The Official 01/30/09 MCAT Club

[BloodySurgeon]

Since January is nearby, I decided to refine the January MCAT club to it's two dates. For those of you who are taking it on Friday, January 30th, here is the place where you can vent, discuss, and support each other for this upcoming test. Best of luck guys!

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[ksmi117]

You know what sucks? We'll never know what questions counted. Or even what today's test was like. I get the impression that the 31ster's were ok with theirs. Makes me wonder... what would happen if I took it today? Not that that would be possible, as I just spent the last hour of my life getting a crown bobbypinned to my head... but what if???

 

[TexanGal]

You know what sucks? We'll never know what questions counted. Or even what today's test was like. I get the impression that the 31ster's were ok with theirs. Makes me wonder... what would happen if I took it today? Not that that would be possible, as I just spent the last hour of my life getting a crown bobbypinned to my head... but what if???

What could have been...........

Eh no use wondering, though! Everything happens for a reason Maybe we're going to get an astronomical curve...

 

[weiden]

WTF? Go next door to the 1/31/2009 MCAT forum and everybody over there is elated with how "easy" their test was. I'm particularly mad because 3 months ago I tried to schedule for Saturday but everything was full. Oh well, I guess it'll all work out in the end....

It'll be interesting to compare avg scores with their thread and see if the curve puts everybody about equal.

 

[jh8cw]

Okay, so most of us are feeling miserable. It's that combination of waiting for our scores and seeing a test that is vastly different from the practice exams. The range of psychology of this thread is pretty interesting in itself, people obviously have different mechanisms for dealing with this stress (including myself). But let's wait another month to see if all of this misery is real. Then, at the worst case scenario, we recoup and take the exam again hoping that it is not anything like the Jan 30th exam.

In the worst case scenario (if our worst expectations come true): we know that we have to give ourselves less time (or add another passage) on the verbal sections to prepare for the length of the real MCAT, say about 5-8 minutes shorter.

We know not to dismiss non-aamc practice questions as BS if they seem rather poorly written, multilayered, and ambiguous.

We need to be able to ace (get around 35+) the aamc practice exams just in case we get a test similar to say 1/31.

We need to practice our exams with plenty of time left over: say 10-20 minutes to factor in the adrenaline rush that accompanies the anxiety of seeing novel passages.

 

[jh8cw]

Oh what irony if one of the prompts in our writing section turned out to be false assuming you guys had the same prompt I had.

 

[rise51]

I just took the MCAT today (Jan. 30th) and it was drastically different. This is my second time taking this test.
I was contemplating of voiding my exam as I was very
disappointed in my test performance overall. This specific test was
extremely difficult and did not reflect previous AAMC tests. Though the
MCAT is expected to be a difficult test, I felt that this test left much to
be desired in regards to content and style of questions. I believe that it
was not a fair test in regards to question type as well as passage
integration. This test rendered your knowledge on almost most questions
useless and I believe that if you were a “good guesser” you might have done reasonably well. I do not think the MCAT should be a test on testing
strategy, but should be one of content and knowledge learned through months of preparation for this test. How will the curve on this test be
distributed? Why can’t AAMC provide exam samples that reflect the actual
test? These are questions that are lurking in my head and would like to have answers to.

 

[139871]

If you read the MCAT threads from last year, everyone says the same thing and feels as though they completely tanked the test. Once the scores are posted though all you see are scores in the 33-39 range regardless of the exam. I would say do not worry too much, understand that it was a difficult exam, but at the same time I am sure everyone did fine

 

[weiden]

I just took the exam on January 30th for the third and final time. I really really hope everything worked out and I think most of us are just in panic mode. If you read the MCAT threads from last year, everyone says the same thing and feels as though they completely tanked the test. Once the scores are posted though all you see are scores in the 33-39 range regardless of the exam. I would say do not worry too much, understand that it was a difficult exam, but at the same time I am sure everyone did fine

I hope you're right. I looked up about 12 questions from the BS section that I was unsure of (ochem and some physiology) and I got 6 right and 6 wrong. I'm not too happy with that ratio if you consider the past BS curves. Of the 10 practice AAMC tests I took, I never felt as bad as I did coming out of this one. I just hope we're all on par.

