The Official 4/5/12 MCAT Thread

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MedPR

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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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I can not wait to see these scores come out... I am sure you all did fine, you all prepped as much if not more than the cream of the crop. Sit back, forget about it and laugh at those of us that still have a month of studying! :cool:
 
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:

Well, I'm worried because PS wasn't so much hard as it was time consuming (at least imo). So I'm thinking that they might not make the curve that generous.
 
PS: One of the passage was INSANE. could not understand and absorb anything from the passage.
.

SOOO true. And like the other poster said I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the numbers in the one PS passage they wanted. Glad I wasn't alone.
 
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Well, I'm worried because PS wasn't so much hard as it was time consuming (at least imo). So I'm thinking that they might not make the curve that generous.

Med, you've been doing really really well on the AAMC's so I think you'll be pleasantly thrilled with your grade.
 
SOOO true. And like the other poster said I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the numbers in the one PS passage they wanted. Glad I wasn't alone.

Yea, I had to completely guess on one of them. I thought I knew the calculation to do, but once I got done with it, it looked nothing like any of the answer choices.

Med, you've been doing really really well on the AAMC's so I think you'll be pleasantly thrilled with your grade.


I hope so. Thanks for the support!
 
Yeah, that PS was a pain. Dang, that one passage was just like... WTF? I never felt so discomforted after the PS section like I did today. As for VR, the passages were a little longer, I thought, than the AAMCs but were actually pretty interesting. And for BS, I thought this went ok. There were a couple of bio questions that I was just a little clueless on and the o-chem was a little disheartening (and I came in scoring 100% on all AAMC o-chem questions too). I forgot about the writing section of the test until today. Woops. I ranged 30-35 on AAMCs
 
by the way is it 30 days or 35 days that we have to wait and find out? I've heard differently from people.
 
just searched up that one insane PS passage topic on google, everything that came out are published scientific papers that I still have absolutely no clue what it's talking about.
 
just searched up that one insane PS passage topic on google, everything that came out are published scientific papers that I still have absolutely no clue what it's talking about.

Perhaps the entire passage was experimental :D
 
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just searched up that one insane PS passage topic on google, everything that came out are published scientific papers that I still have absolutely no clue what it's talking about.

Still feeling extremely terrible about the ps section...i feel like NONE of my strong topics came out...
 
Still feeling extremely terrible about the ps section...i feel like NONE of my strong topics came out...

I was telling this to my girlfriend earlier today! I was also happy that none of my weak points popped up either though, so I guess it worked out... hopefully.

You were killing the AAMCs, I bet you did find. We'll find out on May 8!
 
Yea, I had to completely guess on one of them. I thought I knew the calculation to do, but once I got done with it, it looked nothing like any of the answer choices.

That happened to me twice on the few PS questions I didn't get. Pissed me off because it's such a time waster to work out problems and then not solve them correctly -__-"
 
I was telling this to my girlfriend earlier today! I was also happy that none of my weak points popped up either though, so I guess it worked out... hopefully.

You were killing the AAMCs, I bet you did find. We'll find out on May 8!

Sigh I guess so! Optimism is important but to be honest I'm not sure if i hit my average on this test :( but since we've been matching scores since AAMC 10, hope we both got a great score :)
 
If anyone used EK for bio content review, how do you think it prepared you for your test? And what would you recommend.
 
Hey guys,

Took the test today.

Physics: Physics principles were pretty clear in my opinion. Many questions involved reading the passage and applying it to the questions (you had to get it from the passage). Some discretes and passage questions seemed to be calculation heavy, though I remember at least a few I could solve with a MUCH EASIER concept.

Gchem: You all know what wtfpassage we are referencing. I felt the same, could only answer 2 of those questions confidently. It was literally almost 3 pages long... wtf? Hopefully that was experimental.

Verbal: Felt like all the passages were not hard per se, but definitely really long. I had 7 minutes to finish the last passage. Sort of ran out of time.

Writing: Basic topics, could tie so many things..

Ochem: 1 passage and a few discretes, pretty basic, you could figure everything out, nothing crazy.

Bio: A lot of graphs, figures, and what seemed to be passages extracted from research papers. Many questions were hypothetical, "what would happen if...?". I felt like it was almost another verbal section, because the answers were so heavily passage based. A lot of experiments, that ties into content as well. I felt pretty solid here, definitely different that AAMC 3-10. 11 had a few passages similar to this test.
 
Hey guys,

Took the test today.

Physics: Physics principles were pretty clear in my opinion. Many questions involved reading the passage and applying it to the questions (you had to get it from the passage). Some discretes and passage questions seemed to be calculation heavy, though I remember at least a few I could solve with a MUCH EASIER concept.

