The Official 3/23/13 MCAT Thread

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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?
 
"You have no scores yet."

Haha I've been checking at 7 and 7. I wonder why, since with the writing section removed it's only sped up release by 3 hours (3pm to noon).

Oh hey guess what? I'm STILL remembering test questions. I should write them down and not post them here.
 
Haha I've been checking at 7 and 7. I wonder why, since with the writing section removed it's only sped up release by 3 hours (3pm to noon).

Oh hey guess what? I'm STILL remembering test questions. I should write them down and not post them here.

Jeez :laugh: The only thing I remember is the passage topic I was going to write about for PS. Actually... ok... I remember a few things.... Maybe they'll show up on a retake if it comes to that....

I think I remember someone saying that they tweet it when scores are available. That's probably the best way to know, rather than to keep checking.
 
Jeez :laugh: The only thing I remember is the passage topic I was going to write about for PS. Actually... ok... I remember a few things.... Maybe they'll show up on a retake if it comes to that....

I think I remember someone saying that they tweet it when scores are available. That's probably the best way to know, rather than to keep checking.

Is there an actual chance that scores would get posted before the official "tentative release date"? Any precedent of such a momentous thing happening?
 
Is there an actual chance that scores would get posted before the official "tentative release date"? Any precedent of such a momentous thing happening?

Not a chance.

There's no point in checking THx every hour. (I've only checked it once since Saturday 😉 )

I checked it compulsively last time I was waiting for MCAT scores. No point. Save yourself the time and grief :laugh:
 
Is there an actual chance that scores would get posted before the official "tentative release date"? Any precedent of such a momentous thing happening?

Not a chance.

There's no point in checking THx every hour. (I've only checked it once since Saturday 😉 )

I checked it compulsively last time I was waiting for MCAT scores. No point. Save yourself the time and grief :laugh:

Yeah, wolfie77, we're being silly. I doubt anyone's REALLY checking it 😉 Hence my point about just letting their tweet inform you if anything.
 
Did any of you guys do Kaplan FLs for prep? If so, how did you guys think the Kaplan PS and BS sections of the FL were compared to the real deal? I know Kaplan verbal is crap but I heard good stuff about their PS and BS.
 
Did any of you guys do Kaplan FLs for prep? If so, how did you guys think the Kaplan PS and BS sections of the FL were compared to the real deal? I know Kaplan verbal is crap but I heard good stuff about their PS and BS.

I did two old school Kaplan exams, numbers 7 and 10. By old school I mean they were from before the cbt came out. BS was reasonable. PS was good practice since it was so tough. VR was too easy.
 
is anyone planning on retaking??? if so..when

not sure if mid-may is too soon. i was doing okay on practice tests except physics on this test ****ED me in the behind!
 
is anyone planning on retaking??? if so..when

not sure if mid-may is too soon. i was doing okay on practice tests except physics on this test ****ED me in the behind!

I am waiting until Saturday, then I will do some review of my notes. Monday I will take the self assessments, saving the verbal for until after I receive my score. That should take about a week. I wont do much for verbal other than some reading in my spare time and some journal papers for my classes. I will not schedule a date until I have a score though.

Regarding test date, seats open up markedly around here in May so I will not have a problem finding a seat if I feel I need to take a test so I don't need a lot of forethought. But I would recommend May 11th for a retake since that would be a solid 6 weeks and you shouldn't have lost much content knowledge in the week vacation since the march 23 test. A solid 6 weeks of working your weaknesses and polishing up your content and you should be pretty set. With this type of arrangement and since we've been going at this so long, you should worry about burn out. But burn out should be minimal since you've spent this week clearing your mind and relaxing.

I actually think I will not retake but it's only a few weeks until the scores come out and better safe than sorry (for me). This is probably way more than necessary but it gives an outlet for some angst, and I suppose it's always nice to have a PLAN B 😛
 
Some proctors are good, some are ok, but some can terrible. I feel the best ones are the ones you don't know are around. I don't like the ones that are overly cheery as if it would make a difference lmao but haha, not a big deal better cheery than rude.

