The Official 4/27/13 MCAT Thread

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This might be considered a bit early, but full-time college students need to prepare ahead of time, especially when they are doing a research and volunteering, which requires them to spend at least 30-40 hours per week...

Let's share plans, strategies, schedules, and so on to help each other to crack this exam.
 
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First post on SDN...and I'm nervously waiting pressing the refresh button like a robot.

Beautiful.

At least my twin is taking me out drinking tonight.

Ahhhh....😕
 
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Got 2 points lower than my mean

34 Cumulative

10 Verbal/ 11 Biology / 13 Physical sciences

The bio score was a bit lower than usual, ive gotten 11-14 on that section. The 13 in physical sciences matched my practice tests fine, the verbal was a bit on my low end since I usually get 10-12 in verbal.

Overall my list of schools hasn't changed. Applying to all the UCs, 3 reach schools, and a bunch of east coast privates.
 
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Worst day for maintenance ever...
I'm disappointed as well. I don't know whether or not I should retake since I was relying on my mcat score to make up for a not so great gpa.

31 (PS 10, BS 11, VR 10) Any advice?
 
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I've shamelessly stalked this forum since October. I only needed a 27 because I'm enrolled in a linkage program, but I know I craved this kind of information when I was studying for the exam, so I hope this helps ease/motivate someone else's mind ...


AAMC 3 - 31
AAMC 7 - 29
AAMC 8 - 30
AAMC 4 - 33
AAMC 9 - 31
AAMC 10 - 35
AAMC 11 - 31

Actual... 33 (11/12/10) :soexcited::clap:

Good luck with AMCAS everyone!
 
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Exceeded my own expectations! 😀

An improvement of a whopping 10 points from my first MCAT.

If you are considering a retake, I would think about it. I had a lot of room for improvement. When I took the test before I knew I wasn't prepared but tried to squeeze it in and see how I would do (bad idea). My content knowledge wasn't solidified and I had only started doing practice tests ~3 weeks before. One big problem was I was working full time + studying and just couldn't get through it all.

So I started studying again in October a few hours a week, then just studied ~6hrs/day Jan-April. It's possible to improve but you have to make a big difference to see a big difference.
 
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I made a 31 (10/11/10) and couldn't be happier after scoring as low as a 25 on my second attempt. This puts me right in line with applicants in my state. I will never have to take this test again!
 
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Test #, PS/VR/BS, Composite
3, 10/9/9, 28
4, 12/9/9, 30
5, 12/8/10, 30
7, 13/9/11, 33
8, 11/9/10, 30
9, 13/8/9, 30
10, 12/11/10, 33
Average, 11.9/9/9.7, 30.6
Actual MCAT, 12/8/9, 29

If it's not good enough to get me into a lower-ranking MD school or a DO school then **** it. I'm not wasting another $300 and 3 months of my life on this idiotic exam.
 
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AAMC 3: 10/9/12 (33)
AAMC 4: 12/13/15 (40)
AAMC 5: 13/10/14 (37)
AAMC 7: 13/10/12 (35)
AAMC 8: 13/11/13 (37)
AAMC 9: 13/14/14 (41)
AAMC 10: 14/11/15 (40)
AAMC 11: 14/13/15 (42)

AAMC Avg: 12.8/11.4/13.8 (38)
Post-test prediction: 11/10/13 (34)
Actual MCAT: 14/11/15 (40)

Felt horrible coming out of the test. Was depressed about PS and verbal, felt good about bio. Had no time to check on PS/verbal, felt rushed through each section.

Lesson: even if you feel like **** coming out of the test, don't panic till you actually get the score 🙂
 
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CC89 said:
3.6... considering postponing my application until next cycle. I think you've got a shot with your 3.9 though!
Click to expand...

Hope so man. My TX residence helps a lot. You should apply with the score you have an just note that you'll be retaking the exam (like in August). That's my plan.
 
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Well. That was disappointing.

I scored a 33 on the real thing even though my AAMC practice tests ranged from 36-42.

As a breakdown of my subsections:
BS-12 <-Lower range of my practice tests
PS-12 <-Lower range of my practice tests
VR-9 <-wtf happened here. Lol bombed this section. I've only received a 9 once on a practice test.

The first thing I noticed from my scores was the fact that I scored in the lowest practice-test ranges for all of my sections, leading to a 33. I suspect that it was due to the nerves and butterflies in my stomach during the test.

As of right now, I'm planning to apply this cycle with my 33, which is still a semi-competitive score, but I'm also going to retake it in July.

On the bright side, my ice cream will be safe from the showers!
 
