The Official 5/31/12

[nontrad777]

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[younme012]

Catz, we did have the same test...I think BS may have seemed harder for me because it was the actual test. I remember breezing through the dog passage in <5 min, but for some reason I keep thinking I did bad on it - I just need to trust myself that I got the experiment passages right since I did on the AAMCs.

I've established the probability of getting each score:

PS: 15 (10%), 14 (50%), 13 (40%)
VR: 9 (50%), 10 (40%), 11 (10%)
BS 11 (45%), 12 (40%), 13 (15%)

PS 13.7 VR 9.6 BS 11.7 = 35.0

I'd take that 35 in heartbeat. I just really don't want a 33, which would just really be frustrating because I can't retake a 33 but it's not enough to be competitive at mid-tiers I want to go, much less top 20 schools.

Wait,

If you would get a 33-35 with a 3.8-3.9 GPA and you still couldn't get into top-mid tier... then someone with a 3.5 GPA (like myself) would definitely not get in anywhere with a 33 MCAT.......... except maybe DO schools.

Sigh.

 

[kasho11]

Wait,

If you would get a 33-35 with a 3.8-3.9 GPA and you still couldn't get into top-mid tier... then someone with a 3.5 GPA (like myself) would definitely not get in anywhere with a 33 MCAT.......... except maybe DO schools.

Sigh.

Don't worry. Numbers really aren't everything, they just help get your foot in the door. You will get in, 3.5/33 is good enough for all medical schools, it's just a question of fit.

 

[nancy mcgunter]

Wait,

If you would get a 33-35 with a 3.8-3.9 GPA and you still couldn't get into top-mid tier... then someone with a 3.5 GPA (like myself) would definitely not get in anywhere with a 33 MCAT.......... except maybe DO schools.

Sigh.

Dude no. An average applicant is like 3.6/31. You're fine.

 

[kasho11]

I think the mods just have it in for the 5/31 people, getting banned left and right

 

[kasho11]

Just double checked and called AAMC about the scoring. The difficulty of each question is taken into account and harder questions are worth more than easier ones. This is then converted to the 1-15 scale.

 

[catzzz88]

Another MCAT dream to report. Let's compile statistics on all these dreams immediately.

I got a 34, with a 9 in verbal.

I decided to retake.

When I went to retake, the exam was on paper and I had to fill in the bubble circles with this tiny mechanical pencil. It was taking me so long to fill in the bubbles! The test was incomprehensible. There was one passage that was literally two pages long, had a picture of a little girl kicking a soccer ball, and it was so long that the questions were on a THIRD PAGE and I had to keep flipping back and forth between questions and passage! During my retake, I was just like WTF is this ****? None of it made sense!! So I got so upset and frustrated that I stood up in the middle of the auditorium (my high school auditorium actually haha) and ripped the paper test in half and threw it in the air!

Then I ran out.

Then I woke up freaking out lol.

Best,
C

 

[AllDay24]

Just double checked and called AAMC about the scoring. The difficulty of each question is taken into account and harder questions are worth more than easier ones. This is then converted to the 1-15 scale.

This might be good for me since I know I got an easy one wrong in both PS and BS. If it is indeed true, I think that the difficulty of each passage must be similar - each passage must have a similar proportion of easy and hard questions; otherwise, it wouldn't be fair, especially if one verbal passage were worth a lot (harder) and another less (easier).

A piece of evidence backing up this claim is that in the Official Guide to the MCAT, they list the question difficulty, so obviously they do mark down question difficulty.

Funny, though, how it foils strategies from the test-prep companies: "Remember, every MCAT question, no matter how hard, is worth a single point." - Kaplan

 

[kasho11]

Funny, though, how it foils strategies from the test-prep companies: "Remember, every MCAT question, no matter how hard, is worth a single point." - Kaplan

Haha yeah exactly. Definitely missed one of those easy, straight-up memorization based questions that Kaplan says will get you a point on test day. Looking more like a quarter of a point hopefully.

