The Official 4/29/2011 MCAT Club!

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TXKnight

TXKnight

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I think It may be too early for this, but curious to know who's writing on this date. Join this thread and let's share knowledge/experience and blow this test out of the water!!
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arfc6 said:
10 P 12 V 13 B and a nice Q to round it out. Definitely excited even though this is lower than my practice tests. I'm a little confused about where to apply now though. I feel like I'm not that competitive for really top schools especially with my physical sciences score, but perhaps a little more competitive than most at my state schools. Still this made my day, FINALLY I CAN FORGET ABOUT THE MCAT. :banana:
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The PS section is the least important. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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arfc6 said:
10 P 12 V 13 B and a nice Q to round it out. Definitely excited even though this is lower than my practice tests. I'm a little confused about where to apply now though. I feel like I'm not that competitive for really top schools especially with my physical sciences score, but perhaps a little more competitive than most at my state schools. Still this made my day, FINALLY I CAN FORGET ABOUT THE MCAT. :banana:
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nice job! you've got a really great score for plenty of good schools!
 
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Nkeflin said:
Meh... 27Q here. FL avg ~ 33.

Flat-out choked in VR, although I hadn't shown very much consistency in that section throughout my FLs. BS was pretty underwhelming as well, especially since that was the section I left with the most confidence.

A big congrats to all who got what they wanted! Good luck to everyone applying this cycle! And to those in a situation similar to mine, let's take a deep breath, figure out what the **** we did wrong and kill the test in the summer/fall/whenever you're retaking it.
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good try, 27 is a pretty good score. youll do well in the next one.
 
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PS 12
VR 10
WS Q
BS 12

Total: 34Q

I had a similar experience as others who walked out of the test feeling abused. I walked in pretty confident and left feeling horrible. This past month has been torture but I am very happy with my score. I hit my highs on VR and BS, and PS was just 1 point below my high on the AAMC practice tests. Glad that I scored double digits in all sections. VR was my biggest worry since I was pretty much stuck at 9. Feeling great overall.
 
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cactuscake said:
PS 12
VR 10
WS Q
BS 12

Total: 34Q

I had a similar experience as others who walked out of the test feeling abused. I walked in pretty confident and left feeling horrible. This past month has been torture but I am very happy with my score. I hit my highs on VR and BS, and PS was just 1 point below my high on the AAMC practice tests. Glad that I scored double digits in all sections. VR was my biggest worry since I was pretty much stuck at 9. Feeling great overall.
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Great job, cactus cake.

And I love your avatar. I'm sure that if I got a 44 on the MCAT, my parents would say "WHAT? YOU FAILED?!"
 
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I had some trouble with my account and I actually just got my scores this morning, not sure what to think of them:

PS: 12
V:9
BS:12
Essays: P

33P, but I feel like the verbal and the essays are a bit low given that my GPA is only around a 3.5. Any advice for me? Do I need to retake the exam to be competitive, or are there any schools I can apply to and have a shot at in the states? I'm from Canada so I don't really know how my scores stack up in the US... :S
 
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anil23789 said:
I had some trouble with my account and I actually just got my scores this morning, not sure what to think of them:

PS: 12
V:9
BS:12
Essays: P

33P, but I feel like the verbal and the essays are a bit low given that my GPA is only around a 3.5. Any advice for me? Do I need to retake the exam to be competitive, or are there any schools I can apply to and have a shot at in the states? I'm from Canada so I don't really know how my scores stack up in the US... :S
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That's a great score, Anil! Plenty of schools will like that score. At least in GA, you need to have SOMETHING over a 31ish.
 