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xiaoxiy said:
Well. That was disappointing.

I scored a 33 on the real thing even though my AAMC practice tests ranged from 36-42.

As a breakdown of my subsections:
BS-12 <-Lower range of my practice tests
PS-12 <-Lower range of my practice tests
VR-9 <-wtf happened here. Lol bombed this section. I've only received a 9 once on a practice test.

The first thing I noticed from my scores was the fact that I scored in the lowest practice-test ranges for all of my sections, leading to a 33. I suspect that it was due to the nerves and butterflies in my stomach during the test.

As of right now, I'm planning to apply this cycle with my 33, which is still a semi-competitive score, but I'm also going to retake it in July.

On the bright side, my ice cream will be safe from the showers!
Click to expand...

I signed up for a retake in July as well. I averaged ~30 on practice exams, but don't know how I'm going to prepare enough in 4 weeks to significantly improve my score. Do you have any study tips? Or does anyone have any study tips that I can squeeze into the next 4 weeks?
 
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AureatEagle said:
AAMC 4: 12/13/15 (40)
AAMC 5: 13/10/14 (37)
AAMC 7: 13/10/12 (35)
AAMC 8: 13/11/13 (37)
AAMC 9: 13/14/14 (41)
AAMC 10: 14/11/15 (40)
AAMC 11: 14/13/15 (42)

AAMC Avg: 13.1/11.7/14 (38.8)
Post-test prediction: 12/10/13 (35)
Actual MCAT: 14/11/15 (40)

Felt horrible coming out of the test. Was depressed about PS and verbal, felt good about bio. Had no time to check on PS/verbal, felt rushed through each section.

Lesson: even if you feel like **** coming out of the test, don't panic till you actually get the score!
Click to expand...

Congratulations!!! that is BEAUTIFUL!!
 
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Got a 30 (10-10-10). Considering I felt like I wanted to jump off a cliff after taking this test, I'm a little relieved. My last 4 AAMC exams were 27, 30, 31, 30---so I think a 30 was about as good as I could have hoped for this time around. The first few AAMC tests I took were 26 and below.

For me, the AAMC practice exams proved to be spot on even though my feelings after the test were way worse. On the other hand, my score is still in that flexible range where if you get a couple more right or wrong either way, it may not make a big difference. I was especially surprised about verbal since it seemed about a billion times harder than anything else I had seen. Overall--pleased. Would have like to be at 32 but just wasn't quite on that level.
 
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I'm not really happy with my score, but it's above my retake cutoff so oh well.

I can say that the AAMC average does predict scores within +/- 2 points.

AAMC AVG: 33
Actual: 31

11 PS, 8 VR, 12 BS

I thought I bombed PS and it probably led me to go easier on VR than I thought. I don't get verbal, had an average of 10-11 that refused to budge.

Retake is not an option for me, I want to move on already.

In hindsight, I really should have found something to improve my verbal scores into 12-13 regions, but I couldn't find something that worked well for me.

Good luck with AMCAS all, maybe I'll see you on the other side!
 
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This is my first post here, as I mostly just stalk some threads. I ended up with a 27: PS 7, V 10, BS 10. I was really frustrated coming out of the exam. First PS passage threw me off and I felt the passages and questions were longer (as far as amount of words) and "different" than the AAMC FL's. I averaged a 30.25 (30, 30, 30, 31) on my last four exams before the actual MCAT. I'm stuck in the boat of deciding whether to retake or not. It sucks when you spend four months of your life studying for this thing. Any advisers out there?

Anyway, congrats to everyone for getting done and waiting it out. For those of you who didn't get the score you wanted, don't let it deter you from going to medical school. You can do anything if you work hard enough, so don't be afraid to take it again. The first MCAT I took I got a 20 lol granted I didn't study and I had not learned the material in class the first time so I probably should not have taken it, but I didn't know better. Keep your heads up and keep going 😀

For those of you who got your scores or better, congrats and best of luck to you in the application process.
 
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WHAT AN AWESOME CURVE. I left the exam feeling the worst I've ever felt (this is my third time taking it and it was the hardest. cried for days afterward, thought I got a 28 max), yet did the best I've ever done! This was truly a miracle from God. So grateful for my score and so glad I gambled and didn't void 🙂

post-test prediction: 9/10/9 - 28 at best
actual: 10/11/11 - 32!
 
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Practice test average: 31 ranging from 29-32
Prediction after test: 27
Actual: 34 (12/11/11)

I'm really happy with my score! You can check my previous post where I wrote about how I felt after, but yeah, I remember thinking verbal was terrible and would bring me down. Also I never got above a 10 on verbal and only got above a 10 on bio once so I'm really really pleased with that!

