The Official April MCAT 2015 Takers Thread

[emulsifier]

Hey guys,

I've seen some old threads (from 2012, or early 2014) on the MCAT2015.

I am wondering if we can bring resources together here, discussions for those who are planning on taking the new one in or after April.

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new prep material for 2015, and the chance to compare the different companies? I scoured the internet, obviously not much at the moment. But I know someone out there has started, just need to get this info out!

Edit:
Resources mentioned in this thread or elsewhere:

• Free mini-test: AAMC MCAT 2015 12 sample questions and answer (3 x 4 sections)
  • http://offers.aamc.org/mcat2015-mini-test
• Next Step guide here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/
• TPR 2015 books: They seem to be the same as their previous books. Their bio book has a chapter on biochem.
• Kaplan 2015 books: removed content that is not tested. Physics section is 400 pages (may be too much for the new MCAT). Very little practice. Whole book on biochem.
• EK 9th edition books: reformatted the whole book. SDNer reviewer has said that even parts with same illustrations have whole new contents. Got rid of topics that won't be tested. May be too condensed though.

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[DrHart]

yo that's gonna be hard to beat 59 seconds like what?

 

[nholaday]

yo that's gonna be hard to beat 59 seconds like what?

It took three tries but I did it. 52 seconds.

 

[deleted567285]

I would know the Doppler effect equation.

I think it's deltaF/Fobject = velocity/speed of light

I found two problems dealing with that on the sample test.

 

[lets_operate]

Anyone have a good mnemoic to remember 1 letter abbreviation of amino acids? I know all the properties of AAs as well as the 3 letter abbreviations. But man, 1 letter abbreviations are brutal. For example, Aspartate is D, Lysine is K, Glutamine is E.

For Glutamine, I always think of it like spelling out "GluE" (since Glu is the 3 letter abbreviation).

 

[umgoblue2008]

I just realized going through the chem/phys section on the 2015 AAMC FL, passage 10, Q52, that we need to memorize Planck's constant? When i was taking the test I knew the equation E=hf but they didn't provide Planck's Constant in the passage (6.62X10^-34 JS). Or that an eV (electronvolt) is equivalent to 1.6x10^-19 joules (guess that one i should have known). I got the answers down to A/B and choose A, forgetting the constant is around 10^-34. Am I blind or do we need to have that memorized? What other constants we we need to know besides avogadro's number, density of water, etc?

 

[firefly36]

keep on getting it at 3:59! 52 seconds is ridiculous!

 

[meant4med]

N = AsparagiNe
Q = Glutamine (no trick) <-- Q is Gln not Glu
K = Lysine has a Krazzey long side chain
R = the pirate says ARrrrghinine
D = Dude thats a small side chain on Aspartate. AsparDic* Acid sorry mom I'm still 14 at heart
E = GlutamatE <-- don't really have one

SOO stupid but..... Q= Glutamine... Qt Glut...n'amine?? (no what i mean?) BAHAHA. dumb but it works!!!
I also due GluE for glutamate
For aspartic acid, the way I just remember it is that there are two A's--Alanine gets A (first letter) and aspartic aciD gets D (last letter) since they both can't be A.

 

[firefly36]

I just realized going through the chem/phys section on the 2015 AAMC FL, passage 10, Q52, that we need to memorize Planck's constant? When i was taking the test I knew the equation E=hf but they didn't provide Planck's Constant in the passage (6.62X10^-34 JS). I got the answers down to A/B and choose A, forgetting the constant is around 10^-34. Am I blind or do we need to have that memorized? What other constants we we need to know besides avogadro's number, density of water, etc?

I noticed that as well. Guess we do need to know Planck's constant. I think to be safe we should also know the charge of protons/electrons and I think either the official guide questions or the question pack also assumed we'd know the range of visible light...i can't think of anything else

 

[BAH94]

Couldn't stop until I had 51.

 

[nholaday]

Couldn't stop until I had 51.
View attachment 191196

Dang ittttt. Oh well. Nice job!

 

[umgoblue2008]

" Each molecule of NAD+ can acquire two electrons; that is, be reduced by two electrons. However, only one proton accompanies the reduction."

For Q#59. That is pretty sneaky, don't think i've even realized this studying biochem.

 

[firefly36]

I've been going through old AAMC chem/phys sections and some of the passages are ridiculously easy compared to what our sample test and official guide problems are. it's unfortunate.

 

[mikil100]

" Each molecule of NAD+ can acquire two electrons; that is, be reduced by two electrons. However, only one proton accompanies the reduction."

For Q#59. That is pretty sneaky, don't think i've even realized this studying biochem.

The EK books explained it as being a Hydride ion that is obtained.. not a "proton"

The use of the word proton becomes confusing with respiration imo.

