The Official 8/20/2010 MCAT Club!

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I'm going to repost what ksmi posted earlier in case anyone missed it:

"Please remember that when you take the MCAT you sign an agreement, saying that you will not discuss test specifics. If you post MCAT specifics on SDN, the moderation staff will post hold your account for a week. It's not fun, so please don't make us do it. If you are unsure how specific you can/can't be, please refer to this thread."

So please, do not post any specifics!
 
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latrala2300 said:
No. I'm seriously feeling the exact same way. and my azn parents dont help. shoudlve just told em "OH IT WAS GREAT!"
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Lmao, just tell them there's nothing more you can do now 😛 Atleast now, if you don't get as high of a score that they hoped, they're not gonna tear you down as much as if you told them you did AWESOME, and then murder when the scores come out, parents will be even crazier...wow i can't even type in complete sentences anymore...look what the MCAT has done to my brain, turned it to msuhhh...mush i meant see wat i mean hahahahaa
 
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well it seems the consensus was that ours was really hard, with the exception of verbal. i know that i think none of the AAMC practice ones were at all representative of the level of difficulty of todays test. so i'm just wondering what this means. does this mean we will likely have a strong curve in our favor? has anyone heard from friends how recent mcats on other days were??id hate to think all my hard work isnt going to pay off.
 
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I got the centrosome..AND the tastebud passage..along with a microbiology passage on some virus...

looks like i get screwed in every direction.
 
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phatlineman said:
PS: not too bad, but i'm pissed i think i missed a few discretes. confused light dispersion with diffusion.
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My mind was blank...I could not think of the different definitions for the life of me!

For BS, I was trying to remember the hormone mnemonic FLAT PEG... and all I could remember was PEG.

I had never been THAT nervous in my life! It def. affected my performance. I had no confidence, and yup I put the wrong isomer...😱

Stupid stupid mistakes! I'm really scared I'll get lower than a 25:scared:

Seriously depressed, you guys aren't the only ones!

phatlineman said:
for physics I got something about damped harmonic oscillators...at first I was like WTF but I think you can answer most of questions by manipulating the equations they give you...the other ones were I think: 1. flow rate of some fluid in a column dripping into a beaker; 2. something about using the photoelectric effect to make a capacitor? not sure wtf that was about but it looked similar to a question on AAMC 4... 3. redox reaction 4. enthalpy changes..involved some stoichiometry, acid base titration 5. forgot.. 6. forgot...
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I had similar stuff... I remember trying hard to clearly think through the equation for the damp oscillation passage. Like the if the radius or something similar is halved... I spent too much time on a question like this bc I couldn't calm myself down and get my brain to work. I was so blank by the end of the test that I almost walked out without taking stuff from my locker.
 
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saholden said:
My mind was blank...I could not think of the different definitions for the life of me!

For BS, I was trying to remember the hormone mnemonic FLAT PEG... and all I could remember was PEG.

I had never been THAT nervous in my life! It def. affected my performance. I had no confidence, and yup I put the wrong isomer...😱

Stupid stupid mistakes! I'm really scared I'll get lower than a 25:scared:

Seriously depressed, you guys aren't the only ones!
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hmm i didnt have any...
 
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La Sevillana said:
Didn't you think that passage was really vague? I felt like I was guessing on almost every single question.
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i thought the passage was fairly clear, but I remember about 2 questions that were extremely vague--the kind that are difficult not because of the material being questioned, but because it could be interpreted in anyway, i did come back to those questions and read them very quickly as if i didn't read it in the first place in order to just get the bare minimum of the idea it was asking...who knows 😡

the last question in that passage was easy as hell though, i was happy about that
 
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Parthenon89 said:
i thought the passage was fairly clear, but I remember about 2 questions that were extremely vague--the kind that are difficult not because of the material being questioned, but because it could be interpreted in anyway, i did come back to those questions and read them very quickly as if i didn't read it in the first place in order to just get the bare minimum of the idea it was asking...who knows 😡

the last question in that passage was easy as hell though, i was happy about that
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It seemed a little overwhelming. I was jumping around a little (not a great idea) That one and the taste buds one I thought were rough. I've only had two bio courses which doesn't help matters much.
 