And Catzzz I definitely haven't had anything crazy like your dream yet. I have had only two memorable dreams so far about the mcat, both where I hit a good score, but wake up and get so sad when I remember it didn't happen

 

[catzzz88]

This might be good for me since I know I got an easy one wrong in both PS and BS. If it is indeed true, I think that the difficulty of each passage must be similar - each passage must have a similar proportion of easy and hard questions; otherwise, it wouldn't be fair, especially if one verbal passage were worth a lot (harder) and another less (easier).

A piece of evidence backing up this claim is that in the Official Guide to the MCAT, they list the question difficulty, so obviously they do mark down question difficulty.

Funny, though, how it foils strategies from the test-prep companies: "Remember, every MCAT question, no matter how hard, is worth a single point." - Kaplan

I think that this new information will favor me. However, I am very upset about being misinformed by Kaplan. I would have adjusted my strategy had I know thins Well, if I need to retake, I will certainly adjust strategy to this information.

Very frustrating.

Thanks for calling and clearing this up Kasho! You are awesome! I kept hearing rumors from others about this, but I feel like I can trust you when you say you called and confirmed.

Best,
C

 

[ridethecliche]

Just double checked and called AAMC about the scoring. The difficulty of each question is taken into account and harder questions are worth more than easier ones. This is then converted to the 1-15 scale.

This is blowing my mind. I haven't seen this info anywhere other than through you!

 

[nontrad7]

.

 

[Maxine450]

I have no clue what I'm going to get. The last time I took the MCAT, I got a 28. 10 PHYS/ 9 VERB/ 9 BIO. There's no way in hell I'm getting a score lower than that. I'm very confident I will do better than last time in all areas. I was much better prepared this time. Verbal is sort of an unknown, I'm assuming I did better since I had greater focus, but if I get an 11 or higher I'll be very surprised.

The Princeton review tests were very difficult and the way I listed these were in chronological order, starting from closest to MCAT date to farthest. Save for the TBR ones. TBR and Princeton are both much harder than the real thing, so I have no idea what to expect. I think I'll get at least a 30, but you never know. My scores were all over the damn place 28 to 36 in same week.

PHYS/BIO/VERBAL
AAMC 11: 14/12/x : 36
TPR Practice: 8/10/x: 28
AAMC 7: 12/12/x: 34
MCAT Review 1: 7/7/7: 21
AAMC 8: 13/11/x: 34
TPR 5: 10/9/12: 31
AAMC 9: 13/8/x: 31
TPR 4: 10/11/9: 30
TPR 3: 8/10/7: 25
TPR 2: 8/9/9: 26
TPR 1: 5/10/7: 22
AAMC 10: 12/12/x: 34
Cracking 3: 7/9/5: 21
Cracking 2: 13/10/7: 30
Cracking 1:8/10/9: 27

PHYS/BIO
TBR 9: 9/10
TBR 8: 10/11
TBR 4: 10/11
TBR 7 14/

What I really hope for is something in the 33 range but realistically, I'll probably get a 30 or 31.

 

[jujudino]

Is it just me or do you guys also go the website everyday to check if the scores were released -- sometimes more than once a day? Even though I know they will only be released next week, I cannot control myself. :/

 

[younme012]

i really dont like the idea of it and i think obamacare should not go into effect but at the same time kinda hoping that it would reduce the number of my competitors......
ah. in the long run tho, it'll be bad for all of us. 30% reduction in income? that is HUGE.

 

[kasho11]

This is blowing my mind. I haven't seen this info anywhere other than through you!

I asked the person on the phone about it and they gave me a run-around answer at first, I pressed her and she had to go ask someone because she really wasn't sure and then she came back and confirmed it.

For the most part it seems like people thought PS wasn't bad, not really easy but nothing crazy.

