The Official April MCAT 2015 Takers Thread

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emulsifier

emulsifier

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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)
  • 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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AnteaterPediatrician said:
did any of you take TPR tests???how do you feel about those??
Click to expand...
Vastly different from AAMC. Much harder and less focused on the medical applications. More fact/recall based and significantly less biochem than was on AAMC. I only took two but these were my scores:
TPR1: 500 Composite (143/230 = 62%) ----------- TPR2: 499 Composite (146/230 = 63%)
Chem Phys: 123 (29/59 = 49%)----------------------Chem Phys (38/59 = 64%)
CARS: 127 (41/53 = 77%)------------------------------CARS: (26/53 = 49%)
Bio: 126 (41/59 = 69%)--------------------------------Bio: 45/59 = 76%)
Psych Soc: 124 (32/59 = 54%)------------------------Psych 37/59 = 63%)
 
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AnteaterPediatrician said:
did any of you take TPR tests???how do you feel about those??
Click to expand...
The way I feel about Kaplan or any test prep. Good for practice and content review but take it with a grain of salt. AAMC material take 100% seriously. If you hear they are working with Khan or Kaplan or whoever, take that test prep over another test prep. This is totally IMO. AAMC is the gold standard, then goes down from there.

I truly feel that if one reads through all the AAMC material and watches the video, also the videos for UG advisement office, you can learn alot. I would seriously not spend alot of money on test prep materials unless you are a poor test taker. I had to learn to take a test this way because I didn't get it in my UG.

there's my 2 cents.
 
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DrHart said:
But it does give way to an interesting hypothetical: two applicants are exactly the same but one took the old MCAT and the other took the new one. Based on percentiles, they are identical. How do you choose one over the other?
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you take the one who already took a test similar to the USMLE Lol

USMLE 7 blocks 60 minutes each total 308mc questions
http://www.usmle.org/step-1/

Tomorrow=first day in long series of exams just hope I don't have to retake because Idk what the scoring?
 
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but there is only one AAMC test? I'm doing that test today but my test is on saturday. but i also took TPR tests. i hope I'm not screwed. but if people are saying its application, i did notice that a little with tpr
 
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DrHart said:
Agreed. And if you look at the scores that people have been posting for their AAMC FL, you'll notice that most people scored lower in Psych (compared to BC or CARS) - even though this isn't direct proof, I would wager that a lot of mistakes people might make (myself included) in this section are silly errors as the testing fatigue starts to rear it's ugly head. Focusing for 95 minutes alone is mentally demanding. Doing that four times in a row in a high pressure situation is a mental marathon.
And as to a "memo or booklet" I will say this. While that would be the wise thing to do by the AAMC, there is no real way of getting rid of an unconscious bias. That's like telling the adcoms to not think about elephants.... what do they do? They will think about elephants.
You can tell them, don't look at scores just focus on percentiles. But if they still see a 37 it will garner a different mental reaction than it's corresponding score on the new test. Whether this will ultimately affect decisions, hard to say. Perhaps it's unlikely.

But it does give way to an interesting hypothetical: two applicants are exactly the same but one took the old MCAT and the other took the new one. Based on percentiles, they are identical. How do you choose one over the other?
Click to expand...
What do you mean percentiles are the same?
 
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meant4med said:
What do you mean percentiles are the same?
Click to expand...
Just that... say the student who took the old MCAT scored a 36 meaning that student was in the 97th percentile of test takers for that exam on that day (just a hypothetical). Another student taking the new MCAT scores a 521, which places that student also in the 97th percentile of test takers for that exam on that day.
Relative to other testers, both are in the 97th percent but they each took different exams that test different concepts and require different approaches. This is where the concept of standardization goes awry when you tell adcoms, just look at percentiles - especially in applicants whose percentiles are identical
 
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Anyone have any specific things lined up for tomorrow or Saturday?
Mine - read through 3 verbal passages - don't answer questions to warm up tomorrow before getting in my car. Super excited I got a seat within 30 minutes where I live, got be at testing center at 7:30am. Right?
 
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DrHart said:
Just that... say the student who took the old MCAT scored a 36 meaning that student was in the 97th percentile of test takers for that exam on that day (just a hypothetical). Another student taking the new MCAT scores a 521, which places that student also in the 97th percentile of test takers for that exam on that day.
Relative to other testers, both are in the 97th percent but they each took different exams that test different concepts and require different approaches. This is where the concept of standardization goes awry when you tell adcoms, just look at percentiles - especially in applicants whose percentiles are identical
Click to expand...
But that's the thing, and AAMC is trying to emphasize this--they even explicitly wrote it out. There is no way to compare percentiles directly to each other. For example, in the past, the 99th percentile corresponded with the top 8 scores in a 45 score system (38-45), and now the 99th percentile (HYPOTHETICALLY, again, we won't know yet if their proposed distribution will actually result), in the estimated distribution is that only the top 3 scores (526-528) in a now 60 point system would correspond to the 99th percentile. So the percentiles represent large differences in performances still, and on top of all the test differences, you cannot conclude that a person who scored in a given percentile in the old test would have also scored in that percentile in the new test. That is why the report says that schools should compare percentiles for the new test among those who have taken the new test only.

