The Official 9/11/2012 MCAT date

[nisarg2010]

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Hi guys,

How is the studying going for those of you taking it on arguably one of the worst days in American History? Finished content review yet? Any FL?

Just wanted to do this so we could keep each other motivated.

Ok now back to studying !!!!!!

 

[dropper]

Are we writing an entirely different test compared with those from august? i wonder if the september ones will also have heavy emphasis on experimental bio.. 😕

It's crazy how much the topics/difficulty of certain sections vary from test to test in the same year. ie One test last month had an ochem heavy bio section, while another had only one ochem passage. ie One test last month had a very difficult BS section and very easy PS section, while another had the opposite. Pretty smart, AAMC. Sucks for us though. Gotta be prepared for it all.

 

[ebasappa]

Yes! It is possible! YOU ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN CINDERELLA! YOU SMELL LIKE PINE NEEDLES, AND HAVE A FACE LIKE SUNSHINE! I believe in you!

EDIT: Just finished AAMC #5 in the wee hours. Burning the midnight oil to get this done and keep myself on track. Got a 12PS, 13VR, 13BS (38 composite), which was so unexpected since the VR made me go WTF. Anyway I know I'm kinda counting my chickens before they hatch, but I'm REALLY glad I followed SN2ed's plan from the beginning. Having not taken physics since AP my senior year of HS, I thought I'd bomb the PS sections of the test, but I'm staying alive so far 🙂

LOL thanks.... Congrats by the way!! You're destroying!

I just took aamc 5 today, and got a 32 (12/9/11) 😀 much better than the previous 26

 

[imno]

bored while studying so I decided to check this forum...wow ...everyone working so hard! I will be taking my first full length in a year tomorrow!! took the MCAT last year and didn't achieve the score I want...18 days left! time to really focus and do it right this time😀

 

[ebasappa]

bored while studying so I decided to check this forum...wow ...everyone working so hard! I will be taking my first full length in a year tomorrow!! took the MCAT last year and didn't achieve the score I want...18 days left! time to really focus and do it right this time😀

How'd it go man?!

 

[areserine]

How's everyone doing? I finished my internship last week, so I'm dedicating the next 2+ weeks to studying as hard as possible, while also trying to spend time with my family, because that's important too, and I'll go insane if I only study... anyways. I'm spending until Sunday going over the last two topics of physics and gen chem which I didn't get to while working, and also memorizing all my notecards (~400). I know how to use all the equations and arrow pushing at this point, but for some reason I didn't end up memorizing them as I went along. Then I'll be taking FLs every other day. Hoping for mid-30's and have no idea where I am now. I was around mid/ high 20's a month or so ago with only reviewing about half of bio and physics, so hopefully I'm in a better place now! How's everyone else spending the next weeks?

 

[plumdum229]

I think I just double posted how do I delete...

 

[plumdum229]

Well, I just took AAMC FL #7 and scored a 38 again (12VR 13PS 13BS). I just wish I could achieve some consistency in VR. I definitely thought it'd be my strongest section hah. I was wrong.

For the next couple weeks, I'll be pretty busy 🙁 I'm moving in tomorrow, and classes start Monday, so I don't know when I'll have time to study. I guess I'll just put my schoolwork aside and focus on the MCAT, since exams aren't til October. I too need to sit down and memorize all my notecards, and learn me some optics!

 

[tibetanowl]

BLAHHHH the worst part about the final stages of studying for me is definitely reviewing FLs. So. time. consuming. 😴 OK, done complaining....time to get back to the grind 😛

 

[ebasappa]

BLAHHHH the worst part about the final stages of studying for me is definitely reviewing FLs. So. time. consuming. 😴 OK, done complaining....time to get back to the grind 😛

Right?? I'm doing it as we speak :\ buttt it's all worth it haha

 

[Ssaba]

Hellooo everyone!! I'm having trouble with my VR, scoring anywhere from 7 to 9! I have been doing Kaplan!! Anyone has a good technique that they recomend and would like to share!! It would really help!!

