The Official August 16, 2013 MCAT Thread

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gettheleadout

gettheleadout

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Welcome everyone! For those following the SN2ed or a similar 3-month study schedule, prep should begin in the next few weeks.

Hope to see some ambitious and optimistic people here with me, and shout out to the 3/23'ers from before I bailed on that test date.

Let's go!
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Platonic said:
I was seriously considering shutting it down after the 32 on AAMC 4. Not so much because of the score, but because of the timing issues. I didn't do a tone of passages during content review, and the ones I did were untimed. On AAMC 4, I was rushing the last two passages in each section. I told myself that if I didn't get a 35 on AAMC 5, save the rest of the FL's, void on the 16th, and take it next spring. I fell a little short, but decided to go for it anyway.

At this point, I can finish the bio section with around 5 minutes to spare. I'm still always down to the wire is PS, and a little slow in verbal. I usually have to pick 1 verbal passage to skim near the end due to lack of time. I'm getting better at making good guesses on verbal questions based on tone of the choices, even if I don't understand the passage.
Click to expand...

This is how I feel with the sciences. To be completely honest, my science background sucks, however, once I started taking FLs I started learning the true value of extracting info from the passage (and eliminating ridiculous answer choices) when it comes to answering the questions.

I'm glad you stuck with it, and it's awesome that you crushed AAMC 8.
 
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gettheleadout said:
Went from 13, 13, 12, 13 in VR to a 10 on AAMC 8 for a 39 overall.

lolwut verbal
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What steps did you go through to end up scoring 13's? If you don't mind sharing? (I think I read all the 10+ verbal tips, and apologize if I overlooked your answer.) Do you have any tips for boiling down complicated paragraphs?
 
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Gauss44 said:
What steps did you go through to end up scoring 13's? If you don't mind sharing? (I think I read all the 10+ verbal tips, and apologize if I overlooked your answer.) Do you have any tips for boiling down complicated paragraphs?
Click to expand...

I really don't have an answer to that. I don't follow any particular set of steps or strategy, I just read the passage, questions, and choose the best answers. I know that sounds lame but I'm really not keeping any sort of maxims or procedure in my head during the test.

I've always had strong reading and writing skills, likely from early exposure and activity as a child.
 
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does anyone has a good way of memorizing whats from endo-, meso- and ectoderm?

cant seem to remember all :(
 
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SynapticDoctah said:
I'm pretty sure he/she means what parts of the developing body arise from
Endo/meso/ecto.
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Yeah, exactly. It's the same with the body parts as the embryo parts. Skin and nerves are outside (ecto), muscle and bone are in the middle (meso), and internal organs are on the inside (endo).
 
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gettheleadout said:
I really don't have an answer to that. I don't follow any particular set of steps or strategy, I just read the passage, questions, and choose the best answers. I know that sounds lame but I'm really not keeping any sort of maxims or procedure in my head during the test.

I've always had strong reading and writing skills, likely from early exposure and activity as a child.
Click to expand...

Darn, I've found most of your posts to be relatively spot on and easy to understand. I was hoping you made one about VR that I missed somehow. (I think I've read all VR threads. Not 100% sure I didn't miss one.)
 
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Platonic, how did you pull yourself up??
I did another FL today... (AAMC 5R - 11/10/10) :( :(

I heard once you start doing FLs, it's pretty bleak to go much more up from there.
 
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inycepoo said:
Yeah, exactly. It's the same with the body parts as the embryo parts. Skin and nerves are outside (ecto), muscle and bone are in the middle (meso), and internal organs are on the inside (endo).
Click to expand...

This is a good general trend, but there are important exceptions. For example, pancreas and liver are endoderm. But these are associated organs of the gastrointestinal tract (endo), so it's not that hard to remember.
 
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Ansar said:
Platonic, how did you pull yourself up??
I did another FL today... (AAMC 5R - 11/10/10) :( :(

I heard once you start doing FLs, it's pretty bleak to go much more up from there.
Click to expand...
Timing was my main problem at the start. I started spending less time reading the science passages (from about 3 minutes to 1-2 minutes) by not spending time worrying about the minutia of the passage. This helped timing a lot. I also started being more careful when answering questions, especially with simple calculations. That cut down on stupid errors. This is the primary reason my PS sores increased. I already had good knowledge of the material.

