The Official 4/5/12 MCAT Thread

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I know there's kind of already a thread, but this is the official one ;)

I'm registered at 1PM (I think the only time offered on 4/5?) and this is a retake for me.

Using a variation of SN2ed's 3 month schedule (109 days) and started studying a few days ago.

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how about the other sections? was the content distribution even? or was it more towards heavy in a certain topic? did you need to know a lot of formulas off the top of your head? was there a TON of background knowledge needed or was a lot of it found in the passage? try to be as descriptive as possible without giving out question specifics though.

It's difficult to say a lot without giving specifics, but in general I thought the BS and PS sections were similar in style to the practice AAMCs. The content was evenly distributed and I thought that my Exam Kracker books prepared me well. But there were definitley a few "wtf's" in all the sections. What was annoying for me was that I thought that the Verbal section was much harder than any of the AAMC practice tests.
 
:( you voided? I'm really sorry to hear that man, was it that hard? What were you averaging on AAMC's?
For me verbal was always a big problem (usually I ran out of time on the last passage), and this thing happened on Jan test, had to guess on the last passages and it killed my overall score..Average was 31, but on AAMC 10 I got 35 and in PS I never got below 11, the highest was 14.

PS on Jan test was kind of a "strange" one, but doable, this time it was hard (heavy on calculations - you could`ve eliminate two answers, experiments, etc), totally different from my first one.

If I void the next time, I will apply with my current scores.We`ll see. Good luck! :)
 
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i know you cant say specifics but was it ochem heavy???

by heavy i mean more than one passage and a few discretes...?


thanks all
 
What was annoying for me was that I thought that the Verbal section was much harder than any of the AAMC practice tests.

This was my feeling as well, big time. The passages felt significantly longer than anything I've encountered from the AAMC before and the questions seemed much harder. I actually didn't enter a response for the last 2 questions. I have never not finished a VR portion with less than ~2.5 minutes left, so brain farted really badly and let time run out without throwing in random answers. EFF! I felt like the test on the whole felt significantly tougher than any practice test I'd taken before. It could just be nerves having it be the real thing I guess, but man I thought a weight would be lifted off my shoulders and instead I think I'm going to be even more nervous until the scores come out.
 
The thing that really scares me is I had basically resigned myself to getting an 11 on Verbal. That was my score on every AAMC practice test and almost every EK test. Now I'm afraid I could end up with lower than that, especially with how harshly VR is judged. I got the last 2 wrong for sure and then there were so many questions that were WTF. EDIT I felt that the Ochem on the real one today was generally harder than what I'd seen on the practice tests. A couple of the bio passages felt significantly harder than anything I'd seen on TPRH or the AAMCs (could be nerves again), but in general I felt like it was the OChem that seemed significantly harder. The actual reaction mechanisms I felt like were harder to reason through than most questions I'd seen before.
 
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The thing that really scares me is I had basically resigned myself to getting an 11 on Verbal. That was my score on every AAMC practice test and almost every EK test. Now I'm afraid I could end up with lower than that, especially with how harshly VR is judged. I got the last 2 wrong for sure and then there were so many questions that were WTF.

at this point I'd be happy with a 9 on verbal with how hard that was.
 
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The exam in general was ok. PS was more difficult than that in any AAMC practice test, verbal was slightly more difficult (reading the material was fine except for maybe the last passage, but the questions were tough), and the bio was slightly more difficult (more experiments and graphs). I second the statement about the orgo being harder in the real deal compared to orgo in the practice exams. Verbal passages in the real mcat are definitely not longer than those in practice tests, but the questions are definitely tougher.
 
Was the PS calculation heavy, or mostly conceptual? What about it made it more difficult? And were there a lot of difficult to understand experiments on the BS, like the ones on AAMC 11 (at least I thought some passages on 11 were really hard to understand)?
 
I just felt like the PS section required stronger reading skills than I anticipated from the practice exams. It felt more like the BS portion than I thought it would.
 
I agree that PS was the hardest section, but I don't think it was that bad. The first few passages took me forever and I almost ran out of time, but the last two were really simple. VR wasn't bad at all, and although BS had some hard questions, overall it was pretty straight forward.

