The Official 3/23/13 MCAT Thread

[Redpancreas]

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Figured I'd start this one out. I'll be registering for the MCAT first thing tomorrow. Who else is taking it on this date? How do you all plan on studying over the school year?

 

[AFVet07]

Good job and congratulations to those who finished. I took this test last year and I couldn't quote all of you from my phone. No one is ever fully prepared for this test is what one of my friends told me last year and he was spot on. You can know the material inside out and still be completely unprepared for something thrown at you. Also, even if someone held me at gunpoint, I wouldn't be able to tell you any questions on my test because it was all gone soon as I left the room. Regardless, I'm sure you all did better than you think and I expect to see a lot of "30+" posts in a month!

I took it last year as well. I wasn't able to recall questions either. I was so in the zone during the exam as soon I was done with a passage it went right out of my head.

From the prep that some of you did and the post that you made I know that some of you will join us in the 30+ club 30 days from now!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I know this is somehow GTLO's fault. just saying...




























edit: i kid.

 

[carboxylase]

I disagree. I mean really... "impossible to finish"?

I finished 🙄

I know it seems hard when you are psychologically impacted by the stressors of test day... but it really wasn't an abnormal P.S. section.

I hope I'm not being unreasonable, here.... can somebody back me up on this? Maybe I'm just that guy since my practice test scores were the highest in the thread... But let's not be melodramatic!

Personally I did not finish the hardest passage until the end. I saw a few questions that had me going "hmmm WTF" and I moved on, found some easy passages (yes, EASY), and came back when I could. Do I think I scored 100%? Obviously not. Was it just a cruel trick by the AAMC? Please

I finished as well.

I didn't have as much time as I would've liked, but if you kept at a good pace, it was doable. I thought AAMC11 required a faster pace than the other practice tests, and I wasn't ready for it when I took it. I believe the 3/23 test required a tad bit faster pace than AAMC11, but that is more than likely due to test-day factors.

 

[Ubiquinator]

I disagree. I mean really... "impossible to finish"?

I finished 🙄

I know it seems hard when you are psychologically impacted by the stressors of test day... but it really wasn't an abnormal P.S. section.

I hope I'm not being unreasonable, here.... can somebody back me up on this? Maybe I'm just that guy since my practice test scores were the highest in the thread... But let's not be melodramatic!

Personally I did not finish the hardest passage until the end. I saw a few questions that had me going "hmmm WTF" and I moved on, found some easy passages (yes, EASY), and came back when I could. Do I think I scored 100%? Obviously not. Was it just a cruel trick by the AAMC? Please

Entadus: Your being unreasonable and childish... Your sarcastic remarks are not welcome on this thread.

Johnny5473: We all certainly feel your pain. Stay strong brother.

 

[Entadus]

Entadus: Your being unreasonable and childish... Your sarcastic remarks are not welcome on this thread.

From my point of view, the childish thing to do is to call the AAMC and tell them their exam was too hard.

As for my remarks not being welcome on this thread... I am just another member of the board offering my own perspective. Take it or leave it. I know it's easier to listen to people that agree with you, but I have no obligation to stroke anyone's ego. It is my prerogative to disagree with other posters.

 

[AFVet07]

From my point of view, the childish thing to do is to call the AAMC and tell them their exam was too hard.

As for my remarks not being welcome on this thread... I am just another member of the board offering my own perspective. Take it or leave it. I know it's easier to listen to people that agree with you, but I have no obligation to stroke anyone's ego. It is my prerogative to disagree with other posters.

As someone who has gone trough the MCAT and been accepted to medical school, I agree.

The fact that one would call the AAMC and complain about the complexity of the test is laughable.

Don't make excuses about the exam. It's a difficult exam for good reason!

 

[sworzeh]

Entadus: Your being unreasonable and childish... Your sarcastic remarks are not welcome on this thread.

Johnny5473: We all certainly feel your pain. Stay strong brother.

Let me fix this:

Entadus: You're scoring unreasonably high... Your optimism and success makes me feel insecure.

 

[dellian101]

Hey Ya'll --- let's all try to be supportive to each other. this was a VERY stressful exam, and has made a few people upset. It was harder for some, harder for others.

this month is going to be stressful, with anxiously awaiting for scores or restudying (which is what i'm doing). regardless, we are all in this together! team 3/23!!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Hey Ya'll --- let's all try to be supportive to each other. this was a VERY stressful exam, and has made a few people upset. It was harder for some, harder for others.

this month is going to be stressful, with anxiously awaiting for scores or restudying (which is what i'm doing). regardless, we are all in this together! team 3/23!!

