- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 0
How's the studying going? (I feel like I'm alone in taking this test date)
The Official 9/7/12 MCAT Thread!
- Thread starter FacelessMage
- Start date
Did anyone else also have to use the ear phones provided by their test center? Mines were really tight and hurt my ears lol, but it did keep my glasses in place.
I used their headphones instead of my earplugs. It was nice because I could hear myself reading the verbal out loud (which really helps me). Hope no one else around me found it annoying!
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,472
- Reaction score
- 1,175
The staff lady looked at me funny as I was applying the right-hand rule during PS.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Ok, now in words:
PS: I'm probably in the minority here, but I felt like I got punched in the face. The hard gchem passage killed my timing and I ended up having to pretty much guess on the entire last physics passage. There were definitely some trap answers in this section. Not good. I did every TBR and TPR passage too this summer. Oh well.
Verbal: I never finish the entire section. Skipped the second passage and when I got back to it I ran out of time. Had to guess on a few. Felt too straight forward so I'm assuming that a) there were trap answers (as is always the case) or b) the curve will be very bad.
Bio: After getting beat up last summer, I made it a perogative of mine to read academic journals this year. I felt like I was reading those very same journals today. Lots of logic based reasoning and reading comprehension.
For future tests for Bio. You still need to know your stuff, there are definitely questions that require knowledge. You must also be able to analyze academic scientific data to reach conclusions. Multiple passages were modified journal articles and this is not a new trend. They've been doing this for quite a while now.
Good luck to all.
PS: I'm probably in the minority here, but I felt like I got punched in the face. The hard gchem passage killed my timing and I ended up having to pretty much guess on the entire last physics passage. There were definitely some trap answers in this section. Not good. I did every TBR and TPR passage too this summer. Oh well.
Verbal: I never finish the entire section. Skipped the second passage and when I got back to it I ran out of time. Had to guess on a few. Felt too straight forward so I'm assuming that a) there were trap answers (as is always the case) or b) the curve will be very bad.
Bio: After getting beat up last summer, I made it a perogative of mine to read academic journals this year. I felt like I was reading those very same journals today. Lots of logic based reasoning and reading comprehension.
For future tests for Bio. You still need to know your stuff, there are definitely questions that require knowledge. You must also be able to analyze academic scientific data to reach conclusions. Multiple passages were modified journal articles and this is not a new trend. They've been doing this for quite a while now.
Good luck to all.
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2012
- Messages
- 248
- Reaction score
- 2
Ps: oh, you don't have a calculator? Try dividing this number with a fraction... don't forget units! Oh....by the way....hope you like oxygen cuz....OZONE ALL UP IN YOUR CAPACITORS BI@#$
10
VR: Author: RAWR
Question: is the author a dinosaur.
Answers: Yes, No, Yes cuz dog, No because life is a deep introverted philosophy stemming from American bathroom stall art started by the Hudson poop school.
11
Bs: Jack and Jill when up the hill. Jack grabbed jills panties and she gasped qietly as her heart raced. Jack, fearing what he will become if he does not claim sexual dominance over jill, lowers his trowsers, breathing deeply, his eyes dilate. I can do thiS jack thinks. A loaded semi truck emerges OUT OF NOWHERE AND ROADKILLS JACK.
Question: Does Jack love men??
11
Hey folks over at MCAT.... EAT...****...I OWNED YOU.
10
VR: Author: RAWR
Question: is the author a dinosaur.
Answers: Yes, No, Yes cuz dog, No because life is a deep introverted philosophy stemming from American bathroom stall art started by the Hudson poop school.
11
Bs: Jack and Jill when up the hill. Jack grabbed jills panties and she gasped qietly as her heart raced. Jack, fearing what he will become if he does not claim sexual dominance over jill, lowers his trowsers, breathing deeply, his eyes dilate. I can do thiS jack thinks. A loaded semi truck emerges OUT OF NOWHERE AND ROADKILLS JACK.
Question: Does Jack love men??
11
Hey folks over at MCAT.... EAT...****...I OWNED YOU.
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,472
- Reaction score
- 1,175
^ You forgot today's big-time but banger in VR.... the esoteric cognitive.
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2008
- Messages
- 354
- Reaction score
- 97
1PM Exam.
