The Official 8/15/13 MCAT Thread

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Roxas

Roxas

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Welcome August 15ers! Thought I'd get this started since anyone doing a 3 month study schedule is going to be starting up soon. Good luck to everyone, and hopefully we can help each other out through this beast!

I just sat for the 4/26 exam which was pretty rough, and I know given the summer to study I can do much better. Let's do this!
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mcloaf said:
Always nice to see people with your attitude get banned.
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Ahh go easy on the guy. I know if I scored considerably lower than my averages and had to go through the long, miserable process of studying for the MCAT again I would certainly be bitter.
 
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Success is not determined by what you've done to succeed, but rather what you did after you failed...
 
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BreakingBadly said:
Wahhhh, go cry about it you f***ing tool.
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Should have spent more time studying, and less time making meth.

Agent B said:
:whoa::whoa::whoa::whoa:

Congrats GTLO! As expected, you destroyed the MCAT and the trial section! Hopefully ElCapone can match your success. :naughty::naughty:
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I actually didn't take my test on 8/16 :naughty: But my scores will be coming out in a couple of weeks.

But right now I'm in a fetal ball position crying out "EFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!" while feeling like I just ate a giant heavy rock.

gettheleadout said:
Haha thanks man! I have every confidence in Mr. Capone. 🙂
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Your confidence, sir, may be misplaced
 
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mcloaf said:
Always nice to see people with your attitude get banned.
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:scared::scared::scared::scared:

ElCapone said:
I actually didn't take my test on 8/16 :naughty: But my scores will be coming out in a couple of weeks.

But right now I'm in a fetal ball position crying out "EFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!" while feeling like I just ate a giant heavy rock.
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When did you take it? :eyebrow:

Lol ok ElCapone. I have a lot of proofs disproving you.

ElCapone said:
The Verbal section of the test is based on absolute Bull-crap and has no correlation to the way people actually read. In other words, the "critical reading" ability that the section is trying to measure does not exist outside of the testing environment itself. Case and point: Whenever you read something, say a book on bioethics or chaos theory or dog breeds, you're supplying your own internal knowledge as a lens to understand the work. Essentially, this means that the process of writing is rhetorical since it is subjective process - what the writer means may be something that all readers interpret completely differently. This has been the prevailing notion in English Studies for at least the last 200 years me-thinks, and it's puzzling to see why tests such as the MCAT and the SAT still believe in this hermetically-sealed world in which passages are objective entities that can stand by themselves.

That's why GTLO is right in saying that there are multiple ways of logically reaching the questining stem - it's just that the subjectivity of the test writers plays a big role in which answer is the correct one and they themselves ignore this subjectivity in favor of their belief that the test itself is "objective".

If you still don't believe me, think about just how many interpretations there are out of there of big works such as Hamlet and Macbeth. And these various interpretations are being propounded by English professors, who we would likely assume would be critical reading experts.
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ElCapone said:
I just took AAMC #4 and got a 14 on BS without finishing my full content review, and the key things that I feel have helped me out content-wise is having taken AP Bio in high school, repeating Bio 101 and Bio 102 in college, and being a bio tutor. I've also taken a Physiology course. Together, I feel that these things have given me a strong bio background especially for physiology, which we did not go much into depth in my Bio 102 class.

TBR I've heard is harder than the actual MCAT, but EK imho seemed close to the AAMC questions. You might do a lot better on the corresponding EK 101 questions and 30 min practice tests (I missed not more than 1-2 questions on them which often were because they were poorly worded and not like the actual AAMC test questions).

That being said, if you won't be able to take a second intro bio class and a physiology class, your best bet would be to find a physiology textbook (and not PR or TBR) and take detailed notes of 1) GI System 2) CNS+PNS 3) Cardio 4) Nephro. These are the most complicated systems and knowing the nuances of these various systems will help you out greatly.

You also are doing well on ochem so I don't think that molecular bio is going to be your problem.

Additionally, I also have to find and read articles ranging from material science to math to molecular bio for my research and I spend maybe half-an-hour a day on this. I think that this has really helped my bio passage comprehension since having to comprehend such a weird array of subjects has helped me pick up on the concepts in the bio passages really easily.

What I'd recommend to you would be to access Nature Reviews (through your institutional access) since it's written for a grad-school audience rather than a superspecialist crowd. Read as many review articles as you can in maybe 1/2 to an hour, and focus more on comprehension than understanding. Try to see how the various pieces of the puzzle fit together, and critique it. That should boost your comprehension pronto
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/ElCapone

I saw through your modesty. :naughty:
 
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Agent B said:
Evidence is on the edit.

