The Official 8/10/12 MCAT Thread

[Tbarton5]

I haven't seen a thread for the 8/10/12 MCAT so I thought to start it.

I am following SN2ed's 3 month schedule btw.

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[sundaydress03]

Hey,

I'm glad you started this, I could definitely use some camaraderie I'm in the same boat, using SN2ed's 3 month schedule, except I'm also taking the online Kaplan course for discipline's sake. How is studying going for you?

 

[Tbarton5]

Studying has been going well. I am a couple days behind but no big deal. So far my verbal skills have improved a lot. I'm doing well with physics. Bio doesn't seem to bad. I need to brush up on my orgo knowledge. And Chem seems tough. How has the schedule been working out for you?

 

[niblet]

Hey. I'm taking the morning one on this day.

So far I've only done some very preliminary physics and biology review and took one EK 101 Verbal test (scored a 10). I'm not following any strict plan.

 

[breakxbarriers]

hey guys! I'm also following the SN2ed schedule.

anybody else think the days were you have to re-read the previous chapters + complete the corresponding EK 1001s are absolutely brutal?! so far I seem to be doing pretty well on verbal/physics/gen chem but the berkeley review bio passages are totally destroying me haha. good luck everybody!

 

[Tbarton5]

Yea they are brutal. I had to divide it up into two days. I have been doing well on organic, verbal, biology, and physics, but gen chem is so hard.

This schedule is no joke. I am a couple of days behind and I feel like it is so hard to catch up.

Since you are doing well on general chemistry, do you have any tips on how to approach the passages?

 

[Beautiful Game]

Hey guys! I am also planning on Taking the MCAT on August 10, following SN2ed schedule.
I was wondering since August MCAT is considered kinda late, if some of you going to be still appying this cycle?

 

[niblet]

Hey guys! I am also planning on Taking the MCAT on August 10, following SD2ed schedule.
I was wondering since August MCAT is considered kinda late, if some of you going to be still appying this cycle?

I am not. I plan on applying the following cycle (2013/14).

What about you?

 

[altitude]

Hey guys! I am also planning on Taking the MCAT on August 10, following SD2ed schedule.
I was wondering since August MCAT is considered kinda late, if some of you going to be still appying this cycle?

You could send in your AMCAS primary app without the MCAT and still get it verified before your MCAT scores are released (I think)

 

[Nahnia]

I am applying this cycle along with my friend and I don't see much of a problem as long as the amcas application is submitted early.

 

[QuantumFlame]

I haven't seen a thread for the 8/10/12 MCAT so I thought to start it.

I am following SN2ed's 3 month schedule btw.

Thanks for starting this, I was wondering were all the 8/10 MCATers were. I am also following SN2ed's schedule, and plan to apply next cycle. Its funny, but Gen. Chem is easier for me than physics. I think partly it comes down to how strong of a background you have in the subject.

Also, you all should check out the BR Scores/Discussion thread. It's great for venting steam when BR Bio gets brutal

 

[Beautiful Game]

I am not. I plan on applying the following cycle (2013/14).

What about you?

Thanks for the reply. I am applying this cycle. I will get everything in before the MCAT date, and try to finish the secondaries as I recieve them. I hope this is not going to be very late!!

 

[raineboto]

Hi everyone,

I am new to sdn and the MCAT forum and I am glad I stumbled upon this great resource while searching for verbal strategies.

I am also writing in August 10th (which is quickly approaching, eek!) and am still struggling with verbal. I cannot score beyond a 9 on verbal (in which I need at least a 11 for the school I want to apply) even if I try as hard as I can. It's quite frustrating at the moment. Hopefully in the next month, with more practice, I can make that into a 11.

Good luck studying everyone!

 

[JustinMC]

Is anyone taking this mcat applying? If this is considered a late mcat, then I don't know why anyone would bother submitting primaries after August?

 

[raineboto]

Is anyone taking this mcat applying? If this is considered a late mcat, then I don't know why anyone would bother submitting primaries after August?

I am but I am from Canada (the application page is not even opened yet ).

How is the studying going for everyone? I am hoping to wrap up the science content part of the studying in the next two weeks and get started on taking practice FLs.

