The Official 7/16/2010 MCAT club!

[Yips]

Who else is taking the MCAT on July 16th 8 AM?

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[bigjohnshea]

Well said.

Yet it needs to exist. The licensing and the Steps will be much harder than this exam. Like you said, this is by far no determinant.

Arizona,
I agree with you that the test needs to exist, but not in its current form.
From the point of view of someone who has managed people before, the test I would prefer to see is one that indicates what type of person the student is. I can think of numerous ways to design a test that would indicate the strengths and weaknesses of a student over simply designating a series of numbers that result in defining the majority of their application.
For instance, let's imagine you set the letters E and F (as a score on this hypothetical test) as an indication of a person having a balanced ability to memorize information and think critically. Now let's assign the letter J as a representation of a person who is weak at memorization but very strong at reasoning, and the letter A as an indication of someone who is weak at reasoning but strong in memorization.
In this system of scoring, the curriculum of the school can come into play. The admissions committees presumably know what type of curriculum they have at their school and what type of students perform better in it. So having a test that is designed not to rank students, but indicate their strengths and weaknesses is much more beneficial to the people trying to understand which students will be most successful at their institution.
The current system is only effective at weeding out applicants, and the backasswards curving and scoring methods used by AAMC only serves to convolute what little information about the applicant is actually available via the scores.
This system is seriously in need of revision.

 

[Turd Furgeson]

32Q!!

whoo hoo!

PS: 11
VR: 11
BS: 10

 

[CANDOC84]

11 vr, 11 ps, 15 bio q... 37 q!!!!

 

[xanman]

PS:9
VR:7
BS:10

26O

I am really not happy. I truly thought VR went incredibly well for me this time and I usually get above 10 on each section. :-(

 

[cfx]

Not sure what to think about my score. Totally middle-of-the-road (at least by SDN standards). I kind of hoped it would either be at the high end of my practice tests, or very low. At least then I know "safe" or "retake". Now it's wishy-washy.

I guess it actually ended up being the exact average of the AAMCs I took, but those were all over the place since I started doing them when I was only about halfway through my content review.

 

[CANDOC84]

I never got higher than a 13 in practice bio... 15 on the real thing!!!

 

[Salient]

Not sure what to think about my score. Totally middle-of-the-road (at least by SDN standards). I kind of hoped it would either be at the high end of my practice tests, or very low. At least then I know "safe" or "retake". Now it's wishy-washy.

I guess it actually ended up being the exact average of the AAMCs I took, but those were all over the place since I started doing them when I was only about half way through my content review.

Average by SDN standards is like good enough for John's Hopkins. Don't worry about it.

 

[SoBad]

So I did decently with my score, 35, but my writing sample.... an M. I've heard from some accounts they don't care too much about it, while from others they say it's a deciding factor. Anyone know for sure?

 

[The Dr T]

Man i'm so happy
34q: 10vr, 12 ps, 12 bs

that went up 9 points from my april 17th exam!
I had a 25r on the april exam, just worked hard for 2 months straight and bam!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! :-d

 

[a10n12a89m]

deleted

 

[Lunch Beast]

Wow I really thought I got a 25 or less on the test, but I did better. Not as great as I was doing on the practice tests, but I can't complain.

P: 12
V: 9
B: 11
W: R

Not sure how good an R is, anyone have any ideas?

 

[cfx]

Average by SDN standards is like good enough for John's Hopkins. Don't worry about it.

Yeah, thanks. It's high enough that I would look like an absolute tool if I retook it, but low enough that I'm semi-disappointed. I'm sure I have a skewed view from hanging out on SDN too long, though. I guess that's what this place does to you...ensures that you can never be happy .


Why is it that AAMC gives such a gigantic range for your percentile? I mean, a 20 point range? You can't be more exact than that?

 

[Meridian32]

38S (14PS, 12VR, 12BS). I know it's a good score, but I'm a little disappointed because my six AAMC MCATs were all in the 39-42 range, and I was hoping for a higher bio score on the real thing. I thought the bio section went well except for that one crazy passage, so I'm really curious to know what I got wrong.

 

[cfx]

Wow I really thought I got a 25 or less on the test, but I did better. Not as great as I was doing on the practice tests, but I can't complain.

P: 12
V: 9
B: 11
W: R

Not sure how good an R is, anyone have any ideas?

It's good. The maximum is a T.

 

[Tottil]

I need some suggestions.

I felt good coming out of the exam, had been scoring 27-29 on the practice AAMC (timed), and thought that I was around my practice scores.

22M...any thoughts? I felt comfortable when I was going in, reviewed the material, slept well, etc. I'm at a total loss.

7/6/9

I took the test in 06 and scored a 25M, 8/8/9

Again, suggestions? I'm not sure if cramming for the sept 9 test would work? Maybe? Do I have a choice for this cycle?

 

[wiscopremed25]

Gah, PS ruined me!