I don't think it was any harder than AAMC 10 and AAMC 11. It was more orgo heavy imo though.
 
there were about 10 orgo questions. Said the PS wasn't bad, but the verbal was ridiculously long (she said some were 7 paragraphs). Also said BS was ridiculously hard.
 
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I thought PS was ridiculously hard with few simple questions (~15), but tough overall. I voided. In January I got 12 in PS. Didn`t want to risk...

Have to retake damn...

I wanted to void because of PS...didn't...we will see!

Just finished my exam. Did anyone else think that the verbal section was really difficult? I mean REALLY hard. I hope it's not just me and that there will be a nice curve on that section.

Hoping for a curve on all sections haha!
 
so what was harder TBR passages or todays test?

Some of the PS passages were pretty similar, but all of the BS were easier imo.

It's difficult to say a lot without giving specifics, but in general I thought the BS and PS sections were similar in style to the practice AAMCs. The content was evenly distributed and I thought that my Exam Kracker books prepared me well. But there were definitley a few "wtf's" in all the sections. What was annoying for me was that I thought that the Verbal section was much harder than any of the AAMC practice tests.


The PS definitely had some tough ones and I agree that BS and PS were pretty similar to AAMCs, but I don't think VR was that hard. I only did the first 6 or 7 EK 101 VR tests, but they were all significantly harder than the VR on today's MCAT, at least in my opinion.
 
Sister just took today's exam - she said there were about 10 orgo questions. Said the PS wasn't bad, but the verbal was ridiculously long (she said some were 7 paragraphs). Also said BS was ridiculously hard.

10 orgo questions sounds about right. Not that many, but some of them were definitely orgo 2 material.

I wanted to void because of PS...didn't...we will see!



Hoping for a curve on all sections haha!


Haha yea, I had I think ~10 minutes to do the last 2 passages. I almost gave up, but turns out they weren't bad and I managed to finish a little under time.
 
10 orgo questions sounds about right. Not that many, but some of them were definitely orgo 2 material.




Haha yea, I had I think ~10 minutes to do the last 2 passages. I almost gave up, but turns out they weren't bad and I managed to finish a little under time.

so im curious do you think TBR was harder or was todays test harder?
 
I missed like basically the one easy discrete orgo question. I pretty much knew how the mechanism should go and then I got all up in my head that it didn't make sense under those conditions. I'm going to be kicking myself over that for awhile.
 
So what was so hard about the PS section? Was it calculation heavy? or more concepts?
Want to hear people's take on this section without going too detailed
 
for the passages could you use any/a lot of outside knowledge or were they all pretty much from the passage/inferring from the passage??
 
Dude wtff!!!!

ok. First off let me tell you all that my exam started at 3pm, not 1pm. The stupid f'ing computers crashed and they made us all wait for 2 hours while we all got tired and eventually called some dude in pakistan that had to sign us all in manually lol.

My thoughts on the test. I voided but because of PS.

PS: THIS WAS A MONSTER!! on my TBR passages and AAMC CBT's I scored an average of 11 on this section, but on this test I honestly had no idea wtf i was reading and how to answer a lot of questions. Calculations heavy for sure. The strange thing is that it wasn't normal calculations but a lot of weird equations given to us that I've never seen and had no idea how to use. If I had to guess I'd anywhere between 6-10 on this section. Definitely a hit or miss.

VR: well I didn't take this section because after the PS I knew I was going to void and lets be honest, verbal is verbal.

BS: Is it just me or did anyone else think that this section was super EASY! I finished with 26mins to spare. And no I didn't think the Ochem passage/discrete's were hard at all. I was really surprised with this section, I constantly thought to myself, "this is too easy". There was only and ONLY 1 questions (discrete) which I had no clue how to solve. If I had to guess, I think I would have got like a 13 on this part.

I'm calling AAMC tomorrow and complaining like the mofo about the whole ordeal and how things were handled.
 
Omg. I might as well schedule a retake now. PS kicked my ass! Bad! Thought verbal and BS weren't too terrible though.
 