👍

i'm kind of upset that i struggled the whole week to train myself to wake up at an early hour and now i cant seem to sleep in!!

edit: on a positive note, this is the first time I've actually had time to work on the personal statement............

 

[Meredith92]

From my point of view, the childish thing to do is to call the AAMC and tell them their exam was too hard.

As for my remarks not being welcome on this thread... I am just another member of the board offering my own perspective. Take it or leave it. I know it's easier to listen to people that agree with you, but I have no obligation to stroke anyone's ego. It is my prerogative to disagree with other posters.

I dont think youre unreasonable AT ALL. It was so helpful for me to hear your comments since I'm taking my mcat soon. It made me realize that its so much a mental game- its gonna be hard, but i still gotta treat it like a normal test. So thank you for your comments!!

 

[warrenpeace]

Does anybody know why it takes 30 days to get results? It seems ridiculous considering that other CBTs give results practically right away. I understand they have to analyze the results, curve, etc. but it just seems beyond reason. Wouldn't it be nice to have the results sooner so you could plan appropriately??

I've been watching this post for awhile, and this was my first time taking the test. I really don't think I could have been more prepared for the content, however, what I did learn.... there's nothing like the real thing.

 

[Captain Sisko]

From my point of view, the childish thing to do is to call the AAMC and tell them their exam was too hard.

As for my remarks not being welcome on this thread... I am just another member of the board offering my own perspective. Take it or leave it. I know it's easier to listen to people that agree with you, but I have no obligation to stroke anyone's ego. It is my prerogative to disagree with other posters.

👍

 

[johnny5473]

From my point of view, the childish thing to do is to call the AAMC and tell them their exam was too hard.

As for my remarks not being welcome on this thread... I am just another member of the board offering my own perspective. Take it or leave it. I know it's easier to listen to people that agree with you, but I have no obligation to stroke anyone's ego. It is my prerogative to disagree with other posters.

If you believe it's your prerogative to disagree with other posters, then it is my prerogative to let the AAMC know how I feel (especially since the AAMC welcomes any feedback). I have no obligation to stroke the AAMC's ego when I truly believe that test was not appropriate for the given amount of time.

 

[dellian101]

👍

i'm kind of upset that i struggled the whole week to train myself to wake up at an early hour and now i cant seem to sleep in!!

edit: on a positive note, this is the first time I've actually had time to work on the personal statement............

Yea... Too upset to even work on personal statement. Think I got a 5 on physics.:: no personal statement Is gonna fix that!

 

[Chalupa Batman]

hey did anyone write down equations during the tutorial? Spinich dip wrote on his study method that we were allowed to so I did but the proctor came by and yelled at me

did this happen to anyone else?

 

[hope2b62a]

Now that I've had some time to reflect upon the day...

It was not anywhere near as bad as I was afraid it would be. Most of us are people accustomed to getting every answer on tests and being able to walk away knowing your score long before it's ever posted. I didn't feel that way when I left on Saturday and still don't; if you do - that's awesome! I'm glad you can have that peace of mind most of the rest of us will lack for the next three or four weeks. I learned the hard way years ago, as I'm sure many of us did, not to make predictions about performance on tests like this one that I may come to regret later. That said, I know I didn't bomb it.

To those taking it in the future: I thought it was exactly like the AAMC practice exams. They are a genuine approximation with different questions and passage topics. It tested the same breadth and almost none of the depth, just like an AAMC. I used TBR for almost everything and felt very prepared when facing that screen. I used EK for Bio (As per SDN recommendations) but I also used some old Biochem texts for ETC, Krebs, and Sugar review. I don't think EK goes deep enough there. They give you enough to memorize but no where near enough to understand concepts fully. I took most of the prereq courses 5-6 years ago. People who have just taken them might be able to get off with just EK for everything (DISCLAIMER: I'm not suggesting, nor am I inferring, that any of the aforementioned was on my MCAT. Like everyone else - I can't even remember what they asked me or how I responded to 99.9% of it 😕 .)

As for Verbal: I am so glad I didn't waste much precious study time trying to prepare for it. It wouldn't have helped. I believe anyone can finish the verbal passages and figure them out if he or she has a moderately high level of comprehension. You just have to remain calm and not let any of the nuances of language or prose throw you. I finished that section thinking: "I feel sorry for the people accustomed to text message-style communication, this will frustrate and confuse the living #%7@ out of them!" 🙂

 

[Captain Sisko]

hey did anyone write down equations during the tutorial? Spinich dip wrote on his study method that we were allowed to so I did but the proctor came by and yelled at me

did this happen to anyone else?

i was told explicitly that i could not. i even clarified with the proctor. she might have been full of it because she told another student that there is a pop up calculator in the exam.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Yea... Too upset to even work on personal statement. Think I got a 5 on physics.:: no personal statement Is gonna fix that!