Several people including myself thought verbal was pretty tough. No single passage was exceptionally hard, just on average I thought they were more difficult than the practice tests.

Bio seemed to be the hardest for us on 5/31. There was of course, "that passage", along with a few others that were perhaps a bit tricky.

 

[Raisins4Sunday]

i really dont like the idea of it and i think obamacare should not go into effect but at the same time kinda hoping that it would reduce the number of my competitors......
ah. in the long run tho, it'll be bad for all of us. 30% reduction in income? that is HUGE.

The only way I can see Dr. salaries being reduced is if gov't plans run low on money and have to cut reimbursements. A definite possibility. Of course, most doctors can always just refuse to treat people on gov't plans.

On the other hand, I'm mostly concerned about the economics of forcing insurance companies to take patients with pre-existing conditions without increasing their premiums. It'll certainly cause a rise in the cost of insurance and increase the demand for hospital care. So depending on the rates set by gov't health insurance, doctors may end up doing better (due to increased demand), or worse (lowered reimbursements and gov't laws preventing Drs. from refusing to treat the poor/elderly).

Ultimately, I think medicine will become less competitive; the doctors will win and the patients will lose (on average).

 

[wannabeMD38]

Hello my fellow 5/31 peeps. Since there aren't too many of us "sharing the love" I thought I'd chime in and at least balance out the discussion a bit. I thought ours was challenging and by no means "easy" by any stretch of the imagination.

Here's my take on the exam:
PS - lots of calcs but overall not terrible. I'm biased because this is my strong section.
VR - this one seemed more lengthy than any of the AAMC's. It was tough. Nothing mind-melting but probably the toughest I'd seen yet. I was able to finish so that's always a bonus.
BS - easily the most difficult BS I've encountered. Harder than AAMC 11. Came out feeling not too good. For those of you saying you definitely missed one or two, I definitely missed anywhere from 15-20!

All in all, I do not come from a science background and had about one month to study for this test so I neglected orgo a bit knowing that it shows up the least. That came back to bite me in the butt. Also there was one passage that I could not comprehend. Add those together and you get a rough bio section. For those of you out there that struggled with this one, I can relate! Hopefully my other sections will even things out.

In sum:
AAMC Average: 31
Goal: 32
Prediction: 29 (11,10,8)

My sentiments exactly!... Also, I hope I get 30 and up, if not then I want something lower than 28 so it makes my retake choice easier! 28 or 29 would suck, I've had a couple friends matriculate with these scores, but it's a gamble... it would look much better getting a 24 and then retaking and scoring a 30 vs getting a 29 and retaking and getting a 30!

 

[catzzz88]

I asked the person on the phone about it and they gave me a run-around answer at first, I pressed her and she had to go ask someone because she really wasn't sure and then she came back and confirmed it.

Great detective work!!!

 

[nontrad7]

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[Raisins4Sunday]

My sentiments exactly!... Also, I hope I get 30 and up, if not then I want something lower than 28 so it makes my retake choice easier! 28 or 29 would suck, I've had a couple friends matriculate with these scores, but it's a gamble... it would look much better getting a 24 and then retaking and scoring a 30 vs getting a 29 and retaking and getting a 30!

I've heard this before, but why is it true? If you score a 24 then a 30, it means that your true aptitude is either somewhere between those two ("regression toward the mean")
or
is actually a 30 (because, say, you studied harder the second time)

Whereas if you score a 29 then a 30, then you are a ~30 with high confidence

My point is, hope for the highest score! You can always decide to retake if you think you'll do better (even a little bit!)

 

[kasho11]

How did you all feel during the test? I was very nervous beforehand because of how they led you into the testing center one by one. When the test actually started I was ok but there was definitely an alarm in my head the whole time and adrenaline rushing through me for all 5 hours.

I felt happy after, unsure of how I did but happy to be done. I have basically nothing to do this weekend so I need to figure out something to keep me occupied. Catching up on all of breaking bad is a start but not substantial enough.