 

[areserine]

This question is probably at least borderline over thinking it, but when you all take FLs, do you take them at 1pm like on test day? Or whenever makes the most sense for you? I've been studying (with 20 minute to 1 hr breaks) from about 10am until 7pm or so for the last week and will continue to until the exam, but I'm not sure what to do with that 3 hours before 1pm, so I should probably just take the FL then instead?

Ssaba, sorry! I don't really have a technique, have you looked at Panroasted's strategy? People seem to be having a lot of success with that!

 

[ebasappa]

This question is probably at least borderline over thinking it, but when you all take FLs, do you take them at 1pm like on test day? Or whenever makes the most sense for you? I've been studying (with 20 minute to 1 hr breaks) from about 10am until 7pm or so for the last week and will continue to until the exam, but I'm not sure what to do with that 3 hours before 1pm, so I should probably just take the FL then instead?

Ssaba, sorry! I don't really have a technique, have you looked at Panroasted's strategy? People seem to be having a lot of success with that!

I've been taking them around 9am, but it's probably a good idea to at least do one FL at 1pm. I'm thinking about taking aamc 10-11 at the 1pm time. I don't think it's that big of a deal though.

 

[Ssaba]

This question is probably at least borderline over thinking it, but when you all take FLs, do you take them at 1pm like on test day? Or whenever makes the most sense for you? I've been studying (with 20 minute to 1 hr breaks) from about 10am until 7pm or so for the last week and will continue to until the exam, but I'm not sure what to do with that 3 hours before 1pm, so I should probably just take the FL then instead?

Ssaba, sorry! I don't really have a technique, have you looked at Panroasted's strategy? People seem to be having a lot of success with that!

No what are those strategies?!
Also about ur question I usually start reviewing material before that either from flash cards or review notes I have taken! I have heard its good to get use to the feel u will have on test day!!

 

[Ssaba]

Any good VR techniques anyone! Other than Kaplan stuff which don't seem to be working for me!!!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Do you think there's still a chance to raise my PS score from ~8 to a 10 in 2 weeks of doing Kaplan's high yield problems and watching all of Chad's videos?

 

[Dbate]

I feel really nervous about the MCAT.

I took my first practice test after content review (AAMC 9) and got a 30 (9 PS/10 VR/11BS).

The med school I want to go to has a MCAT average of 31, so I'm hoping I can bring my score up by the Sept. 11 test.

Since then I have been studying non-stop by doing every practice question I can. I took the test last Tuesday and since then I have done about 450 practice problems (mostly focused on the PS).

I'm just hoping to get my score up by 1 pt (at least) 🙂 !

 

[Lsegura83]

For those of you who are on the borderline range (26-30) on your practice aamc, how many questions per section, e.g.PS,BS or VS, do you estimate you got correct as a result of lucky ini-meenee-mini-mo guesses? Usually i have 3-4 per section. Scores have been

Aug.08,2012::::AAMC-3--------PS10----VR7----BS9------Total--26
Aug.14,2012::::AAMC-4--------------8---------9------10----------------27
Aug.18,2012::::AAMC-5--------------8---------9------12----------------29
Aug. 22,2012:::AAMC-7--------------9---------9------10----------------28

I also switched from 9/7 to 9/11 to get some extra discrete practice for PS.

 

[imno]

I feel really nervous about the MCAT.

I took my first practice test after content review (AAMC 9) and got a 30 (9 PS/10 VR/11BS).

The med school I want to go to has a MCAT average of 31, so I'm hoping I can bring my score up by the Sept. 11 test.

Since then I have been studying non-stop by doing every practice question I can. I took the test last Tuesday and since then I have done about 450 practice problems (mostly focused on the PS).

I'm just hoping to get my score up by 1 pt (at least) 🙂 !

you can do it! 450 practice problems in a week! wow ...practicing alot of PS will certainly raise your score 👍

 

[tibetanowl]

wow. i took aamc 7 today and got a 25. can't decide if i should cancel this test :/

...not possible to feel anymore discouraged right now.