Human body contains 78% water? 😱😱😱 We're a walking Earth-like planet!
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Oh lol. I saw your edit and made an edit to respond to your edit.

Really? I actually stole that line from a show on YouTube. I don't know how true that is haha.
 
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O Grady said:
Actual MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (10/9/11) = 30
Predicted MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (9/8/10) = 27
MCAT Prep Materials (Content/Practice Materials and FLs): I'll answer this later
AAMC and Other FL Averages: AAMC average: 28 (10/8/10), TPR avg (tests 1-4): 23
Comments/Feelings/Tips: Also later.

I just can't say how glad I am to be done!!! I'm blown away that I scored above my aamc average, and I couldn't be happier.
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Great job O'Grady!!! I've been creepily rooting for you since April!!
 
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Neutral said:
Ahh go easy on the guy. I know if I scored considerably lower than my averages and had to go through the long, miserable process of studying for the MCAT again I would certainly be bitter.
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Right, and the proper response is to go around insulting people in the exact same shoes as he's in? It doesn't justify his going around telling people to go **** themselves for being disappointed with their scores. There's a gigantic difference between telling someone they scored well and that he himself would be satisfied with that score and saying "wow man **** you you did better than me go die you ****ball." He doesn't deserve sympathy or tolerance if he doesn't show any towards the subject of his derision, because the guy wanting a retake is in the same situation he is.

So please.
 
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O Grady said:
Actual MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (10/9/11) = 30
Predicted MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (9/8/10) = 27
MCAT Prep Materials (Content/Practice Materials and FLs): I'll answer this later
AAMC and Other FL Averages: AAMC average: 28 (10/8/10), TPR avg (tests 1-4): 23
Comments/Feelings/Tips: Also later.

I just can't say how glad I am to be done!!! I'm blown away that I scored above my aamc average, and I couldn't be happier.
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Man, I can't express how happy I am for you right now. A SIX POINT JUMP on a retake, especially in that range, is extremely commendable, and you deserve the commendation.

That improvement is amazing man, and a 30 is your ticket. You're on baller status in my eyes now dude, freaking congratulations! 👍
 
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gettheleadout said:
Man, I can't express how happy I am for you right now. A SIX POINT JUMP on a retake, especially in that range, is extremely commendable, and you deserve the commendation.

That improvement is amazing man, and a 30 is your ticket. You're on baller status in my eyes now dude, freaking congratulations! 👍
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Thanks a lot man, that means a lot coming from the famous GTLO haha. I just realized I thought I'd posted a congrats for you already, but then I remembered SDN went down for a few minutes when I tried to do it. Anyway, congratulations! You freakin destroyed that sucker, so good job!


I should have posted this earlier since not as many ppl will be reading these threads, but for those of you who didn't score as well as you wanted, DO NOT BEAT YOURSELF UP! Feel free to use this as motivation, but don't let this exam stand between you and your goal of practicing medicine.

I'll go into this a little more if I post in the 30+ thread, but seriously, I basically only reviewed and practiced about half the content in each subject, so if I can do that and still break 30 then truly anyone can if they sink the time and effort into it. This test is very beatable, its just a matter of figuring out how. You can do this!!!
 
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Dont feel bad! I took it last year and bombed it and this year I was scoring nothing below a 10 in PS out of the million practice exams I took while practicing and I still did worse than a 10 on the real test (when I actually got to study this time around). And my score only went up two points overall. So I completely understand how you feel 🙁 this year off may become two years off and I dont know about retaking this test for the third time... so i am in the same boat. But im going to apply with my crappy score and hope for the best. Hope that all the connections I have here at UF that knows im not dumb and this test sucks will help me get in here or any med school or into a DO school lol.
BreakingBadly said:
F***ing miserable 🙁 wasted two years of post-Bach classes to only get bent over and hammered in the a** by this bs.

But that wont stop me from congratulating everyone who did well or as well as they thought could. I wish you guys the best with interviews, etc.
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I'm kind of in the same boat around your scores but I only jumped two points and it was in verbal cause my verbal was sooo bad last year. Throwing my app out there too 🙁
StUUdent said:
Actual 7/8/8;23
May 11; 7/1/8;16
Average;23
Predicted;25
Have great EC's and a can-do attitude (trust me). Gonna throw my app out there and hope for the best, congrats everyone for making it through. O Grady; nice work, you earned it.
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gettheleadout said:
So glad we have you here to diffuse the situation, inycepoo. :smack:

lol
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They call me The Preventer.