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Congrats on completing your test today. I hope you all receive good news in 30 days.

Did any of you use other prep company's practice tests and think they better emulated the bio section? A lot of you are saying the AAMCs were nothing like it, and I wondered if TBR or GS tests may be better preparation.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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hahah fannntastic... looks like i got EVERY hard passage that anyone has mentioned! what a joke! 😡

there better be a good curve on this one...

PS/ Bio-- WAY harder than the AAMC practice tests... I got half way through it and I was like.."umm say what? you want what information now?"

Verbal--usually my worst section.. pretty sure this was my best section today. how sad.

considering a change in life plans... 🙁
 
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Parthenon89 said:
i thought the passage was fairly clear, but I remember about 2 questions that were extremely vague--the kind that are difficult not because of the material being questioned, but because it could be interpreted in anyway, i did come back to those questions and read them very quickly as if i didn't read it in the first place in order to just get the bare minimum of the idea it was asking...who knows 😡

the last question in that passage was easy as hell though, i was happy about that
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Oooo, you're talkin bout the virus passage, yea, I thought it was ok, like you said, I remember there were definitely questions from there that were vague and could be interpreted both ways YESSS I was not the only one who felt that way 🙁 I think I know exactly which question you're talking about too!....but yea... guys don't forget it's ALL based on luck, the ones you got wrong may be thrown out, so you never know.... or perhaps you guessed some right?
 
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Guys, is MCAT really scaled? I am confused by this new info!! Some say its a pre-set scale and some say it is based on how others do? Any further info on this would be appreciated!!

Thank youuu
 
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phatlineman said:
it was punnet squares with two genes ARGGGH. what was the answer to the one that was like there were 2 lethal mice or something? i was completely lost....
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I don't think we're allowed to discuss that on here.

Rachesni, no one really knows how the MCAT is scored. Somebody claimed last week that the AAMC already had a score report for a recent exam date which meant that the test had already been curved. Other people say that the curve is after the fact. Who really knows?

BTW, is anyone else praying like crazy that the centrosome passage was the experimental one? It seems like some people didn't have it.
 
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Can somebody tell me what the 7 verbal passage topics were? I'm trying to think to myself what I might have gotten wrong.

There was one passage about Satan, photograph on sculture, Aristotle-Plato, and 4 others...

I'm not sure if I did well on the VS... :/
 
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alanblah said:
Can somebody tell me what the 7 verbal passage topics were? I'm trying to think to myself what I might have gotten wrong.

There was one passage about Satan, photograph on sculture, Aristotle-Plato, and 4 others...

I'm not sure if I did well on the VS... :/
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alanblah said:
Can somebody tell me what the 7 verbal passage topics were? I'm trying to think to myself what I might have gotten wrong.

There was one passage about Satan, photograph on sculture, Aristotle-Plato, and 4 others...

I'm not sure if I did well on the VS... :/
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Best is not to talk bout answers with others or you'll feel worse and worse 🙁 cause you never know....also... bout the chromosome being thrown out, i doubt they throw out a whole passage, i think they just throw out some questions because it would REALLY be unfair to those which strengths just so happen to be what the passage tests! (I didn't get the chromosome passage though... but I know others who did, and they thought it was bad as well),What i can say in regards to the verbal section though... iss.... definitely the consensus is Satan (ahaha Satan...from verbal pun intended) 😛 had a large hand in corrupting our chances at med school fellow 8/20ers 😛
 
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Voider here. I spent most of today day feeling terrible/like an idiot for voiding but I just did too much guessing on the PS to feel confident enough to go forward. I have pretty bad timing on a good day and I'm always NOT finishing the PS section so I need to work on that before I re-attempt. Also, Physics is just not my friend and I didn't know what some of those passages were talking about. Re: timing, I think that what was tough for me was that so many of the questions were theoretical (what would happen if you did this, how would this affect that) rather than fact based/equation based and I spent too much time mulling over the what ifs rather than just moving on.

