The Official August 15, 2014 MCAT Thread

Started by axa5780
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axa5780

axa5780

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Hey guys, I'am signed up for this date. I didn't find a thread for August 15th, so here it is. Let's make this a fun experience, and hope we all come out the other end satisfied with our score.

Materials:
PS: BR Physics, NOVA Physics, BR Chemistry, EK 1001 Chem & Phys
BS: EK Biology, BR Biology, EK 1001 Biol
Verbal: EK 101, TPR Verbal

Extras: TPRH SW, WIkiPremed Flashcards & videos. All AAMC FL plus all Kaplan FL.

Lets do this.
 
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omnxbeast said:
AAMC 8 after implementing (and two days of practice) of TBRBio's Verbal Strat
41 - 14/13/14
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Twins! I got the exact same score on that test. Maybe we missed the same questions too. I'm going to take 11 on Monday, so I can review and adjust for anything after and rest on Thursday.
 
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Ethan01 said:
When is everyone taking their last practice test?
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AAMC 11 on Monday!


BowSeat said:
It's honestly just luck after 12 12 12. If you can score a 12, you can score a 15.
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I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. In my opinion, luck for getting a 15 on P/B. Luck for getting 13+ on V. I've worked my ass off for my 14s on physical and biological. Still working towards getting that 13 on verbal...
 
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medbound18 said:
Need some advice. I'm considering pushing my test date back. I've had some personal **** going on since a couple of weeks ago and my studying has suffered horribly because of it. It's no one's fault but my own for not being more disciplined and not letting it affect my studying, but I'm only human. I can only handle so much outside stress/emotions before it starts to get to me. I just don't feel like I am in the right mindset to be taking this exam in a week. However, I am applying for this cycle and am worried about my application being considered late compared to most, even with the August 15th date. I guess it would only be a week or two later that I would get my scores, but still, I just would hate for that to put me at a disadvantage. But, it may be worth being later than most if it means going into the exam with a clear head and hopefully rocking it. Thoughts?? Any advice/remarks would be helpful.

(My practice exams are about where I want them to be. Honestly would like them to be a couple points higher and think they would be if I hadn't been distracted by outside stuff recently. Which is why I'm strongly leaning towards pushing it back so I can clear my head and spend extra time studying.)
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I'm not sure, but I think at this point it's too late to move your test day now. If anything, you can take it for the experience and void it and sign up for a later date.
 
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Dang guys, I just took an EK verbal test (#5) and got a 50% after building my self up to a score of 9. I managed to hit a 31 on aamc 8 and a 32 on TPR Cracking #1. Verbal has been my weakness since the beginning (i scored a 11/ 4/ 11 on aamc 10 as a diagnostic) and haven't surpassed to 10 point mark yet. I'm going to be taking AAMC 9 tomorrow at 8 AM. I just hope the passages on the actual MCAT aren't as long and detailed as on the recent AAMC's.
 
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Hey all! I just took my MCAT today and I just wanted to wish you all the best of luck. Don't underestimate what you can do in the last week. Go over those things that you always forget, it may just pay off. I had at least 2 questions that I saw today that I only got right because I briefly looked over my notes the night before (even though that's not exactly recommended). Don't get freaked out by the passage complexity and length because EVERY single question is in some way shape or form something you've studied and know 🙂

Best of luck to you all!!!
 
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30, 32, 36, 32, 35 on AAMCs 5, 7, 3, 4, and 8 , respectively and taken in that order (AAMC 5 was taken in early July). What's my chance at a 35 on the actual if I can average 35 on 9, 10, and 11?
 
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Sleep is underrated.. Been wakin up too early past few days at 4:30 cuz of stress anxiety of this test. Verbal scores (which isn't my strength) been dipping a little. Only one more aamc test left... Ahh
 
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cafeverona said:
Yeah that may be so--granted, this is just what I've heard from people who recently took it and said no AAMC compared well. You can check the forums for more testimonials. Either way, the extra practice can't hurt.
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I wrote the August 7th 2PM exam, I did all the practice tests and they weren't representative of the real deal this time. PS- very conceptual, Verbal-longer/boring topics this time around, BS (experimental somewhat like AAMC 11 and 10) this is a clear trend recently with more emphasis on experimental like passages. People generally score around their AAMC average because the test-makers likely curve these exams to produce the same standard dev./ mean across exams I would bet on average, the real deal MCAT is curved much easier than the practice tests were. I got an 11 on PS in 2013 after feeling like I bombed it and was praying for a 9. Don't doubt your abilities and you will do fine!
 
