The Official 3/24 2012 MCAT Thread

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Anyone doing a FL this weekend?

I decided to work on more practice problems and get a tad more experience with each formula I'm supposed to know, so I'll probably be doing my first FL next weekend.

BTW: Anyone else using the Kaplan review books? Not that I expected them to be amazing or anything, but OMG the "High Yield" chapters are such a waste of time!!! And all those "extra practice problems" with no answers given? Ugh. Oh well, I've moved on.
 
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I am doing FLs starting Monday. I ordered the TBR exams and I found out that I have 4 TPR exams that I will do. Plus 4 AAMC exams that I will do at the very end. I am still going thru Content Review boooo. Ohhh and I am getting biiig headache from TBR ORGO Second book. If anyone is reading the book, theyy know how painful it can get:scared:. But I hope that it will be worth it. 🙄
 
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abumblingbee said:
Anyone doing a FL this weekend?

I decided to work on more practice problems and get a tad more experience with each formula I'm supposed to know, so I'll probably be doing my first FL next weekend.

BTW: Anyone else using the Kaplan review books? Not that I expected them to be amazing or anything, but OMG the "High Yield" chapters are such a waste of time!!! And all those "extra practice problems" with no answers given? Ugh. Oh well, I've moved on.
Click to expand...

I took AAMC #3 this morning. 11 PS, 10 BS, 8 VR. I wanted to be at a 30 when I took my first FL so I was off my goal by 1, no biggie. I'm not really putting much emphasis on this exam since it's the worst of the AAMCs. It's a little disconcerting though that my VR is my lowest score since it is the hardest to improve. Tbh though, I felt the verbal for AAMC #3 was nothing like the EK 101 verbal practice that I've been doing.

I have 3 chapters left to cover in my content review and then it's just doing passages until the exam.
 
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abumblingbee said:
Anyone doing a FL this weekend?

I decided to work on more practice problems and get a tad more experience with each formula I'm supposed to know, so I'll probably be doing my first FL next weekend.

BTW: Anyone else using the Kaplan review books? Not that I expected them to be amazing or anything, but OMG the "High Yield" chapters are such a waste of time!!! And all those "extra practice problems" with no answers given? Ugh. Oh well, I've moved on.
Click to expand...

Starting on the 20th. Just need to get through Biology.
 
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how's everyone doing?
the 7 week mark started yesterday!
I'm starting my FL this Wednesday. Everyone starting FL soon?
I've been using TBR for Gen Chem and Physics (Have pretty okay basics on Orgo and Bio so used EK textbook and Kaplan books).
Didn't finish all TBR passages for Phy + GC, will probably do them when i'm not taking FLs.
 
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Took my first FL, AAMC #3 = 28 9 PS, 8 BS, 11 V
Knew physics wasn't strong but bio hit me out of nowhere. Understood my mistakes though so hopefully I'll see a nice jump with the next few tests. Chem and orgo were nice though.

Nothing but TBR passages and FL's from here on out. Have EK bio too, maybe I'll throw that in when I get a chance at work because it seems much simpler. Though PS is still what scares me most, maybe get EK physics or chem for that time instead.

Used TBR for gen chem and bio (didn't read book 2 b/c that was ridiculous), Read all of TBR for physics as well but didn't like it, got my friend's TPR which was much better for me. TPR for orgo. EK for verbal practice so far.

Good luck everyone. Keep at it! I hope I can.
 
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time to make it happen!!!
Lastt minute of review today then FL every other day + focused subject topical review days in between!!!
 
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Agreed! Let's dominate this one.

Just took the AAMC #3 before the Super Bowl on Sunday:
PS - 13
VR - 12
BS - 15 😀

I thought the verbal was similar to the EK 101 passages actually, but much less passage-based (and less content heavy) than the Kaplan materials. But one thing is for sure, Princeton Review Science workbook helps 1000%.

Probably going to continue with the Science workbook and FLs from here on in.
 
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pr2 said:
Agreed! Let's dominate this one.

Just took the AAMC #3 before the Super Bowl on Sunday:
PS - 13
VR - 12
BS - 15 😀

I thought the verbal was similar to the EK 101 passages actually, but much less passage-based (and less content heavy) than the Kaplan materials. But one thing is for sure, Princeton Review Science workbook helps 1000%.

Probably going to continue with the Science workbook and FLs from here on in.
Click to expand...