I've been doing practice full verbal tests (7 passages) starting this week but even if I am lucky to average 0~2 incorrect answers per passage, there is always that one passage that I bomb it and end up with a 8 or 9 in the end. I don't know how I am supposed to improve on this

 

[Nahnia]

I am applying this cycle and as long as you submit your application in early as in June/July you will be fine. The main problem is that people want to wait to see what they get before applying and that kills your chances.

 

[Nahnia]

I am but I am from Canada (the application page is not even opened yet ).

How is the studying going for everyone? I am hoping to wrap up the science content part of the studying in the next two weeks and get started on taking practice FLs.

I've been doing practice full verbal tests (7 passages) starting this week but even if I am lucky to average 0~2 incorrect answers per passage, there is always that one passage that I bomb it and end up with a 8 or 9 in the end. I don't know how I am supposed to improve on this

Studying is going alright I guess. I keep bombing physics but that's expected from me because it's not my strong suit. Scoring 10-12 in the other subjects hopefully a generous curve can bump my physics into double digits

 

[Tech2MD]

I plan to apply this cycle as well. I have had some tell me to not bother but others said I would be fine but to submit the app before getting the scores back. I decided I will just try and see what happen.

Sent from my PG06100 using SDN Mobile

 

[nirvikalpa]

Retaking my MCAT this date, after a piss-poor performance in January and voiding June 21st (PS was horrible, horrible, H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E). Last chance for this cycle... applying to D.O schools.

 

[GomerPyle]

I'm also here for a retake. Took mine on 5/24. Got score today, didn't like it, and now I just registered for the afternoon exam on Aug 10. Lets do this.

And yes, I am applying this cycle.

 

[niblet]

How's the studying coming along for everyone, 1.5 months out?

I'm scheduling myself for my first FL practice exam one week from today (the free AAMC one). I'm trying to finish at least glancing over every non-bio* topic before then. I'm hoping the exam will reveal my weak areas and direct my studying for the last month.

*I'm a microbiology major so I didn't buy a bio review book. The only bio review I've done has been to read the "Animal Form and Function" unit from my old bio textbook, since I haven't taken a physiology class. Judging from the results of my first FL, I'll see whether or not I have to actually buy a review book.

 

[dennis-brodmann]

Studying has been going well!
Been using TBR for the past month and took TBR CBT 1 today.
I originally intended to take it as a full-length, but the VR was terribly written compared to the AAMCs (I've been using 3-5 as practice). I just skipped verbal.
Anyway, I got a 9 for PS and a 10 for BS which made me feel great cause at the end of may I took
TPR Online Review Test 1 with very different sentiments haha
Anyway, keep pushing everyone! We're almost there!!!!!!!

 

[breakxbarriers]

I thought I would give this thread a bump!

if you've been following the SDN2 schedule then that means you took your first full length on Monday!!!!!! which means you either got your heart broken or got a nice confidence boost. how did everybody do? I scored a 30 (PS 11, VR 11, BS 8). I'm shooting for around a 32-35 so while I am a little disappointed, there's room for improvement. I noticed that most of my mistakes were "dumb mistakes" made on passages towards the end of each section, so I definitely need to work on my "endurance" (I tended to only do 2-3 passages at a time on TBR) and timing since I did tend to feel a bit rushed on the later passages. good luck everybody!!! I'm also going to focus a bit more on bio content review since I tended to miss a lot of the discretes (I haven't done any TBR bio passages, I did Bio EK 1001 though).

good luck everybody and STAY FOCUSED!!!

 

[Tbarton5]

Yea I got a 24 (8,8,8), which I was very disappointed in, but not too sad. I haven't studied light and optics yet so I knew I was going to be screwed with that. I am glad I took it so I know what I need to study more. I also made a few dumb mistakes (first harmonic is this period. WHat is the second harmonic's period?.... I look at first harmonic lol) and I felt I was pretty good with time. I'm shooting for a 28-30 so I am almost in the same boat.

I feel with reviewing everything once more and really getting everything down I can easily bump my score up at least those four points.