Gchem: You all know what wtfpassage we are referencing. I felt the same, could only answer 2 of those questions confidently. It was literally almost 3 pages long... wtf? Hopefully that was experimental.

Verbal: Felt like all the passages were not hard per se, but definitely really long. I had 7 minutes to finish the last passage. Sort of ran out of time.

Writing: Basic topics, could tie so many things..

Ochem: 1 passage and a few discretes, pretty basic, you could figure everything out, nothing crazy.

Bio: A lot of graphs, figures, and what seemed to be passages extracted from research papers. Many questions were hypothetical, "what would happen if...?". I felt like it was almost another verbal section, because the answers were so heavily passage based. A lot of experiments, that ties into content as well. I felt pretty solid here, definitely different that AAMC 3-10. 11 had a few passages similar to this test.

what did you use to study for bio?
 
This is my second time taking the test, and this time, my preparation involved reviewing basic biological concepts (genetics, cell, physio, neuro etc...) and making sure to READ and HIGHLIGHT the bio passages like as if you were doing verbal. The only preparation I did after a brief content review is taking practice AAMC tests. Though this MCAT was very different in my opinion. Seems like the MCAT is becoming more of a reading comprehension test (incorporated in the sciences), moreso than brute scientific knowledge.

I've done research at my University and we had to read many papers, analyze different graphs and figures and discuss what they mean. This ability no doubt helped me dissect the bio passages. The test in my opinion, is evolving into a test where the passage MUST be read carefully, or you will infer ideas that will give you the incorrect answer. Focus on the passage information. It really is about focus.
 
I know that no review books truly mirror this test, but would you say that TBR or TPR came close? It seems that now the AAMC is changing these exams so drastically that no review book can truly anticipate the types/style of the test. For instance, I know that the TPR In-Class Commendium is a bunch of difficult passages-- would you say the test mirrored those since it was a lot harder than any of the AAMCs? With the data analysis from the Bio, do any of the review books mirror it or come close to mirroring it? Any advice would be helpful.
 
I know that no review books truly mirror this test, but would you say that TBR or TPR came close? It seems that now the AAMC is changing these exams so drastically that no review book can truly anticipate the types/style of the test. For instance, I know that the TPR In-Class Commendium is a bunch of difficult passages-- would you say the test mirrored those since it was a lot harder than any of the AAMCs? With the data analysis from the Bio, do any of the review books mirror it or come close to mirroring it? Any advice would be helpful.

Looking back, the TBR passages were very similar to what showed up on PS and BS .

I was surprised at how few graphs (if there were even any) there were on PS. Pleasant surprise though.
 
I know that no review books truly mirror this test, but would you say that TBR or TPR came close? It seems that now the AAMC is changing these exams so drastically that no review book can truly anticipate the types/style of the test. For instance, I know that the TPR In-Class Commendium is a bunch of difficult passages-- would you say the test mirrored those since it was a lot harder than any of the AAMCs? With the data analysis from the Bio, do any of the review books mirror it or come close to mirroring it? Any advice would be helpful.

To respond to this and another guy asking the question above, I don't have a strong Bio background and thought bio was easy. did EK Bio twice. And did 1/3 TBR passsages. Based off S2N schedule. I did a few problems in TPRH workbook, didn't like it as much - same with kaplan (although TPRH was better than kap for sure).
 
Does anybody think that it was 2 (not just 1) gen chem passages that were insanely hard?


Yeah I found two of the PS passages really confusing/borderline indecipherable. I knew that the calculations were probably relatively simple but I couldn't figure out what the $&%# some of the questions were trying to ask, and I knew that I was taking too much time on them which made me start to panic and clouded my thinking even more. :bang:

I went in hoping for an 11 in PS but now I think if I scraped by with a 9 I will be relieved.
 
I can only recall a few questions and passages from the whole test and maybe one verbal passage. If someone held a gun to my head and told me to tell them everything on it, I could only tell them like 5-10% of the test and it would be so general.
 
I remember it all. My BS was very easy, 20 min left and only 4 questions I was unsure of, verbal was easily longer than I had practiced and PS...my strength going in....well, I dont even want to talk about.
 
I agree with a lot of you on here...I'm a retaker and PS was definitely what i needed to work on most, so I did. As far as PS went yesterday....I'm just praying for an 8. I felt like the passages were longer than usual and really time consuming so i got really frustrated during it which doesn't help. After hardcore studying, I'm always able to finish PS in time, but yesterday I had to guess on the last 3 or 4.

On the other hand, I usually have the most trouble finishing Verbal on time, but I was able to realy easily and had a couple extra minutes left. Hope it reflects in the final score!

But after all this, I'm sure everybody did great! All we can do is wait and see now :)
 
I can only recall a few questions and passages from the whole test and maybe one verbal passage. If someone held a gun to my head and told me to tell them everything on it, I could only tell them like 5-10% of the test and it would be so general.

