The Official 8/12/2010 MCAT club

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Competition said:
Do you guys want to post some of the passages just so we can remember what was on it (I literally forgot a lot of the passages):

PS:
Gen Chem Lab Experiment
Capicator
Cloud charges

VR:
Car system
Psychology of art



BS:
Orgo
Neutrophil/Eosinophil
Protein kinase cascade
4 differnt hypotheses (Genetics)
Click to expand...
HIV resistance (genetics)
 
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I thought that gchem experiment passage was ******ed... i donno that demoralized me... no idea how it went...
 
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People are seriously posting passage/question contents right after saying multiple times that they wouldn't?

PS: I thought it was going pretty well. In fact, it seemed easy. Until I got to a middle passage, in which I second-guessed myself on almost every question. Then I ran out of time while going back over the marked ones. I'm just glad the scaling is a bit more friendly than the VR because I left several marked and know I got at least one of them wrong. AAMC average: 12.5. Guess: 12-13.

VR: Who knows? I thought it went fine for the most part, but I took up more time than usual in this section as well and didn't get to go back and reread my marked ones. I straight-up enjoyed at least one of the passages, even if not its associated questions. AAMC average: 11. Guess: 10-11.

Writing: I was pretty worried about this beforehand. On the SAT in high school, I tended to completely freeze up and write crap essays. But I finished the first one and actually thought, "That was great, darn it." The second essay was a little more disorganized and a little less deep, but not very much. So overall I feel pretty optimistic: hopefully R+ . By the way, does anyone know what it means that there's a computer grader for our essays?

BS: As other people have noted, this section differed substantially from practice tests and also had tricky wording that was easy to miss (and I probably missed some of it). Typically I finish BS with 20-25 minutes to spare, but I had less than 15. Fortunately, I only had 7 questions marked when I finished. AAMC average: 14.5. Guess: 13-14.

Overall guessing around 36 +/- 2. :xf:
 
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I was killed by bio....
I hope I had more orgo than bio.. it's totally different from aamcs....

aamc: 32
real: 26(+-1) sigh but I never know.....
 
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PS: The questions weren't so bad for the most part (except the ******ed balloon/buret/flask passage). Timing was an issue for me here. If i had 5 more minutes i know i would've gotten more right. I managed to finish just as the clock hit 0, but did not have time to double check anything. I was freaking out in the beginning and the first passages took me way too long. Wish i went backwards on this one. Expecting: 10

Verbal: the passages weren't too boring (thank god) and i was actually able to understand what most of them were saying. Some of the questions had me stuck between 2 choices. Ran out of time on this and had to guess on the last 2 questions. Expecting: 10

Writing: fun topics, expecting R/S

BS: Thank god only one orgo! Most of the answers in that passage were possible to derive from reading the passage. Most of the other passages also had the answer in the passage. I seriously feel like as long as your reading comprehension skills are good you can get most of the answers from reading without background knowledge. Had to guess on several of the discretes. Expecting:10

Expecting total: 30R, but honestly i have no idea. I will be super happy with this score or higher. Phewww thank GOD it's over!

P.S. If anyone wants to further discuss the test please PM me.
 
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orangeANDgreen said:
I am under the impression we can discuss topics but no specific questions about the exam
Click to expand...

From the Examinee Agreement we all signed:
"Examples of prohibited acts include, but are not limited to: describing questions, passages or graphics from the exam; discussing exam questions on web ―chat‖ rooms or through other means; identifying terms or concepts contained in exam questions; sharing answers to questions; referring others to information you saw on the exam; or reconstructing a list of topics tested."

That last phrase seems a lot like what's going on; that's why I said what I did.
 
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PS: It seems that PS was a bit hard for everyone here as far as time goes. I had to guess the whole last passage with the clouds because I only had 3 minutes left when I got to it. I was doing ok i believe up untill I ran out of time then I rushed and guess. Hopefully I can atleast get a 7.

VR: I usually have done well on practice and I think I did ok on this one. I wasn't as confident as I have been in the past but we shall see. I think being pissed about not finishing physics was throwing me off also.

