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?

 

[NuttyEngDude]

oh and good luck today NED, you're going to rock this aamc!

Ok, cant sleep. I'll take the test tomorrow....spending the day doing more practice problems.

1) forget to convert units.ie today I decided to find kinetic energy in g instead of kg... Didn't turn out well

I ALWAYS make it a habit to convert to SI units. VERY rarely do I not do this, the only rare case is if I am doing thermochem (q=mc delta T) problem where the changes in K or C is the same either way. Or if I notice that the units cancel, but even then I am hesitant. Besides, the only diff between writing "g" and writing "kg" is writing an additional 10^-3 😛

Also: when I was making a lot of math mistakes, one of the reasons was because I thought I'd save a few seconds here and there if I did some math in my head and skipped a few steps. Nope. Turn out a few seconds was deadly. Just write it all out.

2) extracting passage info. I especially need help with this. Today's passage asked why did they use a specific material. Any suggestion how to approach these problems?
I've slowed down a lot. I used I finish physics with 15 min and bio with 25. But now I only have a minute left for physical and 5 for bio. Last test I changed answers to all wrong ones in last minute!

Any suggestions welcome -- thanks!

If you are not understanding the passage or the experiment then it is either content or practice. If you are missing stuff you should just plain know then it is practice. Some stuff is just exposure, for example, kaplan loves their geiger counter experiments or gas inside a tube with electrons flying off experiments. All prep companies love a particle flying through an electric field counteracted with a magnetic field. In these cases it is just exposure. Of course I do worry that this may bite on the real deal when they ask about an experiment waay off the ones we've been exposed to in prep.

Answer Explanations help in this regard too. Usually when I think of why materials are used, if it's chem, i think of the trends (boiling points, melting points, etc or mass). If it's physics I think of conductivity or density.

 

[Albein]

AAMC 5: 11-8-10 for a 29 🙁
I never thought id see the day where I'd get higher on PS than BS and verbal did a number on me along with one or 2 bio passages.

 

[PlasmodiumVivax]

Did TBR CBT 9

13/x/9 *excluded verbal

That was the hardest BS I've seen. It was great practice though, it felt representative of how the real MCAT is. I'm going to review today and grow from this experience 🙂.

 

[Captain Sisko]

great job everyone. keep your head up, only another week and a half!

if i may be so bold as to offer a recommendation. a lot of schedules advise saving aamc11 till the end. i would suggest doing it sooner than later, with enough time for thorough review. the bs was undoubtedly the hardest I've seen and very different from anything else I've taken. it was practice exam #19 for me, so I've seen a fair amount. different from br, gs, ek, everything. i even took a pr diagnostic that wasn't similar, but i don't know about hyper learning bio. anyway. just my two. good luck to all of us.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

AAMC 5: 11-8-10 for a 29 🙁
I never thought id see the day where I'd get higher on PS than BS and verbal did a number on me along with one or 2 bio passages.

yeah aamc 5 VR really sucked for me too. 👍 on the other sections though! I'm going to interleave a verbal section inbetween each science section I do so it will roughly take up half of my efforts from here till test day. Not sure if this suggestion will help you.

Did TBR CBT 9

13/x/9 *excluded verbal

That was the hardest BS I've seen. It was great practice though, it felt representative of how the real MCAT is. I'm going to review today and grow from this experience 🙂.

Nice PS. 👍 The BS on the real deal sort of scares me, it has never been a section I have felt confident about.

great job everyone. keep your head up, only another week and a half!

if i may be so bold as to offer a recommendation. a lot of schedules advise saving aamc11 till the end. i would suggest doing it sooner than later, with enough time for thorough review. the bs was undoubtedly the hardest I've seen and very different from anything else I've taken. it was practice exam #19 for me, so I've seen a fair amount. different from br, gs, ek, everything. i even took a pr diagnostic that wasn't similar, but i don't know about hyper learning bio. anyway. just my two. good luck to all of us.

Thanks, Sisko! I will make this the one I do this weekend, with 8 tomorrow.


Anyone else getting a stiff neck or back from all the studying? ouch!

 

[osprey099]

The BS on the real deal sort of scares me, it has never been a section I have felt confident about.

Yea man, that's what I feel like too.

 

[Albein]

yeah aamc 5 VR really sucked for me too. 👍 on the other sections though! I'm going to interleave a verbal section inbetween each science section I do so it will roughly take up half of my efforts from here till test day. Not sure if this suggestion will help you.