How are you all spending your last few days before our Judgement?

 

[tvigneau]

In case you were wondering, scores aren't up yet.

 

[Crunk Norris]

How are you all spending your last few days before our Judgement?

Northern pike fishing

 

[wannabeMD38]

How are you all spending your last few days before our Judgement?

5K and family get together on Saturday... moving on Sunday. As far as Monday and the hours leading up to the scores being released on Tuesday goes...um idk... probably do heroine!

 

[wannabeMD38]

I've heard this before, but why is it true? If you score a 24 then a 30, it means that your true aptitude is either somewhere between those two ("regression toward the mean")
or
is actually a 30 (because, say, you studied harder the second time)

Whereas if you score a 29 then a 30, then you are a ~30 with high confidence

My point is, hope for the highest score! You can always decide to retake if you think you'll do better (even a little bit!)

I see your point and I agree. I guess it all comes down to what the adcoms are thinking that day they look at your app.
So do they look at both scores and average them?

 

[nontrad7]

How are you all spending your last few days before our Judgement?

All I have to say is that I hope the time goes by fast. After that, time can resume its normal pace. I decided to trust my gut and submitted my app earlier this week.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

.

 

[Raisins4Sunday]

I see your point and I agree. I guess it all comes down to what the adcoms are thinking that day they look at your app.
So do they look at both scores and average them?

Haha, yeah let's hope they don't get cynical on us. Honestly, I bet they look at the higher one without regard for what the other is. Med schools love to advertise the high MCAT scores of their applicants, after all.

 

[Wishing4MD]

4 more days, people! ***freaks out****

 

[kasho11]

Yes most medical schools will count your highest score.

 

[nwmedapplicant]

4 more days, people! ***freaks out****

I'm hoping for July 3rd but I imagine it wont be until the 5th with the holiday.

 

[Raisins4Sunday]

? I thought July 3rd, 5pm was our time, and that's the absolute last time it would be released.

Yeah. Historically they've all come out on the predicted release date.

 

[Bencast]

Well, I thought it was a pretty difficult MCAT. I know for sure that I missed 4 questions. And I probably missed many more that I don't know about. Verbal is always like a blind-folded man throwing darts, who knows. Anyways glad I found this group. Hope all is well!

 

[FalconSlice]

man, you guys are getting banned right and left... what's goin on???

 

[kasho11]

man, you guys are getting banned right and left... what's goin on???

I think maybe that's the one person who got banned a while ago and is trying to make new accounts to post in here?

Or someone just has it out for 5/31ers.

 

[ridethecliche]

I've heard this before, but why is it true? If you score a 24 then a 30, it means that your true aptitude is either somewhere between those two ("regression toward the mean")
or
is actually a 30 (because, say, you studied harder the second time)

Whereas if you score a 29 then a 30, then you are a ~30 with high confidence

My point is, hope for the highest score! You can always decide to retake if you think you'll do better (even a little bit!)

If you're a 24->30, then they say 30 because you made a huge increase.

If you retake the test and go from a 29->30, then the difference is so insignificant that it's like. Well... Why did the kid bother to do a retake, clearly they didn't do anything different and if they did then the score is the same.

If you retake, you should do atleast 3-4 points better on the retake. If you do lower or about the same, then it looks terrible.

 

[tvigneau]

I'm cool with ACA being declared constitutional (mostly constitutional) but if Physician pay is expected to fall, my only hope is that Med School tuition rates follow suit. Not likely though, eh?

 

[kasho11]

Anyone here hoping they accidentally voided and can "retake" fresh, for the first time on your record?

Or am I just a crazy *******?

Not to think pessimistically, but how far below your AAMC average (if you have one) does your personal score have to be for you before you will retake?

I think if I get 3 points lower than my average I will retake, we'll see.