BS: I honestly think I killed this section. I feel super confident about it besides a question here or there. Hopefully I am right so it can compensate for my PS :laugh:
 
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benjaminjado said:
From the Examinee Agreement we all signed:
"Examples of prohibited acts include, but are not limited to: describing questions, passages or graphics from the exam; discussing exam questions on web ―chat‖ rooms or through other means; identifying terms or concepts contained in exam questions; sharing answers to questions; referring others to information you saw on the exam; or reconstructing a list of topics tested."

That last phrase seems a lot like what's going on; that's why I said what I did.
Click to expand...

Yeah true
 
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To clarify, SDN does not enforce the AAMC Non-Disclosure Agreement. We enforce our own set of rules. Under our rules, lists of topics are allowed. However, you did sign the NDA, and the AAMC can punish anyone who breaks that agreement whether or not it breaks the SDN rules.
 
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thought PS was easy except that gen chem passage, I finished with about 15 minutes left.

VR was tougher but basically what I expected, finished with 5 minute left.
BS seemed pretty easy as well, finished with 20 minutes left. Although I really do feel alot of the questions were flawed.
 
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This was one of the worst MCATs I have ever seen. Only the bio. section was decent and I think a passage was wrong with two of the graphs. Are there any medical schools that accept Jan. 2011 scores for 2011 entrance?
 
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salafiyaah said:
This was one of the worst MCATs I have ever seen. Only the bio. section was decent and I think a passage was wrong with two of the graphs. Are there any medical schools that accept Jan. 2011 scores for 2011 entrance?
Click to expand...

I know for certain that some DO schools will accept scores from January, 2011. However, most of these schools have rolling admissions.
 
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Competition said:
Do you guys want to post some of the passages just so we can remember what was on it (I literally forgot a lot of the passages):

PS:
Gen Chem Lab Experiment
Clouds (Capicator)
Gasoline

VR:
Car system
Psychology of Art
Agriculture

BS:
Orgo
Neutrophil/Eosinophil
Protein kinase cascade
4 differnt hypotheses (Genetics)
HIV resistance (Genetics)
Click to expand...
................

PS:
No physics related passages except for the cloud passage as well as different types of sonar. What happened to optics, fluids, kinematics, EM?

VR:
Excessively difficult and I typically do well in verbal. I couldn't finish at all.

BS:
Lots of endocrinology and signalling cascades, which was the only plus for me. What happened to basic physiology of organs?

Writing:
The most ******ed prompts I've ever seen.
 
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MiCasaMD said:
I know for certain that some DO schools will accept scores from January, 2011. However, most of these schools have rolling admissions.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I hate to sound negative, but I just can't even sense how well I did. It felt horrible to want to just void my score the entire time. Did anyone else feel the same way? If I submit my application by 8/20, can I withdraw it if I don't like my score?
 
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PS- disappointed in lack of physics. The gen chem stuff was difficult.

VR- Extremely easy. I didn't have time to finish the last passage, but the other 6 went very well.

BS- A mixed bag. 👍/👎

Writing- Does it ever matter, anyway?
 
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salafiyaah said:
Thank you! I hate to sound negative, but I just can't even sense how well I did. It felt horrible to want to just void my score the entire time. Did anyone else feel the same way? If I submit my application by 8/20, can I withdraw it if I don't like my score?
Click to expand...

I feel the same way. Idk why people did so well... I wanted to void durng the test but oh well I didn't. Maybe I shoulve.
 
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remember that perception has little correlation with your score. Some people who feel they did well, may not actually end up scoring that well and vice versa. Try not to worry until you actually get your score.
 
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Thank you both for your honest and positive replies. I keep freaking out and trying to read up on any answers I think I missed.
 
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ymigmigy3 said:
I feel the same way. Idk why people did so well... I wanted to void durng the test but oh well I didn't. Maybe I shoulve.
Click to expand...

Maybe there's a good reason we didn't void them 🙂 I guess it's not over until it's over. Maybe I should just forget about applying instead of gambling my application away.
 