 

[areserine]

Serenade, I'd say I raised my PS about 3 points with Chad's videos and practice problems. How are you feeling with the material at this point? I felt SUPER shaky at first with physics and totally lost with chem which I haven't really taken in 4+ years since AP in high school. I went from a 7, with almost no content review, to a 10 on the last 2 tests. If you're feeling weak in content, 2 weeks of solid review should help a lot!

DBate, you can totally bring it up 1 point in 2 weeks! Make sure you're putting good work into those practice problems, working on problem solving not just rote memorization.

Tibetanowl, was this your first FL?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Serenade, I'd say I raised my PS about 3 points with Chad's videos and practice problems. How are you feeling with the material at this point? I felt SUPER shaky at first with physics and totally lost with chem which I haven't really taken in 4+ years since AP in high school. I went from a 7, with almost no content review, to a 10 on the last 2 tests. If you're feeling weak in content, 2 weeks of solid review should help a lot!

DBate, you can totally bring it up 1 point in 2 weeks! Make sure you're putting good work into those practice problems, working on problem solving not just rote memorization.

Tibetanowl, was this your first FL?

Yah, I'm watching Chad's Chem video's right now. Hopefully I can digest physics, gen chem, and organic chem in 2 weeks before I take my test haha.

 

[tibetanowl]

This is my forth:

AAMC 3 28
AAMC 4 26
AAMC 5 30
AAMC 7 25

idk what to do... 🙁

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

This is my forth:

AAMC 3 28
AAMC 4 26
AAMC 5 30
AAMC 7 25

idk what to do... 🙁

You're averaging around a 27-28. Aim to fix your weaknesses so you can get easy points.

 

[areserine]

I'm not necessarily someone to take advice from as a first time test taker, but how was your breakdown on those tests? I've read that anything less than a 10 in PS or BS is probably related to lack of content knowledge, is there something you know you're weak on that you're likely to be able to improve in the next 2 weeks? The 28 and the 30 look pretty good! If you're shooting for a 30 or 31 or so, and know you have specific content weaknesses, I wouldn't give up quite yet. If you're shooting for 34+ though, you might want to consider waiting until January.

 

[tibetanowl]

I'm not necessarily someone to take advice from as a first time test taker, but how was your breakdown on those tests? I've read that anything less than a 10 in PS or BS is probably related to lack of content knowledge, is there something you know you're weak on that you're likely to be able to improve in the next 2 weeks? The 28 and the 30 look pretty good! If you're shooting for a 30 or 31 or so, and know you have specific content weaknesses, I wouldn't give up quite yet. If you're shooting for 34+ though, you might want to consider waiting until January.

AAMC 3 28 9/8/11
AAMC 4 26 8/8/10
AAMC 5 30 8/10/12
AAMC 7 25 7/8/10

The issue is mostly physics (specifically waves and optics)...two topics that I KNOW will show up on the test. So maybe I should stop taking FLS for 2-3 days and try (again) to get those concepts down? I also have all of the TBR books that I haven't had the chance to touch because of the way things turned out (took TPR course and working FT, so not much time outside of TPR course/homework/ and work). But maybe if I DID reschedule, I would have time to do all of TBR passages, and make sure I have ALL of the concepts down, as well as not having the essays to worry about, which is somewhat of an issue for me...hmmm..

 

[dropper]

AAMC 3 28 9/8/11
AAMC 4 26 8/8/10
AAMC 5 30 8/10/12
AAMC 7 25 7/8/10

The issue is mostly physics (specifically waves and optics)...two topics that I KNOW will show up on the test. So maybe I should stop taking FLS for 2-3 days and try (again) to get those concepts down? I also have all of the TBR books that I haven't had the chance to touch because of the way things turned out (took TPR course and working FT, so not much time outside of TPR course/homework/ and work). But maybe if I DID reschedule, I would have time to do all of TBR passages, and make sure I have ALL of the concepts down, as well as not having the essays to worry about, which is somewhat of an issue for me...hmmm..