Edit: so essentially what is being advocated is almost like having two separate applicant groups, with respect to looking at mcat scores--compare old test the way they always have, and compare new test takers. and in my opinion this could go either way right? either a disadvantage, or a more lenient look on test score significance (and thus more comprehensive approach). It'll depend on the schools I guess.. we will all have to wait and see!
 
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I'm not doing **** until the exam except changing out of my current sweatpants and into my new ones.

Walking in looking like a scrub, walking out feeling like a boss...hopefully.
 
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meant4med said:
But that's the thing, and AAMC is trying to emphasize this--they even explicitly wrote it out. There is no way to compare percentiles directly to each other. For example, in the past, the 99th percentile corresponded with the top 8 scores in a 45 score system (38-45), and now the 99th percentile (HYPOTHETICALLY, again, we won't know yet if their proposed distribution will actually result), in the estimated distribution is that only the top 3 scores (526-528) in a now 60 point system would correspond to the 99th percentile. So the percentiles represent large differences in performances still, and on top of all the test differences, you cannot conclude that a person who scored in a given percentile in the old test would have also scored in that percentile in the new test. That is why the report says that schools should compare percentiles for the new test among those who have taken the new test only.

Edit: so essentially what is being advocated is almost like having two separate applicant groups, with respect to looking at mcat scores--compare old test the way they always have, and compare new test takers. and in my opinion this could go either way right? either a disadvantage, or a more lenient look on test score significance (and thus more comprehensive approach). It'll depend on the schools I guess.. we will all have to wait and see!
Click to expand...

agreed that it could swing either way. but realistically do you think adcoms will review applicants separately? I guess in my mind it goes back to unconscious bias. you're forming a single incoming class but choosing applicants from 2 separate groups dichotomized by version of MCAT? you're just adding one more subjective factor into the mix - this time replacing a standardizing one. they don't separate you by science major/non science major do they? the more you parse your applicant pool before actually comparing the applicants the farther away you move from reviewing an application as a whole/in context.

* Who knows how it will go down. It just seems to me to be a bit of an awkward/confusing situation
 
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DrHart said:
agreed that it could swing either way. but realistically do you think adcoms will review applicants separately? I guess in my mind it goes back to unconscious bias. you're forming a single incoming class but choosing applicants from 2 separate groups dichotomized by version of MCAT? you're just adding one more subjective factor into the mix - this time replacing a standardizing one. they don't separate you by science major/non science major do they? the more you parse your applicant pool before actually comparing the applicants the farther away you move from reviewing an application as a whole/in context.

* Who knows how it will go down. It just seems to me to be a bit of an awkward/confusing situation
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you on that! What I mean is that when it comes to evaluating the mcat component of the test, if comparisons want to be made, it would be limited to which test is taken. It is literally a statisticians worse nightmare to have two different measures operating on different scales in two different samples (unless a large sample took both measures, i.e. tests) to be compared with one another. So I think that if it comes down to two applicants, then another factor other than mcat (if the tests are different) would need to be considered to break the tie.

This is in fact what the Vanderbilt admissions chairs stated at a recent Q&A held this semester, the reasoning being that it is really unlikely that two applicants will be EXACTLY the same other than test scores. People will have different strengths, different academic performance (not just gpa but class selection, trends in their gpa, etc.) different backgrounds, research experience, personalities and strengths/weaknesses projected during interview, different personal statements/secondaries, etc.

The good thing, everyone is on the same boat. The bad thing, everyone is on the same boat. haha
 
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meant4med said:
I totally agree with you on that! What I mean is that when it comes to evaluating the mcat component of the test, if comparisons want to be made, it would be limited to which test is taken. It is literally a statisticians worse nightmare to have two different measures operating on different scales to be compared with one another. So I think that if it comes down to two applicants, then another factor other than mcat (if the tests are different) would need to be considered to break the tie.

This is in fact what the Vanderbilt admissions chairs stated at a recent Q&A held this semester, the reasoning being that it is really unlikely that two applicants will be EXACTLY the same other than test scores. People will have different strengths, different academic performance (not just gpa but class selection, trends in their gpa, etc.) different backgrounds, research experience, personalities and strengths/weaknesses projected during interview, different personal statements/secondaries, etc.