Physical:
Thought it was easier than the hardest aamc passages I've seen. 80% chem which I felt really comfortable about and to me is much more straightforward than typical physics passages. 5 passages were on chem alone. Guessed on some calculations because I did not have much time or thought they were pretty complicated to waste my time on. The last passage was the hardest and only had like less than 5 mins so took some educated guesses on some questions. Overall, I was getting 10 on my practice but I feel like I exceeded that score today.
Verbal:
Probably the easiest one yet. They were a bit longer than most typical passages but they were much much more understandable. I noticed that all the aamcs focused on referring back to the passages so I tried to understand the main idea and referred a lot to specific questions. The answers to some questions were straight up wrong so they were easy to eliminate. I was able to obtain an 11 on verbal by referring to the passages and I felt I was able to answer the questions accurately. I felt comfortable with my answers, and eliminated a lot of choices before choosing the correct one. If i'm lucky I probably got a 10 or above.
Writing Sample: first one was the hardest since I'm behind on politics. 2nd one I owned.
Bio:
started easy but just went downhill. I had like 20 mins left and 3 passages left. 1 ochem passage only but I thought it was really easy, very straightforward. I felt that all these experimental passages required the same strategy as verbal, in terms of answering. I referred a lot to the passages in answering the questions and just took educated guesses. There was no background knowledge that would have been sufficient in only answering these questions. You were required to read the experiment while answering the questions or understand them well the 1st time. Hoping for at least an 8 or so. Had to guess on the last stand alone which I only had 2 seconds to think about. I knew the answer but bubbled the wrong one due to time.
Physical:
Thought it was easier than the hardest aamc passages I've seen. 80% chem which I felt really comfortable about and to me is much more straightforward than typical physics passages. 5 passages were on chem alone. Guessed on some calculations because I did not have much time or thought they were pretty complicated to waste my time on. The last passage was the hardest and only had like less than 5 mins so took some educated guesses on some questions. Overall, I was getting 10 on my practice but I feel like I exceeded that score today.
Verbal:
Probably the easiest one yet. They were a bit longer than most typical passages but they were much much more understandable. I noticed that all the aamcs focused on referring back to the passages so I tried to understand the main idea and referred a lot to specific questions. The answers to some questions were straight up wrong so they were easy to eliminate. I was able to obtain an 11 on verbal by referring to the passages and I felt I was able to answer the questions accurately. I felt comfortable with my answers, and eliminated a lot of choices before choosing the correct one. If i'm lucky I probably got a 10 or above.
Writing Sample: first one was the hardest since I'm behind on politics. 2nd one I owned.
Bio:
started easy but just went downhill. I had like 20 mins left and 3 passages left. 1 ochem passage only but I thought it was really easy, very straightforward. I felt that all these experimental passages required the same strategy as verbal, in terms of answering. I referred a lot to the passages in answering the questions and just took educated guesses. There was no background knowledge that would have been sufficient in only answering these questions. You were required to read the experiment while answering the questions or understand them well the 1st time. Hoping for at least an 8 or so. Had to guess on the last stand alone which I only had 2 seconds to think about. I knew the answer but bubbled the wrong one due to time.