My advice to everyone waiting to take it is to just relax as much as possible and be confident that you know your stuff. I had never broke a 32 on the practice tests and got a 31 on almost every single one but I knew that I knew the stuff. I think just knowing you can do well is half the battle.
 
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circulus vitios said:
Test #, PS/VR/BS, Composite
3, 10/9/9, 28
4, 12/9/9, 30
5, 12/8/10, 30
7, 13/9/11, 33
8, 11/9/10, 30
9, 13/8/9, 30
10, 12/11/10, 33
Average, 11.9/9/9.7, 30.6
Actual MCAT, 12/8/9, 29

If it's not good enough to get me into a lower-ranking MD school or a DO school then **** it. I'm not wasting another $300 and 3 months of my life on this idiotic exam.
Click to expand...

You'll be fine and I wholeheartedly agree. Congratulations for being done! 🙂 I want a soda to celebrate! 😛 Which section was the hardest for you guys? I took it 5/23 and PS was awful.
 
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AAMC 3: 11/10/13 -- 34
AAMC 4: 12/12/13 -- 37
AAMC 5: 11/12/11 -- 34
AAMC 7: 11/11/11 -- 33
AAMC 8: 12/13/13 -- 38
AAMC 9: 12/12/12 -- 36
AAMC 10: 13/11/13 -- 37
AAMC 11: 13/13/12 -- 38

Jan. 26th MCAT: 11/10/13 -- 34
April 27th MCAT: 14/12/12 -- 38

Glad retaking it turned out to be a good call.
 
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karmin said:
WHAT AN AWESOME CURVE. I left the exam feeling the worst I've ever felt (this is my third time taking it and it was the hardest. cried for days afterward, thought I got a 28 max), yet did the best I've ever done! This was truly a miracle from God. So grateful for my score and so glad I gambled and didn't void 🙂

post-test prediction: 9/10/9 - 28 at best
actual: 10/11/11 - 32!
Click to expand...

Aw congrats! Our PS (5/23) sucked really bad but I made sure to answer every question so I couldn't void. Thank God, you're done!!
 
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icehockychick said:
I've shamelessly stalked this forum since October. I only needed a 27 because I'm enrolled in a linkage program, but I know I craved this kind of information when I was studying for the exam, so I hope this helps ease/motivate someone else's mind ...


AAMC 3 - 31
AAMC 7 - 29
AAMC 8 - 30
AAMC 4 - 33
AAMC 9 - 31
AAMC 10 - 35
AAMC 11 - 31

Actual... 33 (11/12/10) :soexcited::clap:

Good luck with AMCAS everyone!
Click to expand...

Congrats! Can you tell me more about the linkage program? what school is it affiliated to?
 
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circulus vitios said:
Test #, PS/VR/BS, Composite
3, 10/9/9, 28
4, 12/9/9, 30
5, 12/8/10,30
7, 13/9/11, 33
8, 11/9/10, 30
9, 13/8/9, 30
10, 12/11/10, 33
Average, 11.9/9/9.7, 30.6
Actual MCAT, 12/8/9, 29

If it's not good enough to get me into a lower-ranking MD school or a DO school then **** it. I'm not wasting another $300 and 3 months of my life on this idiotic exam.
Click to expand...

Dude that's fine for those goals, chill and be happy.
 
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Pilot27 said:
This is my first post here, as I mostly just stalk some threads. I ended up with a 27: PS 7, V 10, BS 10. I was really frustrated coming out of the exam. First PS passage threw me off and I felt the passages and questions were longer (as far as amount of words) and "different" than the AAMC FL's. I averaged a 30.25 (30, 30, 30, 31) on my last four exams before the actual MCAT. I'm stuck in the boat of deciding whether to retake or not. It sucks when you spend four months of your life studying for this thing. Any advisers out there?

Anyway, congrats to everyone for getting done and waiting it out. For those of you who didn't get the score you wanted, don't let it deter you from going to medical school. You can do anything if you work hard enough, so don't be afraid to take it again. The first MCAT I took I got a 20 lol granted I didn't study and I had not learned the material in class the first time so I probably should not have taken it, but I didn't know better. Keep your heads up and keep going 😀

For those of you who got your scores or better, congrats and best of luck to you in the application process.
Click to expand...

Hmm, did you feel PS was bad during the test? How were you scoring on PS before? I was scoring 11's on the PS but on the MCAT I took (5/23) the PS was just straight up terrible, so I understand if you were doing better on the practice. The real thing was not similar. It does suck to study that long, I know 🙁 As to retake or not, ultimately only you can answer this question, because some people are just applying DO or are in a special MD admissions situation where they could skate by with a 27.