Here's my (humble) opinion...

Today was my first time sitting for the actual MCAT. Nerves play a huge part in it, but I think once you get going with the exam, those tend to fade away. My scores on the practice AAMCs ranged from 29 - 34 - with the majority of sections coming in at 10s and 11s.

PS: Very Hard - at least 4 - 5 questions were heavy calculations that if you are not quick/fast with your math, you were screwed. Had to take a guess on 2 of them - from the best of my memory. Much heavier on reading comprehension than actual fact based regurgitation. I think what may have thrown a lot of people off is that one passage was absurdly ridiculous - just asinine. I skipped it and went back with 12:00 minutes remaining to tackle that one. Still was able to finish with ~ 3:00 minutes remaining, but I was averaging a little quicker on my 8 AAMC practice exams.

VR: Started off difficult with the first few being very conceptual/theoretical topics - but felt that the second half of the section was completely doable. Much more science based. Finished again with some time to review.

BS: Here I felt that the first half was difficult - including some of the discretes, but then it got simpler as the passages moved on. The last 2 passages, I felt like I slammed. Again, very heavy on reading comprehension and not so much on memory based facts.

Bottom line: I would have to say my range will be 28 - 33. I think what people are forgetting is that we're scored against each other. So that tough ass passage for you was just as tough for Joe Schmoe taking it halfway across the country.

Alright well glad to hear I'm not the only one that thought it was tough.

Time for a beer.
 
i took the test last may and got a ps 10 vr 6 bs 12 and took it again today for a second time. i didnt think the PS and BS sections were all that bad but i had to guess on a whole passage for VR, and that was the section i really needed to get a better score on..glad some others thought it was tough too, but definitely nervous about that one.
 
Omg. I might as well schedule a retake now. PS kicked my ass! Bad! Thought verbal and BS weren't too terrible though.

Totally agree with this feeling! PS was a killer! What frustrates me most is that it were the gen chem passages that bit me in the ass. I've always felt that it was my stronger side vs. Physics. What made these passages hard was too many numbers, tables, and graphs all jammed together, and none of them made sense! And many of the questions required you to do calculations based on this data soup. Wow, I mean what a bomber!
 
Here's my (humble) opinion...

Today was my first time sitting for the actual MCAT. Nerves play a huge part in it, but I think once you get going with the exam, those tend to fade away. My scores on the practice AAMCs ranged from 29 - 34 - with the majority of sections coming in at 10s and 11s.

PS: Very Hard - at least 4 - 5 questions were heavy calculations that if you are not quick/fast with your math, you were screwed. Had to take a guess on 2 of them - from the best of my memory. Much heavier on reading comprehension than actual fact based regurgitation. I think what may have thrown a lot of people off is that one passage was absurdly ridiculous - just asinine. I skipped it and went back with 12:00 minutes remaining to tackle that one. Still was able to finish with ~ 3:00 minutes remaining, but I was averaging a little quicker on my 8 AAMC practice exams.

VR: Started off difficult with the first few being very conceptual/theoretical topics - but felt that the second half of the section was completely doable. Much more science based. Finished again with some time to review.

BS: Here I felt that the first half was difficult - including some of the discretes, but then it got simpler as the passages moved on. The last 2 passages, I felt like I slammed. Again, very heavy on reading comprehension and not so much on memory based facts.

Bottom line: I would have to say my range will be 28 - 33. I think what people are forgetting is that we're scored against each other. So that tough ass passage for you was just as tough for Joe Schmoe taking it halfway across the country.

Alright well glad to hear I'm not the only one that thought it was tough.

Time for a beer.

actually the curve is preset- you are not scored against each other.
 
actually the curve is preset- you are not scored against each other.
Whatever - point being is it's scaled to a percentage.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but usually a 40/52 will get you a 10 - I would guess for today's PS, it'll be more like a 38 - 39/52 for the 10.
 
i know you cant say specifics but was it ochem heavy???

by heavy i mean more than one passage and a few discretes...?


thanks all


Not orgo heavy, only one passage (though quite a strange one) and several discretes, I'd say around 12 overall. The test I took in September however had 3 orgo passages. It really varies.
 