ElCapone said:
Time to sit back and watch the fireworks
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I try to live up to the legacy of my hometown:

Macys4thJulyFireworks_P.jpg
 
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AAMC average: 34 (11-12PS 11VR 11-12BS)
Prediction: 34-36
Actual Score: 32 (11PS 10VR 11BS)

Mixed emotions with this score. On one hand I am very relieved that it is over and that I got a good score. However I felt good about the test and about my preparation and was expecting a higher score. Verbal can suck it, I ranged from 10-12 on practice tests completely unpredictably so of course I get hit with the lower end of the range.

At this point I am not planning on retaking, though I may change my mind, we will see.
 
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inycepoo said:
I try to live up to the legacy of my hometown:

Macys4thJulyFireworks_P.jpg
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Ewww.... NYC.

The city of unions, too many random rules, no parking, no Big Gulps, a crackpot mayor, and always gets destroyed in every Alien Invasion/Apocalypse/Godizzillaaaaa movie.

Been there once. Nice stuff to look at but idk if I ever want to live there. It ain't got nothin' on the Texas Hill Country or West Texas at least imho.
 
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O Grady said:
Yes I will be adding schools. I made a rookie mistake and haven't submitted my AMCAS or TMDSAS primaries yet (given my aamc avg I didn't think I would hit 30), but both are almost ready to go so I'll get those in asap. I know that's late, and if I don't get anywhere with MD I'm totally cool going DO. Unfortunately my AMCAS gpa is lower than my AACOMAS gpa because I had to retake 1 class, but I hope it won't make that big of a difference (3.77c/3.70s vs. 3.65c/3.50s). I like to think that I have pretty good ECs, so all I can do is get my stuff in and hope for the best. Best of luck to you, its been a fun ride.
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Thanks, best of luck to you too! Glad we can close this chapter of the journey.
 
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Do any of you know someone who has paid for a rescore? I know that sounds ridiculous (I didn't have any computer problems, test went pretty smooth actually) but I feel as though my score is insanely low and doesn't reflect the work I put in what so ever.

AAMC 3: 36
AAMC 4: 32
AAMC 5: 33
AAMC 7: 29
AAMC 8: 30
AAMC 9: 25 - sick this day (excuses, excuses lol. prob just a garbage day)
AAMC 10: 27
AAMC 11: 29

AAMC Average: 30

Actual MCAT: 20

I know the general rule of thumb is +-3 pts from your average but I will say that I did tests 3-8 either only one timed section with long (1-3 hours) breaks in between or not timed at all because I did them at work when not busy. Tests 9, 10 and 11 were under actual test conditions (on a computer, timed, timed breaks and without distraction).

I felt exactly the same as everyone did after the test (not sure how you did/iffy about PS because it was very math heavy) but I felt especially good about my verbal. I did have to guess on the last passage of PS because I ran out of time BUT I felt that my possible higher VR section would make up for the point or two lost there. Bio felt about average.

Anyways, I took the test once last year, didn't have my priorities straight, didn't study and frankly didn't care and scored an 18. Didn't even take a practice test before the actual one (God, it's embarrassing to admit that.) That's why I can't wrap my head around this 20. I did it the right way this time and worked my a** off.

I'm not worried about coughing up the $55, but just don't want to get laughed out of the AAMC office . I know that sounds naive and stupid but it would be extremely embarrassing to ask for a rescore only to receive a letter back saying "Hey idiot, you got a 20. Go clean some floors and stop wasting our time."

I have a buddy who tutored for princeton review and he knows a guy who got rescored. The guy originally scored a high 30 but wanted a 40, retook it and scored a 21. His computer crashed mid test so he rightfully figured something was off with the 21. Ended up getting the same score.
 
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ElCapone said:
Ewww.... NYC.

The city of unions, too many random rules, no parking, no Big Gulps, a crackpot mayor, and always gets destroyed in every Alien Invasion/Apocalypse/Godizzillaaaaa movie.

Been there once. Nice stuff to look at but idk if I ever want to live there. It ain't got nothin' on the Texas Hill Country or West Texas at least imho.
Click to expand...

You're thinking Manhattan. Leave there and the other boroughs of NYC are not the same. I despise "the city," but I love NYC.
 
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Member122988 said:
I have a buddy who tutored for princeton review and he knows a guy who got rescored. The guy originally scored a high 30 but wanted a 40, retook it and scored a 21. His computer crashed mid test so he rightfully figured something was off with the 21. Ended up getting the same score.
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There is nothing to lose with a regrade. Other than that, if your last 3 AAMC were lower than the rest due to them being timed like the real deal, then you may want to do many practice tests under timed condition before a retake. Check this out:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=14459707&postcount=1476
 
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Member122988 said:
Do any of you know someone who has paid for a rescore? I know that sounds ridiculous (I didn't have any computer problems, test went pretty smooth actually) but I feel as though my score is insanely low and doesn't reflect the work I put in what so ever.