I feel like I've set up a mental block against that PS section...

Longest next 33 days of my life...
 
Yeah I found two of the PS passages really confusing/borderline indecipherable. I knew that the calculations were probably relatively simple but I couldn't figure out what the $&%# some of the questions were trying to ask, and I knew that I was taking too much time on them which made me start to panic and clouded my thinking even more. :bang:

I went in hoping for an 11 in PS but now I think if I scraped by with a 9 I will be relieved.

Same exact thing here!!!!
 
PS: the easy, medium, and hard questions were all reasonable and tbr prepared me good for it. The very hard I honestly don't think I would have answered correctly with any amount of prep. I don't think it was just nerves.

VR: usually I'm 95% sure of my answer choices. But I felt 75% max on this. Easy to read hard to answer.

BS: It wasn't easy but not as difficult as PS. However when taking practice tests I usually felt PS was hard and BS was easy and end up with 11 on PS and 9 on bio. Curious if the same will happen here.

I pretty much blacked out on the whole test I can only remember how I felt. Honestly don't even remember what I did during the breaks lol
 
PS was the first section on the exam right? did it psych you guys out for the later sections?

Yes it's the first section, and I don't think it psyched me out. It did make me a little nervous that the whole thing was going to be that much harder than I'd expected, but I went in feeling that PS was my weakest area anyway so I was mostly just glad to have it over with. Plus, once I got into the other sections it was clear that they weren't too bad. I think if I'd gone in expecting PS to be my home run then it might've had a bigger effect on my confidence.
 
PS was the first section on the exam right? did it psych you guys out for the later sections?

I usually destroy PS (12-14 ave), with a good outlook on the rest of the exam. Yesterday's PS made me rethink my life and possible ways to strangle myself with the print reader chords. Just sayin'



...It OVERALL wasn't bad at all...
 
Alright... the deed is done and I will drive myself crazy if I am on here until May 8th. So I shall make a vow to be wasted from now until then and not come on this forum. Bye everybloody... let's see who can get an ulcer first.

(man I know so much about ulcers and H. pylori from frickin' studying for this beast of an exam!)
 
PS was the first section on the exam right? did it psych you guys out for the later sections?

I went in already mentally prepared knowing that a particular section might not go exactly as planned and that I would have to remain focused throughout the rest of the exam.

Even a particular passage might be really frustrating but you have to just move on with the rest of the exam and not let that question or passage throw you off track. The PS section was the first section, and yesterday I found it challenging. Usually PS is my strength but yesterday was a different story. After that section, I took a break, got PS out of my head, and focused on the rest of the exam.

I had practiced with so many exams that I usually can tell how I did even before scoring my results. (AAMC average 30-34) However, yesterday was different. I have no idea if I scored above a 30 or way below. I finished the exam feeling sort of mentally numb.
 
The only thing that really psyched me out was Verbal since it seemed really long and with lots of hard questions and I have generally relied on rereading liberally since I'm a fast reader (plus the whole thing how it tends to be graded more harshly). With BS and PS, I didn't worry too much because I just tried to remember that no matter how much tougher they seem, your score should reflect your practice scores. I guess I should feel the same way about verbal but I dunno, I just don't. I think that's pretty normal though.

EDIT I second the thing about feeling numb after. I imagine I feel like someone who survived a car wreck but their friends died in it (not to make light of such a situation, which obviously is much more grave than waiting for test scores). It's just that it's over with but it was still a tough experience and the scores loom over your head.
 
Guys, does anyone know how soon you can register for another mcat after you took one? I might as well do that because I feel like no good news on PS will come out for me on May 8.
 
Guys, does anyone know how soon you can register for another mcat after you took one? I might as well do that because I feel like no good news on PS will come out for me on May 8.

Second day following the exam.
 
Are any of you planning on signing up for a new one before you get your scores?

I don't think there's much point in signing up for a new one before you get your scores (unless you voided). It'd be hard to know where you really need to focus, and you may not even need to do a retake!

(But a small part of me wants to sign up again too.)

I'd focus on preparing other parts of your application while you wait, so if you do have to retake, you'll have less to balance while studying again!
 
Took 15 practice tests - kaplan and aamc. I was totally thrown off by that PS section. I feel like the discretes took me way longer than usual, and that some of the passages were just insane. Waaay too much reading - I felt like it was the verbal section. I wanted to just walk out of the exam right then and there, but sticked it out and finished the exam, and did NOT void it.

The verbal passages were as expected - really long.
The BS seemed a little too easy - I was expecting it to be more difficult.

That PS section really messed me up. I feel like I may have to take it again because of it.

: /
 
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