The good news is that you improved 7 pts!! I would say if you had a 28 you might be fine for regular MD. I mean I am probably not retaking no matter what because I have other life path possibilities and I feel this is what my parents want, not me, but if you are solely only wanting to focus on MD (and MD only not DO) then you should probably retake. Sorry I know that's probably not what you wanted to hear :\ but PS can be improved relatively faster than the others. Good luck either way 🙂 And get a soda or something, you deserve it...I applaud anyone who answers the entire test and gets a score!
 
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random1234 said:
Aw congrats! Our PS (5/23) sucked really bad but I made sure to answer every question so I couldn't void. Thank God, you're done!!
Click to expand...

I took the 5/23 test as well and the PS was AWFUL. I know a lot of people ended up voiding their tests because of it… but that wasn't even an option for me! I truly feel like I couldn't have done anything differently to prepare for those crazy passages. I'm just hoping the curve is in our favor, but I'm a little confused as to how that's going to work. The AAMC says that they scale our tests based on last year's results, do I have that right? Can anyone enlighten me on this process?
 
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Hayley said:
I took the 5/23 test as well and the PS was AWFUL. I know a lot of people ended up voiding their tests because of it… but that wasn't even an option for me! I truly feel like I couldn't have done anything differently to prepare for those crazy passages. I'm just hoping the curve is in our favor, but I'm a little confused as to how that's going to work. The AAMC says that they scale our tests based on last year's results, do I have that right? Can anyone enlighten me on this process?
Click to expand...

Yes, the scale is pre-determined based off question taken from previous exams issued. There are experimental (throw-out) questions per section as well that don't count towards the score.
 
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Hayley said:
I took the 5/23 test as well and the PS was AWFUL. I know a lot of people ended up voiding their tests because of it&#8230; but that wasn't even an option for me! I truly feel like I couldn't have done anything differently to prepare for those crazy passages. I'm just hoping the curve is in our favor, but I'm a little confused as to how that's going to work. The AAMC says that they scale our tests based on last year's results, do I have that right? Can anyone enlighten me on this process?
Click to expand...

Same here Hayley, it wasn't an option. The day of my exam was a day of lab (that I need to graduate) and I missed the first day due to being out of town. If I missed again, I would get an F in the class, so I had no choice but to finish the exam or take the test in July. I'm also taking 4 other summer classes so I wouldn't have been able to study more anyway. It really sucks for us and I just hope and pray that someone upstairs is taking that into account for us.

AAMC makes the rules and regulations really mysterious and cryptic so no one has any real idea what is going on in the scoring. The only confirmed thing I got from AAMC is that there are experimental questions that do not count towards the score (which seems like it would make the curve harsher).

Someone said it's pre-determined but I also read that if a lot of people do poorly on certain questions they have to throw it out so they can get somewhat of a bell curve. Honestly I have no idea what to believe.

I guess the only thing we can do is to wait until 6/25. 🙁
 
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Flash Forward... its a linkage through Agnes Scott College (Decatur GA) for Mercer School of Medicine (Macon or Savannah GA). Good one year program, geared for career changers (or if you didn't major in science stuff). Mercer only accepts GA residents though, so you'll have to establish yourself here first. PM me with any questions... hope everything went well for you!
 
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My practice avg was somewhere between 35-39, my final score was a 37 :soexcited:
12 PS, 12 VR, 13 BS


Oh my god, I am so relieved. I studied my ass off for four months and I really thought I was going to have to retake it - my GPA is on the lower side (3.4) so I'm counting on my MCAT to help pick up some of the slack.
That test was horrible. The verbal was particularly killer - I got 14 on nearly all my practice tests but only managed a 12 on this one. Whatever, I'm still VERY happy with my final score :hardy:

Congratulations everyone! Just making it through the MCAT without setting yourself on fire is an accomplishment in my book.
 
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32 - 11/11/10. Surprised how low my BS was since I felt good about it after the test.
AAMC average - 32

I won't be retaking. A balanced 32, while below my personal goal, is right in line with my AAMC average. Hopefully my solid post-bacc work and ECs will get me an acceptance into a low/mid tier MD program.

Congrats everyone. There's some killer scores in here.
 
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Out of curiosity, did any of you walk out of there feeling like you completely bombed it and end up doing better than you thought?
 
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AureatEagle said:
That was me! Depressed for a few days afterwards. Did way better than I expected 🙂
Click to expand...

I'm currently feeling that way. I averaged 35 on my AAMC exams, yet walked out of the 5/18 exam feeling like I hit a 28 max.