Here's a mix of the annoying things proctors have done during my two sittings. They're not really big deals but still interesting in retrospect:

So last time one came in and start hissing at a student and my industrial noise cancellation headphones didn't block it out. She was there for literally almost a minute I think. I was like WTH

Whenever I was done with break i was like really jittery. I tried to scribble my signature and they were like um no do it again so I did more legibly and then there were like, NO sir exactly as on your ID sir (i scribbled the last two cursive letters) and I was like WTH :meanie:

The secretary proctor had an attitude and couldn't get a proper pic of my finger print. Had to do it like 5 times. On top of that I knew I was pushing close to 8 minutes already on my break and I asked them if my exam would start to count down and they were like yes, absolutely and I was like even more worried and when I got to the exam I looked and realized that it just pauses at the BS section title page and there wasn't any time deducted when I started BS. Why say "absolutely" when you're not sure.

What does everyone think about this one? Theoretically if it pauses on section pages you could take as long of a break as you want. It's probably not the best idea as if might get you out of the zone but I think it would be useful to clarify, how long of a break can you actually take? Maybe if you wait too long the proctor will come in and ask you to start or something. Idk...anyone tested it? (I've always fantasized of losing internet connection like I did on one of my verbal exams (gave me like 3 extra minutes).

Lastly, and the most humorous (since it wasn't me) was just bizarre. This guy jogs to his locker which already catches the attention of everyone in our little waiting room and basically pulls out his AAMC Official Guide from his locker kneels on the floor and starts doing a passage and the proctor came over and was like nuh-uh! What was funny was the kid had cheek to talk back and say what he was doing was "standard AAMC practice" (I'm pretty sure that when I took the last fall they had said referring to materials or phones was automatic test center dismissal so this proctor was lenient in retrospect)...but basically the proctor blew her top. It's actually reminded me of this YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IioC2cpCwBc

She was like in my day you'd be outta here for saying that, funny cus he should have been out in the first place. Sometimes proctors can be ignorant. The calculator thing someone else mentioned is ridiculous.

----------------------------------


Oh also, word of advice for those who have the bad habit of looking around to see how everyone else is handling things...don't get flustered if you seem someone tipping his or her chair back and yawning, stretching and looking in different directions. I asked this guy how he thought his exam went afterwards and he was told me he was taking a drivers exam or something. Another girl I talked to said she was taking a practice step 3 exam. The point is that people are in there for different reasons. I told step 3 girl my MCAT score and she was like OMG why are you taking it again, that's like amazing! At first I was flattered but then I asked where she flew from cus she mentioned she a flight and she was like St. George's....
 
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is anyone planning on retaking??? if so..when

not sure if mid-may is too soon. i was doing okay on practice tests except physics on this test ****ED me in the behind!

I respect the folks who are already studying again but I'm not going to retake it unless I completely bombed it or bombed one of the sections. If I have even an 'Average" score that's on the low end, I'll apply with it and see if I need to go through this again...😉
 
I respect the folks who are already studying again but I'm not going to retake it unless I completely bombed it or bombed one of the sections. If I have even an 'Average" score that's on the low end, I'll apply with it and see if I need to go through this again...😉

+1 👍
 
Some proctors are good, some are ok, but some can terrible. I feel the best ones are the ones you don't know are around. I don't like the ones that are overly cheery as if it would make a difference lmao but haha, not a big deal better cheery than rude.

Here's a mix of the annoying things proctors have done during my two sittings. They're not really big deals but still interesting in retrospect:

So last time one came in and start hissing at a student and my industrial noise cancellation headphones didn't block it out. She was there for literally almost a minute I think. I was like WTH

Whenever I was done with break i was like really jittery. I tried to scribble my signature and they were like um no do it again so I did more legibly and then there were like, NO sir exactly as on your ID sir (i scribbled the last two cursive letters) and I was like WTH :meanie:

The secretary proctor had an attitude and couldn't get a proper pic of my finger print. Had to do it like 5 times. On top of that I knew I was pushing close to 8 minutes already on my break and I asked them if my exam would start to count down and they were like yes, absolutely and I was like even more worried and when I got to the exam I looked and realized that it just pauses at the BS section title page and there wasn't any time deducted when I started BS. Why say "absolutely" when you're not sure.