I'm sure you did better than you think. don't dwell on it, just put it at the back of your mind and relax.

 

[Medhopes]

hey did anyone write down equations during the tutorial? Spinich dip wrote on his study method that we were allowed to so I did but the proctor came by and yelled at me

did this happen to anyone else?

I wrote down a set of formulas that I always wrote down before my practice tests just like I planned to (and did) on the real thing. No one stopped me or said anything. I honestly don't remember using that many formulas, though, tbh. Like many previous posters have agreed upon, the PS went by so quickly I don't really remember exactly how many I used, but I filled up a whole page with small print doing the calculations, with the formula sheet I wrote down during the tutorial on the left page of the scrap booklet. I remember needing a little more space so actually used the too of another scrap page. I don't write down anything for verbal, but wrote down a few thing during bio to keep the passage indexed.

Since I do write a lot during the PS section, the shimmering of the paper and trying to block the bright light right above me was annoying but doable. That sucks that the proctor stopped you from writing the formulas. No where does it say you can't do that. It's our tutorial time, you should be able to do whatever you want with it within the constraints of the guidelines, as long as it doesn't affect any other test takers.

 

[Chalupa Batman]

I wrote down a set of formulas that I always wrote down before my practice tests just like I planned to (and did) on the real thing. No one stopped me or said anything. I honestly don't remember using that many formulas, though, tbh. Like many previous posters have agreed upon, the PS went by so quickly I don't really remember exactly how many I used, but I filled up a whole page with small print doing the calculations, with the formula sheet I wrote down during the tutorial on the left page of the scrap booklet. I remember needing a little more space so actually used the too of another scrap page. I don't write down anything for verbal, but wrote down a few thing during bio to keep the passage indexed.

Since I do write a lot during the PS section, the shimmering of the paper and trying to block the bright light right above me was annoying but doable. That sucks that the proctor stopped you from writing the formulas. No where does it say you can't do that. It's our tutorial time, you should be able to do whatever you want with it within the constraints of the guidelines, as long as it doesn't affect any other test takers.

ya exactly we should be able to do what we want because the test has started.
She was so rude about it also! super annoying
stressing me out for no reason

 

[ScoobyDooo]

I haven't posted in a while here and missed you guys. I thought the exam was fair, verbal being the hardest for me. My testing site had some computer issues so I didn't get to sit into the computer room until 8:50!

I hope you all did well and best of luck on getting your scores back!

 

[timeturner]

i was told explicitly that i could not. i even clarified with the proctor. she might have been full of it because she told another student that there is a pop up calculator in the exam.

I wrote down equations too, not that it helped lol
it was probably worse to have brought it to their attention though. i'm not sure if mine noticed. i hope this doesn't count as cheating...but it seems like people have done this in the past and nothing happened

ya exactly we should be able to do what we want because the test has started.
She was so rude about it also! super annoying
stressing me out for no reason

Really? Mine was so nice to me. During breaks he resharpened my pencils (like, reallllly reharpened them) and I'm pretty sure he was hitting on me lol, it was kind of nice.

How I'm feeling today: making peace with the fact that I will probably have to retake and decide that I would only retake if it's a 33 or below.

 

[dellian101]

I'm sure you did better than you think. don't dwell on it, just put it at the back of your mind and relax.

thanks Sisko!!

 

[lwilso22]

hey did anyone write down equations during the tutorial? Spinich dip wrote on his study method that we were allowed to so I did but the proctor came by and yelled at me

did this happen to anyone else?

Yes this happened to me too. I was writing it down and he proctor told me I had to move on...kinda ridiculous.

 

[osprey099]

Yes this happened to me too. I was writing it down and he proctor told me I had to move on...kinda ridiculous.

This is interesting.. When I took the MCAT last summer, the 2 proctors were outside of the room and we were locked in the computer lab. I guess it differs at each testing center.

 

[Shams al Deen]

Speaking of proctors and all, My test is 4/4 and I've been wondering lately about the break times. So we are supposed to get only 10 minutes, but is this strictly enforced. Like what if there's a long line in the bathroom or something? If you get back to your test after 11 mins will the next section have automatically started to countdown?

