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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I am worried the most about the PS section
I did my best on AAMC 10 getting a 13, but I felt like I was doing well while taking it throughout, but on 4/4 I felt like I guessed so much more than AAMC 10
Anyone else not as excited about doing well on their regular school exams? I got the highest grade in my virology class and I was really grateful and happy, but I kind of thought if I don't do well on the MCAT, this good grade won't mean as much. I don't know, this is stressful. I am asking everyone I know to pray for me.
I did my best on AAMC 10 getting a 13, but I felt like I was doing well while taking it throughout, but on 4/4 I felt like I guessed so much more than AAMC 10
Anyone else not as excited about doing well on their regular school exams? I got the highest grade in my virology class and I was really grateful and happy, but I kind of thought if I don't do well on the MCAT, this good grade won't mean as much. I don't know, this is stressful. I am asking everyone I know to pray for me.
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My consolation is that a lot of people who did consistently better than me on PS felt like they guessed more than they usually do. I am definitely hoping for a generous curve, since people usually get the same score as their average.
I wish all you other 4/4ers luck
Hi, LaCasta,
If this is any consolation to you, no one in the 04/04 forum has posted ps section as easy, but at least a couple have listed bio as highly manageable( I guess they are considerate enough not to put down "easy" directly). Also, many test takers are bio majors while not as many are engineering or physics majors, so I would say your chance of scoring higher in ps than expected is much higher than my scoring higher in bs as expected. I would trade a ps14/bs10 with a ps12/bs12 any day.
If this is any consolation to you, no one in the 04/04 forum has posted ps section as easy, but at least a couple have listed bio as highly manageable( I guess they are considerate enough not to put down "easy" directly). Also, many test takers are bio majors while not as many are engineering or physics majors, so I would say your chance of scoring higher in ps than expected is much higher than my scoring higher in bs as expected. I would trade a ps14/bs10 with a ps12/bs12 any day.
yeah I can agree that the PS was difficult, and I usually feel best about this section. That balloon passage was just so lame, I had to read it like 3 times to even understand what was going on. Maybe I'm an idiot, but If i were to plan an experiment I wouldn't think of doing something like that. But hey, thats the purpose of the MCAT, right? What did everone think the hardest verbal passages were? I think the military policy one was, and the last one with 5 questions was easy to read but the questions were pretty tricky.
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Ugh me too. I also read the tether one WAY too detailed before really realizing that it was stuff with all kinds of non-necessary stuff.
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Man, we're a bunch of "nite owls" here huh?
I concur with most of whats being said the last few days here.. I just don't know what that means in terms of scores, it can be anywhere on the spectrum. I do agree with the assessment of BS going on here, too. A few weeks ago I mentioned it was "fair" and "manageable". By that, I meant the topics didn't seem surprising or as bizarre as they can be but the questioning was difficult. In both VR and BS I often came down to two choices and had difficulty finally deciding, and a few times I went against my initial instinct (so hopefully I don't get punished for that) but I felt when I slowed down for a moment there was just a feeling that I've seen something before that made me change it.
I'm hoping we all kicked butt though, this is a good community with dedicated people so I have a good feeling that you'll do fine and hopefully this time next year we can be laughing about our acceptances and how this test was nothing compared to the road lying ahead of us.
I concur with most of whats being said the last few days here.. I just don't know what that means in terms of scores, it can be anywhere on the spectrum. I do agree with the assessment of BS going on here, too. A few weeks ago I mentioned it was "fair" and "manageable". By that, I meant the topics didn't seem surprising or as bizarre as they can be but the questioning was difficult. In both VR and BS I often came down to two choices and had difficulty finally deciding, and a few times I went against my initial instinct (so hopefully I don't get punished for that) but I felt when I slowed down for a moment there was just a feeling that I've seen something before that made me change it.
I'm hoping we all kicked butt though, this is a good community with dedicated people so I have a good feeling that you'll do fine and hopefully this time next year we can be laughing about our acceptances and how this test was nothing compared to the road lying ahead of us.
