The Official 4/26/13 MCAT Thread

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clothcut

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In lieu of the other threads popping up, I thought it'd be good for those of us taking the test to identify ourselves 👍

I'm not planning on following a rigid study schedule until January, but I think I'm going to watch a single video off of wikipremed daily to lightly review.

Good luck to everyone... we will crush this exam..
 
It's not like it's bad to have a lot of Orgo.. but I was just SOOO surprised there was barely any ACTUAL biology. I mean, what is more important to be a physician? The roles of organ systems, hormones, and how physiology works...or being able to do organic chemistry?

I just don't understand.

Neither. You will learn all you need to be a physician in medical school
 
I'm kinda late to this party since I had to drive about 200 miles and back from my testing center.

PS: Maybe I just assume a "calculation heavy" PS section is worse than that, but I didn't think the math was too horrible. I did however think it was odd that there was hardly any physics, which sucks that I'm not very good at G-chem. Also I'm not sure which discrete everyone keeps talking about....not a good sign. I predict a 8-9

VR: I lost focus about 2/3 of the way through, and struggled to finish out the section. I found most of the passages were interesting, but the questions were much more difficult. predict 7-8

BS: The experimental passages handed it to me, spend about 15 or 20 minutes on one of them, mostly because it had so many q's with it. Thank heaven for the large amount of O-chem! (my strongest subject). predict 8-10.

Now we begin the agonizing wait
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To be honest, the long experimental Ochem, wasn't that bad once u know what they are talking about. To be honest it was the easiest from what I can remember, let just say the stupid long, boring explanation was just 2 simple rxn. I did alot of ochem during my studies so I think I did okay with all Ochem in the exam. Story of my life is I ended up getting the hard question right and screw up in the easy question. I just woke up and I already figured out 2 easy question I screwed up.
 
Question:

Did any of you find obscure vocabulary words in Verbal (ie. words you didn't understand and had to interpret by context)?

Thanks and good luck to everyone! 🙂

No. It was very straightforward and the topics were interesting.
 
So the option to score the test was the top radio button and the option to void was on the bottom right? Just thought about this lol
 
It's not like it's bad to have a lot of Orgo.. but I was just SOOO surprised there was barely any ACTUAL biology. I mean, what is more important to be a physician? The roles of organ systems, hormones, and how physiology works...or being able to do organic chemistry?

I just don't understand.

yes! these are my feelings about physics. damn stupid physics. even if i get a question right, i often feel like im guessing.

I think I blindly guessed on 2-3 PS questions and educationally guessed on at least another 5. For bio, I blindly guessed on maybe 2 and educationally guessed on at least 7. As for verbal, I blindly guessed on at least 5 and educationally guessed on most of the rest :scared:

I can't, and I won't speculate my score. I will keep studying lightly until the scores come up, in case I need to retake.

You, sir, have the intestinal fortitude of ..... (someone help me out here) I haven't slept in over 37 hours and counting.
 
So the option to score the test was the top radio button and the option to void was on the bottom right? Just thought about this lol

i think so. I've been stressing over this all day even though i distinctly remember checking it at least 10 times to make sure i didnt hit void. I'm still doubting it.
 
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yes? haha
 
i think so. I've been stressing over this all day even though i distinctly remember checking it at least 10 times to make sure i didnt hit void. I'm still doubting it.

Well if you took the trial section, you should be fine. I'm pretty sure they do not allow you to take the trial section if you voided. If you took the trial section, then you must not have voided.
 
So, some people have asked why the AAMC makes us wait over a month to find out how we did. I think I may have just found the explanation, as well as a nice, concise summary of the entire application process:


h16DCD952
 
lol

I can't wait for May 26 to come soon enough. This is a retake for me and the process has been grueling... Third retake? God I hope not...

i honestly don't know what to make of it. and i've been told/heard 3x is a no no so this is it for me.
 
I'm kinda late to this party since I had to drive about 200 miles and back from my testing center.

PS: Maybe I just assume a "calculation heavy" PS section is worse than that, but I didn't think the math was too horrible. I did however think it was odd that there was hardly any physics, which sucks that I'm not very good at G-chem. Also I'm not sure which discrete everyone keeps talking about....not a good sign. I predict a 8-9

VR: I lost focus about 2/3 of the way through, and struggled to finish out the section. I found most of the passages were interesting, but the questions were much more difficult. predict 7-8

BS: The experimental passages handed it to me, spend about 15 or 20 minutes on one of them, mostly because it had so many q's with it. Thank heaven for the large amount of O-chem! (my strongest subject). predict 8-10.

Now we begin the agonizing wait
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Dude, those bio passages were so dense that they could devour your time without you knowing it. It's unbelievable what they expect you to do in short period of time.
 
Yeah. Nova is right around the corner from me. I have worked for both and very often feel that DO approach is better suited for me.

one of my good friends is in her second year there and loves it. im just hoping to get a score that makes me competitive for the good DOs and maybe some instate MD schools but again, it's all up in the air.
 
Man I thought I did "ok" on bio but now that I think about it I hope I didn't screw up badly. Too many questions I got stuck between two answer choices!!!🙁
 
Dam so far I've gotten 4 wrong on both ps and bs. Hopefully I can still salvage a 13 in both sections

Does anyone think the very long orgo passage could have been an experimental? I can't imagine one of the bio passages being an experimental cause that would mean the test would be 50:50 bio: orgo which I just can't see AAMc doing that . There was no orgo discretes either so some of the orgo had to be experimental right?
 