 

[QuantumFlame]

I thought I would give this thread a bump!

if you've been following the SDN2 schedule then that means you took your first full length on Monday!!!!!! which means you either got your heart broken or got a nice confidence boost. how did everybody do? I scored a 30 (PS 11, VR 11, BS 8). I'm shooting for around a 32-35 so while I am a little disappointed, there's room for improvement. I noticed that most of my mistakes were "dumb mistakes" made on passages towards the end of each section, so I definitely need to work on my "endurance" (I tended to only do 2-3 passages at a time on TBR) and timing since I did tend to feel a bit rushed on the later passages. good luck everybody!!! I'm also going to focus a bit more on bio content review since I tended to miss a lot of the discretes (I haven't done any TBR bio passages, I did Bio EK 1001 though).

good luck everybody and STAY FOCUSED!!!

I agree with you 100%, the questions I missed were stupid mistakes. I wasn't very motivated when I took it. and a bit sleep-deprived. That said, I am happy with the results. We can do this everybody!

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

Any one wants to do study groups on skype or phone?

I am guessing most of you are retaking it? How are you studying?

 

[QuantumFlame]

So I'm guessing many of you have taken the second FL (AAMC4). How'd it go?

 

[breakxbarriers]

I'm heading out of town in the next few days so I've actually already taken both 4/5 in order to stay on schedule.

AAMC 4 - 31 (11, 11, 9)
AAMC 5 - 32 (11, 11, 10)

I'm pretty happy with this progression . My PS/VR seem to be pretty consistent but I have plenty of room to improve on Bio.

if you're following the SN2ed plan, how's everyone's last 1/3 going? The Gen Chem equilibium passages really killed me, I'm just lucky that none of the AAMCs have really asked much about that section. it's scary how I'm struggling to re-call so much info

 

[QuantumFlame]

I'm heading out of town in the next few days so I've actually already taken both 4/5 in order to stay on schedule.

AAMC 4 - 31 (11, 11, 9)
AAMC 5 - 32 (11, 11, 10)

I'm pretty happy with this progression . My PS/VR seem to be pretty consistent but I have plenty of room to improve on Bio.

if you're following the SN2ed plan, how's everyone's last 1/3 going? The Gen Chem equilibium passages really killed me, I'm just lucky that none of the AAMCs have really asked much about that section. it's scary how I'm struggling to re-call so much info

The last 1/3 has been rough. My percentages went down quite a bit. However, I feel like its great for review. Is it just me, or are the AAMC passages FAR easier than BR's material? I've been really (pleasantly) surprised by my FL scores. Curious to see how much more difficult the later FL will be.

Keep your spirits up everybody, just a few more weeks!

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)

 

[niblet]

AAMC #3: 33 (12/10/11)
AAMC #4: 38 (13/11/14)
AAMC #5: Friday or Saturday

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)

Interesting, we have identical PS and BS scores through the first two FLs. Your VR, however, is killing mine. 15?! You have to tell us your secret.

 

[QuantumFlame]

AAMC #3: 33 (12/10/11)
AAMC #4: 38 (13/11/14)
AAMC #5: Friday or Saturday

Interesting, we have identical PS and BS scores through the first two FLs. Your VR, however, is killing mine. 15?! You have to tell us your secret.

Nice scores! Let me know what you think of 5 when you take it.

I wish there was a secret! Just a ton of EK and TPRH passages, plus going in with a really focused attitude. I could write more but I don't feel like it now If anyone really wants to know my personal strategy, feel free to PM me and I'll go into it in a bit more detail.

 

[niblet]

Nice scores! Let me know what you think of 5 when you take it.

Took #5 this morning: 36 (13/11/12). I felt PS was maybe a little easier than usual (curve corroborated that as missing 3 gave me a 13), VR was its normal self, and BS had a couple tricky passages to make it a bit tougher than 3 and 4. Overall not terribly unlike the first two. #7 Friday.

 

[QuantumFlame]

Took #5 this morning: 36 (13/11/12). I felt PS was maybe a little easier than usual (curve corroborated that as missing 3 gave me a 13), VR was its normal self, and BS had a couple tricky passages to make it a bit tougher than 3 and 4. Overall not terribly unlike the first two. #7 Friday.