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2008
- Messages
- 52
- Reaction score
- 1
Haha, the comments about the progression of bio passages are no exaggeration. I started off thinking "this isn't as bad as I've heard", and then BAM. In the end though, the basic bio concepts were still there in the passages, you just had to wade through all of the terminology and abbreviations. I managed to figure out the last question I was stuck on in the last 10 seconds XD
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2012
- Messages
- 248
- Reaction score
- 2
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2011
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 24
idk about you guys, but I felt the VR sections in the aamcs were a send off, as they felt much shorter than the actual mcat passages in length
that kind of angered me and threw my timing off, PS and BS werent toooo bad, except some non passage ones i shouldve clearly known kinda got to me, i'm glad the writing section had statements I could actually talk about
that kind of angered me and threw my timing off, PS and BS werent toooo bad, except some non passage ones i shouldve clearly known kinda got to me, i'm glad the writing section had statements I could actually talk about
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 17
PS: It looks like I'm in the minority here but I thought it was pretty hard (I'm with you newmember1!). I really didn't like how it seemed to focus almost exclusively on one topic. I don't know if it was nerves or what, but I struggled to make connections that are usually easy for me to make. I've since realized now that a couple of questions I was struggling on were quite easy (and so I've lost those easy points. From my calculations I've missed at least 4). I also thought it was pretty calculation heavy relative to the AAMCs, which does not bode well for me. This was scientific notation and units galore. Everyone is saying it was conceptual, but I'm honestly a conceptual guy and I didn't see the concepts that much or maybe I was so worked over by the calculations that I freaked out. To give some perspective my scores across 6 AAMC exams for this section were 11 12 12 13 14 12 (and I should add that every 12 I scored was a high 12 meaning I was only 1 question away from a 13). Like newmember 1 I did all TPR passages and 2/3 of TBR passages. I went in hoping for a 14 and I am now just praying I didn't get below 11 (plz God...plz). In retrospect, this section was not that hard compared to the AAMC, but I think my nerves really got me here......🙁. Prediction: 11 🙂xf🙂, but wouldn't be surprised if I got as low as 10...🙁 ( any lower though and I will most definitely retake because I am actually capable of scoring a 14 on this section)
VR: As many posters have stated this section was pretty straightforward. Almost scarily so (at least what I thought). The passages were indeed longer than practice, but this was balanced by how incredibly readable the passages were. I was able to find passage support for the majority of my answers. That said, there were definitely a couple of tricks questions in here...I think I caught 1 or 2. In practice my subjective feelings usually correlated to my verbal performance, so I'm hoping I did above my average. AAMC range for this section was 8-12 (with the majority of scores in the lower half of that range). I thought this VR seemed similar to AAMC 4 and AAMC 10 VR where I got my higher scores. Prediction (given what will definitely be a harsh curve): 10
WS: I thought the prompts were ok. I went in with the intent of using this section as a quick nap before bio. So, I honestly just had fun writing the essays. I could care less what I score on this section though. Prediction: P
BS: Again, it looks like I'm in the minority here. I actually thought this section was pretty fair. That said, I went into this section with a level of focus I have never had...lol (undoubtedly spurned on by the need to make up for the PS section). There was 1 Bio passage slightly elevated in difficulty and also 1 Orgo passage (which I had some difficulty with..), but not too bad otherwise. I think my bio perception is probably skewed by the fact that I did the hard passage at the end with 10 minutes left, but I felt I was able to answer and/or make educated guesses on the majority of that passage. To the future test takers, you still need to know your basic bio for this section. However, extensive bio review is not necessary. Use EK bio to learn the basics and spend the rest of your time just doing practice passages. AAMC range for this section for me 9-11. Score Prediction: 11
VR: As many posters have stated this section was pretty straightforward. Almost scarily so (at least what I thought). The passages were indeed longer than practice, but this was balanced by how incredibly readable the passages were. I was able to find passage support for the majority of my answers. That said, there were definitely a couple of tricks questions in here...I think I caught 1 or 2. In practice my subjective feelings usually correlated to my verbal performance, so I'm hoping I did above my average. AAMC range for this section was 8-12 (with the majority of scores in the lower half of that range). I thought this VR seemed similar to AAMC 4 and AAMC 10 VR where I got my higher scores. Prediction (given what will definitely be a harsh curve): 10
WS: I thought the prompts were ok. I went in with the intent of using this section as a quick nap before bio. So, I honestly just had fun writing the essays. I could care less what I score on this section though. Prediction: P
BS: Again, it looks like I'm in the minority here. I actually thought this section was pretty fair. That said, I went into this section with a level of focus I have never had...lol (undoubtedly spurned on by the need to make up for the PS section). There was 1 Bio passage slightly elevated in difficulty and also 1 Orgo passage (which I had some difficulty with..), but not too bad otherwise. I think my bio perception is probably skewed by the fact that I did the hard passage at the end with 10 minutes left, but I felt I was able to answer and/or make educated guesses on the majority of that passage. To the future test takers, you still need to know your basic bio for this section. However, extensive bio review is not necessary. Use EK bio to learn the basics and spend the rest of your time just doing practice passages. AAMC range for this section for me 9-11. Score Prediction: 11
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
PPete:
Yeah, we pretty much have the same assessment of this test. I needed about 5 more minutes for the PS and Verbal though. I'm expecting a harsh curve on the Verbal. I too went into BS with a renewed sense or urgency as I really needed to make up for my mistakes on PS. It's crazy, I must have done somewhere between 5k to 6k PS questions this summer alone, yet I still feel like they got me and I didn't even finish on time (had to randomly guess on a few).