Kudos to everyone who was brave/confident enough to score this one. I'll try again on 9/11 and do alot more PS practice passages in the meantime.

To those questioning whether you have what it takes after feeling badly about this MCAT- I felt the same way after I walked out. It helps knowing that others found alot of these passages to be quite tough as well. We can't all be stupid and if most found it tough, don't be too hard on yourself.
 
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VThokies said:
hahah fannntastic... looks like i got EVERY hard passage that anyone has mentioned! what a joke! 😡

there better be a good curve on this one...

PS/ Bio-- WAY harder than the AAMC practice tests... I got half way through it and I was like.."umm say what? you want what information now?"

Verbal--usually my worst section.. pretty sure this was my best section today. how sad.

considering a change in life plans... 🙁
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i agree...i got the centrosome, taste buds, crazy organic, albino mouse and the virus one.
 
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I just tried to post but I think it deleted? It's my first post on this forum so I'm sorry if a double message pops up later.
But I was asking what you guys are doing to get your mind off it! Because I can't fall asleep and I wasn't having any trouble last night. I wish I had voided and waited for an easier test. All I keep doing is running through answers I should have put down. I didn't have any trouble with timing on the practice aamcs, and on this exam I literally just finished every section with time to go back.
I had all the hard passages everyone seems to be mentioning. Including centrosomes. But if some people didn't have them, then that has to mean they were experimental, right? There aren't 2 versions of the mcat...? It would definitely put my mind at ease because that was the passage that I really really screwed up on.
 
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Haha, just remember guys, the MCAT is supposed to make us feel stupid and agonize for a month before our scores are out (and even then, has the potential to further that damage), but remember never to give up on your dreams! If you really want to go into the medical profession and MCAT is in the way, always remember MCAT is just an obstacle, it doesn't dictate how smart or well suited for the health field you are, infact, it is actually a very poor indicator as it is largely based on luck, and the material it covers (it doesn't even really cover much anymore, most based on reading comprehension) is nothing you're gonna encounter in the future.

Remember guys, 10 years down the road, or even 2 years down the road, you're gonna look back and laugh at the MCAT, and think, why was I even so stressed out about it!
 
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I starting to feel like I missed a passage on the bio. I didn't have a chance to review and now I'm getting really worried. It's all so hazy. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it

Bio- taste buds, albino mice, 2 orgo passages, growth hormone, MG, I thought I had one on AIDS? Now I don't even remember. Ekkkkk
 
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I definitely didn't have anything about growth hormone. Someone else mentioned their MCAT was hormone-heavy. My MCAT barely had anything about hormones. I bet that was experimental....
 
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Mine was pretty hormone-intensive...


Is anyone planning on signing up to retake this summer?

I have no idea what to do! I fell like i got my ass handed to me by that test. My GPA is good and have a TON of clinical hours and experience and all that good stuff. Any suggestions??
 
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I'm in your boat. I honestly think I bombed it too, and my instinct is to register for September, but I'm going to listen to my advisor. Just wait out the 30 days. You might be pleasantly surprised. If you're not, you'll have plenty of time to refocus and study throughout the fall to ace it in January.
 
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okay wait im trying to make sense of this. i thought todays mcat was brutal. it seems that a lot of other people on this thread did too. WAS ours more difficult than most, or does it just feel that way?
 