Whatever - point being is it's scaled to a percentage.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but usually a 40/52 will get you a 10 - I would guess for today's PS, it'll be more like a 38 - 39/52 for the 10.
Probably. During the break after PS I was trying to recall what was the scale for PS. I thought 42 out of 52 is 10, but then still decided to end this hell. PS was my strongest section (thanks to TPR) even though I`m a bio major.
 
Not orgo heavy, only one passage (though quite a strange one) and several discretes, I'd say around 12 overall. The test I took in September however had 3 orgo passages. It really varies.
This is exactly what annoys me, i.e. that it varies. Even if you get a simpler test with a tough curve you are not discouraged to continue with the test, but if you feel that you bombed it, it starts to reflect on the other sections.
 
Weird... I don't feel the same as most of you, did we take the same test? o_O

PS
Physics -- this was a bit too easy. Didn't need to recall any difficult equation. It was all conceptual. In fact it may have made feel a little too confident, so when the difficult gchem stuff came I was scatter-brained.
Gchem -- Equations/concepts that I completely froze on -__-"

Verbal
Not out of the ordinary. Longer, but I expected that from previous MCAT takers so I read faster. Some were okay, some were completely out there. Typical.

BS
OChem -- not much of it, but what was on there wasn't the easy stuff I was used to seeing so I'm a bit scared that I messed up in my best subject :/
Bio - WHAT. WAS. THAT. They could have replaced the passages with "Blah is added to blah which inhibits blah and turns into blah" and then asked "what is the meaning of life?" and I would have felt the same way. [That and I seriously needed to go to the bathroom in the latter half so I rushed through it, left, came back, and went over it again.]

So.. I'm REALLY hoping I did better than my lame average but idk. It started easy and ended with a BANG. :S So glad to be done though!!!!!!!!!--for now XD When's our release date again? I don't want to think about this until then.
 
I averaged a 13 on PS on AAMC exams and felt that I bombed PS...think that it was because the fourth passage was insane. I guessed randomly on 2 calculation questions on that passage because I had NO idea how to do them and I was running out of time. It felt harder than any TBR CBT PS section. I think at best I scored an 11 and at worst may had dropped to an 8.

Verbal...felt normal. 10 to 11.

BS. Probably okay. 13 to 14.

If I pulled it out on PS, I and looking at a 34ish most likely. But based on my gut, I predict a 32 to 33
 
so im curious do you think TBR was harder or was todays test harder?

TBR was harder. PS wasn't hard, it was time consuming; lots of calculations for things you wouldn't expect. I had no problem with AAMC chem, or even TBR chem, but today's chem was definitely difficult for me in terms of time management.

So what was so hard about the PS section? Was it calculation heavy? or more concepts?
Want to hear people's take on this section without going too detailed

Calculation heavy, concepts were simple.

Dude wtff!!!!

ok. First off let me tell you all that my exam started at 3pm, not 1pm. The stupid f'ing computers crashed and they made us all wait for 2 hours while we all got tired and eventually called some dude in pakistan that had to sign us all in manually lol.

My thoughts on the test. I voided but because of PS.

PS: THIS WAS A MONSTER!! on my TBR passages and AAMC CBT's I scored an average of 11 on this section, but on this test I honestly had no idea wtf i was reading and how to answer a lot of questions. Calculations heavy for sure. The strange thing is that it wasn't normal calculations but a lot of weird equations given to us that I've never seen and had no idea how to use. If I had to guess I'd anywhere between 6-10 on this section. Definitely a hit or miss.

VR: well I didn't take this section because after the PS I knew I was going to void and lets be honest, verbal is verbal.

BS: Is it just me or did anyone else think that this section was super EASY! I finished with 26mins to spare. And no I didn't think the Ochem passage/discrete's were hard at all. I was really surprised with this section, I constantly thought to myself, "this is too easy". There was only and ONLY 1 questions (discrete) which I had no clue how to solve. If I had to guess, I think I would have got like a 13 on this part.