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yes love docta, i used TBR..honestly i feel for PS yes it did help, but for BIO, well the bio on this test was something else. Wow. Never have i seen any practice MCAT like this,where the majority of the bio passages resembling the verbal section and most of the answers were not derived from actual knowledge but rather one's ability to read the passage. I don't know how anyone could prepare for a bio section like this.
 
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i think there physics and chem is good, for verbal i been using TPR and EK, but iono how to prep for bio.

was it really different from the passages in TBR bio books...cuz some of the passages in TBR bio completely ignore the passage and purely ask random facts.

Did u use EK 1001 bio also?
 
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Damia said:
Felt insanely good after I finished, was about on par with the last few AAMCS.
Click to expand...

I rarely ever post... I'm more of an "observer" in that regard. But this MCAT and the above comment have prompted me to reply...

I took the MCAT on the 17th of June and voided the exam... That test was truly "insanely" difficult, as many will profess if asked, though there were a few that squeaked by with decent scores. Yesterday's exam was definitely no walk in the park, either.

Most of the passages in PS seemed to boost my confidence going into the break (but I think that was because I went into the test with confidence and found passages that supported my confidence). Then the verbal hit hard; I was not expecting the difficulty of the verbal section to be the way it was... a good balance of easy and difficult passages, all of which seem to be longer than the average Verbal passage on any practice AAMC test. This completely threw off my rhythm, forcing me to guess on at least 3 questions (and I found that I missed two of those, for sure) at the end. This break in my confidence slightly affected my first essay, possibly, but not so much so that I broke down. In the second essay, I brought myself back into the game, and rode that through to the BS. The BS was definitely as difficult as the one I took earlier, except for maybe one passage... again, not representative of the AAMC practices... unfortunately.

So, as for the quote above... I cannot say I felt "insanely" good about my performance, but I feel I did have a solid (hopefully not sub-par) performance on the test. If your scores reflect your feelings as you left the testing center, I applaud you.:clap:

All I can say is that I greatly commend those who do well on this examination. I consider it to be a mountain, a mountain that takes expert skill and competency to climb and "conquer." Now... I just want to know my score. This wait really does bother me. Hope you all pulled through it just fine.
 
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uclaussr said:
I don't know how anyone could prepare for a bio section like this.
Click to expand...

For me, I think it really helped that I had read high-quality physiology and genetics journal articles in my university courses. It's beneficial to get used to reading methods sections and figure out what exactly they're testing with each step. So if anyone is retaking, I'd recommend incorporating journal articles into their practice.
 
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Competition said:
Reading past posts on "recent trends", many people have suggested 3 things:

1. BS is becoming like Verbal
2. BS has more genetics
3. BS has less orgo

If this is what they are going for, didn't you guys feel like our BS fit these 3 to a tee?
Click to expand...

I agree. Maybe that's why the bio look longer for me than the practices. I spent a lot of time dissecting the passages rather than answering remote questions. So maybe doing ALL of EK BIO 1001 wasn't that helpful afterall...oh, and reading 3 bio books. We'll see. :scared:
 
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I agree with you...ive been constantly checking answers i was second guessing on as well, although i dont remember many 🙂 I thought ps was definitely fair game...minus the 1 or 2 randomn psgs (cloud, the gen chem flask one..along with a few of the physics discretes). verbal is always rough for me so i have no idea how that went, but i was a little bummed out about everyones response to the bs...this has always been my strongest subject and i dont know if it was a mixture of my nerves and being excited to finally be done, but i thought it was kind of hard...there were definitely the type of questions you could answer in a second, but the genetics on these passages was definitely not stuff i was used to seeing...and i used kaplan, ek, and tpr to prep for this exam. i left feeling a bit sad about it because i feel like i had to make several guesses. but like someone posted---dont be sad until you get ur scores..i know thats hard to do, im bummed right now but just gotta wait it out and see what happens!
 