It was brutal. I don't know which passages messed me up because I haven't looked it over yet, but I imagine it would be the Picasso one. I'm starting to face facts that I won't improve on verbal because its been an 8/9 consistently. I'm not too worried about BS which may be a downfall. I'm really worried about physics and verbal. I think I blanked on a few wave questions (I think). I'm curious what would've happened if I had gotten more than 6 hours of sleep because I felt my concentration waning considerably midway through verbal. If only BR would get their *hit together and let me access my BR tests so I don't blow through all my AAMCs. Sorry for the rant, good luck everyone.

PS: I may try amping up the verbal. Does anyone have any tips on how to post phase verbal?

 

[NuttyEngDude]

If only BR would get their *hit together and let me access my BR tests so I don't blow through all my AAMCs.

call them. they should be open today. tell them your test is in 10 days

 

[carboxylase]

EDIT: Figured it out.

 

[Chalupa Batman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZnCGyPneo

Inspiration for the last few days

 

[Albein]

call them. they should be open today. tell them your test is in 10 days

Well I postponed my test to April 4th, but I still need them ASAP because I don't want to blow through my AAMCs so quickly. Also, according to curve, this verbal on 5 was easier because I keep getting 27/40 on all three AAMCs and this was my lowest score.

 

[dellian101]

did AAMC SAP for biology today..only 10% above national average? uhhh...what.

 

[dellian101]

hey NED,


i would avoid Kaplan. I started off iwth Kaplan and it trained my mind to think of Kaplan questions which are NOT representative of AAMC questions. just a heads up --- especially their verbal is not representative at all!



Kaplan Full Length 3: -- 30

PS - 13 -- math fears and hurt pride abated
VR - 9 -- omfg i hate verbal 😡 But taking this with a grain of salt since it's kaplan verbal
BR - 8 -- holy orgo failage 😱


Now if i can overcome my orgo weakness and stay afloat in PS over the next week I think I'll be ok.... Oh yeah... verbal 😡 Time to hit the EK/TPR like no one's business.....[/QUOTE]

 

[AlabamaPop]

After postponing for the 3rd time, I'm actually officially stuck to this date and part of this thread....god im freaked.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

EDIT: Who 1-starred this thread? I gave it a 5 and there was a 5 before me.

I bet it was GTLO j/k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbZnCGyPneo

Inspiration for the last few days

👍
I was only able to watch about half of it until i felt really guilty about studying lol. I'll finish it before bed.

hey NED,
i would avoid Kaplan. I started off iwth Kaplan and it trained my mind to think of Kaplan questions which are NOT representative of AAMC questions. just a heads up --- especially their verbal is not representative at all!

When I first saw your post I thought you got the same score as me on FL3 and I was like "whoa! amazing!" But yeah I understand what you're saying. I will treat their tests as a diagnostic of what I'm still weak on. They pretty much touch on everything so it's good for that. It certainly exposed my orgo weakness, helps with timing, and doing lots of math on PS. I've also read their science scores should be 1-2 lower than what they're reporting. Actually, I've heard a lot of different things about them but it's probably safe to say they dont correlate well. I have one more TPR test left that I havent taken, then it's just their "cracking the MCAT tests". Oh and 4 more AAMC tests.

edit: for what it's worth I'm trying not to use them too much as a score indicator, just as another source of exercises/problems. But I understand what you're saying, you do sort of get to the point where you can predict what they are going to ask.

After postponing for the 3rd time, I'm actually officially stuck and part of this thread....god im freaked.

Welcome! But if you are seriously freaked and unprepared you can void it on test day.



edit: spending today with the TPR SWB, orgo section.....

 

[Captain Sisko]

I bet it was GTLO j/k

haha thought crossed my mind. Either him or the borg. 😱

 

[AlabamaPop]

Welcome! But if you are seriously freaked and unprepared you can void it on test day.

Thanks! I scored a 10-8-10 on AAMC 7 and 26s on AAMC 3 and 5. I'm praying I can crack a 30 on the real deal since the real scoring is a crapshoot and not so cut and dry like the AAMCs are... from what I read on SDN.

 

[carboxylase]

I bet it was GTLO j/k

I have no idea what this means haha

 

[NuttyEngDude]

I have no idea what this means haha

i'm just kidding, but GTLO = Gettheleadout

 

[carboxylase]

i'm just kidding, but GTLO = Gettheleadout

Still have no idea. Is this on the MCAT? 🙂

 

[carboxylase]

I was browsing r/premed on reddit and saw someone asked if the screens before each section ("Biological Sciences, 52 questions, 70 minutes. etc, etc,etc.") have a time limit?

I've wondered this as well, but I figured on the real thing it would have a timer. Does anyone know?

If so, I can casually walk to the bathroom instead of sprinting.