What does everyone think about this one? Theoretically if it pauses on section pages you could take as long of a break as you want. It's probably not the best idea as if might get you out of the zone but I think it would be useful to clarify, how long of a break can you actually take? Maybe if you wait too long the proctor will come in and ask you to start or something. Idk...anyone tested it? (I've always fantasized of losing internet connection like I did on one of my verbal exams (gave me like 3 extra minutes).

Lastly, and the most humorous (since it wasn't me) was just bizarre. This guy jogs to his locker which already catches the attention of everyone in our little waiting room and basically pulls out his AAMC Official Guide from his locker kneels on the floor and starts doing a passage and the proctor came over and was like nuh-uh! What was funny was the kid had cheek to talk back and say what he was doing was "standard AAMC practice" (I'm pretty sure that when I took the last fall they had said referring to materials or phones was automatic test center dismissal so this proctor was lenient in retrospect)...but basically the proctor blew her top. It's actually reminded me of this YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IioC2cpCwBc

She was like in my day you'd be outta here for saying that, funny cus he should have been out in the first place. Sometimes proctors can be ignorant. The calculator thing someone else mentioned is ridiculous.

----------------------------------


Oh also, word of advice for those who have the bad habit of looking around to see how everyone else is handling things...don't get flustered if you seem someone tipping his or her chair back and yawning, stretching and looking in different directions. I asked this guy how he thought his exam went afterwards and he was told me he was taking a drivers exam or something. Another girl I talked to said she was taking a practice step 3 exam. The point is that people are in there for different reasons. I told step 3 girl my MCAT score and she was like OMG why are you taking it again, that's like amazing! At first I was flattered but then I asked where she flew from cus she mentioned she a flight and she was like St. George's....

LOL, that last experience with the guy doing a practice AAMC during the break is hilarious! :laugh:

I took only one MCAT but voided. I actually took it out in the midwest since I was visiting family over the summer. And the MCAT center sucked because it was jam packed and everyone was doing MCAT and basically flipping out if you like moved your chair and it squeaked or something (thats how high the nerves were in the room..it made me uncomfortable). My brother took it in my home state and he said it was so breezy, like no one was there and the few that were were doing a teaching exam. I actually think I would do a lot better in that situation instead of sitting next to a bunch of gunner premeds! Actually thankfully I'm doing the test this time around (no voiding this time) in my home state so hopefully I'll have the same experience my brother did (he did really well so hoping it's chill :luck:)
 
Hello everyone,

I am making this post to say that I apologize if I upset anyone and that I am sorry if I acted arrogantly. I am just another human and these past few days have started to gnaw on me; I have worries about the questions I missed in the bio section and about what my scores will be. I am not a god and I, too, have insecurities and doubts.

I just try and remind myself that it is just an exam and I did my best. Whatever the outcome, it is JUST AN EXAM.

I really do want to be a doctor, and I tried my best to make it show in how I approached this test. I don't know my score but I know it wasn't 45. I am human.

I took all the practice tests, I studied my ass off for 4+ months, and this was my second time taking the MCAT. I have been humbled by rejection, I have been humbled in other ways too. I hope people appreciate the perspective I put on things, but really I just want to emphasize that I am worried I will be disappointed with the results, and that makes me more aware of what others must be feeling. Last time I took the MCAT in Sept 2010, I never would have imagined that I would score lower than I wanted, that I would apply anyway, that I would be wait-listed at a dream school of mine, or that I would be eventually rejected. I never dreamed that I would retake the MCAT. We can't tell the future, but we should face it fearlessly.

Thanks again to everyone for being so supportive. Follow your dreams and be good to yourselves 🙂 Don't be hard on yourselves
 
Some proctors are good, some are ok, but some can terrible. I feel the best ones are the ones you don't know are around. I don't like the ones that are overly cheery as if it would make a difference lmao but haha, not a big deal better cheery than rude.