The only difference with Bio was that I went back to front. It was much more managible doing the conceptual science journal'esque passages first and then doing the first easy passage and orgo passage last (orgo is my weak spot and for one of them I thought there were two good choices for synthesis).
Here's to hoping for some forgiveness for the (more difficult) PS, not so nasty of a curve for Verbal (though I doubt this), and making up points in the BS.
Yeah, we pretty much have the same assessment of this test. I needed about 5 more minutes for the PS and Verbal though. I'm expecting a harsh curve on the Verbal. I too went into BS with a renewed sense or urgency as I really needed to make up for my mistakes on PS. It's crazy, I must have done somewhere between 5k to 6k PS questions this summer alone, yet I still feel like they got me and I didn't even finish on time (had to randomly guess on a few).
The only difference with Bio was that I went back to front. It was much more managible doing the conceptual science journal'esque passages first and then doing the first easy passage and orgo passage last (orgo is my weak spot and for one of them I thought there were two good choices for synthesis).
Here's to hoping for some forgiveness for the (more difficult) PS, not so nasty of a curve for Verbal (though I doubt this), and making up points in the BS.
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,472
- Reaction score
- 1,175
this is all speculation, but it is possible the "oxygen" passage in PS was experimental. it definitely seemed different from the rest in many areas.
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
Yeah I hope not, I spent like 14 minutes on that passage alone. It killed my time and I had to blankly guess on half of that last physics passage (which was probably much easier than the oxygen passage).
But yes, it was hard. I rarely got things wrong in TBR, TPR, or AAMC, and I guessed (too much) yesterday on PS. Maybe I just had a bad PS performance yesterday though...majority here thought the PS was easy. I thought it was way harder than the BS and AAMC (from an understanding what they were really asking type of thing).
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2012
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 0
Lol I really don't mean to be a buzz kill, just be careful with specifics on here, aamc does check these threads..
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,472
- Reaction score
- 1,175
Just curious. In spending 14 minutes on that one, did you have to guess on a lot of the questions in the oxygen passage? Or did you feel you nailed down the answers solid due to the greater time/effort allocated?
I knew that general topic area solid, but just found the passage data confusing and hard-to-navigate. Fortunately, I only allocated 6 - 7 minutes on it so it didn't timesuck my efforts on the other passages.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 2
Actually I feel most of the board was in agreement with you. Unusually hard PS, easy VR, awesome WS, and medium bio.
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
- Messages
- 685
- Reaction score
- 27
Does anybody know how AAMC grades the BS section? I've read somewhere that there is an experimental passage that they are testing out for future tests and it does not count? Does anyone know how that works? Does it mean that our score will be out of say 45 rather than 52 because they didn't grade the experimental passage? Also, is the grading similar for the PS setion.
"Note: Each of the three multiple-choice sections includes some experimental items. Experimental items
do not count toward your score" Source: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/258546/data/2012mcatessentials.pdf
Thanks!
"Note: Each of the three multiple-choice sections includes some experimental items. Experimental items
do not count toward your score" Source: https://www.aamc.org/students/download/258546/data/2012mcatessentials.pdf
Thanks!
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 26, 2006
- Messages
- 1,404
- Reaction score
- 11
Even though they say it doesn't count toward your score, I have a hard time believing this. I think what they really mean is that your score won't suffer for having done less well on an experimental passage or question. I would be willing to bet that if everyone bombs a particular question, they might throw it out. But an entire passage? Seems hard to believe. Determining the scale of a given MCAT test is hard enough assuming a full set of questions.
Repeating what I posted in the 9/6 thread: My personal theory on what they do is that they compare how people did on the new experimental questions vs the 'tried and true' more mature questions, and use that to judge the 'success' of the experimental questions and decide how to determine how those are going to factor into the scaling. I would imagine that they might be a little more lenient for us guinea pigs.