 

[timeturner]

I was browsing r/premed on reddit and saw someone asked if the screens before each section ("Biological Sciences, 52 questions, 70 minutes. etc, etc,etc.") have a time limit?

I've wondered this as well, but I figured on the real thing it would have a timer. Does anyone know?

If so, I can casually walk to the bathroom instead of sprinting.

I heard it doesn't have a time limit in case you couldn't get back from break. However I doubt anyone wants to just sit there or have a longer than ten minute break. It's not like you'll have phones or notes to look at.

 

[carboxylase]

I heard it doesn't have a time limit in case you couldn't get back from break. However I doubt anyone wants to just sit there or have a longer than ten minute break. It's not like you'll have phones or notes to look at.

I wouldn't just sit there. I can see there being a line to the bathroom or something and me stressing out. If there is no timer, then that would make things less rushed.

 

[Entadus]

Still have no idea. Is this on the MCAT? 🙂

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=13646699&postcount=1012 😉

 

[NuttyEngDude]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=13646699&postcount=1012 😉

I wish GTLO would drop by to show us he still loves us 😀



-----------


Spent the whole day doing orgo via TPRSW, my God do i have a lot of content holes there. It was also one of the most miserable days of my life, I really hate orgo

Now I get to take a EK verbal test.... nothing like doing verbal when you're tired. I'm going to try a new strategy for this, i'll let you know how it goes......

 

[Entadus]

I wish GTLO would drop by to show us he still loves us 😀

He will when I score the first ever 46!



-----------

Spent the whole day doing orgo via TPRSW, my God do i have a lot of content holes there. It was also one of the most miserable days of my life, I really hate orgo

Now I get to take a EK verbal test.... nothing like doing verbal when you're tired. I'm going to try a new strategy for this, i'll let you know how it goes......

I can't stand verbal when I'm tired 😡

 

[NuttyEngDude]

hey you guys who are riding high right now, what are you doing to stay fresh?

i'm curious, because well, really we all should be doing similar things to keep our content fresh


edit: ok.... opening the EK 101 book now 😛

 

[osprey099]

hey you guys who are riding high right now, what are you doing to stay fresh?

i'm curious, because well, really we all should be doing similar things to keep our content fresh


edit: ok.... opening the EK 101 book now 😛

I re-read my notebook of "weird information" that I jot down from practice problems that I have found difficult. I also just keep doing practice problems from TPRHL (almost done) and Kaplan Online resources (Section tests, Qbank).

 

[DRGLUTEALCLEFT]

New member and I was delighted to see this thread. How y'all feeling with being nearly one week out from the " make or break test??"

 

[Captain Sisko]

hey you guys who are riding high right now, what are you doing to stay fresh?

i'm curious, because well, really we all should be doing similar things to keep our content fresh


edit: ok.... opening the EK 101 book now 😛

mentally fresh or content fresh?

for the first, I know when I'm done studying, or when studying doesn't need to happen anymore. Last night it was around the time the lady got home. I did one last acid/base passage and called it quits. I've also been reading a lot. I just started a book on Sir Edward Pellew, one of the most famous frigate captains in the Royal Navy from during the Napoleonic Wars.

For the second, I've been doing an EK 30 minute section exam every day. Been getting 11's and 12's which is forcing me to review some stuff, but it's trivia that's not often tested. Also going through my weak areas list in BR...

 

[timeturner]

hey you guys who are riding high right now, what are you doing to stay fresh?

i'm curious, because well, really we all should be doing similar things to keep our content fresh


edit: ok.... opening the EK 101 book now 😛

Meh, starting next week for me. One week crunch. 3 school exams this week I haven't looked at MCAT since Saturday morning.
Barely surviving though. Payback's a b****. I am making up all the lost time and missed readings for my classes in basically 3 days. Sigh.

But next week I'll be doing R exams untimed.

 

[sp808]

AAMC 7: 15/11/15 = 41

Perfect on PS and 1 wrong on BS! At this point I don't really care about my verbal if I can reproduce those science scores on the real deal 😀

 

[carboxylase]

Not that anyone cares, but:
I felt like I could've had a 15 on PS. Missed three questions. One of which I should've (again, Chrome, go home) gotten right, but my reasoning at the time was incorrect - although it seemed right at the time - and it was something that I should never get wrong again. One I wasn't sure of my went against my hunch (not sure why), and the final one I had no idea.

I thought the passages in verbal were interesting, but I took way too long and had to really rush at the end due to going back to the passage too much. I usually find verbal passages interesting, which is weird, but the section still kills me.

I missed more than I thought I would in BS. Some were silly mistakes (ex: said a product was chiral when it clearly wasn't) where I knew the material. Others improved my understanding of topics I thought I was solid on, which I'm okay with, because I won't get it wrong again.