Dam so far I've gotten 4 wrong on both ps and bs. Hopefully I can still salvage a 13 in both sections

Does anyone think the very long orgo passage could have been an experimental? I can't imagine one of the bio passages being an experimental cause that would mean the test would be 50:50 bio: orgo which I just can't see AAMc doing that . There was no orgo discretes either so some of the orgo had to be experimental right?

If you come to me, I truly hope that one of the bio passages, not the last one tho, to be the experimental one.
 
Dam so far I've gotten 4 wrong on both ps and bs. Hopefully I can still salvage a 13 in both sections

Does anyone think the very long orgo passage could have been an experimental? I can't imagine one of the bio passages being an experimental cause that would mean the test would be 50:50 bio: orgo which I just can't see AAMc doing that . There was no orgo discretes either so some of the orgo had to be experimental right?

i hope so because while i was able to finish the passage im unsure of it. the more I think about it, the less confident I feel about BS because I was stuck between 2 and not sure I chose their best answer. PS I can see either bombed or did good. Verbal I really don't know.
 
Dam so far I've gotten 4 wrong on both ps and bs. Hopefully I can still salvage a 13 in both sections

Does anyone think the very long orgo passage could have been an experimental? I can't imagine one of the bio passages being an experimental cause that would mean the test would be 50:50 bio: orgo which I just can't see AAMc doing that . There was no orgo discretes either so some of the orgo had to be experimental right?

I hope so, that was whack
 
Now, I remembered the last question on the last bio passage. I debated two answer options for over 2 mins, then went ahead and selected the less "obvious" one.
 
from what I know, I think I screwed up 3 discrete and one passage-based question. Usually, multiply that by 3, at least, and you get the actual damage.

Ugh honestly I'm still blanking on the majority of the questions. The whole thing is a blur. I'm sure it will come back in bits and pieces.
 
Dam so far I've gotten 4 wrong on both ps and bs. Hopefully I can still salvage a 13 in both sections

Does anyone think the very long orgo passage could have been an experimental? I can't imagine one of the bio passages being an experimental cause that would mean the test would be 50:50 bio: orgo which I just can't see AAMc doing that . There was no orgo discretes either so some of the orgo had to be experimental right?

Honestly I don't. That passage had a very simple concept buried under layers and layers of "stuff". If you got it you were golden. If not...:-(
 
Honestly I'm a huge fan of TBR. I even used it for Bio content review. Felt overkill was better than not.

same although ill argue some of the Bio on there today was easier than the stuff I saw in BR. Or maybe I just thought it was too easy when it really wasn't haha.
 
Since many of us got thrashed by PS and felt it was more difficult than say average AAMCs, can we expect a more generous curve than AAMCs?
 
Right, but the predetermined curve is dependent on the % of difficult, medium, and easy questions. From the consensus here, it seems like there was a higher than usual % of hard questions. So...lenient curve, maybe? D:
 
MCAT is over...now what?

I'm being a little dramatic, but this has been 4 months of my life. Jan - April. Monday I'm going to wake up and think...what shall I do? Find a job I suppose 🙂
 
This month long wait is going to be the worst. over it. I'm still offended at that killer BS passage, all that orgo and the entire PS section haha.
 
I find it impossible to predict how I did. One one hand I think I could have done well, (30+), on the other I think I could have scored within my range, (28), and I feel like I could have bombed it, (24).


PS: I don't even remember this section. I do remember feeling like it was pretty easy and straight forward at the beginning, then it got really calculation heavy from the middle -> end. I tried my best to get to question 52 and skip/mark the calculation heavy ones, which I did, but I still had to guess on 5 or so questions at the end. Sucks. Let's hope for an 8.

Verbal: Usually my best subject. I felt like the passages were longer than aamc practice tests and I felt like the answer choices forced me to refer back to the passage a bit more. I was pulling 11-12 on my practice tests, let's hope for a 9-10 here.

BS: Was this an Orgo test? I felt like we were fish slapped with Orgo on this. Not that I mind, I would take an Orgo passage any day of the week and twice on Sunday over the crazy experimental passages like we had on #11. Because I am doubting my performance on Verbal, I am doubting my performance on Bio. Let's hope for a 9-10.

Prediction? If I score at the top of my "hope" 28. I was really really REALLY hoping for a 30+ and I will star at my screen in complete disbelief if I score a 24 on this.




I could not have said it better myself. The exact way I felt.
 
all this **** starts to blend together, but PS was killer on this one. Bio and verbal were typical. I am hoping the curve is lenient on PS because there was really not enough time for that section.
 
MCAT is over...now what?

I'm being a little dramatic, but this has been 4 months of my life. Jan - April. Monday I'm going to wake up and think...what shall I do? Find a job I suppose 🙂

I'm drinking. You should join.
 
To my knowledge, the curve is already set--thus even if everyone bombs it---it shouldn't change the curve.

I have heard this too, but then what the hell are they doing for 35 days? I feel like they still need to make some adjustments. It just would make no sense if they did not.
 
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