficulty level? I have noticed that the 04/04 thread had the fewest posts out of all past test administrations this year( which could be due to the fewest number of 04/04 test takers). The 01/30 and 03/28 ones have a lot more test takers posting about the difficulty level, which would be a little more "reassuring", I think.
I also scored the lowest on AAMC6 BS, which was the only AAMC BS that felt "weird" to me, the bacteria conjugation and the one passage-one question still vivid in my mind. But I remember some "give me" questions or those I can answer from outside knowledge even in the weird passages in that BS. I did not feel there were any give me questions in the crabs, limb regeneration, melatonin, and transferin passages in the 04/04 BS. I remember having to reason through every question in these passages, which I never had to do in a practice exam. I felt there were no "safety" questions for me except for the orgo ones, but I felt there were usually at least half of them in practice ones. Do any of you feel the same way? For VR, do you feel that the dinosaur and monkey passages, although unique and interesting to read, have questions that are so hard to answer because it lacks a central thesis( or did I miss the thesis for the passages altogether?)
Vegousc,
I would not assume anything whether it be about how many people took or how easy or difficult it was based on SDN responses. SDN is big but not that big. Its all random man. On one tread you have 5 pages of comment even before the test date and on some like 4/4/9 you have nothing. What ever is being said here is only representative of people who belong to SDN or roam in it. Nothingmore, nothing less. Just because more people complained for a particular test date means zilch. Hell, I could argue that since most SDN people are go getters and roam these sites to fish out info, then an empty 4/4/9 tread is a good thing actually because it means that not many go getters took it and we are looking good. See what I mean? We can twist and turn this a thousand ways. One another note, Bio was hard man-no doubt. If anyone thinks it was straightforward they they either got lucky an dgot passages that they happen to be realy good at or even seen before or they think they did good when in reality they blew it. At 1 min 30 sec/question, I really don't see how anyone can be sure about their performance. We just barely had time to read difficult passages, select the best answer and move on. Who can be sure? There was not enough time to justify any semi-tricky answer to the point where you say to yourself: " I know this for sure." Yeah, on 30 of them maybe but not on the other 22. You get 30 right, you got yourself a 6.
A "6" is all you can be sure about as far as I am concerned. Besides, if you do want to go off SDN reamarks, you will see that plenty of people that thought they blew it, got good scores and many that were saying " it was not too bad bullshiit" were never heard from again when scores came out. I have straight A's in Bio and orgo and did phenomenal on Kaplan FL' s and AAMC and I still think it was weird and tricky. I don't think there is such a think as a straightforward MCAT. Its all hard. It seems that only thing that we can be sure about is that we cannot be sure about anything!
I would not assume anything whether it be about how many people took or how easy or difficult it was based on SDN responses. SDN is big but not that big. Its all random man. On one tread you have 5 pages of comment even before the test date and on some like 4/4/9 you have nothing. What ever is being said here is only representative of people who belong to SDN or roam in it. Nothingmore, nothing less. Just because more people complained for a particular test date means zilch. Hell, I could argue that since most SDN people are go getters and roam these sites to fish out info, then an empty 4/4/9 tread is a good thing actually because it means that not many go getters took it and we are looking good. See what I mean? We can twist and turn this a thousand ways. One another note, Bio was hard man-no doubt. If anyone thinks it was straightforward they they either got lucky an dgot passages that they happen to be realy good at or even seen before or they think they did good when in reality they blew it. At 1 min 30 sec/question, I really don't see how anyone can be sure about their performance. We just barely had time to read difficult passages, select the best answer and move on. Who can be sure? There was not enough time to justify any semi-tricky answer to the point where you say to yourself: " I know this for sure." Yeah, on 30 of them maybe but not on the other 22. You get 30 right, you got yourself a 6.
A "6" is all you can be sure about as far as I am concerned. Besides, if you do want to go off SDN reamarks, you will see that plenty of people that thought they blew it, got good scores and many that were saying " it was not too bad bullshiit" were never heard from again when scores came out. I have straight A's in Bio and orgo and did phenomenal on Kaplan FL' s and AAMC and I still think it was weird and tricky. I don't think there is such a think as a straightforward MCAT. Its all hard. It seems that only thing that we can be sure about is that we cannot be sure about anything!
