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?

 

[Entadus]

AAMC 9

14 PS / 13 VR / 15 BS = 42 😍

The physical sciences went like it always does. Marked a few, missed a few, not quite a perfect score.

The verbal seemed about as hard as normal, but I killed it! Only missed 3.

Bio was... pretty straight forward.... I just hope I can do this well on the real deal. My first MCAT had a killer B.S. section... then again I had barely studied bio compared to this time around 😳

Maybe the last 3.5+ months are paying off?

 

[Captain Sisko]

AAMC 9

14 PS / 13 VR / 15 BS = 42 😍

The physical sciences went like it always does. Marked a few, missed a few, not quite a perfect score.

The verbal seemed about as hard as normal, but I killed it! Only missed 3.

Bio was... pretty straight forward.... I just hope I can do this well on the real deal. My first MCAT had a killer B.S. section... then again I had barely studied bio compared to this time around 😳

Maybe the last 3.5+ months are paying off?

awesome job as usual!

 

[Captain Sisko]

how do you think of the gs tests so far?

Sent from my SPH-M950 using SDN Mobile

tough science, bad verbal. I've been using ek verbal exams in place. not terrible though.

 

[PlasmodiumVivax]

AAMC 9

14 PS / 13 VR / 15 BS = 42 😍

The physical sciences went like it always does. Marked a few, missed a few, not quite a perfect score.

The verbal seemed about as hard as normal, but I killed it! Only missed 3.

Bio was... pretty straight forward.... I just hope I can do this well on the real deal. My first MCAT had a killer B.S. section... then again I had barely studied bio compared to this time around 😳

Maybe the last 3.5+ months are paying off?

Nice job! What score did you get the first time? Are you reusing the AAMC tests or is this your first time taking them?

 

[Albein]

AAMC 9

14 PS / 13 VR / 15 BS = 42 😍

The physical sciences went like it always does. Marked a few, missed a few, not quite a perfect score.

The verbal seemed about as hard as normal, but I killed it! Only missed 3.

Bio was... pretty straight forward.... I just hope I can do this well on the real deal. My first MCAT had a killer B.S. section... then again I had barely studied bio compared to this time around 😳

Maybe the last 3.5+ months are paying off?

Great job! I'm jelly. Want to switch brains?

 

[Entadus]

My score from Sept 2010 was 13p/11v/10b = 34Q. I only used AAMC 3 back then.

I am grateful for my brain 🙂........... but I know you aren't jealous of my first app cycle! I'm a reject 🙁

 

[Albein]

My score from Sept 2010 was 13p/11v/10b = 34Q. I only used AAMC 3 back then.

I am grateful for my brain 🙂........... but I know you aren't jealous of my first app cycle! I'm a reject 🙁

A reject with a 34!!?? *waves white flag*

 

[NuttyEngDude]

great work guys.

I spent the day working on my weaknesses. Talk about being miserable... spend a day working on only your weaknesses...

 

[Entadus]

A reject with a 34!!?? *waves white flag*

Hey I'm a Cali resident who did NOT apply broadly. *shrugs*

MCAT MEDIANS for accepted applicants(may have risen slightly since I got this data):
UCSF - 36
UCLA - 35
UCSD - 37
UCD - 34
UCI - 34

 

[dirty630]

Entadus, how do you always do so well on verbal? I'm happy to get a 10 and thrilled to get an 11, but you keep on getting 13's like it's nobody's business. What are your secrets?

 

[osprey099]

AAMC 9

14 PS / 13 VR / 15 BS = 42 😍

The physical sciences went like it always does. Marked a few, missed a few, not quite a perfect score.

The verbal seemed about as hard as normal, but I killed it! Only missed 3.

Bio was... pretty straight forward.... I just hope I can do this well on the real deal. My first MCAT had a killer B.S. section... then again I had barely studied bio compared to this time around 😳

Maybe the last 3.5+ months are paying off?

Wow

 

[Entadus]

Entadus, how do you always do so well on verbal? I'm happy to get a 10 and thrilled to get an 11, but you keep on getting 13's like it's nobody's business. What are your secrets?

Welcome to SDN! I'll post all my secrets later

 

[pablosohn]

Just took EK 101 Test 12.

Got 22/40. WHAT THE F***. i thought the passages were easy but i knew my heart wasn't in it. freaking the f*** out right now. I usually range 9-11 on verbal, with one 13 on AAMC 5.

Do not need this right now. I don't think I'd do that badly on a FL though, I think I just didn't care enough slash I looked at some of the questions and was like - "nah AAMC wouldn't ask it this way you stupid book." lol.

EK12 indeed was a difficult one.