PS-7
VR-11
BS-9

Overall- 27M

Might be good enough to get me into the rural medicine program I want to be in but we'll have to wait and see.

 

[addo]

Scored 1 point higher this time, from 30N to 31N....at least I am consistent. I thought I had written better essays this time though.

 

[pal2002]

I need some suggestions.

I felt good coming out of the exam, had been scoring 27-29 on the practice AAMC (timed), and thought that I was around my practice scores.

22M...any thoughts? I felt comfortable when I was going in, reviewed the material, slept well, etc. I'm at a total loss.

7/6/9

I took the test in 06 and scored a 25M, 8/8/9

Again, suggestions? I'm not sure if cramming for the sept 9 test would work? Maybe? Do I have a choice for this cycle?

I'm not one of the crazier sdn'ers (as you can see from my post count) and my advice is that cram and go for the 9/9 one. tbh, I knew the mcat was coming but I procrastinated a ton and then crammed really hard maybe 2-3 weeks before this. Also took no classes and only reviewed with a $20 used review book + online exams. Don't believe what SDN'ers tell you that you're too late etc, maybe you have no shot at a top 20 school, but I don't think you're aiming for that anyways. Your state school will prob gladly take a sept mcat score.

 

[isasmommy]

Omg

32Q also!!
11/11/10 I can't believe it-I can't smack the smile off my face!! More secondaries here I come! It is truely an awesome experience since I studied so much after getting such a low score last year!

 

[tom10]

22M...any thoughts?

Bringing a 22 up is not that hard and September 9 is plenty of time to bring that up a few points. I'm only applying DO and started studying about a month ago. I took a diagnostic and got a 21M. A month later I ended up with a 26O.

If you are applying MD though, you may have to take some more time. While a month to improve 5 points at our level is not that difficult, you need to be getting up to a 30 which I don't think is very realistic in that time frame.

 

[Tottil]

Yeah, I'm applying DO and my state MD school.

Just boggles my mind. I wish I could see what I got incorrect.

The thing is, it isn't a score that makes me debate whether or not to retake it, so if I can squeeze any positive out of this, that's it.

Thanks for the tips.

 

[isasmommy]

Gah, PS ruined me!

PS-7
VR-11
BS-9

Overall- 27M

Might be good enough to get me into the rural medicine program I want to be in but we'll have to wait and see.

Are you applying to the WARM program??

 

[misssciencenerd]

Omg

32Q also!!
11/11/10 I can't believe it-I can't smack the smile off my face!! More secondaries here I come! It is truely an awesome experience since I studied so much after getting a 23R last year!

not happy with my score...but your post gives me hope!! I plan on retaking...hopefully I can be posting the same thing next year

 

[Razorback87]

So much for the predictability of Kaplan's practice exams... Anyone have a Princeton Review Hyperlearning verbal workbook available now?? Can't make above a 6 is VR, just got the EK 101, looking for more practice by sept 11 though.

 

[Rocher]

I got a 32n.. I can't help but be disappointed with the WS.. How bad do you think that'll hurt me?

 

[chris pe bacon]

26p. dang, this blows. aamcs gradually dropped from 30 to 27 with each test. 26 on the real deal. seems odd. congrats to all those that dominated.

 

[ElliottB]

Are you applying to the WARM program??

Do you have any insight as to how competitive the WARM program is for out of state students? I really want to get into rural medicine.

 

[Hershi]

im way too terrified to look ... =(

 

[isasmommy]

Do you have any insight as to how competitive the WARM program is for out of state students? I really want to get into rural medicine.

You know I'm not too sure, I was going to apply for the WARM but decided to just apply regular MD because I don't want to restrict myself to rural areas due to my husband's job. However, I know that in the last years they have been adding a few more spots to the rural program and I as people hear about it there have been more applications every year but I don't think it is super competitive. I think that if you have a genuine passion for working with rural populations and have some ties or reason for wanting to live in WI you would have a good shot.

 

[burfule]

I was afraid to look, but it beats worrying! 29Q-10,10,9 on verbal. So much for practice, verbal used to be my highest!

 

[jcmnancy]

Huh, they really favored Q's on our date...

P - 9
V - 9
W - Q
B - 12

Overall a 30Q! Definitely not as brutal as I was expecting... and thank God I barely made it into the 30's... barely still counts, right?

 

[pastryman]

I made a 34Q. So I suppose the overall consensus is that we didn't do as bad as we started to expect later in the month. Same for me personally, I was feeling I made a mid-20 score last night.

But, my question is have we met the high expectations we all seemed to have when we all started posting our feedback. Not to be a punk or anything, but I don't think I met my earlier expectations.

I am just noting my opinion on this for the people viewing this thread for later MCATs. Right now, I believe that we didn't really meet our early expectations but we didn't do terrible.

 

[g8orlife]

Huh, they really favored Q's on our date.