For what its worth guys, I did pretty good on almost all practice PS tests but on 4/4 I too thought that I guessed on many more than I was comfortable with. I actually considered myself a champ in PS but on test day I felt like I bit off more than I could chew. It was a bad way to start the day. Lets just say that. I too hope for leniency, because without out some leniency I am relying on me having guessed right on at least 7-8 questions and thats not good. When it comes to guessing, luck is not on my side. And regretably,the other 44 questions were not solid answers either.Out of 52 q's I feel solid on 30 max. I just picked what seemed like the best answer and moved on. I just hope PS doesn't backfire on me. For verbal, who knows. When you think you did good, you did bad. When you think you did bad, you get a 13. So I am not even gonna try to guess how I did. Anyhow, there you have it. I was so confident walking in the test center. I can't believe I am typing shiit like this.I just hope that by some luck we all scrape by and get decent scores that at least somewhat resemble the avg. score on practice tests. God, I really don't want to study for this beast no more. I dont wanna be taking practice tests night after night and reading crazy passages at 2:00 a.m instead of having fun with my lady. At the end I was breathing, eating and shiiting MCAT.You know what I mean? the whole preparation was so intense and consuming.After months of preparation, here I am sweating bullets. Who would have guessed? I hope it ends well!
On a positive note, I am realy glad that we have each other. I can't imagine going through the mental up an downs alone. I ,for one, know that I will never forget this part of my life including all you all on the SDN during this crazy longest 30 days of my life. And trust me I have had some bad days before when my Dad was in the ICU for ten days and then ended up dying so its not I am a young chicken who hasn't seen anything in life. But these 30 days are no joke.
Thanks for the support and the comments boys and girls. Keep em coming.
Sleep well my friends.
On a positive note, I am realy glad that we have each other. I can't imagine going through the mental up an downs alone. I ,for one, know that I will never forget this part of my life including all you all on the SDN during this crazy longest 30 days of my life. And trust me I have had some bad days before when my Dad was in the ICU for ten days and then ended up dying so its not I am a young chicken who hasn't seen anything in life. But these 30 days are no joke.
Thanks for the support and the comments boys and girls. Keep em coming.
Sleep well my friends.
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I, too, had to read three times on the badly written balloon passage right after the long-winded tether passage and gave up reading it after my third try. Talking about "verbal insults" back to back! The questions for both passages, though, were not so terrible ( I think). I felt the "killer" ps passage for me as far as questions concerned, was the thermometer one. It requires being critical of experiments and tying all of them together, and under pressure, that was a tall order.
For verbal, I think the passage on literature study( second one for me) was the most difficult to read. The military policy one was really long and the questions were very tricky, I think. Then I felt questions on the monkey and dinosaur passages were tricky also. I do not even remember what the last three VR passages were for me
For verbal, I think the passage on literature study( second one for me) was the most difficult to read. The military policy one was really long and the questions were very tricky, I think. Then I felt questions on the monkey and dinosaur passages were tricky also. I do not even remember what the last three VR passages were for me
Hi, Karloff,
I am so sorry to learning of the passing of your father. I could imagine how hard it must have been for you and your family. I am sure that you did well in your MCAT, and your father would be proud of you!
I am also thankful that I found this forum and have so many others to "commiserate" with. The only other comparable experience that I had, was when I took the paper-based GRE while in China, when I had to wait for eight weeks for the results with no one else to talk to( there was no internet forum back in China then). I did not feel that great about my GRE either, as there was still this difficult unidentified experimental section( yes, an entire section) mixed in, and I could not afford to retake as the test fee in Chinese yuan was equivalent to my full year's scholarship money. But thankfully, my results turned out great and I had my American dream come true.
But the MCAT is a completely different beast. I do not think I was ever as emotionally engaged and exhausted by any other test as I was with MCAT. I actually teach the GRE and GMAT for Kaplan, neither of which requires any subject knowledge( In fact, one only needs high school level math). One can get results right away( except for writing). In addition, the actual exam questions are very analogous to the official practice ones in every aspect( ETS also offers an official practice software for free). Although some of my students are not happy about their scores, I do not remember their complaining to me about any "shock" factor on test day. Most important of all, GRE is weighed far less heavily in admissions than the MCAT.
Anyhow, I really hope that we all here on SDN will have great scores come May 5th and will go to an Allopathic school in 2010, as we all seem to have the yearning and dedication for the doctor profession. Otherwise, we probably would not have invested so much into the MCAT test.
I am so sorry to learning of the passing of your father. I could imagine how hard it must have been for you and your family. I am sure that you did well in your MCAT, and your father would be proud of you!
I am also thankful that I found this forum and have so many others to "commiserate" with. The only other comparable experience that I had, was when I took the paper-based GRE while in China, when I had to wait for eight weeks for the results with no one else to talk to( there was no internet forum back in China then). I did not feel that great about my GRE either, as there was still this difficult unidentified experimental section( yes, an entire section) mixed in, and I could not afford to retake as the test fee in Chinese yuan was equivalent to my full year's scholarship money. But thankfully, my results turned out great and I had my American dream come true.