Wow good for you!
R you a MCAT retaker or is it your first time?
Keep up the work, 6~7 more weeks and no more!!! not again in our life haha!
 
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texasholdems said:
Wow good for you!
R you a MCAT retaker or is it your first time?
Keep up the work, 6~7 more weeks and no more!!! not again in our life haha!
Click to expand...

Thank you very much! It was my first FL from AAMC and I was very pleased. 🙂
And I am a first timer haha. I've been studying since beginning of last semester. I honestly cannot wait for it to be over! So much of my life has been put on the back-burner for this exam.

Next stop: AAMC #4!
 
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pr2 said:
Agreed! Let's dominate this one.

Just took the AAMC #3 before the Super Bowl on Sunday:
PS - 13
VR - 12
BS - 15 😀

I thought the verbal was similar to the EK 101 passages actually, but much less passage-based (and less content heavy) than the Kaplan materials. But one thing is for sure, Princeton Review Science workbook helps 1000%.

Probably going to continue with the Science workbook and FLs from here on in.
Click to expand...

Wow man, that's awesome. I expect a 45 come March 24th. I completely agree with you on the Kaplan VR and I hope I can get your type of scores after I finish the Science Workbook later this month, haha.

I took AAMC 4 today:

12 PS
9 VR
10 BS

VR and PS went up by 1 point and BS stayed the same. I thought this exam was harder than AAMC 3 and barely finished each section on time.
 
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Thanks for the well-wishes! The Science Workbook is the best way to review in my opinion haha.

I took AAMC 4 as well. I thought it was more difficult as well, although the scaling was a bit more generous. And I took AAMC 5 just now--prob the most difficult of the three, but from my experiences with other practice exams, prob more like the actual MCAT.
 
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How's everyone doing?
pushing hard?

in territory of FL and realized Kaplan section tests are a lot harder than i thought...
Well it's better than acing it now, i know my weakness i can learn from it.
 
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Hey all, I've been keeping up with these MCAT discussions forum for a while and I figured I'd post on this thread because I'll also be partaking in the 3/24 test.

I took my first full practice test with a free test from Kaplan last Saturday (they were at my school giving out free practice tests) and got a 28 (10 PS, 7 VR, 11 BS) :/ I'll be taking AAMC 3 this weekend. Hopefully, I can get some of those points up (esp verbal).

It's hard to believe that the MCAT is only a month and a half away!
 
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texasholdems said:
How's everyone doing?
pushing hard?

in territory of FL and realized Kaplan section tests are a lot harder than i thought...
Well it's better than acing it now, i know my weakness i can learn from it.
Click to expand...

Getting there...been keeping strong with AAMC practice exams.
Scores have been pretty consistent although got rocked today by AAMC #8 a bit.

I gave up on Kaplan FLs and section tests a while ago. They're nice content reviews, but their question style I felt was not on par with the AAMCs.
 
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took AAMC #3 last Saturday
PS - 10
Verbal - 10
BS - 10

Would really LOVE to improve on all sections!
AAMC #4 this Saturday!
 
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Took AAMC#10 this weekend, and FINALLY!!! I got 11 on VR!!!

FINALLY broke 10. And I did it again on the next EK 101 test I took. Thank goodness.

I'd be happy with a 10 on the actual thing, but it's nice to know that I can hopefully go in with a slight margin of potential error. Phew.
 
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We're at the 2 week point! Anybody else not realize that Spring Forward is this weekend? Over the past month, I've gotten myself accustomed to sleeping and waking up at specific times and didn't realize till now that we'll be losing an hour. Now I have to readjust everything. Yikes.
 
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#3 - 9,11,8 = 28
#4 - 9,12,12 = 33
#5 - 10,11,11 = 32
#7 - 8, 11, 10 = 29
#8 - 8,11,8 = 27

Is #8 brutal? Am I right to be freaking out like I am? I thought the PS section was killer and was convinced I would be pulling a 6, somehow got only 1 point below my target of 9 which i guess is a relief... Got one entire passage wrong so an obvious weakness was pointed out. But then I went on to verbal and thought that was by far the hardest verbal section I've done. Obviously did fine with it so I know to be confident despite how hard it seems, another good take home point. Actually ended up getting 4/5 questions wrong on what I thought was the easiest passage. Getting to the bio section I was just exhausted and wanted it to be over with, maybe I could have focused harder at the end and gotten it up to a 9 but it also seemed far more ambiguous than previous BS sections.