Here's a mix of the annoying things proctors have done during my two sittings. They're not really big deals but still interesting in retrospect:

So last time one came in and start hissing at a student and my industrial noise cancellation headphones didn't block it out. She was there for literally almost a minute I think. I was like WTH

Whenever I was done with break i was like really jittery. I tried to scribble my signature and they were like um no do it again so I did more legibly and then there were like, NO sir exactly as on your ID sir (i scribbled the last two cursive letters) and I was like WTH :meanie:

The secretary proctor had an attitude and couldn't get a proper pic of my finger print. Had to do it like 5 times. On top of that I knew I was pushing close to 8 minutes already on my break and I asked them if my exam would start to count down and they were like yes, absolutely and I was like even more worried and when I got to the exam I looked and realized that it just pauses at the BS section title page and there wasn't any time deducted when I started BS. Why say "absolutely" when you're not sure.

What does everyone think about this one? Theoretically if it pauses on section pages you could take as long of a break as you want. It's probably not the best idea as if might get you out of the zone but I think it would be useful to clarify, how long of a break can you actually take? Maybe if you wait too long the proctor will come in and ask you to start or something. Idk...anyone tested it? (I've always fantasized of losing internet connection like I did on one of my verbal exams (gave me like 3 extra minutes).

Lastly, and the most humorous (since it wasn't me) was just bizarre. This guy jogs to his locker which already catches the attention of everyone in our little waiting room and basically pulls out his AAMC Official Guide from his locker kneels on the floor and starts doing a passage and the proctor came over and was like nuh-uh! What was funny was the kid had cheek to talk back and say what he was doing was "standard AAMC practice" (I'm pretty sure that when I took the last fall they had said referring to materials or phones was automatic test center dismissal so this proctor was lenient in retrospect)...but basically the proctor blew her top. It's actually reminded me of this YouTube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IioC2cpCwBc

She was like in my day you'd be outta here for saying that, funny cus he should have been out in the first place. Sometimes proctors can be ignorant. The calculator thing someone else mentioned is ridiculous.

----------------------------------


Oh also, word of advice for those who have the bad habit of looking around to see how everyone else is handling things...don't get flustered if you seem someone tipping his or her chair back and yawning, stretching and looking in different directions. I asked this guy how he thought his exam went afterwards and he was told me he was taking a drivers exam or something. Another girl I talked to said she was taking a practice step 3 exam. The point is that people are in there for different reasons. I told step 3 girl my MCAT score and she was like OMG why are you taking it again, that's like amazing! At first I was flattered but then I asked where she flew from cus she mentioned she a flight and she was like St. George's....

I took the MCAT last summer and voided it cuz i wasnt prepared enough..but in terms of proctoring, everything was great BUT, every single break 1 of the girls would go into her locker, pull out her blackberry phone and start texting at lightning speed, as if someone was on the other end waiting for replies and she stood hovered in the area of her locker for about 5 of the 10 minute break texting. The other 5 min she went to the bathroom etc. I sat in the waiting room during the breaks eating fruit n granola bars and was not sure if it was permissible. Proctors did nothing and i am sure it went unreported.

Another incident at the same time i took that MCAT, 1 of the girls mother waited in the waiting room the entire test. Every break the girl would sit down next to her mom and mother would ask "did you understand all the passages, how were the questions, how do you feel" etc. i heard what they talked about cuz i was seated only 2 seats over. BUT the mother had an iPad in her lap the entire test in the waiting room and sat side by side her daughter..the daughter would look at the screen as they chatted. Proctors did nothing and i am sure it went unreported.
 
Fear not, bud. This is hard on us all. I can't imagine how wracking it must be to have to take it twice and reapply, etc. I'm just glad we all have this thread to come to and speak to others who were sitting in there that same day and are in the same boat! Very few other people in my life understand...
 