But the MCAT is a completely different beast. I do not think I was ever as emotionally engaged and exhausted by any other test as I was with MCAT. I actually teach the GRE and GMAT for Kaplan, neither of which requires any subject knowledge( In fact, one only needs high school level math). One can get results right away( except for writing). In addition, the actual exam questions are very analogous to the official practice ones in every aspect( ETS also offers an official practice software for free). Although some of my students are not happy about their scores, I do not remember their complaining to me about any "shock" factor on test day. Most important of all, GRE is weighed far less heavily in admissions than the MCAT.
Anyhow, I really hope that we all here on SDN will have great scores come May 5th and will go to an Allopathic school in 2010, as we all seem to have the yearning and dedication for the doctor profession. Otherwise, we probably would not have invested so much into the MCAT test.
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This is true.
Yeah this month really blows, seriously hard... I know its necessary and in fact not so bad; i think the old paper tests that were like 9 hours had a half year wait or something ridiculous like that! Anyway I'm stoked I can talk about it. It really calms me down and helps me feel in control of an utterly uncontrollable situation. As I said before, I bet money in poker and some other games, and I would be willing to put down hard earned money on the fact that all the people posting here will be very pleasantly surprised with their scores, and I bet some scored even higher than their highest practice.
On an other note I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised by the support on this board. Its is very positive, there is minimal to zero one upping, and a lot of modesty for a bunch of super smart people with humbling intelligence who are most likely at the top of their classes.
I abstained from even considering medicine for the first 3 years of University because I was put off by the attitudes and personalities of the premed kids in my science classes. Also, I was stupid and let myself be affected by their condescending demeanor and figured that I had no chance of even getting into med school if there were so many "smart people" trying to get in. Sadly, by the end most of them were either seriously humbled or not as smart as they led on... Finally I allowed myself consider medicine as an actual option. The point of this meaningless background is that if this board is any indicator, and If i get into med school, I am very optimistic about my future cassmates and colleagues.
On an other note I have to admit I am pleasantly surprised by the support on this board. Its is very positive, there is minimal to zero one upping, and a lot of modesty for a bunch of super smart people with humbling intelligence who are most likely at the top of their classes.
I abstained from even considering medicine for the first 3 years of University because I was put off by the attitudes and personalities of the premed kids in my science classes. Also, I was stupid and let myself be affected by their condescending demeanor and figured that I had no chance of even getting into med school if there were so many "smart people" trying to get in. Sadly, by the end most of them were either seriously humbled or not as smart as they led on... Finally I allowed myself consider medicine as an actual option. The point of this meaningless background is that if this board is any indicator, and If i get into med school, I am very optimistic about my future cassmates and colleagues.
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Ugh, my mom asked me today when my scores were going to be released and now I'm thinking about the test again.
Sounds like 4/18 had a fairly similar test to us.
Sounds like 4/18 had a fairly similar test to us.
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I think so too. Can't wait to see how you guys do.
Starting to worry more about the MCAT as we get closer to the score release date. I cannot even remember what like 80% of the test was composed of anymore. My mind is just blank clean except for knowing that I bombed PS, felt like I did well in Verbal, and okay in BS. I just pray to God that I am pleasently suprised come 2 weeks from now. I do not want to retake this test again....
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Similar sentiment here, Knights. I really needed to make an improvement on PS (since my other scores were decent.. not what I would've liked but decent) on my first go at it.. and I saw this section and was like wow I can really improve here!! and got bogged down trying to be perfect (confidence or stupidity not sure) so as I've said before here I didn't finish PS on time and had to guess too much at the end... so I might've bombed PS cause of that. Really praying that somehow the other questions I did do and spent too much time on were correct, and I get lucky with the guesses. I really want this to be the last go at it... I'm just afraid, what if I get a decent score but not my AAMC/Kaplan average?? Do I go again knowing I just blew one section again, or do I just accept it move forward with the knowledge it might not be enough due to my uGPA?
The 30 days after MCAT:
One minute your cool.. next minute you thought you bombed it
One minute you think about a 37..next you're looking at a 25
One minute you're ready to burn all the books...next minute you actually consider picking one of them up and start reading and getting ready for the retake
One minute you fantasize about a 35+ and the fact that its all behind you...the next minute you think about the nightmare "27" becoming a reality and the fact that you have to study again for 4 -5 weeks.
This is what it must feel like to be a criminal and having to wait for the verdict and the possibility of doing time while everyone else is living a normal life!