Nope, M and Q are the most frequent writing scores:

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/admissionsadvisors/examstatistics/scaledscores/combined09.pdf

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/admissionsadvisors/examstatistics/scaledscores/start.htm

 

[jcmnancy]

How did I never see these before? Thank you so much!

 

[yale MD]

OMG!!! IM SO HAPPY!!!!!!
i got
9VR
10PS
12BS
R Writing
=31R!!!!!

Man I am so thankful.... I got 25R last year with 6 Verbal... I was NOT expecting a 9 in verbal since english is my second language! Thank you thank you!!!

 

[ElliottB]

You know I'm not too sure, I was going to apply for the WARM but decided to just apply regular MD because I don't want to restrict myself to rural areas due to my husband's job. However, I know that in the last years they have been adding a few more spots to the rural program and I as people hear about it there have been more applications every year but I don't think it is super competitive. I think that if you have a genuine passion for working with rural populations and have some ties or reason for wanting to live in WI you would have a good shot.

Just saw that they only accept in-state students.

 

[Doctopus]

30 R

10 / 10 / 10 R

Previously (5/21):

8PS / 11V / 10BS

3.52 gpa, 3.88 sci gpa. Hope I can slot in somewhere but was really hoping to put up a big number MCAT-wise to move myself out of the marginal pile. We shall see.

Either I've gotten dumber with time or this test is just a whole different beast. By way of reference, 1570/1600 on the SAT.

meow

Hmm...I could be mis-remembering.

Alls I know was that there was an absolutely RIDICULOUS bio passage. It was genetics-based. I *believe* it was about muscular dystrophy. I honestly have trouble recapitulating it here. One of those where X inhibits Y but up-regulates Z...with words like "NMBL1" or some such.

Suffice it to say, you would know what I was talking about--it was the hardest bio passage by far.

Here's to hoping it was experimental...

Other thoughts:

PS: Reasonable. Moderate difficulty. Honestly seemed to have blocked this out of my memory now so don't remember much.
VR: I found the passage about plate techtonics tricky. Also found the public art passage tricky but that may have been due to time pressure. Moderate difficulty.
BS: Easy, except for an insane genetics passage (mentioned above) that I hope was experimental. Two questions on enantiomer-type stuff... some fairly specific bio/physiology questions...corpeus luteum comes to mind.

 

[Chemdude]

15 6 15 R

I am so mad right now...my average for VR on AAMC practice was 11. I don't know how I ended up with a 6....

 

[korsian]

9 VR, 11 PS, 10 BS, S

4/23: 10 VR, 10 PS, 8 BS, S

2 point increase, good enough for me!

 

[pakbabydoll]

I guess I am drinking alone

 

[bieber]

15 6 15 R

I am so mad right now...my average for VR on AAMC practice was 11. I don't know how I ended up with a 6....

sorry to hear about that dude. on the bright side, you did amazing on every other section. some schools take the highest score of each section so if you end up retaking and even get a 10, you'll be sitting on a 40.

 

[g8orlife]

How did I never see these before? Thank you so much!

You're welcome!

Yeah, so many people on here incorrectly think they did very poorly in certain sections when in all actuality they excelled according to previous years' trends.

The Writing section is the most frequent misinterpretation. A lot of people think that a Q is very bad when it's actually 2 letters above the average of an "O".

 

[addo]

15 6 15 R

I am so mad right now...my average for VR on AAMC practice was 11. I don't know how I ended up with a 6....

How did you feel about the verbal when you finished? thats really weird.
You still have a 36 though, and it seems you really know your science.

 

[Chemdude]

How did you feel about the verbal when you finished? thats really weird.
You still have a 36 though, and it seems you really know your science.

I had a pretty crappy feeling about verbal. I predicted a score of anywhere from 5-11. In reality, I wasn't expecting it to be this low, though. I'm thinking that I may have skipped a passage...

 

[Dr Optimistic]

 

[medic123]

went from a 13 PS, 6 VR, 12 BS
to a 12 PS, 9 VR, 12 BS

Only 2 point increase but a far better and more balanced score!!

I'm ecstatic.

Wishing the best of luck to all else out there.

 

[Desperad0oo7]

wow, I cant get myself to check my scores.

I got a 33Q back in 2008, maybe it was a bad idea to retake...

can you guys relate your scores to how you felt coming out of the exam?

 

[medic123]

I felt like **** coming out of the exam. And did better than i expected...

 

[Turd Furgeson]

wow, I cant get myself to check my scores.

I got a 33Q back in 2008, maybe it was a bad idea to retake...

can you guys relate your scores to how you felt coming out of the exam?

i felt really good coming out of the test, then my confidence eroded as the weeks went by... then last week or so I was convinced I got mid twenties.

i ended up scoring right around my AAMC average with 32

 

[Wermz]

nearly 4 pts lower than my aamc average