 

[DrHart]

Couldn't stop until I had 51.
View attachment 191196

i call hacks

 

[umgoblue2008]

With the enormous emphasis on biochem, knowing the different classes of enzymes in addition to AA's will be crucial (evident on the AAMC FL)

For example, i was confused with the differences between transferase and hydrolases.

Transferase- transfers a functional group
ex. Kinase- transfers a phosphate group from high energy molecule (ATP) to substrate. AKA phosphorylation

Hydrolases- cleave a chemical compound by adding water.
ex. GTPase (in G protein receptor)- catalyzes active GTP-> inactive GDP. I originally confused this as a transferase, but the mechanism of action is that GTPase uses water to convert GTP to inactive GDP.
ex. Phosphotases- removal of phosphate group from subtrate by adding water, aka dephosphorylation.

This was confusing to me at first, hope it helps someone else.

 

[umgoblue2008]

On the Bio AAMC FL section, a standalone q asks if cytochrome c acts as a 1 electron carrier, 2 electron carrier, 3 , 4. Another asked for an ideal PCR primer. If the standalone q's on the real thing are this in depth about biochem, i'm gonna shat in my pants.

 

[DrHart]

On the Bio AAMC FL section, a standalone q asks if cytochrome c acts as a 1 electron carrier, 2 electron carrier, 3 , 4. Another asked for an ideal PCR primer. If the standalone q's on the real thing are this in depth about biochem, i'm gonna shat in my pants.

at first glance of the pcr primer question i nearly shat my pants xD G-C content is such a common theme though it came to me eventually

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

I haven't seen but 2 old AAMC's...but honestly if the sample test is relatively the same to actual test it sounds like most people in here are gonna be A-okay...Have faith!!!

**Also...This hasn't been mentioned on here at all that I have seen...But I highly recommend knowing all the rate limiting enzymes for the krebs cycle, glycolysis etc. I don't remember seeing a question on the sample test pertaining to it...but I would be absolutely shocked if there weren't a few on the real thing.

 

[umgoblue2008]

I haven't seen but 2 old AAMC's...but honestly if the sample test is relatively the same to actual test it sounds like most people in here are gonna be A-okay...Have faith!!!

Definitely would be ok if the new sample test is indicative of the real thing. Everything (physics-chem-bio) is more biochem/medicine related compared to the older tests. If you are strong with biochem you will rock this test.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Definitely would be ok if the new sample test is indicative of the real thing. Everything (physics-chem-bio) is more biochem/medicine related compared to the older tests. If you are strong with biochem you will rock this test.

I received an A in undergrad in it...but anyone can get an A in undegrad, just boils down to the amount of work your willing to put in...I'm just glad the physics and chem aren't as..well physical and chemmy as they once were lol.

 

[firefly36]

On the Bio AAMC FL section, a standalone q asks if cytochrome c acts as a 1 electron carrier, 2 electron carrier, 3 , 4. Another asked for an ideal PCR primer. If the standalone q's on the real thing are this in depth about biochem, i'm gonna shat in my pants.

w0rdd and the explanation for the cytochrome c one was so detailed. i did not think that much work went into the answer but apparently it did.

I haven't seen but 2 old AAMC's...but honestly if the sample test is relatively the same to actual test it sounds like most people in here are gonna be A-okay...Have faith!!!

**Also...This hasn't been mentioned on here at all that I have seen...But I highly recommend knowing all the rate limiting enzymes for the krebs cycle, glycolysis etc. I don't remember seeing a question on the sample test pertaining to it...but I would be absolutely shocked if there weren't a few on the real thing.

yess I agree with that! I spent last night learning the rate-limiting enzymes for them. Kaplan did a really good jobon the biochem. i came in with no biochem background, but i got a lot of biochem questions right on the sample test.

 

[KOB]

The EK books explained it as being a Hydride ion that is obtained.. not a "proton"

The use of the word proton becomes confusing with respiration imo.

I would like to think abt this ito charges. So NAD is reduced to NADH. clearly hydrogen atom carries one e- on it and another electron is needed to get rid of the +1 charge

 

[otterxavier]

I noticed that as well. Guess we do need to know Planck's constant. I think to be safe we should also know the charge of protons/electrons and I think either the official guide questions or the question pack also assumed we'd know the range of visible light...i can't think of anything else

For the constants you can definitely get away with just knowing the order of magnitude, which makes them a lot easier to memorize. IIRC, on that question that required Planck's constant the answers were about 20 orders of magnitude apart, so not hard to ballpark if you remember 10^-34 (or even just that it's somewhere between 10^-30 and 10^-40).