Which is probably the real reason why it takes them an entire month to score the test, not that stupid writing section.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2012
- Messages
- 51
- Reaction score
- 0
From what I understand, there are experimental questions that can be either discretes or part of a passage that do not count toward your score. For whatever reason they choose to include questions they are "trying out" but I doubt it's the whole passage. An mcat intructor once said that on average is 3-4 questions per section? Don't know how true this is though
- Joined
- May 26, 2006
- Messages
- 1,404
- Reaction score
- 11
But think about it... every passage used in the MCAT had to have its debut performance somewhere, in some real live test. It's hard to think that they would throw out a whole 6-8 questions for each section.
Though I guess it's possible to debut passage and set it up like those passages where only a 2-4 of the questions on the right are actually about the passage, and the other 2-4 questions are what I call "discreet discretes", i.e. they aren't about the passage and if you don't notice that they're really just a discrete you'll waste a whole bunch of time trying to find it in the passage.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 2
I'm seriously hoping the first passage for PS was experimental because HOLY CRAP it was a major WTF. Especially the friction one. I feel like they pulled those answers out of their arse.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
Haha! This made my day
I absolutely had to read so many of the ps questions three maybe four times...I had to stop an ask myself..."What the hell..."
Yes ladies and gentlemen...this exam is what tells them we are going to be good doctors...
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
Yep stared at that question for four minutes before I decided to guess....I swear they didn't give us all the needed info to actually calculate???
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 2
EXACTLY. I spoke to some other people after the test who took it with me and everybody felt the same way. Nobody was able to do the question.
Curious: was there anyone here who was able to answer that question? Just wondering if I missed something or if it was actually a botched question. I'm not asking for the question or answer, obvs. That would go against the NDA. I just wanna know IF....
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2011
- Messages
- 51
- Reaction score
- 3
I think they did. I calculated the mass with all of the crazy force equations and ended up getting an answer. I cannot for the life of me remember it, though.
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2011
- Messages
- 73
- Reaction score
- 19
Yeah I had no idea what was with that question -_-.. I felt like that and another calculation question later in the PS section was also like "wait what numbers are we even supposed to be using here..."
FML I ended up voiding yesterday because I didn't feel that "confidence" you're supposed to at least mildly have after the PS section and felt even worse after the BS section, especially with some of the out of left field discrete questions & the bullsh*t genetics passage. I marked too many questions I wasn't sure of and didn't necessarily educationally guess well on for the science sections to feel like I'd reach my target score.
I'm super mad because I was scoring 34-35 on AAMC practice FLs and Kaplan.. and just felt so thrown off yesterday by the ****ing weird/non-do-able calculations on PS and left field BS section questions.. The PS felt much harder than the AAMC practice due to the weird calculations that apparently no one else can do.. lol. and Gen Chem is my best subject! 😡
I guess taking Cell Bio this semester will help me study.. sigh.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
I feel exactly how you do...except I didn't void. I am hoping for more than a 10J total so I don't look like a complete illiterate; I was timed out in all three sections with educated guesses on several questions because I got hung up trying to calculate non-calculable looking problems...I plan to retake in January. I just wasn't able to think clearly on this test and so many questions were very odd? Arg.
Last edited:
What are you guys talking about?
BS was extremely more dense and complicated (with 10 convoluted pathways dispersed in a 500 word essay) than any AAMC test that exists. The majority have agreed to that if you read the entire thread (including the beginning).
Right now the thread's attention has shifted to PS (because apparently most premeds have a phobia for physics). You CANNOT state the BS was medium. Ha! Even AAMC tester-writers know it wasn't medium.
My scores were consistently higher than 11 in BS, I focus on molecular genetics, and I can tell you my main challenge was understanding the TERRIBLE communication of basic terms on the BS, as if it was a VR section where the concepts were simple but the basic acquisition of information was ridiculously difficult that it prevented the testing of biological concepts because the student did not have the basic information to even understand the question. I felt that several BS passages tested me more heavily on VR skills (and negligibly on BS concepts) than the VR passages had in all my previous practice tests. This was a poor BS assessment, in my opinion. AAMC should put more regulations on having its test-writers know what concepts to test on.