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For my good camaraderie who took the exam with me on this day, it was real honor to be a part of it, and guys (and girls) - we worked hard for three months (more or less), and what's done is done. Now we get to relax until our normal lives take us back in the fall. Again, good job to us! We did it. 🙂

In short, we are done, and let's not fret about it no longer. Easier said than done for those who are applying this cycle (I'm not till next year), but I think that if you worked hard on content review and passages, you should have done pretty well. My wishes to you all. :luck:
 
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mcgill2012 said:
okay wait im trying to make sense of this. i thought todays mcat was brutal. it seems that a lot of other people on this thread did too. WAS ours more difficult than most, or does it just feel that way?
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i kinda feel like the kids in 8/19 got off easily, but then again we had a very easy verbal section, so who knows..
 
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I definitely got the growth hormone one...really liked that question, really hope it's not just "experimental" and thrown out :'(, :S, albino mice i remember, taste bud, but no chromosome, 2 orgos, virus, really dont remember anymore lmao maybe it's a good thing!
 
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and if so, what kind of curve can we expect? on all my kaplan tests, the curve was insanely generous. but on the aamc tests, the curve required about a 36 at least in a section to get a 10. i didnt see much variation in the aamc curves. so what should we be expecting?
 
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mcgill2012 said:
okay wait im trying to make sense of this. i thought todays mcat was brutal. it seems that a lot of other people on this thread did too. WAS ours more difficult than most, or does it just feel that way?
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Every MCAT test day thread looks like this in the day(s) right after.
 
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yeah I agree. Silver your post is the first one that made me feel better!

Regardless of how it goes we all have the opportunity to retake it, and some day we are all going to be where we want to be...
 
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haha yes. im just lying here updating this screen while i watch a dvd. i never obsess about anything i just can't get my mind off what i thought i missed... even though i know there's absolutely no way any of us can predict the curve or how we did. i'm so scared. rachesni, i think we are just gonna get tired at some point and fall asleep.
 
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After giving it some thought, i really don't think it matters if 8/19 was "easier." It probably just means it will be scaled less and ours may be scaled MORE.
 
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I'll agree that the BS section was harder than any AAMC I took, simply beacuse the orgo that was on there threw me for a loop...🙁

I think I did okay on the biology content; I may have missed one or two discretes, but oh well. For me, none of the bio passages sucked up as much time as the few orgo passages that were on there. Anyway, as long as I can get that 10+, I'm fine with it.

PS and VR didn't destroy my confidence, but I never can tell how well I do on VR. I also have a feeling that this VR section's curve will not be friendly, so I guess these 30 days will be a bit agonizing for me...👎

Hopefully my score went up (in the 20's the first time), but I'm not making any predictions. I care little about the writing section since I got a Q the first time. Still, I thought the prompts were fine.

Congrats to all the 8/20'ers for getting through this tough process!
 
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Hey guys, just wanted to pop in here and wish horrible luck to all of you.

By horrible, I mean I hope you all walked under a ladder and tripped over a black cat and when you fell hit a mirror and broke it into a million pieces. Then I hope that while you were walking into the test center, an owl flew by overhead and pooped on your head 13 times.


...sorry, the worse you do, the better I do.
 
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Dr Evil said:
Hey guys, just wanted to pop in here and wish horrible luck to all of you.

By horrible, I mean I hope you all walked under a ladder and tripped over a black cat and when you fell hit a mirror and broke it into a million pieces. Then I hope that while you were walking into the test center, an owl flew by overhead and pooped on your head 13 times.


...sorry, the worse you do, the better I do.
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aeup0o.jpg
 
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Parthenon89 said:
Silver-

great post👍
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Thanks bud! I actually edited out most of the post except first and last paragraph because it seemed way too long and detailed. So just short and sound for safety but glad you liked it. I think you would've done really well man; I can't say you got 35 (don't want to jinx ya!) but you definitely got my vote for hopefully getting high score. Good luck man.

On a side note, it's going to be weird for a bit. I feel like I have to keep returning to SDN and look at others' progress... But I'm done. It's sort of empty feeling (in a good way).
 
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