 

[otterxavier]

whoops, double-post

 

[umgoblue2008]

Looks like we need to be at least familiar with all the enzymes of metabolism. One standalone question asks about NAPDH, not even asking about its role in glycolysis but we needed to know that it is a "housekeeping" gene and is expressed continuously so its in euchromatin. yikes

 

[meant4med]

Looks like we need to be at least familiar with all the enzymes of metabolism. One standalone question asks about NAPDH, not even asking about its role in glycolysis but we needed to know that it is a "housekeeping" gene and is expressed continuously so its in euchromatin. yikes

no you don't need to know that-- what the question was asking was about gene expression. if a gene is being expressed then it's going to be on euchromatin--- unwound dna that can be expressed. it wouldn't be on heterochromatin because that would mean silencing of gene expressions.

Also, it said GADPH, which is different--GADPH is an enzyme, NADPH is an electron carrier.

 

[umgoblue2008]

no you don't need to know that-- what the question was asking was about gene expression. if a gene is being expressed then it's going to be on euchromatin--- unwound dna that can be expressed. it wouldn't be on heterochromatin because that would mean silencing of gene expressions.

Also, it said GADPH, which is different--GADPH is an enzyme, NADPH is an electron carrier.

My bad, yes its GADPH. NADPH is involved in anabolic pathways and Glutathione antioxidation. Freudian slip on my part.

And you are right about the question, i had never seen GADPH before, must've thrown me off course.

 

[700003]

For those of you who already took the AAMC Sample Test, which psychology/sociology book did you feel prepared you the most for that section? TPR or Kaplan? Or just Khan Academy?

 

[0livia]

I used a combination of Next Step and TPR..and had seen all but a couple topics on the sample test

 

[DrHart]

talked to my friend who took the DAT at my testing center. Said the chairs were comfy and they let you keep all your stuff in lockers. Hope everyone enjoys these last couple days before game time

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

For those of you who already took the AAMC Sample Test, which psychology/sociology book did you feel prepared you the most for that section? TPR or Kaplan? Or just Khan Academy?

I used Kaplan and then just supplemented some with Khan, but for the most part I feel Kaplan did a good job of preparing me for the sample test

 

[meant4med]

Can anyone give me a better explanation for Physics Question pack q#25?

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

Can anyone give me a better explanation for Physics Question pack q#25?

This was a very odd question and I hope they aren't like this on the actual test bc I could see this question going either way, but according to the AAMC because the amount of KE gained so small the change was almost non-existent, thus equivalent

 

[meant4med]

This was a very odd question and I hope they aren't like this on the actual test bc I could see this question going either way, but according to the AAMC because the amount of KE gained so small the change was almost non-existent, thus equivalent

Thanks! Yes, it was bit weird!

Can you (or anyone else) better explain the angle the beam splitter makes? #62 (this was the worst)

 

[Affiche]

Unfortunately I've gotten really good at pretending physics won't be on the exam.

 

[meant4med]

Unfortunately I've gotten really good at pretending physics won't be on the exam.

LOL me too! Plus, it doesn't help that I've reviewed both bio packs and the physics pack again in the last two days and its SO, SO easy---and I feel its such wishful thinking that the exam would actually be that way! Maybe I'll get a little more of a reality shock when I re-review my sample test today haha.

 

[Affiche]

Lol I have my own theory that AAMC released the sample test just to lure us all into a false sense of security before harshly humbling everyone on test day. Every time I review the sample test or the guide, I feel like the questions only ask for such surface-level information, and I really can't see the actual exam being like that.

PS did you (or anyone) get question 48 correct on the psych section of the sample test? I had it down between A and B and only chose A because the passage was focused on language, but I still can't justify eliminating B. I'm sure that if I took this passage again in 5 months, there's a 50% chance I'd choose B instead of A lol.

 

[go cougs]

Do many people write down notes during CARS? I do it only about half the time and my scores don't seem to change whether or not I write down a short sentence for paragraphs. Just wondering if it's almost better to not write things down and just zone in than spend time writing.

 

[rraidermd]

Do many people write down notes during CARS? I do it only about half the time and my scores don't seem to change whether or not I write down a short sentence for paragraphs. Just wondering if it's almost better to not write things down and just zone in than spend time writing.

For me I'd rather just take a long time to read and understand the main idea/author's point of view and that way I can answer the questions quickly.

 

[meant4med]

Lol I have my own theory that AAMC released the sample test just to lure us all into a false sense of security before harshly humbling everyone on test day. Every time I review the sample test or the guide, I feel like the questions only ask for such surface-level information, and I really can't see the actual exam being like that.

PS did you (or anyone) get question 48 correct on the psych section of the sample test? I had it down between A and B and only chose A because the passage was focused on language, but I still can't justify eliminating B. I'm sure that if I took this passage again in 5 months, there's a 50% chance I'd choose B instead of A lol.

