The Official 4/26/13 MCAT Thread

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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..
 
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hdeng said:
I think we all get severe anxiety before the MCAT. I was literally unable to sleep for pretty much the entire night before because I had so much adrenaline flooding my system. Still, I'd much rather get it all out of the way in one go rather than get it spread out between 3 days.
Click to expand...

Agree as well! Get it done in one shot. Only way to do it.
 
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Anyone wanna take a stab at how the curve is gonna be like?

My prediction (excluding total due to experimental questions):

PS:
-1 = 15
-3 = 14
-6 = 13
-8 = 12
-11 = 11
-14 = 10

BS:
-0 = 15
-2 = 14
-4 = 13
-6 = 12
-8 = 11
-10 = 10
 
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osprey099- I want to share in your optimism, but that is a very generous curve. Is it based off of a previous AAMC?
 
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hdeng said:
osprey099- I want to share in your optimism, but that is a very generous curve. Is it based off of a previous AAMC?
Click to expand...

It is based off of AAMC 11

15 52 40 50-52
14 49-51 39 48-49
13 47-48 37-38 47
12 45-46 36 44-46
11 42-44 32-35 41-43
10 38-41 29-31 36-40
9 35-37 27-28 33-35
8 31-34 24-26 29-32
7 26-30 21-23 27-28

Personally, I felt PS was harder than AAMC 11 and BS was easier than AAMC 11 so I adjusted the scales a bit.
 
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When you say excluding experimental questions, doe that mean they are basically a "freebie?" Regardless of how we answer, we still get the point?
 
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osprey099 said:
Anyone wanna take a stab at how the curve is gonna be like?

My prediction (excluding total due to experimental questions):

PS:
-1 = 15
-3 = 14
-6 = 13
-8 = 12
-11 = 11
-14 = 10

BS:
-0 = 15
-2 = 14
-4 = 13
-6 = 12
-8 = 11
-10 = 10
Click to expand...

usually the BS scale is more forgiving than the PS.
 
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I'm hoping the verbal scale is nice. I thought the answers to the questions were just so ambiguous that it'd be easy to rack up a bunch of wrong answers on 50/50 guesses. 🙁
 
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WSHRocks said:
I'm hoping the verbal scale is nice. I thought the answers to the questions were just so ambiguous that it'd be easy to rack up a bunch of wrong answers on 50/50 guesses. 🙁
Click to expand...

Exactly how I felt. Even for the easy passages, 2 of the answer choices were very possible. It felt like I was guessing. Very, very few answers I was comfortable with.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
usually the BS scale is more forgiving than the PS.
Click to expand...

not to mention that we dont know exactly how the experimental passages are dealt with (thrown out vs freebie vs counted with a curve added).

But since the trend for AAMC 3-->11 scale has become progressively tougher, I think its more realistic to make the current MCAT a tad bit harsher than the AAMC 11 scale.

I do hope it goes by your curve though :laugh:
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/63060/data

"Note: Each of the three scored multiple-choice sections includes some experimental items. Experimental
items, as well as questions contained in the Trial Section, do not count toward your score."

Sorry, no Freebies.
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agreed, what i meant by freebies was whether it would either be removed from the denominator vs. added to the numerator.... a 30/34 or a 36/40)

personally i think its going to be the 30/34 *40 to find the equivalent score we wouldve gotten on a 40 question set.
 
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jcopper said:
Do we know for sure how many experimental questions there are per section?
Click to expand...

Other than the fact that there are experimental questions in each section, no. However, I do think that 1 passage in verbal is experimental because its kinda hard to just have experimental questions with a real passage.
 
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osprey099 said:
Other than the fact that there are experimental questions in each section, no. However, I do think that 1 passage in verbal is experimental because its kinda hard to just have experimental questions with a real passage.
Click to expand...

i would think that they would do it in terms of passages and discretes, not standalone questions within a passage because doing it all together makes it easier to introduce a passage in future MCATs
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
i would think that they would do it in terms of passages and discretes, not standalone questions within a passage because doing it all together makes it easier to introduce a passage in future MCATs
Click to expand...