All in all, I would have liked to perform better (especially in BS), but I am okay with the result. It sounds odd that somewhat has an issue with a 34, but I need to improve my BS because I'm not sure I can keep recreating these high PS scores that pull up my overall.


EDIT:

AAMC 7: 15/11/15 = 41

Perfect on PS and 1 wrong on BS! At this point I don't really care about my verbal if I can reproduce those science scores on the real deal 😀

Sweet. Nice job!

 

[pablosohn]

AAMC-9 = PS 14 - VR 10 - BS - 10 = 34


Not that anyone cares, but:
I felt like I could've (Chrome has a red squiggly under the word "could've". Chrome, go home, you're drunk) had a 15 on PS. Missed three questions. One of which I should've (again, Chrome, go home) gotten right, but my reasoning at the time was incorrect - although it seemed right at the time - and it was something that I should never get wrong again. One I wasn't sure of my went against my hunch (not sure why), and the final one I had no idea.

I thought the passages in verbal were interesting, but I took way too long and had to really rush at the end due to going back to the passage too much. I usually find verbal passages interesting, which is weird, but the section still kills me.

I missed more than I thought I would in BS. Some were silly mistakes (ex: said a product was chiral when it clearly wasn't) where I knew the material. Others improved my understanding of topics I thought I was solid on, which I'm okay with, because I won't get it wrong again.


All in all, I would have liked to perform better (especially in BS), but I am okay with the result. It sounds odd that somewhat has an issue with a 34, but I need to improve my BS because I'm not sure I can keep recreating these high PS scores that pull up my overall.


EDIT:


Sweet. Nice job!

good work. you still have time for freshening up with BS, seems like you're on track!

 

[slz1900]

AAMC-9 = PS 14 - VR 10 - BS - 10 = 34


Not that anyone cares, but:
I felt like I could've (Chrome has a red squiggly under the word "could've". Chrome, go home, you're drunk) had a 15 on PS. Missed three questions. One of which I should've (again, Chrome, go home) gotten right, but my reasoning at the time was incorrect - although it seemed right at the time - and it was something that I should never get wrong again. One I wasn't sure of my went against my hunch (not sure why), and the final one I had no idea.

I thought the passages in verbal were interesting, but I took way too long and had to really rush at the end due to going back to the passage too much. I usually find verbal passages interesting, which is weird, but the section still kills me.

I missed more than I thought I would in BS. Some were silly mistakes (ex: said a product was chiral when it clearly wasn't) where I knew the material. Others improved my understanding of topics I thought I was solid on, which I'm okay with, because I won't get it wrong again.


All in all, I would have liked to perform better (especially in BS), but I am okay with the result. It sounds odd that somewhat has an issue with a 34, but I need to improve my BS because I'm not sure I can keep recreating these high PS scores that pull up my overall.

Congrats! I just did aamc 9 and thought the PS was especially difficult. Keep it up!

 

[sp808]

AAMC-9 = PS 14 - VR 10 - BS - 10 = 34


Not that anyone cares, but:
I felt like I could've (Chrome has a red squiggly under the word "could've". Chrome, go home, you're drunk) had a 15 on PS. Missed three questions. One of which I should've (again, Chrome, go home) gotten right, but my reasoning at the time was incorrect - although it seemed right at the time - and it was something that I should never get wrong again. One I wasn't sure of my went against my hunch (not sure why), and the final one I had no idea.

I thought the passages in verbal were interesting, but I took way too long and had to really rush at the end due to going back to the passage too much. I usually find verbal passages interesting, which is weird, but the section still kills me.

I missed more than I thought I would in BS. Some were silly mistakes (ex: said a product was chiral when it clearly wasn't) where I knew the material. Others improved my understanding of topics I thought I was solid on, which I'm okay with, because I won't get it wrong again.


All in all, I would have liked to perform better (especially in BS), but I am okay with the result. It sounds odd that somewhat has an issue with a 34, but I need to improve my BS because I'm not sure I can keep recreating these high PS scores that pull up my overall.

Nice PS! How is your timing for Bio? I found it better to just slow down and reason the answer a couple of times in my head until I'm 100% satisfied, then to try and rush through and finish with 20 minutes left. That helped to eliminate a lot of easy mistakes for me.

 

[Captain Sisko]

great job everyone! keep up the good work! ned how are you doing?

 

[Chalupa Batman]

has anyone taken aamc 11 yet? I felt that it was way different from the other AAMC practice tests?

I thought the bio was a lot more experimental based and the PS had many tricky questions

 

[Captain Sisko]

has anyone taken aamc 11 yet? I felt that it was way different from the other AAMC practice tests?