Def do waves from BR phys (chapter 5 -> only 18 pages). Optics may be a bit dense (ch 10 -> 34 pages) but it has some really cool tricks that you can easily memorize for quick points. Sound is also really good in BR (chapter 6 -> 17 pages).

 

[Dbate]

Serenade, I'd say I raised my PS about 3 points with Chad's videos and practice problems. How are you feeling with the material at this point? I felt SUPER shaky at first with physics and totally lost with chem which I haven't really taken in 4+ years since AP in high school. I went from a 7, with almost no content review, to a 10 on the last 2 tests. If you're feeling weak in content, 2 weeks of solid review should help a lot!

DBate, you can totally bring it up 1 point in 2 weeks! Make sure you're putting good work into those practice problems, working on problem solving not just rote memorization.

Tibetanowl, was this your first FL?

I just took AAMC 7 and I scored a 33 (10 PS/11 VR/12 BS). I recognized quite a bit of the PS section from my studying, so I know the studying contributed to my score.

It feels good to go up, but I have heard that AAMC 7 is easier than other tests, so I am still going to take it with a grain of salt and continue to study hard.

 

[lmcdavidkim]

can't wait till mcat is over. i can finally taste the summer vacation soon

 

[Temperature101]

15 more days to go. I still have 4 more FLs left to do...Hoping to score 28+ on them...

 

[ebasappa]

aamc 3 26 (11/5/10) *verbal fluke
aamc 5 32 (12/9/11)
aamc 4 35 (12/10/13)

Just took aamc 7.... 30 🙁 (11/8/11) I was really unmotivated during this one, I even got up to walk around and realllllly didn't wanna do it... :\

 

[areserine]

AAMC 3 (Mid/ Late July) 7/10/8- 25
Kaplan 1 (from book Aug 15th) 6/9/11 -26
AAMC 4 (Aug 16th) 10/12/10 -32 (much better!)


Hoping to get that up to a 34 or 35, by improving at least a point in PS and BS, which should be possible with more content review. I got at least 4 "easy" questions wrong in each section so I should be able to get those right with more knowledge. Here's hoping.


I'm going to spend the next 3 days just reviewing, then the rest of the time making sure I've reviewed everything, then re-reviewing things I'm still getting wrong with an AAMC test every day starting Tuesday. I'll re-read each EK chapter, make notecards on things I'm still not sure on, 1/3 EK 1001 questions unless already VERY confident, and taking the remaining 30 minute exams. Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[nashaiy]

aamc 3 26 (11/5/10) *verbal fluke
aamc 5 32 (12/9/11)
aamc 4 35 (12/10/13)

Just took aamc 7.... 30 🙁 (11/8/11) I was really unmotivated during this one, I even got up to walk around and realllllly didn't wanna do it... :\

I just took this one last night and was in the same mood. I was studying for ochem in the morning/early afternoon and was just low energy. Really didn't want to do this one, skipped the writing sample section. Did you find it difficult? I did because of all the ochem which I have realized I am VERY weak in.

Here's to hoping that our exam isn't heavy in ochem!

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

can't wait till mcat is over. i can finally taste the summer vacation soon

What summer vacation? We all pissed our breaks away in hopes of getting half decent scores.

 

[ebasappa]

I just took this one last night and was in the same mood. I was studying for ochem in the morning/early afternoon and was just low energy. Really didn't want to do this one, skipped the writing sample section. Did you find it difficult? I did because of all the ochem which I have realized I am VERY weak in.

Here's to hoping that our exam isn't heavy in ochem!

I actually LOVE ochem haha, I've gotten 100% in all ochem passages + questions on the past FLs, I just get tripped up on small details in the bio portion :[ I also thought some of those VR passages were kind of confusing haha, looks like I need to do more VR practice!

Good luck in your studies!

 

[plumdum229]

Wooooooow I just took AAMC 8 and got destroyed by bio. That was seriously the hardest bio section I'd encountered so far. I'd been averaging ~13, but only got an 11 on this one. I hope the real thing isn't like AAMC 8. I felt like there was a lot of physiology, which I'm relatively weak in. Bleh back to studying.