Sent from my SPH-M950 using SDN Mobile

 

[Albein]

AAMC 4 today, not getting greedy and hope I can reproduce at least a 30. Seeing a score beginning with a "2" may kill me.

 

[Captain Sisko]

AAMC 4 today, not getting greedy and hope I can reproduce at least a 30. Seeing a score beginning with a "2" may kill me.

confidence! make verbal your friend!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

have class today then lunch, then a practice test, a non-aamc one. I'm holding off on those until i score decently well on at least one, otherwise i feel like i'm burning them

good luck albein, make us proud 🙂


edit: anyone still have the aamc self assessments to do?

 

[Captain Sisko]

have class today then lunch, then a practice test, a non-aamc one. I'm holding off on those until i score decently well on at least one, otherwise i feel like i'm burning them

good luck albein, make us proud 🙂


edit: anyone still have the aamc self assessments to do?

I'm not bothering since they probably came from aamc 6 and the other r versions, some of which i already have. I'll probably do those extras if I've time and if not save them for a retake, if necessary

ps good luck on your test, ned.

 

[Albein]

Sorry to disappoint nutty but I didn't do well at all. I kind of expected it as soon as I saw Doppler like passage and some other questions addressing weaknesses. I got a 27: 8-9-10

I haven't purchased it yet but will eventually since I need all the AAMC practice I can get.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Sorry to disappoint nutty but I didn't do well at all. I kind of expected it as soon as I saw Doppler like passage and some other questions addressing weaknesses. I got a 27: 8-9-10

I haven't purchased it yet but will eventually since I need all the AAMC practice I can get.

that's not bad, at least you did well in verbal and have identified weak areas in ps. this is good practice!

 

[Albein]

that's not bad, at least you did well in verbal and have identified weak areas in ps. this is good practice!

Yeah it would've been nice to see a 30 as motivation but this 27 will motivate me just as much

 

[pablosohn]

Yeah it would've been nice to see a 30 as motivation but this 27 will motivate me just as much

I took BR test #5 today. I got the exact same score: 27 (8/9/10).. Don't let it get to you though. As much as I feel down, I know that regardless of the outcome, I'll know I tried my best

 

[PlasmodiumVivax]

Just finished TBR CBT 4

12/10/11 - 33

I felt this test had harder PS and BS than the previous two I've taken. It's great practice since this test was chock full of Nitrogen ochem passages which is my weakest subject. I'm also going to start neglecting TBR verbal sections and replace them with EK/TPRH instead lol.

 

[Chalupa Batman]

edit: anyone still have the aamc self assessments to do?

I still have some left to do.
I did the ochem self assessment yesterday Ill do gen chem tomorrow and bio and physics this weekend/early next week.

 

[ash0515]

Hey I'm a Cali resident who did NOT apply broadly. *shrugs*

MCAT MEDIANS for matriculants(may have risen slightly since I got this data):
UCSF - 36
UCLA - 35
UCSD - 37
UCD - 34
UCI - 34

I'm a Cali resident as well, and now I'm feeling scared to apply since my score will probably be way lower than yours (plus I'm a retaker)! Just curious, did you only apply to Cali schools?

 

[Entadus]

5UC's + 1 OOS school (NY)

Closest I got was a waitlist at Mt. Sinai


<----- MDApps

 

[dellian101]

still 3AAMCS and all of SAP to go................ i am scared i am running out of time. think it's enough to finish all of it next week/

midterms put my studying back on schedule.

need to also review magentism

 

[Albein]

5UC's + 1 OOS school (NY)

Closest I got was a waitlist at Mt. Sinai


<----- MDApps

Mt Sinai was my dream school until the mcat happened and my GPA. I did research there for 2 years, great place.

My plan to recover from the 27 is review my test tomorrow and finish up going over the chapters again and my index cards and take another test Monday.

 

[ash0515]

5UC's + 1 OOS school (NY)

Closest I got was a waitlist at Mt. Sinai


<----- MDApps

Thanks! I'm sure you will rock this year's cycle, your MCAT averages are amazing!

 

[Daodejing]

Ah, March has arrived and the smell of MCAT is in the air. I remember being in this position last year. There is light at the end of the tunnel, ladies and gents. Good luck!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

So I took TPR Test 4 and did even worse...

TPR Practice Test 4: 25
PS - 7 😱
VR - 9
BR - 9

Seems the more studying I do the worse I perform, I'm actually laughing right now. This is the lowest on PS I've ever scored on any practice test, even before I started studying!

---------
On the bright side, I found some content weaknesses.

edit: post-gaming should be fun 😛

 

[pablosohn]

.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Ah, March has arrived and the smell of MCAT is in the air. I remember being in this position last year. There is light at the end of the tunnel, ladies and gents. Good luck!

medpr is that you?