Just searching for hope I suppose.
 
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@ random1234 Thanks for the response. I was scoring 9-12, usually a 10, on PS on my practice exams. The day before I took the exam, I took a practice exam and scored an 11 on the PS section. I definitely prepped long and hard and reviewed ALL of the possible material I could see on the exam. Alas, it just goes to show that this test while some sort of an indicator, is not the end all be all for assessing a student's ability. I feel like the test varies enough between exams that the same person could score a 25 on one and a 30 on another depending on the material. Oh well.

I'm actually applying to both. Mostly DO because moderation and balance are key staples in my life and I feel like the DO school's get that and infuse their education with it. Though the MD schools I'm applying to follow a similar philosophy. I just wanted a good enough score to get looked at. I was a Division I athlete for four years, then got a Master's in Medical Science. I am a pilot, love to write short stories and poetry, movie buff, and I love to sew (I make clothes and messenger bags among other things). I feel like I have a lot of strengths, but I just needed to get a 30 on this damn test to feel good and secure about my applications process lol. Hence, we return to my uncertainty to retake. I did feel like PS was difficult in the sense that it just wasn't written clearly (to me) and so I was confused about what they were asking, as opposed to the practice AAMCs.

Ahh, the parents. I definitely know the feeling. I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur, but my dad fought with me forever about how risky that was (despite being a successful business owner himself lol). While I do love human physiology, medicine and helping others, I still have a burning for entrepreneurship. I've struggled with this for many, many years and all I can say is make sure that you are doing something that gets you excited when you get up in the morning. I'd love to chat more if you aren't opposed. Idk if there are personal messages on here, but let me know 🙂 Thanks again and best of luck if we don't speak again.
 
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Endure said:
Out of curiosity, did any of you walk out of there feeling like you completely bombed it and end up doing better than you thought?
Click to expand...

Yes. I felt awful about the exam - thought it was much harder than any of the practice tests I'd taken, particularly the verbal section. The month-long wait for the score was brutal :scared:

Here's the breakdown of my practice tests:

Berkeley Review 1: 32
Berkeley Review 2: 32
Berkeley Review 3: 31
Berkeley Review 4: 29
Berkeley Review 5: 29
Berkeley Review 6: 33
Berkeley Review 7: 28

AAMC 3: 30
AAMC 4: 33
AAMC 5: 33
AAMC 7: 34
AAMC 8: 31
AAMC 9: 38
AAMC 10: 33
AAMC 11: 32

Average AAMC: 33
Prediction after actual MCAT: 28-32
Actual: 35 -- 12 PS, 11 VR, 12 BS

For what it's worth, I did the 3-month SN2ed schedule (minus hat trick). Couldn't be happier about the way it turned out!

Congratulations to everyone else for finishing, and good luck to all on the next steps.
 
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AAMC avg: 34
Actual: 32 (11/10/11)

PS is generally my strongest, averaging 13 on practice exams. Pretty upset about that drop. All other sections were alright. I guess my dream school is off the list. Congrats to all the amazing scores in this thread! 🙂
 
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AAMC FL scores:

AAMC 3: 38 (13/12/13)
AAMC 4: 39 (14/12/13)
AAMC 5: 39 (14/12/13)
AAMC 7: 39 (15/11/13)
AAMC 8: 41 (15/13/13)
AAMC 9: 41 (14/13/14)
AAMC 10: 40 (14/12/14)
AAMC 11: 39 (13/13/13)

Real MCAT:
4/27/13: 39 (14/11/14)

Thoughts:

👍 now I just gotta hope I can get into medical school by 2016 so I don't ever have to retake this exam!

11 is a low score for me on VR if you check out my AAMC FLs... I'm pretty sure it should have been a 12 and I know what happened. I realized halfway through the verbal section that I misinterpreted a passage and definitely had 2 answers wrong that I had narrowed down to a 50/50 guess. I wanted to change them once I got through the section but ran out of time by like 15 seconds.

Considering the limited time to study (by taking this test during the semester etc.), I see a bunch of amazing scores here. I, too, beat the goal I set for myself at the beginning of this odyssey, but it does suck to know that you got 2 questions wrong only because of time.

Also, as others have said, I felt I did much, much worse after taking the exam and (as you can see) I ended up doing just fine! So I think that's a pretty common sentiment.
 
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35 🙂 🙂 🙂
PS 12 VR 10 BS 13

SOOOO HAPPY. Was definitely screaming/jumping up&down after I saw this. Just finished a big lobster dinner to celebrate. Applying in a week. Let's gooooooo!
 
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