Nothing in response to the discussion,

but your post count is 420--and your avatar is Gandalf smoking.

made me lol.
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
i would think that they would do it in terms of passages and discretes, not standalone questions within a passage because doing it all together makes it easier to introduce a passage in future MCATs
Click to expand...

I think that discretes and questions relating to passages will be experimental, but I do not think that an entire passage will be chalked as experimental (just my $.02). I imagine that once a suitable passage is located there is a q-bank written for it. This q-bank is eventually narrowed down via experimental questions until they're satisfied with the curve.

Discretes are slightly more straightforward. First they need to decide whether or not they're going to use the question. Once that's decided, they'll then have to figure out "good" wrong answers. I feel like a question we had on 4/27 was serving this purpose. There were simply too many inconsistencies and errors within the question for it to be a legit question i.e. structures given did not match names and atoms were missing.

I keep thinking back to the exam date and I've realize that, as far as I can remember, there are two PS questions and two BS questions that I got incorrect. I need to get this god-damned test out of my head. I felt amazing after the exam and now I'm allowing myself to get defeated by it when there's nothing I can do. I just hope that one or two of those incorrect answers are experimental questions.
 
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johnnyscans said:
I think that discretes and questions relating to passages will be experimental, but I do not think that an entire passage will be chalked as experimental (just my $.02). I imagine that once a suitable passage is located there is a q-bank written for it. This q-bank is eventually narrowed down via experimental questions until they're satisfied with the curve.

Discretes are slightly more straightforward. First they need to decide whether or not they're going to use the question. Once that's decided, they'll then have to figure out "good" wrong answers. I feel like a question we had on 4/27 was serving this purpose. There were simply too many inconsistencies and errors within the question for it to be a legit question i.e. structures given did not match names and atoms were missing.

I keep thinking back to the exam date and I've realize that, as far as I can remember, there are two PS questions and two BS questions that I got incorrect. I need to get this god-damned test out of my head. I felt amazing after the exam and now I'm allowing myself to get defeated by it when there's nothing I can do. I just hope that one or two of those incorrect answers are experimental questions.
Click to expand...

I've missed 6 in PS and 5 in BS so far.. 😡
 
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Honestly the test still is mostly a blur to me. I thought as time passed I would recall more but I haven't. I've been so busy spending time doing the things I've neglected in the last 4 months I haven't thought about it too much. I am giving myself a mental vacation until May 29. I'm not looking at a single MCAT book or signing up for a retake. Once May 29 arrives....well we'll see lol.
 
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osprey099 said:
I've missed 6 in PS and 5 in BS so far.. 😡
Click to expand...

How do you remember the PS section? The PS section is a complete blur to me. I remember like 3 questions that I probably got wrong. I am frustrated because I want to go back and review the exam. I want to know what I need more work on. I should have restarted studying yesterday. But I will definitely do it today. I hope I can get some new or like new TBR books for cheap.

I also need to start crafting my PS and CV for applications. Also LOR requests are going out ASAP!!!! I have a question about LORs... I graduated in 2007... I have been working odd jobs and at the NIH doing clincial research since. I have done volunteering but there was very limited or no supervision. I will have my PI (Ph.D) and supervising post-doc (who is an MD/Ph.D.) write LORs and my advisor/professor from undergrad. Do you think that would work?
 
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CCRNCSC78 said:
Honestly the test still is mostly a blur to me. I thought as time passed I would recall more but I haven't. I've been so busy spending time doing the things I've neglected in the last 4 months I haven't thought about it too much. I am giving myself a mental vacation until May 29. I'm not looking at a single MCAT book or signing up for a retake. Once May 29 arrives....well we'll see lol.
Click to expand...

same here. hopefully we are good to go.
 