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There must have been an MCAT Genie for 4/29 testers....LOL.. Hope that same MCAT Genie comes around on 6/16.🙂
Quite outstanding guys... every one here seems to have a great score that will get them to atleast a medical schoool somewhere in the US, soley on MCAT scores.😎
Great job, and now, you all can dine, wine and sleep after your applications.👍
 
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MCAT Genie
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genie-aladdin.jpg
 
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nucleophilic said:
Ugh... 34R. Two points less than my practice average and effectively screwing me for the competitive schools I wanted to go to, since my GPA is already subpar. Debating a retake. I hate this test.
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I REALLY wouldn't retake it man. A 34 is still great. Plus, it will look bad if you get the same and REALLY bad if you get worse. Unless you KNOW you can get 2 more points I would not retake it. The AAMC guide to the MCAT has charts that show you the chances of getting a better or worse score on a retake based on your initial score. Let me tell you, your chances of getting better aren't good enough to risk it.
 
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CaliBalla said:
Kind of in shock right now......my AAMC practice scores were 36-38 and never below a 33 on ANY practice test.

Just got 11/10/10 for a grand spankin total of 31R.

My cGPA is 3.82 in BME and my sGPA is 3.93

Thoughts??
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My adviser gave me good advice. Unless you KNOW of something that you really screwed up on I wouldn't retake it. However, that is a HUGE difference from your average. If you have taken a ton of practice tests and that is what you're getting I would certainly consider retaking it. Chances are good you will get >33 (I think)
 
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Gnomes said:
It was really difficult: while I'm sure I was unduly pessimistic, my impression is still that it was harder than any of the practice tests I took, and harder than the MCAT I voided a year ago. I'm pretty sure we rode the curve to victory here.
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I completely agree. It was more difficult than any AAMC practice test I have taken. Kaplan had some that were way worse, but they curve the tits off their practice exams.
 
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Frazier said:
I hear ya, but remember - there is actually at least 2 levels of selection bias going on...

1) Your looking at SDN, stats are going to be higher than the average applicant.
2) The posters from SDN that did better are more likely to post their scores [not as likely for the guys/gals that scored <28].

Essentially we are witnessing much of the the creme de la creme.
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All you said is true, but I just don't see this many good scores in the official thread for other dates. Makes me wonder...
 
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I took all the AAMC except one, and I ended up scoring 3.5 pts above my AAMC average. My suspicion is that this test was a little harder than normal, but the ones who were able to somewhat reason their way through it benefited from a generous curve.
 
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Nymphicus said:
I took all the AAMC except one, and I ended up scoring 3.5 pts above my AAMC average. My suspicion is that this test was a little harder than normal, but the ones who were able to somewhat reason their way through it benefited from a generous curve.
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Another effect that I think came into play, at least for me, was that I was never quite able to bring myself to run out the clock on a practice exam; I usually got done reviewing each section with five to fifteen minutes still on the clock and couldn't bring myself to review again. However, I had no problem running out the clock on the real MCAT, in fact, I barely had enough time to review once. I don't know if this was due to me being more concerned about the outcome, the test being harder (undoubtedly a contributing factor) or me vacillating more when reviewing than on the practice tests.
 
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Gnomes, you must be one of those geniuses ... There are two types of >35 scores.

The first type is the traditional type, like myself, who spent a lot of time studying, was able to review each section on practice test but not all the questions on the actual exam itself.

Then, there are those like yourself, who can finish reviewing practice tests w/ 10 minutes to go, and was able to review all the sections on the actual test.

There was another poll earlier that asked the outcome of scorers avging >38 vs those slightly under 38 against their actual score. It was almost like a cliff. I scored 2 points lower, but you scored higher. Seems to fit the pattern well.
 
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Wow didn't find this forum until today. I also took the 4/29/11 MCAT. Felt good about the test in all the practice tests and came out of the test feeling abused. Very surprised with how I did. Felt my test would be low 20's and got mid 30's. Glad to see so many people did well on the test! Now its time to get our acceptance letters!
 
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PLACES said:
Wow didn't find this forum until today. I also took the 4/29/11 MCAT. Felt good about the test in all the practice tests and came out of the test feeling abused. Very surprised with how I did. Felt my test would be low 20's and got mid 30's. Glad to see so many people did well on the test! Now its time to get our acceptance letters!
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If you guys don't mind me asking where exactly do we check out MCAT scores?
 