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CanadianMedHopeful said:
I wrote the August 7th 2PM exam, I did all the practice tests and they weren't representative of the real deal this time. PS- very conceptual, Verbal-longer/boring topics this time around, BS (experimental somewhat like AAMC 11 and 10) this is a clear trend recently with more emphasis on experimental like passages. People generally score around their AAMC average because the test-makers likely curve these exams to produce the same standard dev./ mean across exams I would bet on average, the real deal MCAT is curved much easier than the practice tests were. I got an 11 on PS in 2013 after feeling like I bombed it and was praying for a 9. Don't doubt your abilities and you will do fine!
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For conceptual problems you pretty much either know it or you don't right?
 
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medbound18 said:
Could you explain what you mean by the PS section being more conceptual?
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Basically I had ONE physics calculation on my PS test (there were other chem ones but the majority of the physics covered was conceptual) I can't post about the actual questions but they tried to make you focus on qualitative concepts some answerable based on the passage others you had to draw from your previous knowledge for. BR was definitely my life saver for the PS on this test. Be careful though, because some of the other exams lately have been EXTREMELY calculation heavy from what I've read on SDN so it is entirely random what exam you're going to get and just because I had a lot of conceptual questions doesn't guarantee you will. My best advice would be to not disregard something as insignificant and above the scope of this exam and prepare yourself for a heavy calculation exam and a heavy conceptual exam to make sure you won't get flustered during the exam. Good luck!
 
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medbound18 said:
Could you explain what you mean by the PS section being more conceptual?
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Sorry, just a lurker on this thread! Anyways I just took the 8 am test on August 7 and @CanadianMedHopeful makes a good point. As I read somewhere on SDN, the best way to prepare mentally for the exam is to expect the unexpected. This way you spend less of your time flustered that you haven't seen a certain concept tested in an unusual manner and more of your time thinking it through and racking up some more points! Best of luck to you guys! I'm sure everyone here will do awesome 🙂
 
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powerup said:
Sorry, just a lurker on this thread! Anyways I just took the 8 am test on August 7 and @CanadianMedHopeful makes a good point. As I read somewhere on SDN, the best way to prepare mentally for the exam is to expect the unexpected. This way you spend less of your time flustered that you haven't seen a certain concept tested in an unusual manner and more of your time thinking it through and racking up some more points! Best of luck to you guys! I'm sure everyone here will do awesome 🙂
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So, what do you recommend we do for these last 5 days to be most productive for the actual exam? I'm a retaker, and I know I messed up the PS section on my first MCAT because I panicked during it. Also, what did you guys think about the organic questions for your exam?
 
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crayformedschool said:
So, what do you recommend we do for these last 5 days to be most productive for the actual exam? I'm a retaker, and I know I messed up the PS section on my first MCAT because I panicked during it. Also, what did you guys think about the organic questions for your exam?
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Take the free standing questions first. They are the easiest part of the exam and gives a confidence boost to carry you through the rest of the physical section. Don't freak out when you get to a passage that has an experiment that you've never seen before; the questions always test a simple concept you've seen not something you've never seen so don't search for something in the passage you don't need.

As for orgo, I haven't done any content review on it becaue I have missed only one orgo question in AAMC 3-9 (stupid slip up) but since people are posting that orgo is heavy on the most recent mcats, I started orgo content review yesterday... I would recommend the EK orgo for something quick and to the point.
 
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crayformedschool said:
So, what do you recommend we do for these last 5 days to be most productive for the actual exam? I'm a retaker, and I know I messed up the PS section on my first MCAT because I panicked during it. Also, what did you guys think about the organic questions for your exam?
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Imo, just make sure that you cover EVERY concept that could possibly be tested. Don't neglect concepts that you don't like or don't think will be tested because of the lack of questions on the concept. You NEVER know what could happen on the real thing. There could be times when one concept is just tested crazy disproportionately compared to others, and depending on your luck, that concept could save or kill you on the exam. Don't let that chance happen just because you didn't really understand a concept due to lack of concentration on it.