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Hey! This is my first post. I looked over everyone's responses and am mostly in agreement.I am a senior this year, but I am waiting to apply next summer. Anyway, here are my thoughts:

PS- I thought I was pretty lucky in terms of the way I approached this section. I went through all of the discretes first, then physics passages, then GenChem. This meant that the "Killer" GenChem passage was the last passage I read. It was definitely insane and I guessed on all but 1 or 2, but I was happy I didn't have to freak out about it until the end. From what I've read, it sounds like extra time on it wouldn't have helped very much. I also thought the balloon/flask passage was worth reading a few times. Overall, I thought this section was challenging, but it's what I expected. I averaged an 11 on practices, but i'm thinking 8-10.

VR- The passages were definitely longer than the practice tests. I was relieved because I did not think any of the content was boring or dry. I did not have to guess on any questions, but the section was definitely not easy. I averaged a 10 on this section on practices. I'm thinking 9-10.

Bio- Oh man. 😕 This had to be my weakest section. Unfortunately for me, physiology is my strength and genetics is not. I am NOT a fan of genetics and I do not think there was one passage without it. I could not believe there was only one orgo passage!!!!! I mean no one likes orgo, but these passages definitely are the reason I usually had 15-20 min extra time on practice tests. I had about 4 min of extra time. I thought the discretes were difficult, so I was freaking out a little throughout the section because I do these questions first. I averaged a 10 on practices. Sadly: I'm thinking 8-9. If I break a ten, it will be a miracle.

Anyway, were done for now! I am thankful for a month of ignorant bliss. If I have to take the test again, at least I know what I'm in for the second time around! Great job everyone!🙂
 
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Hey guys,

Congrats on being done! Hope you all did well and more importantly get into your number 1 choices (cause MCAT doesn't matter after that!). I am taking the exam on the 20th of August and I am freaking out after reading this thread. I am really scared about Genetics cause I have always been on it and EK didn't stretch it much; how should I prepare for Genetics (is it mainly Mendelian Genetics or Molecular Genetics?) What is the best way to prepare for this? Thankk you and good luck!! But most important forget about it for a month (I am sure its nearly impossible though; I can't wait till August 21!).
 
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Mendelian and molecular genetics. However, mostly it is reading comprehension based on genetics topics. I am not sure the best way to prepare for this, besides getting used to going back to the passage and choosing answers that are supported from the given info. It's really like a bio reasoning section.
 
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Some of the passages and questions were hard...some questions I just had to guess and move on so that I did not run out of time.

For this mcat, I thought examkrackers complete package helped
tremendously. A lot of the verbal questions asked about Specific
Details. A few main idea questions.
 
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Congratulations to everyone who took the 8/12 MCAT. The gen chem passage was a bizatch but other than that, I thought the PS was OK. I felt that the verbal was actually better than my other AAMC practice verbals although i started running out of time for the last 2 questions and had to quickly select an answer without taking time to fully think them through.

The BS was OK but I was also shocked by the lack of physiology although I have generally been very strong on most bio sections so no passage stumped me completely. I hate making predictions for my score, just want to chill out and finish my application and not think about MCAT for the next month. I pretty much put myself into a "Dont give a flying crap" mood about 2 days into the MCAT which I think helped my nerves because even during the awful gen chem passage I was like "O well, moving on". I didnt psych myself out or anything, was just thinking whatever happens happens.

However, anything above a 31 is good enough for me and should get me in somewhere with my other stats so :xf:
 
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TimothyRags said:
I have a mere week to see all the people I did not get to see while buried under Kaplan and Examkrackers books...and Wikipedia. (Yes, I used Wikipedia extensively to study for the MCAT.) Then I'm shipping off to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a semester in a sweet Medical Practice & Policy program that I cannot wait for!
Click to expand...
 
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I didn't think it was....BUT

I took the MCAT today...and ready the non-disclosure stuff that I agreed to and the paper they printed at the end....and I'd rather be safe than sorry...

I am NOT discussing topics that I had...especially on the Internet...