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)
AAMC #7 - 41 (14, 15, 12)

Yeah...there was one passage in 5 BS that was brutal. Just took #7 this morning....not sure what to say about verbal. Just about fell out of my seat . Looks like Bio is my area of greatest volatility, going to have to buckle down and hit my weaknesses hard to achieve greater consistency.

Good luck everybody! This is totally doable

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

Are you guys freaking robots?

 

[GloriousPebbles]

Hello everyone!

I am signed up for the 8/10 test as well and planning on applying in the 2013 cycle.

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

Hello everyone!

I am signed up for the 8/10 test as well and planning on applying in the 2013 cycle.

Seeing the PT scores above kind of scare me. (Great job to those scoring 30+ though!!) I say they scare me because at this point I'm making low/mid 20s. I've taken 2 TPR and 1 AAMC tests, with an 8 as the highest in each section. I've just finished reviewing all the material yesterday in my TPR books. (I'm also enrolled in a prep class that ends 8/5.)
Now, the last test I took was about a week and a half ago, so I have yet to see how much I've improved since finishing the material. But my goal is at least a 30.

Should I be worried? 7/27 is the last date for changes, so I suppose I have until then to decide whether I want to change the date for my test. But at this rate, I don't think I'll be ready :/ (Although I don't think I'll ever be "ready" to take the MCAT haha)

Wish I could do August 17th, but I refuse to do 1pm. 7/10 is the day!

I am in the same boat, with the same scores. Just do practice exams!

 

[GloriousPebbles]

Wish I could do August 17th, but I refuse to do 1pm. 7/10 is the day!

I am in the same boat, with the same scores. Just do practice exams!

My pre-med advisor told me that he's seen a correlation between MCAT and ACT scores. Your MCAT score is usually +/-2 points. Thoughts on this?

 

[breakxbarriers]

QuantumFlame andNiblet, you guys are beasts! keep up the improvement!!

anybody taking any TBR CBTs? How do you think they compare to the AAMCs? So far I have taken 1 and 2 and scored a 33 on both. (11, 13, 9) and (12, 11, 10). I thought the PS passages were harder while the TBR VR 1 was really easy while VR 2 was really, really hard. I struggle a lot with BS so just like the AAMCs they were hard

and GloriousPebbles, I've never heard that before but that's pretty interesting. I scored a 33 and my practice test scores have been in that range.

 

[QuantumFlame]

Took AAMC8 this morning, and it went well. Is it just me, or is the motivation to study on non-FL days virtually non-existent? I've been slacking on the last 1/3 of the BR passages, but I hope to get back into gear next week.

Can't really chime in with ACT scores (only took SAT), but I've never heard of a strong correlation. Who knows.

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)
AAMC #7 - 41 (14, 15, 12)
AAMC #8 - 42 (14, 14, 14)

 

[miringains]

cot daymn man how do you do so well on the verbal and bio? ^^'


also an 8/10er here, and the verbal is freaking me out... I'm using EK 101 for practice and have done soooo much of the test but it doesn't seem like im making any improvement haha stuck in the 8-10 score for verbal

 

[chocolateislife]

Retaking my MCAT this date, after a piss-poor performance in January and voiding June 21st (PS was horrible, horrible, H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E). Last chance for this cycle... applying to D.O schools.

I took the june 21st one too! wish I voided it... hopefully my retake on 8/10 will make up for it. Yea Im mainly shooting for DO schools hopefully our mcat date isnt too late?

 

[GloriousPebbles]

Hello everyone!

Seeing the PT scores above kind of scare me. (Great job to those scoring 30+ though!!) I say they scare me because at this point I'm making low/mid 20s. I've taken 2 TPR and 1 AAMC tests, with an 8 as the highest in each section. I've just finished reviewing all the material yesterday in my TPR books. (I'm also enrolled in a prep class that ends 8/5.)
Now, the last test I took was about a week and a half ago, so I have yet to see how much I've improved since finishing the material. But my goal is at least a 30.