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I got 10 PS 11 VR 10 BS. 31 O

I'm fairly satisfied as 31 was my FL average in the weeks leading up to the exam. I was actually expecting lower, and I almost scheduled a retake before I even got the score back. Now I'm not too sure. I feel like I could have definitely studied harder and gotten a better score. I took PR's course, but I usually only showed up and never actually studied outside of class until about 11 days leading up to the test.

Average score where I want to get in is only a 29, though, so I may just stick with the 31 rather than take the time, effort, and risk to try it again. What do you guys think?
 
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MDminded said:
That's a great score, Anil! Plenty of schools will like that score. At least in GA, you need to have SOMETHING over a 31ish.
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Lol, waited a full day to check and my answer was there 7 minutes later.

Thanks for the info, I was just going by the "10 in each category" rule, so that 9 was really bothering me. 33P is much better than the 20R I scored before I took a prep course (don't ask me how I screwed up the essays, I thought I did a much better job this time around given that I basically left one blank when I got the R 😛).
 
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dsmi131 said:
I got 10 PS 11 VR 10 BS. 31 O

I'm fairly satisfied as 31 was my FL average in the weeks leading up to the exam. I was actually expecting lower, and I almost scheduled a retake before I even got the score back. Now I'm not too sure. I feel like I could have definitely studied harder, and gotten a better score. I took PR's course, but I usually only showed up and never actually studied outside of class until about 11 days leading up to the test.

Average score where I want to get in is only a 29, though, so I may just stick with the 31 rather than take the time, effort, and risk to try it again. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

Where are you planning on applying?
 
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Metallica1936 said:
I REALLY wouldn't retake it man. A 34 is still great. Plus, it will look bad if you get the same and REALLY bad if you get worse. Unless you KNOW you can get 2 more points I would not retake it. The AAMC guide to the MCAT has charts that show you the chances of getting a better or worse score on a retake based on your initial score. Let me tell you, your chances of getting better aren't good enough to risk it.
Click to expand...

I was actually surprised at how good the odds looked in that MCAT book - 70 out of 92 people scored at least one point better than their previous score in the 33-35 range. That said, I think I've decided I don't want to retake because I honestly can't imagine doing the whole studying/waiting for scores process again. I'm not happy with the score since I never scored that low in practice tests...hit a new low in phys sci and tied my record low in bio...the only upside was verbal, which was about a point up from average. Oh well...good luck to anyone that does retake - I feel for you guys. Congrats to everyone else - some really amazing scores on here, I'm jealous!
 
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dsmi131 said:
I got 10 PS 11 VR 10 BS. 31 O

I'm fairly satisfied as 31 was my FL average in the weeks leading up to the exam. I was actually expecting lower, and I almost scheduled a retake before I even got the score back. Now I'm not too sure. I feel like I could have definitely studied harder and gotten a better score. I took PR's course, but I usually only showed up and never actually studied outside of class until about 11 days leading up to the test.

Average score where I want to get in is only a 29, though, so I may just stick with the 31 rather than take the time, effort, and risk to try it again. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

I would not retake a 31, especially if the school you want to go to has a 29 average, and ESPECIALLy not if your average is/does not increase from 31.
 
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So I just looked at last years stats for the MCAT, according to the AAMC.. these are approximate calculations.. but I have to say, I was quite surprised to see..

The amount of individuals attaining a score of >=40 was approximately 530. This is distributed across all testing locations, and all exam sittings. If you assume that the distribution is equal amongst exam dates, thats only about 20 people/date. OUCH.
 
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feipar said:
There was another poll earlier that asked the outcome of scorers avging >38 vs those slightly under 38 against their actual score. It was almost like a cliff. I scored 2 points lower, but you scored higher. Seems to fit the pattern well.
Click to expand...

I looked for this poll while wasting time avoiding the AMCAS...couldn't find this it. I'd be curious to see what it says.👍
 
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i put in english as my second language so hopefully they can be a little more understanding.