Did anyone else struggle with this test? Due to work I will be able to take 2 more tests no problem but will have to squeeze in the 3rd, I feel like there's no time left!
 
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Folks, it is 10 days and counting.

It is SO quiet for the 3/24 group comparing with the April & May fellows.😴
 
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Did anyone else struggle with this test? Due to work I will be able to take 2 more tests no problem but will have to squeeze in the 3rd, I feel like there's no time left

Yes I definitely struggled with aamc 8! Its my worst score in a while, 26, and Im trying not to freak out!! However, I did score 2 points below on PS and 3 points below my norm in BS and in both of those sections I've been scoring consistently around a 10 and 12, respectively. Weirdly this test has been my highest verbal score yet, a 10, its really been a challenge pulling up my typical 8. Don't know what to think right now...pretty discouraged...really want a 30 on the actual. But our practice scores look really similar, so maybe it is slightly harder or something, idk.
 
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  • Kaplan FL1 8/9/9=26, 11/14/2011 -- before studying
  • Kaplan FL2 10/9/13=32, 01/21/2012
  • Kaplan FL3 11/13/10=34, 02/12/2012
  • Kaplan FL4 12/11/11=34, 02/18/2012
  • Kaplan FL5 10/11/11=32, 03/04/2012
  • AAMC 3r 10/10/9=29, 03/10/2012
  • AAMC 8 10/11/11=32, 03/14/2012

First AAMC full length was kind of a shock to my system. AAMC is pretty different from the Kaplan tests...that fact seems to be an oft-beaten dead horse around here. Taking AAMC 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 today through Thursday...taking a break on Friday. Let's go.

Pretty much only using Kaplan materials + EK Audio Osmosis. If I get a 32 or below I'll be SN2ed-ing and retaking.

Good luck to everyone else!
 
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I'm taking it this Saturday also... went to the testing site this morning to scope it out/make sure I could get there.

My scores are fluctuating so much, it's really disheartening. I got a 40 on AAMC10 last weekend and was about to pee my pants with excitement, but a 32 on AAMC5 just now??

Bah! Can't wait to be done and have my life back!
 
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zestfest said:
I'm taking it this Saturday also... went to the testing site this morning to scope it out/make sure I could get there.

My scores are fluctuating so much, it's really disheartening. I got a 40 on AAMC10 last weekend and was about to pee my pants with excitement, but a 32 on AAMC5 just now??

Bah! Can't wait to be done and have my life back!
Click to expand...

Good move on testing site survey. 🙂

Just curious. Why do you take AAMC 10 first and then 5.

Based on my son said the last 2 AAMC FL (10, 11) are "overall" harder than the 3/4/5 group. He just took 10 last Tuesday and 11 this morning.
 
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zestfest said:
I'm taking it this Saturday also... went to the testing site this morning to scope it out/make sure I could get there.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea for those people who haven't done it yet. I drove out to my site and it was riddled with construction. It took 15 more minutes than what my GPS calculated.

How early should we be to our respective sites? Anxiety is contagious and I don't want to be around the other pre-meds pre-exam.
 
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MedOldAge: I took them out of order because I had also heard the later tests were harder/more similar to the MCAT now... I sure hope that's true about the more similar bit! I wasn't sure if I'd have time to get through all of them, so I wanted to start there. I thought they were actually easier - the passages seemed less out of left-field and more research-based, which I liked.

Going through my practice test from earlier and I mostly just made silly mistakes, which I haven't done in a while (most of my problems lately were content issues, like basically knowing nothing about springs, haha.) I've rectified those content areas with some Khan Academy/youtube videos so I'm feeling better.

Ochemlover: I was thinking about that today. I'm planning on getting there maybe around 7:30. My wonderful boyfriend is going to drop me off and I plan on waiting/studying in the car till maybe 7:45 because I don't wanna be around panicked people.

Anybody thought about snack strategies? Haha it helps me get through the sections, knowing I have a yummy sliced up apple and some almonds waiting on me.
 