As for the mentality, I was actually applying that idea to the entire exam. If you come in calm and collected and ready to be at least a little surprised, I think your anticipation of those little eccentricities will really help in allowing you to carry through the exam. How to get this mentality? You may have seen this idea throughout the forum a lot, but one thing I did that I definitely don't regret doing is just chilling on the day before the exam. Some people go out, watch games, chill with friends, do a hobby, etc. I just watched a lot of comedies and that really lightened my mood lolol. And then to the hours going up to the exam, I just listened to some motivational music and went in with cautious confidence, ready to take on whatever comes! We'll see how the scores come out, but this definitely helped me with whatever anxiety I would've had coming into the exam.

Like certain topics on physics/gen chem, orgo is really hit or miss in terms of how heavily it's tested and in what depth it's tested. You could get a test that has a couple passages and a few discretes in orgo or a test that has maybe just a couple of questions and a passage in it. Again, don't let the amount of orgo on the exam throw you off. Not sure what to tell you since I got comfortable in orgo from classes and lab work, but just go through the various mechanisms (i.e. SN2, SN1, addition, addition/elimination, etc.) and the lab techniques. Prepare for the worst, but don't go in with the idea that you're just gonna fail if there's a lot of orgo on the test!
 
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powerup said:
Imo, just make sure that you cover EVERY concept that could possibly be tested. Don't neglect concepts that you don't like or don't think will be tested because of the lack of questions on the concept. You NEVER know what could happen on the real thing. There could be times when one concept is just tested crazy disproportionately compared to others, and depending on your luck, that concept could save or kill you on the exam. Don't let that chance happen just because you didn't really understand a concept due to lack of concentration on it.

As for the mentality, I was actually applying that idea to the entire exam. If you come in calm and collected and ready to be at least a little surprised, I think your anticipation of those little eccentricities will really help in allowing you to carry through the exam. How to get this mentality? You may have seen this idea throughout the forum a lot, but one thing I did that I definitely don't regret doing is just chilling on the day before the exam. Some people go out, watch games, chill with friends, do a hobby, etc. I just watched a lot of comedies and that really lightened my mood lolol. And then to the hours going up to the exam, I just listened to some motivational music and went in with cautious confidence, ready to take on whatever comes! We'll see how the scores come out, but this definitely helped me with whatever anxiety I would've had coming into the exam.

Like certain topics on physics/gen chem, orgo is really hit or miss in terms of how heavily it's tested and in what depth it's tested. You could get a test that has a couple passages and a few discretes in orgo or a test that has maybe just a couple of questions and a passage in it. Again, don't let the amount of orgo on the exam throw you off. Not sure what to tell you since I got comfortable in orgo from classes and lab work, but just go through the various mechanisms (i.e. SN2, SN1, addition, addition/elimination, etc.) and the lab techniques. Prepare for the worst, but don't go in with the idea that you're just gonna fail if there's a lot of orgo on the test!
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Thanks! 🙂
 
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SO if I get a 40+ on my MCAT I will donate $50 to charity, stop masturbating for a month, and post my real face here

If I get a 44 or 45 I will donate $50 to charity and $50 dollars to my university, stop masturbating for 2 months, and post my real face and first name here
 
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Just got ****ed on AAMC 11... went down four points to a 35... three questions off from a 38 wtf the anxiety is getting to me
 
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iforget2 said:
I'm taking 11 tomorrow. Is it noticeably more difficult than the others?
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I usually have 10 minutes remaining on PS, but I worked up until the clock on this one. The questions and calculations are so annoying. I kept calculating incorrectly because of arithmetic mistakes. Everything else was about the same.
 
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Somehow hit a 40 on AAMC #7 today: 13/15/12

Been on and off this spring, had a medical issue + work and have basically been wasting away the past 6 weeks visiting friends with vacation beach houses. I'm on the 2 week "average Korean premed" study plan and the scores are rising somehow. 3 more FL's to go + BR OChem books to read. If I hit 35 on the real thing I'll be in heaven.
 
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Oh and a HUGE thank you to whoever suggested that VR strategy, reading the 1st and last paragraph, then reading the passage. That strategy took me from a 12 avg on VR to a 13-15 range over the last 3 VR sections I've done.
 
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