 

[Captain Sisko]

So I took TPR Test 4 and did even worse...

TPR Practice Test 4: 25
PS - 7 😱
VR - 9
BR - 9

Seems the more studying I do the worse I perform, I'm actually laughing right now. This is the lowest on PS I've ever scored on any practice test, even before I started studying!

---------
On the bright side, I found some content weaknesses.

edit: post-gaming should be fun 😛

if it makes you feel better i hit a 27 on a gs exam a week before high 30's on aamc4

 

[Daodejing]

medpr is that you?

lol. now that's insulting

 

[NuttyEngDude]

The good news is... not a single math error and the bio section was ochem heavy and i only missed a couple of questions on ochem

The bad news, I'm making more dumb mistakes, i'm misreading questions and answering the opposite now and also the test was not math heavy.

My friend asked me how my practice test went today and this is how i feel and wanted to respond:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fjDS0jKiE[/YOUTUBE]



edit: does the highlighting feature that i see on the aamc practice tests work the same way on the real deal? I like that highlighting....

 

[pablosohn]

The good news is... not a single math error and the bio section was ochem heavy and i only missed a couple of questions on ochem

The bad news, I'm making more dumb mistakes, i'm misreading questions and answering the opposite now and also the test was not math heavy.

My friend asked me how my practice test went today and this is how i feel and wanted to respond:



edit: does the highlighting feature that i see on the aamc practice tests work the same way on the real deal? I like that highlighting....

hahaha.

Also, the highlighting is helping my verbal a bit.

What I'm struggling with is I often don't UTILIZE the PASSAGE INFORMATION.. I find myself struggling with a problem not knowing what to do, and most of the time the passage gives an equation/idea how to do that problem. UGH! It's like the exam prepares the table for me to eat and I just don't see the table and starve myself..... :cry:

 

[NuttyEngDude]

h
What I'm struggling with is I often don't UTILIZE the PASSAGE INFORMATION.. I find myself struggling with a problem not knowing what to do, and most of the time the passage gives an equation/idea how to do that problem. UGH! It's like the exam prepares the table for me to eat and I just don't see the table and starve myself..... :cry:

I had that problem early on, I would read something and be like OMG that's a major content gap i'm missing!! Then I realized after I missed it that it was because I didnt read the passage that well. The fix for me was to solidify my content review to where I had confidence in it. I have a good intuitive feel for if I *should* know something based purely on content or if it's something they probably mentioned in the passage. Maybe that is what you need?

 

[pablosohn]

I had that problem early on, I would read something and be like OMG that's a major content gap i'm missing!! Then I realized after I missed it that it was because I didnt read the passage that well. The fix for me was to solidify my content review to where I had confidence in it. I have a good intuitive feel for if I *should* know something based purely on content or if it's something they probably mentioned in the passage. Maybe that is what you need?

Good call. That makes a lot of sense. Also more practice will build confidence to be able to look around.

Sent from my SPH-M950 using SDN Mobile

 

[carboxylase]

4 point decrease from AAMC 7 (as I expected. 7 was too easy - also made some last-minute-heroic BS changes that ended up being 0-3. nothing good comes from changing answers unless you notice something blatantly wrong)

Verbal sucked. Absolutely awful. I felt out of it today, which may have contributed. A couple times I found myself staring at the wall during verbal.


It's pretty obvious to me that verbal will be what makes or breaks my score. I feel confident I can score (relatively) high in PS and BS, but verbal is such a wildcard. I feel like my range can be a 30-35 on the real thing, which somewhat worries me. Maybe it's too early to tell. But even if I'm rocking the sciences section, I don't think I can realistically match them with a high verbal section.

 

[Entadus]

AAMC 8 - 12 PS, 8 VR, 11 BS = 31

4 point decrease from AAMC 7 (as I expected. 7 was too easy - also made some last-minute-heroic BS changes that ended up being 0-3. nothing good comes from changing answers unless you notice something blatantly wrong)

Verbal sucked. Absolutely awful. I felt out of it today, which may have contributed. A couple times I found myself staring at the wall during verbal.


It's pretty obvious to me that verbal will be what makes or breaks my score. I feel confident I can score (relatively) high in PS and BS, but verbal is such a wildcard. I feel like my range can be a 30-35 on the real thing, which somewhat worries me. Maybe it's too early to tell. But even if I'm rocking the sciences section, I don't think I can realistically match them with a high verbal section.

If it makes you feel any better, I thought AAMC8 verbal was rough also.

 

[Entadus]

So I took TPR Test 4 and did even worse...

TPR Practice Test 4: 25
PS - 7 😱
VR - 9
BR - 9

Seems the more studying I do the worse I perform, I'm actually laughing right now. This is the lowest on PS I've ever scored on any practice test, even before I started studying!