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Whats everyone doing this last week to study? Ive taken like 10 full lengths over the past month and I just finished post phrasing my last one so I was guessing Id just review review review the stuff on old test problems that I found complex or hard to remember. Don't think that taking anymore practice tests at this point will help, I feel like after 10 FL's and countless quizzes and section tests i know it by now or I don't. Any suggestions on anything else to do be on my best game on test day? T- 6 days
 
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I'm with you victoria, after a bad AAMC 8 and a stellar AAMC 10, I'm taking #11 today then I'll just be reviewing the tests for the next week. Also write a few practice essays for the writing section since I've neglected that. Aside from that I'm going to commit to short term memory some equations I struggle with and some other helpful things I can write down quickly to have as comfort before the test.
 
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  • AAMC 4 11/11/12=34, 03/17/2012
  • AAMC 5 11/9/11 = 31, 03/18/2012
  • AAMC 7 10/10/11 = 31, 03/19/2012
  • AAMC 10 11/11/11 = 33, 03/20/2012
  • AAMC 11 11/11/11 = 33, 03/22/2012

Three days left to prepare. Definitely going to take a break for at least one day...but I've taken tests four days in a row so I'm feeling a little exhausted at this point so I'm not sure whether to take a break tomorrow or on Friday.
 
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Took AAMC7 today and got a 39, yay! So happy... just need to stay calm and do it on the real thing. Tomorrow, I'm going to go through some topical tests for areas I keep missing and Thursday I'm going to take and review my last AAMC test. Then Friday I might do some flashcards in the morning.

Kaplan advises taking it easy the day before so I'm going to try to keep myself busy with a long run and some relaxing activities. By 'relaxing activities' I mean trying out some new jello shot recipes - need those babies to be ready when I get home from my test, haha. 🙂

Anybody have any fun post-test plans?
 
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zestfest said:
Took AAMC7 today and got a 39, yay! So happy... just need to stay calm and do it on the real thing. Tomorrow, I'm going to go through some topical tests for areas I keep missing and Thursday I'm going to take and review my last AAMC test. Then Friday I might do some flashcards in the morning.

Kaplan advises taking it easy the day before so I'm going to try to keep myself busy with a long run and some relaxing activities. By 'relaxing activities' I mean trying out some new jello shot recipes - need those babies to be ready when I get home from my test, haha. 🙂

Anybody have any fun post-test plans?
Click to expand...

Sup 39 buddy. Took AAMC 11 today, and got 14/11/14. Just need to keep it together for the test, now. Taking AAMC 9 on Thursday, which will be my last one. Then Friday, taking the day completely off.

I'm going to sleep once it's done. And play lots of video games, stress free.
 
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ljc said:
Sup 39 buddy. Took AAMC 11 today, and got 14/11/14. Just need to keep it together for the test, now. Taking AAMC 9 on Thursday, which will be my last one. Then Friday, taking the day completely off.
Click to expand...

Way to go! I really feel like I might be my own worst enemy on test day if I start to freak myself out. Just stay calmmmmm. Jealous of your 14s in the sciences - my scores are typically more 12/14/13 or so.

I don't know if you're following the Kaplan method of mapping out the verbal passages, but my verbal scores shot up once I stopped doing that and just focused on immersing myself in the passage. Maybe something to try if your verbal scores are stuck at 11.

Trying to nail down electrochemistry and translational motion today. Can't wait to give these flashcards and books away.

Good luck y'all - we're so close!! :luck:
 
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Man! AAMC11 was rough for me. Somehow lost track of time and ended up with 10 minutes to do the last 3 physics passages. Pacing problems...
 
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zestfest said:
Man! AAMC11 was rough for me. Somehow lost track of time and ended up with 10 minutes to do the last 3 physics passages. Pacing problems...
Click to expand...

I agree, AAMC 11 was tough. I had pacing issues on the PS section and was cutting it close on VR too.

I haven't done any practice passages, just a couple of prewrites. I guess that's the hard part anyway. Anybody else?
 
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just finished aamc 11 too. I thought the BS was the rough section but somehow i got a decent score. I just need to perform this way on Saturday. Hopefully, this test today was the second to last FL MCAT i will ever take. GOOD LUCK GUYS!
 
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Today I made a Driving to the MCAT Playlist. It's pretty cheesy, but maybe it will get me a combination of pumped/calm that will be conducive to a great score, haha.

Cee-Lo & Jack Black - Kung Fu Fighting
Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
Rihanna - Cheers (Drink to That
Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - Young, Wild, and Free
Calvin Harris - Feel So Close
Calvin Harris - Ready for the Weekend

Going to spend the day cleaning, going for a run, and getting my nails did. T-24hrs!!
 
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