... this was my 3rd time taking the test.
first 20 Q (7 PS, 5 VR, 8 BS)
second 23 Q (8 PS, 7 VR, 8 BS)

4/29/11 31 P (12 PS, 7 VR, 12 BS)

i really practiced hard for VR using EK 101 and everything... thought i actually improved a little but felt like the VR section on the real test was much harder than the EK 101 tests. overall very happy about my score.
 
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Philosophy said:
I looked for this poll while wasting time avoiding the AMCAS...couldn't find this it. I'd be curious to see what it says.👍
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Actually, it says that there's an equal chance of getting higher or lower, whether you avged 35 - 38, or 38 - 40
 
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feipar said:
Actually, it says that there's an equal chance of getting higher or lower, whether you avged 35 - 38, or 38 - 40
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Not 100% sure about that.

The variability caused by 1-2 questions is much more drastic at 38-40 than at 35-38. My guess is that it's more likely for someone in the 38-40 range to score a little lower.

Not that it really matters at that level.
 
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ridethecliche said:
Not 100% sure about that.

The variability caused by 1-2 questions is much more drastic at 38-40 than at 35-38. My guess is that it's more likely for someone in the 38-40 range to score a little lower.

Not that it really matters at that level.
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All polls aside, the statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean accounts for at least part of the likelihood that high-scorers will, on average, not score as high upon retaking.

👍http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean
 
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Philosophy said:
All polls aside, the statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean accounts for at least part of the likelihood that high-scorers will, on average, not score as high upon retaking.

👍http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean
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That doesn't quite hold because you're not randomly guessing on all the questions. On tests of skill/knowledge, the distribution might be normal, but a retake isn't quite the same thing.

From the wiki article you posted: "If there were no luck or random guessing involved in the answers supplied by students to the test questions then all students would score the same on the second test as they scored on the original test, and there would be no regression toward the mean."

There is a little luck and random guessing involved, hence the fluctuation in scores.

Like the other poster said, there's AAMC data for this, so there's no need for this.
 
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ridethecliche said:
That doesn't quite hold because you're not randomly guessing on all the questions. On tests of skill/knowledge, the distribution might be normal, but a retake isn't quite the same thing.

From the wiki article you posted: "If there were no luck or random guessing involved in the answers supplied by students to the test questions then all students would score the same on the second test as they scored on the original test, and there would be no regression toward the mean."

There is a little luck and random guessing involved, hence the fluctuation in scores.

Like the other poster said, there's AAMC data for this, so there's no need for this.
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I agree with this statment
 
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as an accepted applicant with a 30P all 10s...
1. don't retake anything over a balanced 30.....pointless unless you want the top 20 or so schools, then good luck to ya
2. retaking a 30+ and getting a sky high score may actually disqualify you from some schools (state schools) - they may not even look at you as they think you won't go there and you would decline an acceptance if they gave you one - and no school likes that - I have seen this happen where high stat students are passed over by some adcoms.....
3. if you have balanced 28 / 29 apply broadly to your state schools and other schools that look attractive, instead of a retake spend the time beefing up your ECs - these are HUGE and matter so much I can't even begin to tell you....once you get realistic about not going to HMS or Wash then you will realize that most schools want balanced individuals and not grade cranking out drones..... trust me on this one!
4. once you get the score you are happy with, BURN all those horrible books and leave that test in the rear view mirror, there will be more dragons to fight on down the road (biochem in MS1 and step 1)

just my two cents............ rock on ya'll
 
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Supisak said:
2. retaking a 30+ and getting a sky high score may actually disqualify you from some schools (state schools) - they may not even look at you as they think you won't go there and you would decline an acceptance if they gave you one - and no school likes that - I have seen this happen where high stat students are passed over by some adcoms.....
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Nobody needs to worry about scores or stats being too high. Some applicants with high stats get passed up for other reasons. Maybe they didn't do a good enough job of conveying their desire to pursue medicine or to attend that med school. Or maybe their soft skills or ECs were lacking.

However, I wouldn't retake a well-balanced 30+ MCAT.
 
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