I took the MCAT last summer and voided it cuz i wasnt prepared enough..but in terms of proctoring, everything was great BUT, every single break 1 of the girls would go into her locker, pull out her blackberry phone and start texting at lightning speed, as if someone was on the other end waiting for replies and she stood hovered in the area of her locker for about 5 of the 10 minute break texting. The other 5 min she went to the bathroom etc. I sat in the waiting room during the breaks eating fruit n granola bars and was not sure if it was permissible. Proctors did nothing and i am sure it went unreported.

Another incident at the same time i took that MCAT, 1 of the girls mother waited in the waiting room the entire test. Every break the girl would sit down next to her mom and mother would ask "did you understand all the passages, how were the questions, how do you feel" etc. i heard what they talked about cuz i was seated only 2 seats over. BUT the mother had an iPad in her lap the entire test in the waiting room and sat side by side her daughter..the daughter would look at the screen as they chatted. Proctors did nothing and i am sure it went unreported.

This is the kind of stuff that, when I hear about it, it makes me simultaneously feel ill that such an individual might take my seat and sad for both that "Helicopter" parent and her daughter. 😕
 
Haha entadus relax! Nothing but love on this thread. No hating lol

Btw: im gonna beat you on my mcat...ill leery you know what i get lol 🙂

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch Q using SDN Mobile
 
Woke up today...... thought about the test...... convinced myself there is a high chance I got all 8's on the test...... thought about what I would do if I got all 8's......didn't arrive at a conclusion I was satisfied with.....read a text from my buddy telling me he will be here in 30 minutes.....packed my bags for spring break......will think about this test zero times while at the beach......rather, I will enjoy my triple hops brewed Miller Light (because if you're drinking a light beer without great pilsner taste, you're missing out)......will "Taste Greatness" ......will post back in 7 days


:owle:
 
Woke up today...... thought about the test...... convinced myself there is a high chance I got all 8's on the test...... thought about what I would do if I got all 8's......didn't arrive at a conclusion I was satisfied with.....read a text from my buddy telling me he will be here in 30 minutes.....packed my bags for spring break......will think about this test zero times while at the beach......rather, I will enjoy my triple hops brewed Miller Light (because if you're drinking a light beer without great pilsner taste, you're missing out)......will "Taste Greatness" ......will post back in 7 days


:owle:

really hope that's sarcasm in your Miller light praise.

have fun.
 
I know you are all well past the mcat and congrats again. I just had a quick question. To those of you who took BR practice tests as well, what did you think of them in terms of difficulty? I took AAMC 3-5 and they feel easier than the BR exams? I was curious if it was just me.
 
I know you are all well past the mcat and congrats again. I just had a quick question. To those of you who took BR practice tests as well, what did you think of them in terms of difficulty? I took AAMC 3-5 and they feel easier than the BR exams? I was curious if it was just me.

I think that sentiment is pretty universal. I found in a thread somewhere awhile back that said TBR PS is harder by ~2 points, VR is easier by ~1 point, and BS is harder by ~1-2 points.
 
I think that sentiment is pretty universal. I found in a thread somewhere awhile back that said TBR PS is harder by ~2 points, VR is easier by ~1 point, and BS is harder by ~1-2 points.

Agreed. I think TBR is trying to prepare you for the worst-case scenario on a passage in most all of their materials.
 
I think that sentiment is pretty universal. I found in a thread somewhere awhile back that said TBR PS is harder by ~2 points, VR is easier by ~1 point, and BS is harder by ~1-2 points.

I know you are all well past the mcat and congrats again. I just had a quick question. To those of you who took BR practice tests as well, what did you think of them in terms of difficulty? I took AAMC 3-5 and they feel easier than the BR exams? I was curious if it was just me.

Maybe it's just me but I've taken around 7 TBR CBT's, with the later one's excluding verbal making it a mini-test. I got an average of a 12 in PS with 2-3 13's and I still felt my actual mcat PS was much harder than any BR test.
 
Maybe it's just me but I've taken around 7 TBR CBT's, with the later one's excluding verbal making it a mini-test. I got an average of a 12 in PS with 2-3 13's and I still felt my actual mcat PS was much harder than any BR test.

How would you evaluate the difficulty of the other sections?
 
How difficult did you find VR and BS from BR relative to AAMC?