I'm calling AAMC tomorrow and complaining like the mofo about the whole ordeal and how things were handled.

BS wasn't bad, but it wasn't as easy as some of the AAMCs.. Probably about equal to AAMC 10 and 11.


I averaged a 13 on PS on AAMC exams and felt that I bombed PS...think that it was because the fourth passage was insane. I guessed randomly on 2 calculation questions on that passage because I had NO idea how to do them and I was running out of time. It felt harder than any TBR CBT PS section. I think at best I scored an 11 and at worst may had dropped to an 8.

Verbal...felt normal. 10 to 11.

BS. Probably okay. 13 to 14.

If I pulled it out on PS, I and looking at a 34ish most likely. But based on my gut, I predict a 32 to 33

Yea, I don't remember which passage it was, but one of the chem passages (maybe two) had a ton of calculations. The physics calculations were pretty easy though, and iirc they came from the exact same equation.

I actually found VR to be easier than AAMC tests and EK 101, but everyone else seems to think it was more difficult... It's worth noting that I actually enjoyed reading all of the VR passages so that probably made it much easier for me.

I agree about BS. A few of them were complicated, but nothing out of the ordinary. Some of the discretes were extremely easy though, so hopefully that wasn't a reason for AAMC to make the grading scale especially tough.

I wouldn't be surprised if I got higher than a 35, but I wouldn't be surprised if I got a 31 either.
 
Dude wtff!!!!

ok. First off let me tell you all that my exam started at 3pm, not 1pm. The stupid f'ing computers crashed and they made us all wait for 2 hours while we all got tired and eventually called some dude in pakistan that had to sign us all in manually lol.

My thoughts on the test. I voided but because of PS.

PS: THIS WAS A MONSTER!! on my TBR passages and AAMC CBT's I scored an average of 11 on this section, but on this test I honestly had no idea wtf i was reading and how to answer a lot of questions. Calculations heavy for sure. The strange thing is that it wasn't normal calculations but a lot of weird equations given to us that I've never seen and had no idea how to use. If I had to guess I'd anywhere between 6-10 on this section. Definitely a hit or miss.

VR: well I didn't take this section because after the PS I knew I was going to void and lets be honest, verbal is verbal.

BS: Is it just me or did anyone else think that this section was super EASY! I finished with 26mins to spare. And no I didn't think the Ochem passage/discrete's were hard at all. I was really surprised with this section, I constantly thought to myself, "this is too easy". There was only and ONLY 1 questions (discrete) which I had no clue how to solve. If I had to guess, I think I would have got like a 13 on this part.

I'm calling AAMC tomorrow and complaining like the mofo about the whole ordeal and how things were handled.

Felt the same exact way.
PS- I didn't even know what concepts most of the first few passages wanted. I think one was gchem and the other one was physics. When the guy above me said "weird calculations" - that's totally spot on. I got an 11 on AAMC11 PS but I would guess 6-8 on this one depends on curve - and one or two of those points was cause I freaked out after the first 2 passages. Don't freak out kids.

V- I felt it was the same as aamc11

BS- EASY vs aamc11
 
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Weird... I don't feel the same as most of you, did we take the same test? o_O

PS
Physics -- this was a bit too easy. Didn't need to recall any difficult equation. It was all conceptual. In fact it may have made feel a little too confident, so when the difficult gchem stuff came I was scatter-brained.
Gchem -- Equations/concepts that I completely froze on -__-"

Verbal
Not out of the ordinary. Longer, but I expected that from previous MCAT takers so I read faster. Some were okay, some were completely out there. Typical.

BS
OChem -- not much of it, but what was on there wasn't the easy stuff I was used to seeing so I'm a bit scared that I messed up in my best subject :/
Bio - WHAT. WAS. THAT. They could have replaced the passages with "Blah is added to blah which inhibits blah and turns into blah" and then asked "what is the meaning of life?" and I would have felt the same way. [That and I seriously needed to go to the bathroom in the latter half so I rushed through it, left, came back, and went over it again.]

So.. I'm REALLY hoping I did better than my lame average but idk. It started easy and ended with a BANG. :S So glad to be done though!!!!!!!!!--for now XD When's our release date again? I don't want to think about this until then.