...I just want my life back. This waiting game is torture man. So many up and downs. You know whats funny is that prior to this I considered myself mentaly very strong. I mean nothing would phase me,.. not biochem, not ochem, not physics, ..I would never sweat any exam. I walked in like I was going to own MCAT after months of intense preparation and good exam scores...look at me now...scared!! ....LOL
One minute your cool.. next minute you thought you bombed it
One minute you think about a 37..next you're looking at a 25
One minute you're ready to burn all the books...next minute you actually consider picking one of them up and start reading and getting ready for the retake
One minute you fantasize about a 35+ and the fact that its all behind you...the next minute you think about the nightmare "27" becoming a reality and the fact that you have to study again for 4 -5 weeks.
This is what it must feel like to be a criminal and having to wait for the verdict and the possibility of doing time while everyone else is living a normal life!
...I just want my life back. This waiting game is torture man. So many up and downs. You know whats funny is that prior to this I considered myself mentaly very strong. I mean nothing would phase me,.. not biochem, not ochem, not physics, ..I would never sweat any exam. I walked in like I was going to own MCAT after months of intense preparation and good exam scores...look at me now...scared!! ....LOL
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Umm Karloff can you seriously please get out of my head?? No joke, not only did you describe my thought swings to a T, but you even used numbers that rush through my head. Wow. If it gives you guys any comfort, you are NEVER the only one who thinks these crazy things/feels this way.
Ohh and Knight, I feel exactly the same way about the sections.
Hopefully we look back and this on the 5th and laugh about it.
Speaking of the fifth.. what are all you all's plans when you login in to MCAT THX and see the score you wanted to see? are you gonna get f'd up.. go on a hedonism cruise.. or sleep for a week straight ..or what ?
Speaking of the fifth.. what are all you all's plans when you login in to MCAT THX and see the score you wanted to see? are you gonna get f'd up.. go on a hedonism cruise.. or sleep for a week straight ..or what ?
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Well.. I have two finals on Wednesday so I probably won't look at the scores... though possibly one might get moved back so I would have to force myself to wait even longer until I view THx. I'm really hoping I get my target score, have a sigh of relief, and since semester is over with.. I'm celebrating, going out on the town which I haven't done in ages. I'm just dreading having a recurrent nightmare and getting that 27 a second time.
With that goodnight, don't know why I stayed up this late since I'm getting up early to do more physio studying anyhow...
With that goodnight, don't know why I stayed up this late since I'm getting up early to do more physio studying anyhow...
lol.....uh, since I am not a drinker I think that I will just go out for a celebratory dinner with a bunch of friends and just pig out. I would probably do a victory dance for a week. Doing very well on this test (or at least hitting my average) would take the weight of the world off my shoulders.....
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I kinda doubt it matters because you're already competing with test-takers world-wide, not just SDN.
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It doesn't matter at all because the raw to scale conversion is predetermined. So techincially, even if one person took a test on a particular date, it wouldn't make any difference in his or her score.
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Just the least amount of SND'ers so the least amount of neuroticism about the test lol. Just how people's schedules worked out. A lot of people were on spring break I think around then, I wasn't. That's how I look at it...
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Even though its only one more day of a wait then May 4th, it's really pissing me off too
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Hello My first post on SDN... crazy...waiting to hear back about the 4/4 as well. Felt similar to most posts on this thread about the PS being more difficult than expected, verbal being easier, Bio a little easier... crossing my fingers so nerve-wracking.Greetings!
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Yup, I'm seriously bi-polar about my test scores. One minute I could have scored a 35 a day later a 25. The wait is freaking absurd. It distracts me so much from other things I need to do too.
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Hahah thanks. He's awesome.
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Cleaned my apartment today and moved some MCAT books onto a shelf ... turned into a 25 day. I think the 3/28 people will be fine. Everything is adjusted okay, hard vs easy days - but I think in general the test is just getting harder and the current practice tests out there (including AAMC) aren't accurate representation of what the test is now.
I immediately gave away my MCAT crap the day after the test for that exact reason, I would rather not know. But I think you're right. The test is just getting harder. I don't think I've seen a single post saying it was easy for any test date, "doable" is the best it gets.
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I don't know if you took AAMC 3-10 either, but it was really funny to watch those tests change as I took 3-10 (in order) and STILL take a test that was way different than even the most recent. The AAMC should put out new tests in my opinion.
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Haha! Same boat here! I got a final at 11AM and 3PM ugh.... physio and then cancer pathology.
edit: well mine are on the 3rd actually...
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It looks like the 3/28/09 testers scores came out a full day early. Think we will also get our scores a day earlier?
One week to go...
Seems like everybody came out okay too. God I'm hoping again ours wasn't an 'easier' test with the scaling working against me.