 

[Lsegura83]

Aug.08,2012::::AAMC-3--------PS10----VR7----BS9------Total--26
Aug.14,2012::::AAMC-4--------------8---------9------10----------------27
Aug.18,2012::::AAMC-5--------------8---------9------12----------------29
Aug. 22,2012:::AAMC-7--------------9---------9------10----------------28
Aug. 27,2012...AAMC-8-------------10--------10------11---------------31



I was really bugged, I switched from using my Macbook, to a computer library at school, and people where noise like hellll. Most annoying test I've done so far. Happy score is up, but I am not comfortable yet. PR science work book very help. However, I only find the first question on a subject from the PR discretes helpful, then I think they exagerate of the concepts.

Also, this is the first time I typed out both essays, I was skipping them before.

So much work to do in about 12 days.

 

[imno]

How'd it go man?!

🙁only got a 29... much worse than I did a year ago😱

 

[nashaiy]

I actually LOVE ochem haha, I've gotten 100% in all ochem passages + questions on the past FLs, I just get tripped up on small details in the bio portion :[ I also thought some of those VR passages were kind of confusing haha, looks like I need to do more VR practice!

Good luck in your studies!

I was good at ochem when I took the half semester course...5 years ago. I think the main thing that's screwing me up is pretty much memorizing what happens in every single reaction. Like, there are 3 different ways to turn an alkene into an alcohol but they all produce different results because one is Markovnikov and allows rearrangement, another is Markovnikov and doesn't allow rearrangement and the third is anti-Markovnikov. There is no way that I can memorize ALL of the reactions and I know that people say you don't need to if you understand what the nucleophile is, what the electrophile is, etc. and usually I do but it doesn't help. And they take me sooo long.

What have you used to review ochem?

 

[ebasappa]

I was good at ochem when I took the half semester course...5 years ago. I think the main thing that's screwing me up is pretty much memorizing what happens in every single reaction. Like, there are 3 different ways to turn an alkene into an alcohol but they all produce different results because one is Markovnikov and allows rearrangement, another is Markovnikov and doesn't allow rearrangement and the third is anti-Markovnikov. There is no way that I can memorize ALL of the reactions and I know that people say you don't need to if you understand what the nucleophile is, what the electrophile is, etc. and usually I do but it doesn't help. And they take me sooo long.

What have you used to review ochem?

To be honest, I don't really remember a lot of those haha. But yea, if you understand the different qualities of different nucleophiles and electrophiles, it will make sense. If you ever need help you can PM me and I'll be happy to help! It'll be beneficiary to both of us!

I used TBR for ochem!! It was a really nice review of everything, I recommend it haha. But if you are tight on time, it might not be the best, some of the chapters are dense.

 

[imno]

I am also having trouble remembering everything in ochem. I recall loving ochem when i took the course in college, but now the material just seems like an overwhelming bunch of information. 😕 glad that its not a major part of the Mcat 👍 hahaha...unfortunately, my bio isn't so great either 😴

Just finish reviewing the practice test I took. Its BR test 2....holy crap the verbal is hard 0.0

 

[mmmmd]

keep on putting in work everyone

 

[imno]

keep on putting in work everyone

👍👍👍👍👍

 

[Karbon]

This is my second post on SDN. The first was 2 years ago when I took a Kaplan practice test in my first week of college for kicks and got a 28. I asked how much I should expect to improve my the time I take it for realsies and I got blasted for trolling. Lame.

Well, now I have a better idea.

AAMC 3 - 41
AAMC 4 - 40
AAMC 5 - 38
AAMC 7 - 41

GS 2 - 34 (the eff)

 

[Temperature101]

I have been scoring 5-7 in VR and 9-10 in PS/BS on my FLs....Should I spend the next two weeks doing only VR? I would like to score at least 8 in VR...Will that be enough if I do at least 40 TPR passages and EK13-14 in the remaining two weeks and also spend some time on PS/BS? Aiming for 27+ since I am only applying to DO... Need advice please...