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tinylilron said:
How do you remember the PS section? The PS section is a complete blur to me. I remember like 3 questions that I probably got wrong. I am frustrated because I want to go back and review the exam. I want to know what I need more work on. I should have restarted studying yesterday. But I will definitely do it today. I hope I can get some new or like new TBR books for cheap.

I also need to start crafting my PS and CV for applications. Also LOR requests are going out ASAP!!!! I have a question about LORs... I graduated in 2007... I have been working odd jobs and at the NIH doing clincial research since. I have done volunteering but there was very limited or no supervision. I will have my PI (Ph.D) and supervising post-doc (who is an MD/Ph.D.) write LORs and my advisor/professor from undergrad. Do you think that would work?
Click to expand...

I think those are excellent LOR's. You have current supervisors and someone from your undergrad so that should be perfect IMO. I'm sure your undergrad LOR is up to date on what you've been up to and recalls how you did in his/her classes so that should be A-Ok along with LORs from more recent experience.
 
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tinylilron said:
How do you remember the PS section? The PS section is a complete blur to me. I remember like 3 questions that I probably got wrong. I am frustrated because I want to go back and review the exam. I want to know what I need more work on. I should have restarted studying yesterday. But I will definitely do it today. I hope I can get some new or like new TBR books for cheap.

I also need to start crafting my PS and CV for applications. Also LOR requests are going out ASAP!!!! I have a question about LORs... I graduated in 2007... I have been working odd jobs and at the NIH doing clincial research since. I have done volunteering but there was very limited or no supervision. I will have my PI (Ph.D) and supervising post-doc (who is an MD/Ph.D.) write LORs and my advisor/professor from undergrad. Do you think that would work?
Click to expand...

Letters from PIs, especially if they have worked in academic medicine, are some of the strongest letters you can have. Most PIs won't write letters for just anyone.
 
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Sphenoid927 said:
I think those are excellent LOR's. You have current supervisors and someone from your undergrad so that should be perfect IMO. I'm sure your undergrad LOR is up to date on what you've been up to and recalls how you did in his/her classes so that should be A-Ok along with LORs from more recent experience.
Click to expand...

Do our LORs need to be in by June 1st in order for our applications to be processed?
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
I think the LOR's go with the secondaries. I'm not sure about MD, but in regards to DO, the primary application doesn't start until the June 1.
Click to expand...

Okay so I can submit my primary application for MD schools in June without my LORs and my application will be processed. I am going to try to figure out the process for DO schools.

Who here is applying DO? Are you all having DO physicians writing you LORs? I applied once to DO schools and I remembered that that was a big deal... I worked with a DO physician 5+ years ago and he wrote me a LOR then. Do you think I should try to contact him and/or find another DO to write me an LOR?
 
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tinylilron said:
Okay so I can submit my primary application for MD schools in June without my LORs and my application will be processed. I am going to try to figure out the process for DO schools.

Who here is applying DO? Are you all having DO physicians writing you LORs? I applied once to DO schools and I remembered that that was a big deal... I worked with a DO physician 5+ years ago and he wrote me a LOR then. Do you think I should try to contact him and/or find another DO to write me an LOR?
Click to expand...

I'm applying exclusively to DO programs. I had shadowed a DO who is a pure Osteopath. She wrote me a letter.

For those applying to DO, I think having a letter is a crucial thing. They need to see that you know the difference between MD and DO, and that you are not applying to DO merely as a back up plan.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
I'm applying exclusively to DO programs. I had shadowed a DO who is a pure Osteopath. She wrote me a letter.

For those applying to DO, I think having a letter is a crucial thing. They need to see that you know the difference between MD and DO, and that you are not applying to DO merely as a back up plan.
Click to expand...

So do you think I should contact him and see if he can write me an LOR? Do you think it is even possible? I did research with him for a summer like 5+ years ago.
 
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I'm taking the exam on 5/23. What do you propose guys like me do to get ready for this "new" MCAT?

I've heard reading journal articles help. Anything else?
 