 

[swamprat]

Idk if this has been asked, but generally the AAMC practice tests required getting no more than 10 or so wrong for a 10. Do you think this could apply to the jan 30th test...i hope not

 

[nexus6]

Idk if this has been asked, but generally the AAMC practice tests required getting no more than 10 or so wrong for a 10. Do you think this could apply to the jan 30th test...i hope not

haha- yeah, that would _kill_ me

 

[weiden]

Idk if this has been asked, but generally the AAMC practice tests required getting no more than 10 or so wrong for a 10. Do you think this could apply to the jan 30th test...i hope not

AAMC 6 you could miss 15 and get a 10. I hope our test is more like that one. The general trend for AAMC tests was no more than 12-13 wrong for a 10, but for some it was no more than 10. Supposedly most questions on the MCAT have been asked on previous exams either as real questions or experimental ones so they have a rough idea at what the statistics are going to be. But who knows what the truth is...

 

[Revilla]

Not that that would be possible, as I just spent the last hour of my life getting a crown bobbypinned to my head... but what if???

Okay, I have great affection for crowns. Is that you in your avatar?

 

[ithinkimdiffrnt]

If that was my experimental one, that would be awesome! Cause that one was weird...

it sounds like we had the same PS, and I totally agree with you about that capacitors and balls hanging from string and other weird stuff passage, when I looked at it and read the questions, I was like wtf? All the passages before that had been pretty straight forward but that passage was terrible. Anyone who had the airplane passage that I hear was rough, trust me I'm sure this was just as bad. Lets all hope that they were all experimental.

 

[isaacmn]

what if they are "experimental" what is that, the word is being tossed around a lot, I have no idea what that implies. Let me add that people need to be careful to judge that the test is easy, I mean u can say that for a school exam but I wouldn't do that for the MCAT. You dont know how u do until the scores come out.

 

[weiden]

This is direct from the AAMC site:

How does the MCAT get test questions?
A large pool of content experts writes the items. New items are included in each administration of the MCAT as "field test" questions. Field test questions are not scored, but they are assessed for their performance and, if they are approved, are used on a future MCAT.

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/miscfaq.htm

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I'm guessing it can't be that many questions though - 2 max to put it at an even 50 perhaps? Maybe some statistics guru's can throw in their 2 cents.

 

[Vihsadas]

Cool. I think they might have just added that last FAQ point recently. I don't remember seeing it there when I took my MCAT.
To your question, one whole passage is field tested on each exam and probably 1-2 discrete. They only passages on any exam that are scored have been used in previous administrations. The curves for those questions are more or less set. Your group of test-takers will have an effect on the curve, but previous data is also used.

 

[RRTinCO]

Bahaha, the electric titration one threw me off as well!

There was one that I got that was just a paragraph about EVERYTHING. I'm not kidding. It was like about a building with solar panels, an elevator, and workers using a radio with a certain frequency, and a FISH TANK. All in one passage? Did anybody else get that!? It was

Thats the one I got

 

[archimedesxx]

I could not have gotten luckier on this, I'm taking genetics right now and we literally went over this on Monday.

I had been scoring pretty well in bio and I felt this bio was tougher than usual, I guess I'm not a bio savant like ksmi117

So are you guys saying that this section (BS) will be harder if one has not taken genetics? Like were the passages weird looking with basic concepts or what? Was it classical ( mendelian) genetics or molecular genetics ( transcription and translation, etc). sometime i get very confused when people say genetics because there are many branches of genetics but no one specifies. Please let me know. Also has anyone used the berkeley review bio books? and how did it compare?

 

[FuSoYa]

Bahaha, the electric titration one threw me off as well!

There was one that I got that was just a paragraph about EVERYTHING. I'm not kidding. It was like about a building with solar panels, an elevator, and workers using a radio with a certain frequency, and a FISH TANK. All in one passage? Did anybody else get that!? It was

The electric titration seemed to be a passage everyone got, and yes, it sucked royally. And yeah I got the building/fish tank/solar panel/radio frequency passage too with the mountain of useless numbers and data. After about 2 pieces of info I just skipped the rest and went straight to the questions, which weren't that hard in themselves, I thought. For the others, I don't remember anything about airplanes or metal balls in a capacitor, sorry. I think people did get different versions.