 

[GomerPyle]

This is my second post on SDN. The first was 2 years ago when I took a Kaplan practice test in my first week of college for kicks and got a 28. I asked how much I should expect to improve my the time I take it for realsies and I got blasted for trolling. Lame.

Well, now I have a better idea.

AAMC 3 - 41
AAMC 4 - 40
AAMC 5 - 38
AAMC 7 - 41

GS 2 - 34 (the eff)

what is your secret?

 

[ebasappa]

What are you guys doing these next days? I'm just taking FLs, but what are you guys doing for the days in between?(besides reviewing the FL just taken). Re-reading chapters?? I'm not too sure what to do

 

[areserine]

I am re-reading chapters. Using EK, going through one chapter of each subject per day, starting orgo late this week since it only has 4. I'm reading the chapter and taking notes on anything I feel shaky on. I'm then doing 1/3 of the bio passages and discretes, and all of the physics and chem "concept" questions from EK1001. I'm also working out for at least 45 minutes a day since it's supposed to boost concentration (I do notice an increase when in sports season vs out of season).

This might not be the best advice for you though. I find that most of my mistakes come from not understanding some concept stuff in physics and chem, and from not concentrating enough in bio (like choosing the answer choice in which bacteria have a membrane bound organelle, or interpreting the info in a graph backwards).

 

[ebasappa]

I am re-reading chapters. Using EK, going through one chapter of each subject per day, starting orgo late this week since it only has 4. I'm reading the chapter and taking notes on anything I feel shaky on. I'm then doing 1/3 of the bio passages and discretes, and all of the physics and chem "concept" questions from EK1001. I'm also working out for at least 45 minutes a day since it's supposed to boost concentration (I do notice an increase when in sports season vs out of season).

This might not be the best advice for you though. I find that most of my mistakes come from not understanding some concept stuff in physics and chem, and from not concentrating enough in bio (like choosing the answer choice in which bacteria have a membrane bound organelle, or interpreting the info in a graph backwards).

Oh hmm, good advice! Yea, I'll probably just go through a chapter from each section to and reviewing stuff that I might have glossed over. Thanks 👍

 

[GomerPyle]

I had a horrible MCAT nightmare last night. The mcat's were given on ipads (or some sort of tablets). I was taking it on some shuttle, but then midway through I got dropped off and there was a gangster shooting vs police. I got shot in my leg, fell down, and managed to run away as they were shooting at me. I jumped into an empty cop car (perfect hide out), pulled out my tablet and continued my test as time was running out. I noticed I only had 15 minutes left for 3 verbal passages. I rushed 2 passages, but then noticed I left 6 questions unanswered in the last passage as time ran out - worst freak out ever...and then I woke up. By far my worst dream. Had a similar dream last week but don't really remember what happened except that I freaked out during the test.

 

[ebasappa]

I had a horrible MCAT nightmare last night. The mcat's were given on ipads (or some sort of tablets). I was taking it on some shuttle, but then midway through I got dropped off and there was a gangster shooting vs police. I got shot in my leg, fell down, and managed to run away as they were shooting at me. I jumped into an empty cop car (perfect hide out), pulled out my tablet and continued my test as time was running out. I noticed I only had 15 minutes left for 3 verbal passages. I rushed 2 passages, but then noticed I left 6 questions unanswered in the last passage as time ran out - worst freak out ever...and then I woke up. By far my worst dream. Had a similar dream last week but don't really remember what happened except that I freaked out during the test.

HAHAHAH. wow. That sounds intense. Surprisingly I don't have that many MCAT dreams. I had one the other day though. I got my score back and it was a 23. I freaked out, but looked back at the screen and it changed to a 32, unitl I realized the score was changing like a slot machine. So had to click on the number and I would randomly get a number. I clicked and got a 41, but then a message came up as was like " Your score is 45 - Number rolled".... So i got a 4, and woke up haha....