 

[Entadus]

Hey Ya'll --- let's all try to be supportive to each other. this was a VERY stressful exam, and has made a few people upset. It was harder for some, harder for others.

this month is going to be stressful, with anxiously awaiting for scores or restudying (which is what i'm doing). regardless, we are all in this together! team 3/23!!

👍

I dont think youre unreasonable AT ALL. It was so helpful for me to hear your comments since I'm taking my mcat soon. It made me realize that its so much a mental game- its gonna be hard, but i still gotta treat it like a normal test. So thank you for your comments!!

Thanks for that, and I'm glad I could help you 🙂

If you believe it's your prerogative to disagree with other posters, then it is my prerogative to let the AAMC know how I feel (especially since the AAMC welcomes any feedback). I have no obligation to stroke the AAMC's ego when I truly believe that test was not appropriate for the given amount of time.

Fair enough!

Speaking of proctors and all, My test is 4/4 and I've been wondering lately about the break times. So we are supposed to get only 10 minutes, but is this strictly enforced. Like what if there's a long line in the bathroom or something? If you get back to your test after 11 mins will the next section have automatically started to countdown?

The next section will not begin without you, however the proctors will sign you in/out for each break including the time. They know you're not supposed to take longer than 10 minutes. Sometimes they realize they can't get you inside before 10 minutes is up (there could be a large influx of people trying to get back inside the testing room)

 

[carboxylase]

My testing proctor was awesome. I didn't write down any formulas because I knew them all well enough (not a humblebrag) but I don't think mine would've cared, or even known.


Captain Sisko - There may have been a popup calculator for another test. Not everyone in my room was taking the MCAT. I know this because I heard several people typing for a long time, so I turned around to see what they were doing and it was a different test. Either that or she didn't know what she was talking about.

 

[sworzeh]

Speaking of proctors and all, My test is 4/4 and I've been wondering lately about the break times. So we are supposed to get only 10 minutes, but is this strictly enforced. Like what if there's a long line in the bathroom or something? If you get back to your test after 11 mins will the next section have automatically started to countdown?

No countdown. I took about a 15 minute break between PS and VR.

 

[Captain Sisko]

My testing proctor was awesome. I didn't write down any formulas because I knew them all well enough (not a humblebrag) but I don't think mine would've cared, or even known.


Captain Sisko - There may have been a popup calculator for another test. Not everyone in my room was taking the MCAT. I know this because I heard several people typing for a long time, so I turned around to see what they were doing and it was a different test. Either that or she didn't know what she was talking about.

definitely the latter, kid says he was doing the mcat

 

[PreMedRookie]

I wrote down equations during the tutorial but the proctors couldn't see us but I just assumed it was okay.

Did any of you guys have an extremely hot room? I was in a T shirt and had to pull my hair up because it was soo hot. I was miserable.

 

[PlasmodiumVivax]

Captain Sisko - There may have been a popup calculator for another test. Not everyone in my room was taking the MCAT. I know this because I heard several people typing for a long time, so I turned around to see what they were doing and it was a different test. Either that or she didn't know what she was talking about.

I remember in my testing center when I was finishing the BS section I saw an 8 year old come into the computer lab with his Dad. Then when I was leaving I saw a couple of 40 year olds talking about real estate in the waiting room. I thought they would wait until all the mcat students were done but I guess not...

Oh yeah NEG, just be glad you didn't take the mcat in 2015. My trial section was tough. I feel sorry for future pre-meds.

 

[PlasmodiumVivax]

I wrote down equations during the tutorial but the proctors couldn't see us but I just assumed it was okay.

Did any of you guys have an extremely hot room? I was in a T shirt and had to pull my hair up because it was soo hot. I was miserable.

No not mine, I wore a sweater and a t-shirt and I was comfortable. Sorry to hear that though :\

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I remember in my testing center when I was finishing the BS section I saw an 8 year old come into the computer lab with his Dad. Then when I was leaving I saw a couple of 40 year olds talking about real estate in the waiting room. I thought they would wait until all the mcat students were done but I guess not...

I thought you were going to say the 8 year was saying the PS section was easy 😛

I had a dream this afternoon, I checked my score and got a "60"! I was like... what the hell is a 60 and called AAMC in which their response is "what the hell is a 60?! You're going to have to retake!" 😱

this month cant come too soon

 

[hope2b62a]

I thought you were going to say the 8 year was saying the PS section was easy 😛

I had a dream this afternoon, I checked my score and got a "60"! I was like... what the hell is a 60 and called AAMC in which their response is "what the hell is a 60?! You're going to have to retake!" 😱

this month cant come too soon

I hear ya'!