Oh what irony if one of the prompts in our writing section turned out to be false assuming you guys had the same prompt I had.

HAHAHA good catch, that would be really ironic. I know exactly what you're talking about.

 

[weiden]

anybody with the airplane passage pay attention to the altitude that thing was flying at? C'mon, was it supposed to be an airplane or the space shuttle!

that's kind of my problem with these experimental passages - I understand they are a necessary evil, but if you have one that is poorly written or too difficult it can have an impact on your confidence during the test and can bring down your score.

 

[NontradatBeach]

anybody with the airplane passage pay attention to the altitude that thing was flying at? C'mon, was it supposed to be an airplane or the space shuttle!

that's kind of my problem with these experimental passages - I understand they are a necessary evil, but if you have one that is poorly written or too difficult it can have an impact on your confidence during the test and can bring down your score.

I totally agree. I had the metal ball passage, not the airplane passage - and it came as my very last passage in that section. Fortunately it came late so it didn't shake me for the rest of the PS section, but I did go into VR a bit uneasy. I wonder if statistically that "effect" all works itself out - or if it does hurt you in some way as you mention...

 

[yungwunn911]

i spent WAY too much time on the solar airplane passage.

anyone had the electron titration. LOL THANK YOU EK FOR FORESHADOWING THAT ONE!!

 

[ksmi117]

Okay, I have great affection for crowns. Is that you in your avatar?

Yep, me and my crown

 

[ksmi117]

Ok so I'm just trying to make sure I remember correctly... the electric titration passage was the one that had the v-shaped graph and such??

I don't know what I can and can't say about it, so I'm trying to be vague on purpose

 

[weiden]

Ok so I'm just trying to make sure I remember correctly... the electric titration passage was the one that had the v-shaped graph and such??

I don't know what I can and can't say about it, so I'm trying to be vague on purpose

I don't remember a v shaped graph for that one - I do remember a half potential chart and some of the redox formulas. I might just be forgetting though b/c that was my last passage and the one I remember the least about.

 

[TexanGal]

Ok so I'm just trying to make sure I remember correctly... the electric titration passage was the one that had the v-shaped graph and such??

I don't know what I can and can't say about it, so I'm trying to be vague on purpose

Yes ma'am.... that's the one I remember

 

[ksmi117]

Yes ma'am.... that's the one I remember

Mk cool! Was I the only one that didn't think that passage was too bad? Looking back on PS, I don't remember what specifically was so bad about it... maybe the different-ness of it just freaked me out

 

[yungwunn911]

yea had the Vshaped curve. i didnt think it was too bad either. none of the PS passage were too bad, just that one solar aero one, took a while

 

[weiden]

Mk cool! Was I the only one that didn't think that passage was too bad? Looking back on PS, I don't remember what specifically was so bad about it... maybe the different-ness of it just freaked me out

I thought it was tough - of all the passages, including the airplane and the earth crust waves passage, I thought it was the worst one. Luckily that was the very last thing I studied in EK the Tuesday prior to the test, but there were some qualitative answers that I didn't feel too good about. Actually, the more I think about it the worse I think I did on that section....

 

[ksmi117]

I thought it was tough - of all the passages, including the airplane and the earth crust waves passage, I thought it was the worst one. Luckily that was the very last thing I studied in EK the Tuesday prior to the test, but there were some qualitative answers that I didn't feel too good about. Actually, the more I think about it the worse I think I did on that section....

Yeah, I don't even want to think about how I did. I just think that it really wasn't as bad as I made it out to be. I agree on the qualitative stuff. Being a math major, PS was my best section because it involved calculations, but there weren't that many, so that was no good for me...

 

[weiden]

did anybody else think there was a typo on the roller coaster passage? without getting specific, I thought they used the words "speed" and "velocity" in one of the questions to signify the same thing when they clearly are not. I don't know how in depth I can get, but I clearly remember the question and answers that it pertained to - I even marked it and re-read it when I was done, but never felt comfortable about it...