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ziggyguy23 said:
I'm taking the exam on 5/23. What do you propose guys like me do to get ready for this "new" MCAT?

I've heard reading journal articles help. Anything else?
Click to expand...

this. However, try not to get too involved by focusing on the little details and forget the bigger picture.

BTW, is it free to access pubmed articles?
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
this. However, try not to get too involved by focusing on the little details and forget the bigger picture.

BTW, is it free to access pubmed articles?
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have worked in a research lab for 3 years and have had to publish a couple journal articles. I am hoping this will help in that regard, but I will keep it up.

It is not free unless it is in PubMed Central or whatever it is called. Otherwise it just links you to the journal's page which will charge you unless you are a) logged in via your institution or b) on an open access journal.
 
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ziggyguy23 said:
Thanks. I have worked in a research lab for 3 years and have had to publish a couple journal articles. I am hoping this will help in that regard, but I will keep it up.

It is not free unless it is in PubMed Central or whatever it is called. Otherwise it just links you to the journal's page which will charge you unless you are a) logged in via your institution or b) on an open access journal.
Click to expand...

honestly you cant really do anything youre not already doing.

One thing that I would recommend would be to do the calculation problems in EK1001 under TIMED conditions and try to hit the 45 second 1 minute mark on each problem.

For VR just learn to read fast

For BS, journal articles are good but make sure to get the ones with figures/graphs and understand what the images convey.
 
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ziggyguy23 said:
Thanks. I have worked in a research lab for 3 years and have had to publish a couple journal articles. I am hoping this will help in that regard, but I will keep it up.

It is not free unless it is in PubMed Central or whatever it is called. Otherwise it just links you to the journal's page which will charge you unless you are a) logged in via your institution or b) on an open access journal.
Click to expand...

Yeah, without institutional access you'll need to rely on open access journals like PLoS One.
 
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Ibn Alnafis MD said:
I'm applying exclusively to DO programs. I had shadowed a DO who is a pure Osteopath. She wrote me a letter.

For those applying to DO, I think having a letter is a crucial thing. They need to see that you know the difference between MD and DO, and that you are not applying to DO merely as a back up plan.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Have had many friends who said they interviewed and some people in the interview barely even knew about OMM so they got chewed out and clearly denied. I'm applying DO as well but I want to see my score first before I make my final decision whether or not to exclusively apply to DO schools. The MCAT is just the worst.
 
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osprey099 said:
It is based off of AAMC 11

15 52 40 50-52
14 49-51 39 48-49
13 47-48 37-38 47
12 45-46 36 44-46
11 42-44 32-35 41-43
10 38-41 29-31 36-40
9 35-37 27-28 33-35
8 31-34 24-26 29-32
7 26-30 21-23 27-28

Personally, I felt PS was harder than AAMC 11 and BS was easier than AAMC 11 so I adjusted the scales a bit.
Click to expand...

Looks accurate to me...I hope.
 
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vagusnerve said:
Whats the beef in the 4/27 thread? SDN drama is hilarious.
Click to expand...

I think everyone is on edge and a bit touchy at the moment.

I know I would be if someone who had never taken the MCAT criticized my study schedule as a poor plan because I was blindsided by this new calculation heavy/journal article based MCAT (like most people from 3/23, 4/26, and 4/27 were).
 
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It's the result of putting a bunch of type A personalities in front of keyboards to exercise their anonymity.

In all seriousness though, I'm just trying to help the kid out. I'm sure he's brilliant and nice guy, but like said....perception is an unfortunate reality. I speak from a lot of experience with it. I've lost jobs and friends because of it.
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
I think everyone is on edge and a bit touchy at the moment.

I know I would be if someone who had never taken the MCAT criticized my study schedule as a poor plan because I was blindsided by this new calculation heavy/journal article based MCAT (like most people from 3/23, 4/26, and 4/27 were).
Click to expand...

You said it best. Good show. I guess that's why you're gandalf. So wise. Lol
 
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