A BS should require some VR skills, but they should not be the main focus (as is the case of this test) because the VR sections solely reflect those skills in reading complex passages, it would be redundant, and BS is intended to focus on testing BS concepts in order to portray a complete picture of a candidates skills in VR, PS, and BS concepts (not a total score that reflects only VR skills on unnecessarily poorly-written passages rarely encountered in reputable journals in the future anyway).
Thanks.
BS was extremely more dense and complicated (with 10 convoluted pathways dispersed in a 500 word essay) than any AAMC test that exists. The majority have agreed to that if you read the entire thread (including the beginning).
Right now the thread's attention has shifted to PS (because apparently most premeds have a phobia for physics). You CANNOT state the BS was medium. Ha! Even AAMC tester-writers know it wasn't medium.
My scores were consistently higher than 11 in BS, I focus on molecular genetics, and I can tell you my main challenge was understanding the TERRIBLE communication of basic terms on the BS, as if it was a VR section where the concepts were simple but the basic acquisition of information was ridiculously difficult that it prevented the testing of biological concepts because the student did not have the basic information to even understand the question. I felt that several BS passages tested me more heavily on VR skills (and negligibly on BS concepts) than the VR passages had in all my previous practice tests. This was a poor BS assessment, in my opinion. AAMC should put more regulations on having its test-writers know what concepts to test on.
A BS should require some VR skills, but they should not be the main focus (as is the case of this test) because the VR sections solely reflect those skills in reading complex passages, it would be redundant, and BS is intended to focus on testing BS concepts in order to portray a complete picture of a candidates skills in VR, PS, and BS concepts (not a total score that reflects only VR skills on unnecessarily poorly-written passages rarely encountered in reputable journals in the future anyway).
Thanks.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
- Messages
- 685
- Reaction score
- 27
I agree with you. I felt like the BS honestly was quite different. Some passages were similar to AAMC exams, but others (I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about; short, convoluted) really threw me off guard. Honestly, I felt like they jumbled so much into one passage and expected us to synthesize EVERYTHING. Some questions were just iffy.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
+1
I agree BS was hard too. I know I missed a few of the easy discretes which worries me because the BS section was totally based on your ability to manipulate dense verbal passages. The MCAT is just a way to take money from premeds and rape them in the process. It is by no means a direct measurement of board performance. I don't care what data they put out showing a correlation.
- Joined
- May 20, 2010
- Messages
- 1,472
- Reaction score
- 1,175
I'm with Ash. When I was taking the AAMCs, I was always thinking BS was "easy" until I found out what I got wrong. BS lulls me into this mindset where I think it's easier than it really is. Upon reviewing my performance on the AAMCs, I made sure not to make this mistake on test day.
I found myself spending 12 minutes on the second bio passage just to map through the tricky wording of the questions and the implications drawn. I spent what felt like four minutes on this one question of that section b/c of the way it was worded, and the mental gymnastics it required you to go through. This was clearly a trick question, if not an experimental one. The bacteria passage was brutal. The assumptions question threw me for a loop, and one of the genetics question was worded so awkwardly that I was left unsure of my answer. The development passage loaded so much jargon and content... it was tough to keep up with. I thought three of the BS passages were simple (first, o-chem, and the co-ag passage); the other four were just tough. Some noted there was little o-chem. Really? There was one o-chem passage, more than 1/2 of the free-standing questions were o-chem, and don't forget that o-chem passage in the PS section.
Physical Sciences was tough. And I thought the verbal was not easy either. My mind was racing 120% just to keep pace with the clock, comprehend, and finish.
I found myself spending 12 minutes on the second bio passage just to map through the tricky wording of the questions and the implications drawn. I spent what felt like four minutes on this one question of that section b/c of the way it was worded, and the mental gymnastics it required you to go through. This was clearly a trick question, if not an experimental one. The bacteria passage was brutal. The assumptions question threw me for a loop, and one of the genetics question was worded so awkwardly that I was left unsure of my answer. The development passage loaded so much jargon and content... it was tough to keep up with. I thought three of the BS passages were simple (first, o-chem, and the co-ag passage); the other four were just tough. Some noted there was little o-chem. Really? There was one o-chem passage, more than 1/2 of the free-standing questions were o-chem, and don't forget that o-chem passage in the PS section.
Physical Sciences was tough. And I thought the verbal was not easy either. My mind was racing 120% just to keep pace with the clock, comprehend, and finish.