 

[ksmi117]

did anybody else think there was a typo on the roller coaster passage? without getting specific, I thought they used the words "speed" and "velocity" in one of the questions to signify the same thing when they clearly are not. I don't know how in depth I can get, but I clearly remember the question and answers that it pertained to - I even marked it and re-read it when I was done, but never felt comfortable about it...

I didn't notice that, but I've heard that the MCAT uses the two terms interchangeably, even though they obviously mean different things. That passage as a whole was a bit confusing and vague.

 

[ksmi117]

Is it March 3rd yet?

 

[FuSoYa]

did anybody else think there was a typo on the roller coaster passage? without getting specific, I thought they used the words "speed" and "velocity" in one of the questions to signify the same thing when they clearly are not. I don't know how in depth I can get, but I clearly remember the question and answers that it pertained to - I even marked it and re-read it when I was done, but never felt comfortable about it...

I think I remember something like that. I don't want to post specifics, but I don't think it was a typo. I'll pm you.

 

[spongedavid]

for that titration one

i dont want to be too specific
but EDTA? what the heck is that? that thing that binds positively charged ions???

 

[yungwunn911]

for that titration one

i dont want to be too specific
but EDTA? what the heck is that? that thing that binds positively charged ions???

i dunno either. i remember what i put for the answer though!

 

[swamprat]

i remember something about EDTA but i dont remember really needing to know what it exactly does to answer the question. i could be wrong though its all very vague to me right now

 

[FuSoYa]

i remember something about EDTA but i dont remember really needing to know what it exactly does to answer the question. i could be wrong though its all very vague to me right now

i agree, i think it was stem based

 

[ksmi117]

I liked that EDTA question. I think that passage may have been one of my faves.

 

[FutureScaresMe]

I liked that EDTA question. I think that passage may have been one of my faves.

same, but for some reason, the rock/sound one didn't sit well with me. The rest of PS wasn't bad for me though. Don't know why that particular passage made me think twice so much.

 

[180910]

Genetics Question

Congrats to those that took the Jan 30 test and are done. With regards to the "genetics" on the BS, are we talking classical/mendelian genetics, or more transcription/translation stuff. Any Northern, Southern, or Western blots?

 

[AnabolMD]

It definitely had some of both molecular and mendelian genetics. It also somewhat incorporated some immuno with it too. Nothing really about molecular bio techniques ....

 

[Charles English]

This thread is scaring me. All I want to do is drop out of school and study mcat 18 hours a day lol...

May 28th here I come

second that.

i thought i would read up on how this test went, get some feel for the 09... ouch. i have to run off to lab now, and i really just want to open my examcrackers..

 

[Jolt21]

I didn't know they had test questions/passages...that really ups my confidence for the time being...

 

[ilovefishing]

Bahaha, the electric titration one threw me off as well!

There was one that I got that was just a paragraph about EVERYTHING. I'm not kidding. It was like about a building with solar panels, an elevator, and workers using a radio with a certain frequency, and a FISH TANK. All in one passage? Did anybody else get that!? It was

Yup I got that one... i liked the fish tank questions, but with the solar panel crap --->

 

[dockevin]

I took the test on the 30th...Kinda relieved it's over...just think its funny how no more posts have gone up since test date....Now gotta focus on personal statement..It does not end....lol

 

[HawkeyePostOp]

so......

anyone know how to induce a coma that lasts 30 days?

 

[ksmi117]

so......

anyone know how to induce a coma that lasts 30 days?

Oh, I wish... is it sad that I wrote in my planner how many days there are left til the 3rd??

 

[HawkeyePostOp]

Oh, I wish... is it sad that I wrote in my planner how many days there are left til the 3rd??

No. Sad is wasting your savings account on clubbing and hedonism to try to distract yourself.

 

[ksmi117]

Practice AAMC Exam Scores
Avg. Tot: 35, Avg PS: 13, Avg V:11, Avg BS: 11 [4-10]

Predicted Exam Score
PS: 10-12
VR: 10-12
BS: 11-13
Total: 31-37

yeah that seems about right...

No one else is gonna predict some scores?? I'm curious to see how people really thought they did.