Maybe your strengths were different than most that have posted for the PS section.

True BS did have that one passage haha. But IMO nothing that isn't in handbook or aamc11
 
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who got their ass kicked by PS today. It definitely seemed more difficult than the practice tests. I never had any problems with timing in the CBTs (usually I finished with time to spare) but I found myself way behind, and I ended up flat-out guessing on a couple of calculation-heavy gen chem ones. Ugh. At least most of the physics problems weren't crazy hard.

I'm probably jinxing myself by saying this, but I didn't think BS was too bad. There were a couple of WTF moments and there was more o-chem than I was expecting, but there were also several giveaway questions that you could answer just by reading the passage so I think it balanced out. And verbal was pretty standard, though the passages seemed really long.

My very tentative predictions...

PS: 7-9? (scored 9-12 on practice tests)
BS: 11-13 (scored 10-13 on practice tests)
VR: 11-12 (scored 11-13 on practice test)

So... a composite score around 29-34, maybe? Hopefully at the upper end of that range...:xf:
 
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So glad other people thought PS was INSANE! I probably should have voided but any chance I had at not having to retake seemed like a good idea. The other sections weren't too bad. I just hope that they have a huge curve for the PS, or we're all doomed!! :boom:
 
Trying to get my mind off the MCAT here, but can't help reflecting on the experience.

PS: I totally blanked out on some easier Physics questions that I could have done. What pissed me off for the chem passages was that I knew how to perform the calcuations but for the life of me could not figure out which numbers to use. :(

VR: Topics are much more interesting and the passages were not that difficult to read although they were a little longer. I can't say the same about the questions. Some were really tough and others just seemed ambiguous.

BS: Definitely expected very little ochem and got a good dose of it. Ochem topics were tougher than AAMC's practice FLs. Bio wasn't too bad but I do agree, there's a lot of reading involved. I finished with barely 5 minutes to review and usually I have about 20 mins for the practice FLs.

Now, I'm just praying for a miracle. :p
 
Usually average around 30-34 on the AAMC FLs.

but man, today's exam was definitely harder than most FLs to me.

PS: One of the passage was INSANE. could not understand and absorb anything from the passage. Had to blindly guess on up to 4 or 5 questions for that passage. I am now just hoping I can get the rest correct and hope for atleast a 10.

Verbal: not usually good at verbal (usually get 8-10s) on practice, but was able to finish the verbal today. Don't know how I did, but hopefully a 9-10.

BS: Definitely did not expect that many ochem problems. Some bio passages are quite long and confusing. hoping for a 11 or 12.

Overall, I definitely think the PS killed me. PS has always been my strongest section but this one I ran outta time. I skipped the hard passage to finish the rest, and went back to the hard passage with four minutes left. Brain totally blanked out by then..
 
wow PS seems to have killed a whole bunch of you. Don't fret guys the curve will definitely play a major role. I walked out of my exam thinking I wasn't going to get more than a 9 on the PS and ended up with a 12 so relax. Time to drink and party! :thumbup:
 
So how do you all think you did? I'll go first: I am terrified that I bombed it. On the AAMC practice exams I have been averaging 35-36 and feeling pretty good about the sections (verbal is by far my weakest). But today, the PS was very tough I think, BS was tough too! To tell you how bad I feel about it... I think that VR was my best feeling on this one!

I tried my best, and whatever score I get, I deserve no matter how badly I feel. I have no excuses and no regrets. If I was to live this day over again, I would probably have done the exact same... I hope that I won't have to live this day over though...

This is EXACTLY how I felt. VR is my weakness, and it felt pretty good compared to the PS. PS is my absolute strength averaging 12-14....but today was absolutely ******ed. I'm a physics buff and it lacked alot of the concepts that I know so well, but it was doable.

VR was comparable to AAMC. I felt the questions were way more straight forward compared to the FL's I've been taking.

BS was my most confident today. Very comparable to the AAMC's

But seriously, after PS I felt like f*cking something up it pissed me the f*ck off!!!!!!!!
 
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