I thought the bio was a lot more experimental based and the PS had many tricky questions

yeah the bio was tough. see post above

 

[timeturner]

AAMC 7: 15/11/15 = 41

Perfect on PS and 1 wrong on BS! At this point I don't really care about my verbal if I can reproduce those science scores on the real deal 😀

WOOOOOOOOOOOO 👍👍

AAMC-9 = PS 14 - VR 10 - BS - 10 = 34

WOOOOOOOOOOOO 👍👍

 

[dellian101]

Did y'all think 6 7 8 was easiest? I haven't done those exams, and my 11 either. Want to do an easier one tomorrow as a confidence boost.

 

[carboxylase]

Nice PS! How is your timing for Bio? I found it better to just slow down and reason the answer a couple of times in my head until I'm 100% satisfied, then to try and rush through and finish with 20 minutes left. That helped to eliminate a lot of easy mistakes for me.

Thanks. Timing is neither rushed nor do I have tons of time left. I go at a relaxed pace.

Today or tomorrow I'll do a more thorough post-test analysis and see what I did. I can right this ship.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

AAMC 8: 34

PS - 12
VR - 11
BS - 11


Folks you are about to see a grown nut cry. :cry: 🙂 😎

 

[Albein]

AAMC 8: 34

PS - 12
VR - 11
BS - 11


Folks you are about to see a grown nut cry. :cry: 🙂 😎

Awesome!!! Was that your first AAMC exam?

 

[NuttyEngDude]

Awesome!!! Was that your first AAMC exam?

My progression is like this:

Test         PS/VR/BS/TOTAL
TPR Diag  -- 09-07-8  23
TPRH T1   -- 08-08-8  24
TPRH T2   -- 08-07-8  23
Kapln Diag-- 09-10-7  26
TPRH T3   -- 10-08-9  27
Kapln T1  -- 08-07-9  24
AAMC 3    -- 11-10-8  29
AAMC 4    -- 10-12-9  31
AAMC 7    --  *lost info*
Kapln T2  -- 10-10-9  29
AAMC 5    -- 10-8-10  28
TPRH T4   -- 07-9-09  25
Kapln T3  -- 13-09-8  30
AAMC 8    -- 12-11-11 34

 

[NuttyEngDude]

AAMC 7: 15/11/15 = 41

Perfect on PS and 1 wrong on BS! At this point I don't really care about my verbal if I can reproduce those science scores on the real deal 😀

Wow nice work! 👍

AAMC-9 = PS 14 - VR 10 - BS - 10 = 34

👍

Congrats! I just did aamc 9 and thought the PS was especially difficult. Keep it up!

👍

great job everyone! keep up the good work! ned how are you doing?

WOO! 😀

Did y'all think 6 7 8 was easiest? I haven't done those exams, and my 11 either. Want to do an easier one tomorrow as a confidence boost.

8 seemed easier lol but i'll take it. 6 is gone (aamc self assessments?) 7 is lost. I am going to just retake it but not use it as a score predictor

 

[Albein]

My progression is like this:

Test         PS/VR/BS/TOTAL
TPR Diag  -- 09-07-8  23
TPRH T1   -- 08-08-8  24
TPRH T2   -- 08-07-8  23
Kapln Diag-- 09-10-7  26
TPRH T3   -- 10-08-9  27
Kapln T1  -- 08-07-9  24
AAMC 3    -- 11-10-8  29
AAMC 4    -- 10-12-9  31
AAMC 7    --  *lost info*
Kapln T2  -- 10-10-9  29
AAMC 5    -- 10-8-10  28
TPRH T4   -- 07-9-09  25
Kapln T3  -- 13-09-8  30
AAMC 8    -- 12-11-11 34

That's great. Glad to see your hard work paying off. Keep it going!!
Called BR and hopefully they have my tests available by tomorrow so I can set aside AAMC 7-11 for after.

 

[dellian101]

8 it is!! Who wants to do it tomorrow and discuss free? Study partners welcome 🙂


And congrats on your improvements Ned!!

 

[sp808]

AAMC 8: 34

PS - 12
VR - 11
BS - 11


Folks you are about to see a grown nut cry. :cry: 🙂 😎

👍 35-36 is definitely possible with 10 more days left!

 

[gettheleadout]

Who 1-starred this thread? I gave it a 5 and there was a 5 before me.

I bet it was GTLO j/k

haha thought crossed my mind. Either him or the borg. 😱

I wish GTLO would drop by to show us he still loves us 😀

He will when I score the first ever 46!

I definitely did not 1-star this thread haha, and I still love you guys. 🙂