 

[carboxylase]

It's funny thinking about the different phases this thread has gone through in the past two days.

I wonder if it'll die in a few weeks only to be revived once scores are posted.

 

[Entadus]

It's funny thinking about the different phases this thread has gone through in the past two days.

I wonder if it'll die in a few weeks only to be revived once scores are posted.

Quick somebody make a graph of 3/23 Thread Activity vs. Time (and make a passage with MCAT style questions!)

The withdrawals are setting in.... 😳

 

[MTHFR]

Dumb question(s), but it seems like we all had the same, or similar, test... and I always had it in my head that there were multiple different forms of the test given out the same day. Did we each take the same test? Or was a test that was similar in difficulty for each of the sections (e.g., more difficult PS) given out with different passages?

 

[Captain Sisko]

Dumb question(s), but it seems like we all had the same, or similar, test... and I always had it in my head that there were multiple different forms of the test given out the same day. Did we each take the same test? Or was a test that was similar in difficulty for each of the sections (e.g., more difficult PS) given out with different passages?

no way to legally verify it was the same. I've seen people drop hints that make it seem like we had the same exam though. subtle hints.

 

[timeturner]

Dumb question(s), but it seems like we all had the same, or similar, test... and I always had it in my head that there were multiple different forms of the test given out the same day. Did we each take the same test? Or was a test that was similar in difficulty for each of the sections (e.g., more difficult PS) given out with different passages?

it's not efficient to make multiple versions of the same test when cheating is carefully prevented by excessive measures

 

[timeturner]

Quick somebody make a graph of 3/23 Thread Activity vs. Time (and make a passage with MCAT style questions!)

The withdrawals are setting in.... 😳

We are still the most popular thread on the MCAT forum lol

no withdrawal for me, loving all this free time and enjoying interesting easy classes. woot!

 

[lwilso22]

This is interesting.. When I took the MCAT last summer, the 2 proctors were outside of the room and we were locked in the computer lab. I guess it differs at each testing center.

I mean they were outside, but I don't know how they knew. Honestly the stuff I wrote down or was going to anyway wouldn't have helped anyway. It just stressed me out when he told me to move on.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I mean they were outside, but I don't know how they knew. Honestly the stuff I wrote down or was going to anyway wouldn't have helped anyway. It just stressed me out when he told me to move on.

My test room had cameras in it 😱

 

[Pyrogenic]

My test room had cameras in it 😱

Ya there are cameras for each cubicle. And the video feed is on their computer

 

[Captain Sisko]

Ya there are cameras for each cubicle. And the video feed is on their computer

ditto.

the lady pointed this out to me when i asked how she could see me if i needed more paper. i didn't quite run out during ps but got a fresh booklet after vr. all in all it was pretty well administered, at least at my location.

 

[wolfie77]

At my location, during the PS section, one of our proctors started to vacuum the carpet about 5 feet from me. I was like......WTF? Thankfully I had really good earplugs and could basically ignore the sound.

 

[Entadus]

At my location, during the PS section, one of our proctors started to vacuum the carpet about 5 feet from me. I was like......WTF? Thankfully I had really good earplugs and could basically ignore the sound.

That's pretty ridiculous that they would vacuum while people are testing!😱 I'd probably be pissed 😡

 

[timeturner]

At my location, during the PS section, one of our proctors started to vacuum the carpet about 5 feet from me. I was like......WTF? Thankfully I had really good earplugs and could basically ignore the sound.

You can report it.

 

[carboxylase]

I'm going to drive myself crazy waiting for these scores. I get impatient when teacher's take more than a week to return a test. It's one of my weaknesses.

If someone wanted to torture me, they could seriously have all of my teachers + the AAMC never return my test scores 🙂

 

[gettheleadout]

I know this is somehow GTLO's fault. just saying...

😏

If you believe it's your prerogative to disagree with other posters, then it is my prerogative to let the AAMC know how I feel (especially since the AAMC welcomes any feedback). I have no obligation to stroke the AAMC's ego when I truly believe that test was not appropriate for the given amount of time.

I mean, you can have whatever opinion you want, but the test isn't supposed to be "reasonable" by your definition.

i was told explicitly that i could not. i even clarified with the proctor. she might have been full of it because she told another student that there is a pop up calculator in the exam.

Yeah, that's wrong. Sorry. I've specifically talked to the AAMC via email about this. You have the right as a test taker to use your scratch paper for anything at any point once sitting down.

I will likely be addressing this with my test site beforehand to ensure compliance.