---------
On the bright side, I found some content weaknesses.

edit: post-gaming should be fun 😛

NED, do you mean TPR or Berk Review? Because I have found the TPR exams to have a way harsher score scale than the AAMCs. You can safely add 5 points (in my opinion)

In any case, keep on working hard. I'm glad to see you studying so diligently.

To everyone else, thank you for all of the encouragement and support!! 😍

 

[NuttyEngDude]

NED, do you mean TPR or Berk Review? Because I have found the TPR exams to have a way harsher score scale than the AAMCs. You can safely add 5 points (in my opinion)

In any case, keep on working hard. I'm glad to see you studying so diligently.

To everyone else, thank you for all of the encouragement and support!! 😍

It's TPR (Princeton Review). I'm fine with adding a handicap. I'd be happier if I had actual correct answers though 😛


Entadus you are kicking butt, keep doing it! (you too sisko)

 

[carboxylase]

If it makes you feel any better, I thought AAMC8 verbal was rough also.

I saw that, and it did provide some relief 🙂

However, the possibility exists that a string of passages like that are on the real thing. Maybe a curve will make up for it, maybe not (I don't think anyone REALLY knows how AAMC grades).

 

[pablosohn]

TBR #6
11PS, 8 VS, 12 BS

The boost in BS is giving me confidence/hope. Verbal on the other hand....

 

[dellian101]

How often do you guys do practice tests?

Have you all finished AAMCs already?

How often do you repeat exams?

I still haven't finished AAMCs and heard that doing practice tests is useless - it's better to redo old questions. I'm not sure how useful that is though..

 

[carboxylase]

How often do you guys do practice tests?

Have you all finished AAMCs already?

How often do you repeat exams?

I still haven't finished AAMCs and heard that doing practice tests is useless - it's better to redo old questions. I'm not sure how useful that is though..

I do one as soon as I have time, honestly. Whenever I find a day (after reviewing the previous one obviously) when schoolwork is light, I take one.

2 weeks between 3 and 4. 3 days between 4 and 5. 2 weeks between 5 and 7. 4 days between 7 and 8.

I will finish my last AAMC test the Monday of the week of the test.

 

[dellian101]

I do one as soon as I have time, honestly. Whenever I find a day (after reviewing the previous one obviously) when schoolwork is light, I take one.

2 weeks between 3 and 4. 3 days between 4 and 5. 2 weeks between 5 and 7. 4 days between 7 and 8.

I will finish my last AAMC test the Monday of the week of the test.

Thanks Carboxylase. have you been finding other practice tests helpful? I'm wondering if I should do Kaplan rather than repeat AAMC. everytime i repeat the AAMC, i get 15 15 on sciences (obviously because I remember my answers...my sciences are always 9-10...). boy do i finish i would get a 15 on the actual science.

 

[timeturner]

So I took TPR Test 4 and did even worse...

TPR Practice Test 4: 25
PS - 7 😱
VR - 9
BR - 9

Seems the more studying I do the worse I perform, I'm actually laughing right now. This is the lowest on PS I've ever scored on any practice test, even before I started studying!

---------
On the bright side, I found some content weaknesses.

edit: post-gaming should be fun 😛

TPR is a lot harder!! Don't take it to heart 🙂

Debating whether to take AAMC 8 or 9 tomorrow....defintiely want to take 10 and 11 some time but I'm running out of time!

 

[NuttyEngDude]

br first book and last chapter of second book. disclaimer is my postbac is almost all organic and biochemistry so it's really fresh in my mind. a whole ton of protein synthesis, nucleic acids and other bio molecules.

do you know of any good drills i can use for the basic organic reactions? sn and e essentially.

thanks. i dont, i am trying to work on that too. I will let you know what i find, i'm spending today on just orgo.

I'm mainly using regular practices (meaning just doing regular problems) and kaplan but i found this as well:
http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2010/10/29/trapped-in-sn1sn2e1e2-hell-some-resources/
http://www2.chemistry.msu.edu/faculty/reusch/VirtTxtJml/Questions/problems.htm

TPR is a lot harder!! Don't take it to heart 🙂

Debating whether to take AAMC 8 or 9 tomorrow....defintiely want to take 10 and 11 some time but I'm running out of time!

Thanks. I am updating my schedule for the next 2 weeks as well.

 

[ash0515]

How often do you guys do practice tests?

Have you all finished AAMCs already?

How often do you repeat exams?

I still haven't finished AAMCs and heard that doing practice tests is useless - it's better to redo old questions. I'm not sure how useful that is though..

I still have 4 more AAMC tests to go

Did anyone who is following the SN2ed schedule actually do the Hat Tricks?