I never liked BR's verbal, I always felt they were inappropriate and not relative to the AAMC's. People usually do higher on them than AAMC's but I always did worse. After 3-4 tests I substituted it with TPR verbal.

BS on BR felt much harder than AAMC's. Because you didn't need a whole lot of outside information, just a concept like blood circulation, diffusion, and can extrapolate answers on what the passage said. BR's had concepts but it also required a lot of external info. It's great practice but don't take the score as a perfect predictor. On my two aamc tests I scored 12 while I averaged a 10-11 on BR cbt's.
 
I never liked BR's verbal, I always felt they were inappropriate and not relative to the AAMC's. People usually do higher on them than AAMC's but I always did worse. After 3-4 tests I substituted it with TPR verbal.

BS on BR felt much harder than AAMC's. Because you didn't need a whole lot of outside information, just a concept like blood circulation, diffusion, and can extrapolate answers on what the passage said. BR's had concepts but it also required a lot of external info. It's great practice but don't take the score as a perfect predictor. On my two aamc tests I scored 12 while I averaged a 10-11 on BR cbt's.

That's a relief. 👍

I came into FLs thinking BS was going to be my strong-suit and PS would be my downfall, but thus far the TBR CBTs have shown otherwise. I typically score 11-13 on TBR PS and 10-12 on TBR BS. I'm hoping for 13/X/13 on AAMCs, so we'll see what happens!

And I agree with you that it seems some of the details required to do well on TBR BS are totally unnecessary...
 
That's a relief. 👍

I came into FLs thinking BS was going to be my strong-suit and PS would be my downfall, but thus far the TBR CBTs have shown otherwise. I typically score 11-13 on TBR PS and 10-12 on TBR BS. I'm hoping for 13/X/13 on AAMCs, so we'll see what happens!

And I agree with you that it seems some of the details required to do well on TBR BS are totally unnecessary...

Yeah, BS was always my strong suit but the BR tests have my BS low and PS high.
 
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Sorry to bug you guys, but what did you do in the last 3-4 weeks leading up to the exam besides taking practice tests. I'm doing practice tests and the last 1/3 of passages in BR. I get the feeling I may be slacking. I took a practice test today and reviewed chapter 5 passages. Any tips are welcome. Thanks and good luck with the scores. Rooting for you all!

PS: My test is the 26th
 
Sorry to bug you guys, but what did you do in the last 3-4 weeks leading up to the exam besides taking practice tests. I'm doing practice tests and the last 1/3 of passages in BR. I get the feeling I may be slacking. I took a practice test today and reviewed chapter 5 passages. Any tips are welcome. Thanks and good luck with the scores. Rooting for you all!

PS: My test is the 26th

i did all the ek bio 30 minute exams. fun times.
 
Sorry to bug you guys, but what did you do in the last 3-4 weeks leading up to the exam besides taking practice tests. I'm doing practice tests and the last 1/3 of passages in BR. I get the feeling I may be slacking. I took a practice test today and reviewed chapter 5 passages. Any tips are welcome. Thanks and good luck with the scores. Rooting for you all!

PS: My test is the 26th

worked on my weaknesses in Orgo using TPR science workbook, kaplan and TBR.
Also did daily verbal sections, ignored Physical science (i will probably pay for that decision when I get my score).
 
surprised nobody's made an april fool's joke about scores being out...

I think I've started checking thx more often. Probably a bad thing. How's everyone doing?
 
surprised nobody's made an april fool's joke about scores being out...

I think I've started checking thx more often. Probably a bad thing. How's everyone doing?

AAMC 7: 10/8/10 = 28
AAMC 8: 9/8/7 = 26
AAMC 9: 10/9/9 = 28
AAMC 11: 10/9/9 = 28

I've already resigned my emotions and convinced myself I got a 8/8/8.
 
surprised nobody's made an april fool's joke about scores being out...

I think I've started checking thx more often. Probably a bad thing. How's everyone doing?

We're all afraid of the 1 week ban if you misreport scores availability 😛

Doing ok, plowing myself back into schoolwork. I'm having trouble restudying haha.
 
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