👎
 
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I felt really amazingly good after this mcat was over and I couldn't help walking out smiling...overall I think it was really fair just that one gchem passage was kind of difficult but other than that everything was great! I'm happy I took immunology a semester ago, I think it really helped...was expecting a tougher bio and more physics but guess we got lucky =)
 
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Hey everyone. I took the mcat the other day. It is all kind of a blur at this point, but I was just wondering if the biology section ended with discrete questions and if so how many there were. I seem to remember being on the 52 question and it being a passage. Anyways, feel free to pm if you'd like. Thanks
 
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ShoaibS15 said:
I rarely ever post... I'm more of an "observer" in that regard. But this MCAT and the above comment have prompted me to reply...

I took the MCAT on the 17th of June and voided the exam... That test was truly "insanely" difficult, as many will profess if asked, though there were a few that squeaked by with decent scores. Yesterday's exam was definitely no walk in the park, either.
QUOTE]

Better a late post than never, I suppose. This post just caught my eye - I also took the MCAT on June 17th, and will second the "insanity" of the exam. I'd agree that while this exam was no cake walk, I was thrilled to just walk out of it without feeling the complete hopelessness of the 6/17 exam. I'm sure that's not much comfort to anyone who didn't experience the killer exam, but I guess what I'm getting at is that this wasn't the worst version of the exam out there (and I ended up getting the very low end of my AAMC average on the worst of the worst!) so there's definitely hope for this one!! Don't count yourselves out yet.:xf:
Click to expand...
 
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This wait is ridiculous 🙁 What are people doing to stay sane? I'm writing billions of secondary essays, but I just feel so uneasy........
 
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This is going to be a very long month...
I have a thousand secondary essays to write, plus summer school, plus this uncertainty of whether i should add more DO or MD schools, depending on my score. God help us.
 
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Competition said:
crookedpinkies said:
Did you guys who took the 6/17 exam feel like the scaling compensated for the difficulty? If not, then wouldn't taking an easier exam (like ours apparently was) be more beneficial?
Click to expand...

I voided my exam, and I am glad that I did... though, that information isn't of much help to you. I believe that I read in some post here that the test scores don't change very much from one administration to the next, which makes sense... but in regards to raw scores, there has to be high degree of variability from one test to the next. I mean, the overall difficult cannot be uniform, so each administration should have high or low raw scores (and some obviously in the middle), and when those are compared to previous "testings" of those passages, we get our scaled scores... of course, this is all speculation.

I just want whatever curve or scale there is in existence, or whatever method is used to to arrive at that scale or curve or pseudocurve, to be in favor of the test I sat for that day. Three weeks left, right???:xf:

By the way, that day somebody working at the center opened the door and started talking loudly WHILE I was taking my verbal section, and completely threw me off. I turned and gave an angry look because I was only 15 minutes into the section, and that is not a good place to lose your train of thought. This was the person as it happened --> :whoa:
Click to expand...
 
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Hehe love the avatar.
I just had my first shadowing experience yesterday. It was super cool. I got to listen with the stethoscope to the difference b/w a regular lung and a fluid filled lung as well as seeing other sick people and watching the doctor/patient interaction. It was great and one I hope to repeat in a couple of days.

Other than that, I plan on just finishing up my PS and keeping my cool as doom day arrives.
 
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I am slowly trying to figure out how to be a person who doesn't study for the mcat again. Although I'm working in a lab full-time, writing secondaries, volunteering, and taking a graduate class, I still feel like I have so much free time. I still have that mcat momentum. BUT I just joined a video store! $1 movies and free fitness DVDs. Last night I was watching a movie, tooling around on the internet, and eating cereal out of the box. It was glorious.
 
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Luckily, I've been super distracted by my senior year of college. Just moved into a great house and am starting class on Monday. Weirdly, I've been having MCAT dreams every once in a while. My first one, I got a 39 (a score that is completely out of my reach) and the second one, I scored a 3 on the BS section (I'm pretty sure that's not even possible). Time is going by VERY slow. Anyway, I'm trying not to get out of the MCAT mindset completely. I'm pretty much acting like I'm taking a break and that I'll restart studying for a retake after I get my score back. Don't wanna get too comfortable!
 
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About 12 days to go...i am getting minor panic attacks just thinking about it..i dont know how i will check my score...i am thinking of maybe not checking it at all. Soooo scared 🙁
 
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