Unfortunately, the BS section on the MCAT will only become more and more like a BS/VR hybrid. I took the MCAT twice. The first time, BS was a joke. I literally lol'd at some of the questions. Second time, I felt I was violated by it. They had all these experimental passages with complex pathways/charts/reactions, but I ended up scoring better than the first time.
Moral of the story: you won't know how you did until you get your scores back. It's a standardized test; if you thought it was hard, others will too. MCAT is a statistically robust test, and it will adjust for the difficulty.
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2012
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 149
You guys are getting ahead of yourselves, I think.
The MCAT higher ups scale the raw score... meaning, we don't yet know how many questions you can get wrong to achieve a certain score.
I suspect that, based on the scaled scores in practice tests according to difficulty of the individual sections, they'll look something like this:
PS: out of 52
29 to 31 = 7-8
32 to 34 = 8-9
35 to 36 = 9-10
37 to 39 = 10-11
40 to 42 = 11-12
43 to 45 = 12-13
Verbal: out of 40
31 to 32 = 9-10
33 to 34 = 10-11
35 to 36 = 11-12
37 = 12-13
38 = 13-14
39 = 14
BS: out of 52
32 to 34 = 8-9
35 to 37 = 9-10
38 to 39 = 10
40 to 42 = 11
43 to 45 = 12
Based on these scoring guidelines, you should have a general idea of how well you did.
If you want to be safe, estimate on the low side of the dashed score range.
That should give you a minimum score, and a worst case scenario.
Meaning, I've eliminated the chance for error, and you should at least score that high.
If you score higher, that's great.
Here's how I'd do it for the science sections:
Estimate 1 problem wrong based on simple mistakes.
Estimate 1 problem wrong per marked question/unsure question.
Estimate 1 problem wrong per passage, additionally.
Add 2-10 to this number if you didn't feel confident after that section, based on your own estimation of confidence.
Therefore, for a 7 passage BS section, with 5-6 questions a piece, and the rest random, you should have a minimum number wrong of 8. That puts you at the high level of the score range. After that is up to you.
The MCAT higher ups scale the raw score... meaning, we don't yet know how many questions you can get wrong to achieve a certain score.
I suspect that, based on the scaled scores in practice tests according to difficulty of the individual sections, they'll look something like this:
PS: out of 52
29 to 31 = 7-8
32 to 34 = 8-9
35 to 36 = 9-10
37 to 39 = 10-11
40 to 42 = 11-12
43 to 45 = 12-13
Verbal: out of 40
31 to 32 = 9-10
33 to 34 = 10-11
35 to 36 = 11-12
37 = 12-13
38 = 13-14
39 = 14
BS: out of 52
32 to 34 = 8-9
35 to 37 = 9-10
38 to 39 = 10
40 to 42 = 11
43 to 45 = 12
Based on these scoring guidelines, you should have a general idea of how well you did.
If you want to be safe, estimate on the low side of the dashed score range.
That should give you a minimum score, and a worst case scenario.
Meaning, I've eliminated the chance for error, and you should at least score that high.
If you score higher, that's great.
Here's how I'd do it for the science sections:
Estimate 1 problem wrong based on simple mistakes.
Estimate 1 problem wrong per marked question/unsure question.
Estimate 1 problem wrong per passage, additionally.
Add 2-10 to this number if you didn't feel confident after that section, based on your own estimation of confidence.
Therefore, for a 7 passage BS section, with 5-6 questions a piece, and the rest random, you should have a minimum number wrong of 8. That puts you at the high level of the score range. After that is up to you.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 23
- Reaction score
- 0
I agree with you. The BS was by no means a piece of cake. I never meant to imply that. It's just that the PS was unusually hard to interpret. It was very difficult to understand what they were actually asking in some cases. Two passages were very difficult to comprehend for me, as they were dense. I usually don't have these issues. I don't know. And I didn't finish one passage in Vr so I had to guess the letter of the day on some questions.
But, yes, BS was indeed dense. There were probably trick questions, just like there are traps all over this test. With that said, I'm going to try to forget about it from this point onward until scores come out.
Good luck to everyone in 30 days, hopefully we'll all finally be done with this.
i dont knw if im just worried overall but dont u think such a scale is tooo lenient? i always figuered the curves to b much harsher and also i was told repeatedly by SDN members that all curves are preset.....