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Thank you Karloff for taking the time to calm me down and offer advice to the 04/18 test takers. You are a kind human being. I am here in the U.S. by myself( born and raised in an Asian country where my family still reside) and do not know of any other person who has taken the MCAT( which I self studied), so you could imagine how comforting it was for me to find this forum and feel that I could just "let go" of my brewing emotions since I took the test.
Anyhow, I apologize for nagging, but what you do you feel about the chances of some of the questions in the crab and limb regeneration passages being experimental ones? Difficult as most passages are, these two felt "weirder" than the other ones to me. Also, Some people have the melatonin and others have the lactose passage instead, so either one of those could be the experiment one? It would see to me a little too "extravagant" to have one complete passage to be experimental ones. Oh, speaking of the melatonin passage, if you had it on your test, do you recall how many questions were there for that passage?
Anyhow, I apologize for nagging, but what you do you feel about the chances of some of the questions in the crab and limb regeneration passages being experimental ones? Difficult as most passages are, these two felt "weirder" than the other ones to me. Also, Some people have the melatonin and others have the lactose passage instead, so either one of those could be the experiment one? It would see to me a little too "extravagant" to have one complete passage to be experimental ones. Oh, speaking of the melatonin passage, if you had it on your test, do you recall how many questions were there for that passage?
Hi stftk14,
I agree the tether passage was like a "slap in the face". English is my third language, and you might laugh at me if I confess that I did not even know what a "tether" meant and I had to infer it from the passage. I also felt the balloon passage was very poorly written (It felt like a practice English composition essay written by a third grader). There should also be a much better way to test physical properties than the thermometer one. What carried me through though, was my confidence in Physics and Chemistry( A+s in a ton of related courses, plus a series of 15s in practice) and even so, there were a few questions that I felt very uncomfortable about. My point is that try not to feel bad about P.S. unless you are aiming for a 14+, where the room for error is really tiny, no matter how difficult the test it is( I think). One has a great shot at a 12, missing 6 to 8 questions, I think.
I only took some very basic biology courses and was never as confident in BS as in PS, although I was performing reasonably well on it in practice. Boy, did it show in the test. I am sure that the BS passages were also loaded with extraneous information, but my lack of confidence and adequate subject knowledge forced me to look through every tiny bit of detail which threw my timing off. I walked into the test hoping for a 12+ on BS, but I would be thankful if I get a ten. I have missed at least 10 questions in BS for sure, as I am terrible at guessing at things I am not sure about. I also knew that I ALWAYS under-perform on test day and I walked into the test hoping for a 35, now a 33 is the best I can hope for(14+9+10), which honestly was not a competitive score at all, considering that I also live in CA.
I agree the tether passage was like a "slap in the face". English is my third language, and you might laugh at me if I confess that I did not even know what a "tether" meant and I had to infer it from the passage
. I also felt the balloon passage was very poorly written (It felt like a practice English composition essay written by a third grader). There should also be a much better way to test physical properties than the thermometer one. What carried me through though, was my confidence in Physics and Chemistry( A+s in a ton of related courses, plus a series of 15s in practice) and even so, there were a few questions that I felt very uncomfortable about. My point is that try not to feel bad about P.S. unless you are aiming for a 14+, where the room for error is really tiny, no matter how difficult the test it is( I think). One has a great shot at a 12, missing 6 to 8 questions, I think. I only took some very basic biology courses and was never as confident in BS as in PS, although I was performing reasonably well on it in practice. Boy, did it show in the test. I am sure that the BS passages were also loaded with extraneous information, but my lack of confidence and adequate subject knowledge forced me to look through every tiny bit of detail which threw my timing off. I walked into the test hoping for a 12+ on BS, but I would be thankful if I get a ten. I have missed at least 10 questions in BS for sure, as I am terrible at guessing at things I am not sure about. I also knew that I ALWAYS under-perform on test day and I walked into the test hoping for a 35, now a 33 is the best I can hope for(14+9+10), which honestly was not a competitive score at all, considering that I also live in CA.