Yes I got it right, and the reason behind it is just that you need to think of the corpus callosum as just something that connects the two hemispheres, so it won't have a significant role--just a delivery man between information from one hemisphere to the next, facilitating communication between the two. The reason that taking away this function is important to the experiment would be to look at whether or not what they are testing still works if people can't name the colors. since the ability to name the colors would be on the left hemisphere, then visual information from both of our eyes goes to the left hemisphere to access this ability. This means that something presented to our right field of vision naturally crosses over to the left hemisphere, but something that is presenting to our left field of vision naturally first crosses over to the right hemisphere, and only through the corpus callosum ends up at the left. So the thought is that if this is blocked, then the people won't be able to name the colors-- and then they can truly see if the participants are still able to engage in this categorical perception.

 

[meant4med]

Do many people write down notes during CARS? I do it only about half the time and my scores don't seem to change whether or not I write down a short sentence for paragraphs. Just wondering if it's almost better to not write things down and just zone in than spend time writing.

I don't, I find that is wastes time. Instead, try and get good at highlighting things you know they'll ask about--like if you see a confusing analogy thrown out, or an argument, a counter position, etc. and just highlight a few words so you know where to go back to. the only time i ever write something down is when something is presented in a very confusing manner and I need to re-write it in simpler terms to answer a question (like an analogy, or a series of events leading to consequences, etc., I'll just right if A-->then B, etc.)

 

[sparklinggal75]

Lol I have my own theory that AAMC released the sample test just to lure us all into a false sense of security before harshly humbling everyone on test day. Every time I review the sample test or the guide, I feel like the questions only ask for such surface-level information, and I really can't see the actual exam being like that.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this! Not to be Miss Negativity over here but I just have this bad feeling in my gut that they are gonna throw us all for a loop this weekend. I sure do hope I'm wrong... I guess the only good thing will be at least we'll all be in the same boat, and since this new scoring is based on percentiles, maybe that will be better? Who the hell knows anymore.

 

[DrHart]

quick question: if you finish a section early, can you just walk up and out to take your break? or do you have to wait for the 95 minute mark to finish and break?

 

[neuropanic]

quick question: if you finish a section early, can you just walk up and out to take your break? or do you have to wait for the 95 minute mark to finish and break?

I've been told the comp automatically starts your next section and/ or break. so if you finish early, you can leave it running so you have a longer break!

 

[DrHart]

I've been told the comp automatically starts your next section and/ or break. so if you finish early, you can leave it running so you have a longer break!

that sounds nice in theory... but i think I would be too keyed up to take a long break. Even on a half hour break I'm kind of sitting around ready to go

 

[TexanProud]

I really wouldn't worry about a question or two or a number of q's being soooo hard. Chances are most others will find it hard too and that's what the curve's all about. In fact, it can really go either way. I'm bad at physics and the physics on my last MCAT was SO hard. It ended up in my favor as most people missed a lot of the questions with way more understanding than I. That's why I also find it dumb when people void. If you left a number of passages blank, sure, but you just never really know who you're taking it against/how the curve will make your score.

 

[deleted567285]

Can someone please explain number 52 on the physics section on the sample test.

I know the formula is E = HF . where H is planks constant. 6.6time10^-34. And the question ask to find Frequency(F)
Thus formula should be changed to E/H = F.

Yet I dont know where they got Energy from, I cant find it in the passage.

 

[DrHart]

Can someone please explain number 52 on the physics section on the sample test.

I know the formula is E = HF . where H is planks constant. 6.6time10^-34. And the question ask to find Frequency(F)
Thus formula should be changed to E/H = F.

Yet I dont know where they got Energy from, I cant find it in the passage.

Energy = hf <-- In the passage it says that gamma photons have 140 keV energy
Planck’s constant = h = (6.6*10-34)
1eV = 10-19 J
So, f = E/h = (140keV)(1000eV/1keV)(10-19J/1eV) / (6.6*10-34)
And, f = around 3 *1019

 

[deleted567285]

Energy = hf <-- In the passage it says that gamma photons have 140 keV energy
Planck’s constant = h = (6.6*10-34)
1eV = 10-19 J
So, f = E/h = (140keV)(1000eV/1keV)(10-19J/1eV) / (6.6*10-34)
And, f = around 3 *1019

Thanks so much.
I just did not know the 1eV = 10-19 J part

 

[DrHart]

Thanks so much.
I just did not know the 1eV = 10-19 J part

No problem! And yeah I think it kinda blows because even most physics classes give you conversions. The MCAT is brutal not allowing a calculator but to not give us conversions is just silly if you ask me