AAMC 3: 36
AAMC 4: 32
AAMC 5: 33
AAMC 7: 29
AAMC 8: 30
AAMC 9: 25 - sick this day (excuses, excuses lol. prob just a garbage day)
AAMC 10: 27
AAMC 11: 29

AAMC Average: 30

Actual MCAT: 20

...

Anyways, I took the test once last year, didn't have my priorities straight, didn't study and frankly didn't care and scored an 18. Didn't even take a practice test before the actual one (God, it's embarrassing to admit that.) That's why I can't wrap my head around this 20. I did it the right way this time and worked my a** off.

I'm not worried about coughing up the $55, but just don't want to get laughed out of the AAMC office . I know that sounds naive and stupid but it would be extremely embarrassing to ask for a rescore only to receive a letter back saying "Hey idiot, you got a 20. Go clean some floors and stop wasting our time."

I have a buddy who tutored for princeton review and he knows a guy who got rescored. The guy originally scored a high 30 but wanted a 40, retook it and scored a 21. His computer crashed mid test so he rightfully figured something was off with the 21. Ended up getting the same score.
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Regrade that ****. Who cares if anyone laughs at you at the AAMC? More people are chuckling at your 20 right now already than would be if you got a regrade and ended up with a 30. Just think about that if you're concerned about mysterious people potentially laughing at your name on a piece of paper....
 
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inycepoo said:
Regrade that ****. Who cares if anyone laughs at you at the AAMC? More people are chuckling at your 20 right now already than would be if you got a regrade and ended up with a 30. Just think about that if you're concerned about mysterious people potentially laughing at your name on a piece of paper....
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This
 
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Member122988 said:
Do any of you know someone who has paid for a rescore? I know that sounds ridiculous (I didn't have any computer problems, test went pretty smooth actually) but I feel as though my score is insanely low and doesn't reflect the work I put in what so ever.

AAMC 3: 36
AAMC 4: 32
AAMC 5: 33
AAMC 7: 29
AAMC 8: 30
AAMC 9: 25 - sick this day (excuses, excuses lol. prob just a garbage day)
AAMC 10: 27
AAMC 11: 29

AAMC Average: 30

Actual MCAT: 20

I know the general rule of thumb is +-3 pts from your average but I will say that I did tests 3-8 either only one timed section with long (1-3 hours) breaks in between or not timed at all because I did them at work when not busy. Tests 9, 10 and 11 were under actual test conditions (on a computer, timed, timed breaks and without distraction).

I felt exactly the same as everyone did after the test (not sure how you did/iffy about PS because it was very math heavy) but I felt especially good about my verbal. I did have to guess on the last passage of PS because I ran out of time BUT I felt that my possible higher VR section would make up for the point or two lost there. Bio felt about average.

Anyways, I took the test once last year, didn't have my priorities straight, didn't study and frankly didn't care and scored an 18. Didn't even take a practice test before the actual one (God, it's embarrassing to admit that.) That's why I can't wrap my head around this 20. I did it the right way this time and worked my a** off.

I'm not worried about coughing up the $55, but just don't want to get laughed out of the AAMC office . I know that sounds naive and stupid but it would be extremely embarrassing to ask for a rescore only to receive a letter back saying "Hey idiot, you got a 20. Go clean some floors and stop wasting our time."

I have a buddy who tutored for princeton review and he knows a guy who got rescored. The guy originally scored a high 30 but wanted a 40, retook it and scored a 21. His computer crashed mid test so he rightfully figured something was off with the 21. Ended up getting the same score.
Click to expand...

I know where you're coming from, I did decent on the sciences but got a "one" on VR on my first official. I was totally devastated and embarrassed because it was a 0.5-0.8 percentile. I paid for a regrade($60) and it revealed I really got a "one". They say they "hand" grade it twice by two different people, so I have to take their word for it. I don't regret getting it re-scored because it would have weighed on my mind forever(I'm too curious). Good luck with everything. Hope this helps.
 
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O Grady said:
Actual MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (10/9/11) = 30
Predicted MCAT Score (PS/V/BS): (9/8/10) = 27
MCAT Prep Materials (Content/Practice Materials and FLs): I'll answer this later
AAMC and Other FL Averages: AAMC average: 28 (10/8/10), TPR avg (tests 1-4): 23
Comments/Feelings/Tips: Also later.

I just can't say how glad I am to be done!!! I'm blown away that I scored above my aamc average, and I couldn't be happier.
Click to expand...

what did you do differently
 
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