I'm going to avoid this thread as best as I can until Tuesday. Stay hopeful unlike me.

 

[nontrad7]

.

 

[Ineedadrink]

Well, I thought it was a pretty difficult MCAT. I know for sure that I missed 4 questions. And I probably missed many more that I don't know about. Verbal is always like a blind-folded man throwing darts, who knows. Anyways glad I found this group. Hope all is well!

Couldn't have stated it better myself

 

[catzzz88]

67 hours.

 

[kasho11]

I think you're gonna be just fine. Based on some of your prior posts it looks like you have some cushion underneath your average. You shootin' for top tier?

I personally don't have much wiggle room - if I score 3 below my average I'll be considering a retake. At this point, I know I did worse on BS (avg:11, prediction 8-9) so that means my other sections will need to compensate in order for me to hit my goal. There's a very small chance I rocked a 12 in PS and 11 in VR, but who knows (answer: we will in 3 days).

Thanks, we'll see though, anybody can score anything. I don't think you know you did worse.. we'll find out in 2ish days.


PS relatively drunk right now, eating some bread drinking some water so no hangover tomorrow, trying to have fun and keep my mind off stuff... crazy things at the bars tonight....

I either choked and blew my average or didn't.

Same with everyone else.

We shall all see in two days.

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP IF YOU HAVE TO RETAKE.

Yeah it will suck, but just go into it angry and confident that you've experienced the real thing once (or twice) and study that much harder so you can beat this test into the ground.


Good luck to all of us on Tuesday.. stay distracted and upbeat

 

[catzzz88]

50 hours.

 

[Raisins4Sunday]

If you're a 24->30, then they say 30 because you made a huge increase.

If you retake the test and go from a 29->30, then the difference is so insignificant that it's like. Well... Why did the kid bother to do a retake, clearly they didn't do anything different and if they did then the score is the same.

If you retake, you should do atleast 3-4 points better on the retake. If you do lower or about the same, then it looks terrible.

So a 30->32 is worse than a plain old 30?

I doubt that. Intuition, and researching other threads, would say that med schools tend to either take the most recent score, an average, or most commonly, the single best score. Some even take the highest subsections from each sitting and add them up. As I said before, they want to advertise high MCAT scores in brochures; it would hurt them to understate their matriculants' credentials.

 

[kasho11]

50 hours.

46 hours

 

[catzzz88]

46 hours

Haha so much for trying to avoid this thread Kasho.

 

[kasho11]

Yeah..... not gonna happen I realized haha. Doing a breaking bad marathon today at home so I'll just be glued to the computer. Tomorrow I will try to distract myself, class, gym, and going out.

What are you doing these last two days? Or excuse, me 45 hours

 

[nontrad7]

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[kasho11]

Was there really fewer people who took the 5/31? I mean our thread hasn't seen much activity compared to some of the others but how do we know the number of test takers on any given test date? Was 5/24 just a HUGE group or what? If so, where are these stats published?

Given that SDN doesn't necessarily represent an accurate portrayal of total test takers, 5/31 may have had fewer test takers. I do not know where we could find out this data other than through the aamc but I don't recall ever seeing any published information on that.

 

[catzzz88]

Yeah..... not gonna happen I realized haha. Doing a breaking bad marathon today at home so I'll just be glued to the computer. Tomorrow I will try to distract myself, class, gym, and going out.

What are you doing these last two days? Or excuse, me 45 hours

Today, I have been trying to get prepared for the rush of secondary applications to come in the (hopefully) near future. What are you doing for secondaries? Do you have any pre-writen?

Luckily, I have a full time job so tomorrow and Tuesday shouldn't be as horrible as they would were I sitting around on the internet. The lab will keep my brain busy!

I am still trying to decide if I should look at my scores at work or not because if they are really bad, I may have a breakdown or something at work... that would be terrible. I might come onto the forum first and see how people did and then decide if I should snuff it at work or not.

Best,
C