So I took the aamc #4 today, and I got a 31 (10,12,9)!
But how reliable is aamc #4 regarding its predictive ability??

 

[spiceupyolife]

Took AAMC8 this morning, and it went well. Is it just me, or is the motivation to study on non-FL days virtually non-existent? I've been slacking on the last 1/3 of the BR passages, but I hope to get back into gear next week.

Can't really chime in with ACT scores (only took SAT), but I've never heard of a strong correlation. Who knows.

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)
AAMC #7 - 41 (14, 15, 12)
AAMC #8 - 42 (14, 14, 14)

 

[niblet]

Just finished AAMC #7, got a 37 (13/11/13). Four down, four to go. Here's the breakdown so far then:

#3: 33 (12/10/11)
#4: 38 (13/11/14)
#5: 36 (13/11/12)
#7: 37 (13/11/13)

I feel like 13/11/13 is the score I'm destined to get on the real thing. My last three tests have been pretty much right on that, with identical PS and VR scores and BS only varying by +/- 1. It's weird, because at the beginning of studying this summer I told myself that I hoped to get exactly that, 13/11/13. Obviously with two weeks left I'm still looking to improve and with a little bad luck on test day I could get something as low 34, but 37 is looking very likely. Perfectly happy with that.

 

[miringains]

niblet, could you give some tips on improving from the 10-11 range to the 12-13 range? Especially in BS? I hardly ever get discretes wrong

 

[niblet]

niblet, could you give some tips on improving from the 10-11 range to the 12-13 range? Especially in BS? I hardly ever get discretes wrong

The biggest thing is to, of course, make sure you have all the concepts down. If you have a weak area, study it until you know it inside and out. For everything, keep reviewing and review some more. Perfect the bread and butter of organic chemistry, e.g. stereoisomerism, and try to have a good conceptual understanding of the major themes. Treat the biology passages as bio-verbal hybrids, emphasizing logic. When testing, go through the answer choices and try to prove how every wrong answer is wrong before selecting the one you believe is right. Refer back to the passage, as more answers are right there or can be inferred just from the information in it than you would think. Lastly, don't let yourself be intimidated by the passages. Be confident in the knowledge you have.

 

[chocolateislife]

So I took the aamc #4 today, and I got a 31 (10,12,9)!
But how reliable is aamc #4 regarding its predictive ability??
I did study my butt off these past few weeks, but I don't want to be too encouraged by this practice test score..

I think aamc 11 is supposed to be most representative from people are saying on sdn.

 

[Reb50]

How are you guys doing on the Berkeley Review Exams? I already took all the AAMCs last test, so I'm having to do these BR exams.

 

[QuantumFlame]

Treat the biology passages as bio-verbal hybrids, emphasizing logic. When testing, go through the answer choices and try to prove how every wrong answer is wrong before selecting the one you believe is right. Refer back to the passage, as more answers are right there or can be inferred just from the information in it than you would think. Lastly, don't let yourself be intimidated by the passages. Be confident in the knowledge you have.

This. Excellent advice niblet! Good luck on your next FL. Just took AAMC#9. Felt pretty good, verbal went down a bit, but overall I am staying consistent, which is the most important thing for me. Just a few more days people!

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)
AAMC #7 - 41 (14, 15, 12)
AAMC #8 - 42 (14, 14, 14)

AAMC #9 - 41 (14, 13, 14)

 

[miringains]

This. Excellent advice niblet! Good luck on your next FL. Just took AAMC#9. Felt pretty good, verbal went down a bit, but overall I am staying consistent, which is the most important thing for me. Just a few more days people!

AAMC #3 - 35 (12, 12, 11)
AAMC #4 - 40 (13, 13, 14)
AAMC #5 - 41 (13, 15, 13)
AAMC #7 - 41 (14, 15, 12)
AAMC #8 - 42 (14, 14, 14)

AAMC #9 - 41 (14, 13, 14)

I find it so crazy how you can score 13 or higher on verbal consistently.... amazing. I would kill for that talent (serious). I scored 11 once on verbal and was jumping for joy. I will be taking AAMC 10 tomorrow, hope to you make you proud