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 17
LOL hotshot. I'm not in a position to gauge the difficulty of BS because I estimated an 11? Who pissed in your coffee this morning? I realize that it might be frustrating to you to hear that someone who averaged lower than you on a section found the section easier (trust me, that's how I feel when posters who barely make a 10 on PS are saying it's easier when I was consistently in the 12-13 range and struggled), but that doesn't mean I don't have the right to express my opinion on the difficulty of the BS section. You don't know why I was getting an 11 on practice AAMC exams. For the record the majority of it was due to missed orgo problems. So, for all you know we are on the same level Biology knowledge wise (I was getting 12-15 on the EK 30 minute BS exams btw and that was before I completed TPR science workbook AND some TBR practice questions). My version of the exam only had 1 orgo passage, so that played to my strengths. The same goes for the verbal-esque nature of the BS section, as I have fairly strong verbal skills. For someone who claims to be so good at mcat BS, I hope that the type of logic you used here isn't the same type of logic you used on your exam, or you are in for a world of hurt. I sincerely hope that you get what you desired on the BS section, but you shouldn't take your frustration out on others. We're all stressed about this exam and we're just trying to offer our different perspectives to help each other feel better. If there's one thing we can all agree on the exam was hard. Also, this wasn't my first time taking the mcat, so I've actually seen what other BS sections look like and as much as you may hate to hear this, the BS section of this exam was a piece of cake compared to exam I took before.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2012
- Messages
- 56
- Reaction score
- 17
Yeah, I struggled on this question too until I got home and had an epiphany (why this epiphany waited until I left the test center...I can only see as an act of divine punishment). Doing my best to preserve the integrity of the exam, I will say that you didn't need the mass to get the answer. The mass actually drops out of the equation, when you set the two relevant forces equal to each other (hint: you use two different equations to describe the SAME force and both equations contain mass, so it can drop out) and that's all I'm saying about that. If it makes you feel better, I guessed on this question too, which really f*cking sucks because I should have f*cking known how to do it.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2011
- Messages
- 435
- Reaction score
- 2
I had similar thinking to you except I didn't know how to find acceleration, or what kind of acceleration to use, and just that thinking alone wasted me so much time, so I felt I might as well guess and move on.
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
- Messages
- 35
- Reaction score
- 0
Damn. I keep running questions (that I can remember) in my head and keep thinking that I did them wrong...that I will be lucky with a 10 total...that I should have voided... UUhhhh if I could have just ten minutes more per section I would be fine. But, with that ticking clock I am forced to slop answers down.
Edit: And, you know what I am so sick of? When I tell people how frustrating this exam is because my OCD mind has no time to really focus, they always say...well a doctor has to make quick decisions... There is NO correlation between that exam and my ability to save a life in seconds.
Last edited:
I don't care about how "hard" the BS concepts we're being tested on are. I care about how "hard" VR concepts we're being tested on are in BS sections when they obstruct BS concepts.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2012
- Messages
- 54
- Reaction score
- 0
I figured out how to answer it last night after I got home, and I was annoyed because I felt like it was something I should have immediately gotten, but I was having serious issues because of a migraine.
LMAO! That sums it up nicely. It really is all a blur!
I liked the bio section a lot, much more applied than practice tests and I do prefer physiology and genetics to passages about ecosystems. Physical sciences is always the most difficult for me and it seemed about as difficult as usual. Verbal was okay but the passages seemed so long. I think mostly because its not a widescreen monitor and the words are all crammed together, the scrolling sucks. It was hard to read and concentrate with all the typing in the background, maybe that's why they're taking it out for next year. These writing prompts were awesome though, but 30 minutes is not enough to really put it all together, at least for me. Overall it was okay.
Lets hope for the best
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2009
- Messages
- 685
- Reaction score
- 27
Same. As soon as I remembered that question, I was so pissed. I actually did it correctly but a math error made me change my answer.
Oh well Hopefully I did not make other silly mistakes.
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2012
- Messages
- 790
- Reaction score
- 149
These figures are from Kaplan, and I even called them on the phone to verify their accuracy.
They should be as good a predictor as we're going to get.
Do you know something I don't?