The good thing, everyone is on the same boat. The bad thing, everyone is on the same boat. haha
Click to expand...
true! very true! and my post was just a hypothetical situation - just something to think about.

But heres my point... say for argument sake that a school receives a skewed proportion of applicants who took the old exam compared to the new one. say 80% had the old MCAT and the average was at the 60th percentile. the 20% who have the new MCAT have an average at the 90th percentile. If you have two separate groups wouldn't you have to have an incoming class that represents this 80/20 split, even though the 20% who took the new MCAT are a clearly stronger group?
I guess what I'm saying... is that at some point or another the adcoms will have to compare old test takers to new test takers - which would be an issue if the applicants are nearly identical. but like you said, the chances of that actually happening with significant frequency is probably pretty slim
 
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I don't think they have to take a certain amount from either pool. If they did, there wouldn't be schools that have announced a preference for the new exam.

My guess is that the standards will still be the same for applicants applying with the old exam, but new applicants will be judged based on percentile only, and only compared in percentile to other applicants with a new score.

My main concern now is getting my score back and not knowing if I need to retake or not....
 
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Not sure if someone has mentioned this already, but is it confirmed officially that the testing format is 1 question a page like the AAMC FL/guide questions or will we be able to see all the questions pertaining to a certain passage like before?
 
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umgoblue2008 said:
Not sure if someone has mentioned this already, but is it confirmed officially that the testing format is 1 question a page like the AAMC FL/guide questions or will we be able to see all the questions pertaining to a certain passage like before?
Click to expand...

One question per page.
I like this method in my opinion. Not clouded with too much other info.
 
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Does anyone else think this thread is going to double in size after this weekend with questions for us? haha.
 
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To those who took a lot of practice exams, can you rank them?

From what I've read from others it seems to be AAMC > EK > NS > TPR > Kaplan

I have kaplan exams but if next step is much better and kaplan useless, I'll just buy next step
 
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AnteaterPediatrician said:
can someone explain

what is the net charge of the peptide arg-ala-phe-leu at ph 8
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When the pH > pKa, the aa is deprotonated. When pH < pKa the aa is proton acted.

NH3 groups typically have a pKa around 9, COOH groups have pKa around 2.

Arginine is the only aa that has an ionizable R group, (NH3).

So, at pH of 8, C-terminus is deprotonated (-1), N- terminus is protonated (+1), Arginine is protonated (+1). So the net charge is -1+1+1= +1
 
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Haven't posted in quite a while but I just wanted to wish all the test takers good luck tomorrow and Saturday. All your hard work will pay off! I will be taking the exam on June 20th and the time seems to be flying by.
 
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What are Saturday people doing tmr? I'm sneaking in a game of thrones rewatch in between doing Anki and content review.
 
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NaomiM said:
What are Saturday people doing tmr? I'm sneaking in a game of thrones rewatch in between doing Anki and content review.
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I like to watch good inspirational movies about geniuses - good will hunting, a beautiful mind, etc.
makes me feel like i can pull a good score >.<
 
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are we supposed to know how each amino acid looks like? like for question 33 on the first section and the abbreviations??? i don't get this question either
 
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like if we have to figure out the charge of peptide. i understand for amino groups and COOH groups, but what about the R groups of the other amino acids?
 
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AnteaterPediatrician said:
like if we have to figure out the charge of peptide. i understand for amino groups and COOH groups, but what about the R groups of the other amino acids?
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Amino_Acids.svg

Here you go, you need to know properties of side chains (non-polar, polar, aromatic, charged/non-charged, etc) and what they look like.
You also need to know 3 letter abbreviations and 1 letter abbreviations.

Use google for a search of amino acids for more information.
 
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Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a while, and wanted to wish you all luck tomorrow and Saturday! I've been REALLY anxious the last couple weeks with the test coming up, and reading about everyone's progress/commentary/advice was so comforting, so I felt I should say something!
 
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Good luck to the friday kiddos! Rock that chem/phys section like its your job!
giphy.gif
 
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for question 47 on the first section. how do u know the phosphate will loose a H
and can somoen explain 33 and 38
 
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AnteaterPediatrician said:
for question 47 on the first section. how do u know the phosphate will loose a H
Click to expand...
I'd post these questions in the MCAT Q&A thread (and who knows, maybe some people have posted your same question). http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/mcat-study-question-q-a.134/

And for everyone taking it this weekend: KICK MCAT ASS!!!!!! Don't listen to that voice of self-doubt in your head (it tends to get louder the few days before your test)... ignore it, you've studied all you could, and I KNOW you can do it!
 
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The best of luck for those taking the test in the morning! And for the other fellow Saturday testers, good luck to you too.. I'll see you all on the flip side!
 
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