In BS, I finished the Kaplan Bio materials, and I credit this to my score increase. My Bio knowledge was less than ideal. I learned a lot of Bio by reading their answer explanations. Before they explain the question, they give a brief (but surprisingly complete) content review over the relevant material in the question. I also reread my content review bio notes.

A weird quirk I've noticed is that when reading question stems, I tend to not carefully read the last couple words of a sentence. I kind of assume what's at the end. This made me miss a lot of questions, since the last word or two in a question often changes things significantly. So I make sure to read every word carefully.

As far as verbal goes, it's a crapshoot. I'm 10-12 on every test so far. I got an 11 on AAMC 3 taken as a diagnostic, so I haven't improved at all. Timing is getting a little better though. And I'm starting to notice that the harder I think about a verbal question, the more likely I am to get it wrong. They love giving wrong answers that are actually correct if you think about it. So I'm going to work on selecting the most effortlessly correct answer, rather than trying to force an answer to be correct with contrived arguments.
 
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inycepoo said:
Yeah, exactly. It's the same with the body parts as the embryo parts. Skin and nerves are outside (ecto), muscle and bone are in the middle (meso), and internal organs are on the inside (endo).
Click to expand...
Careful what you call "skin"...
Gauss44 said:
Darn, I've found most of your posts to be relatively spot on and easy to understand. I was hoping you made one about VR that I missed somehow. (I think I've read all VR threads. Not 100% sure I didn't miss one.)
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O Grady said:
^^^ Yeah GTLO, SAVE US!!!!

:laugh:
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Haha sorry guys :oops:
Platonic said:
In BS, I finished the Kaplan Bio materials, and I credit this to my score increase. My Bio knowledge was less than ideal. I learned a lot of Bio by reading their answer explanations. Before they explain the question, they give a brief (but surprisingly complete) content review over the relevant material in the question. I also reread my content review bio notes.
Click to expand...

Just FYI, I found a number of errors in the Kaplan Bio Review Notes book.
 
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Less than two weeks. Anyone else having problems with inconsistency? FL 3,4,5,7 scores so far: (30,35,31,34) My VR has been 10-11, but with PS and BS I'm ranging 10-13. I like my scores but of course I'd like to keep the consistency at 34-35. I'm just focusing on my weaknesses using passages between the next 4 FL days.
 
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gettheleadout said:
Just FYI, I found a number of errors in the Kaplan Bio Review Notes book.
Click to expand...

I didn't do their review book, I'm talking about the subject tests/topicals/section tests. btw, what are you talking about when you say careful with skin? The non-epidermis layers being mesoderm right? Or something else?
 
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I feel like most of AAMCs explanation to answers are just circular... "Answer D is incorrect because it is incorrect." WTF?
 
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jjunior said:
does anyone has a good way of memorizing whats from endo-, meso- and ectoderm?

cant seem to remember all :(
Click to expand...

My Kaplan notes gave a mnemonic:

Endoderm = "endernal" organs (linings of respiratory, digestive tracts, associated organs)
Mesoderm = "means"-o-derm (how to get from place to place: musculoskeletal, circulatory, etc)
Ectoderm = "attracto"derm (things that you find attractive about other people-- eyes, brains (nervous system), skin, hair, nails)

Bit cheesy, but hey, if it helps..

Also, inycepoo: why so constantly critical?
 
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aesculapian said:
Also, inycepoo: why so constantly critical?
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Where was I critical? I offered an explanation based on how I remember the concepts. I actually really just think about inner, middle, and outer.

The "basic concept" comment was made out of surprise that SynapticDoctah seemed to know what he was talking about and then followed up with a "I need to study more" comment. I didn't get it.
 
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Is anyone working on organic chem in TPRH SW? I think Passage 6 Q1 has the wrong answer.

How many different monobrominated compounds would be produced by the free radical bromination of n-pentane?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5

Answer in white below
Answer key has 3, but shouldn't it be 4 since the 2nd carbon can produce 2 different stereoisomers
 
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99dmg said:
Is anyone working on organic chem in TPRH SW? I think Passage 6 Q1 has the wrong answer.

How many different monobrominated compounds would be produced by the free radical bromination of n-pentane?

A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5

Answer in white below
Answer key has 3, but shouldn't it be 4 since the 2nd carbon can produce 2 different stereoisomers
Click to expand...

Explained in white.

Thats not a different compound. It's an stereoisomer. Still called 2-bromopentane.
 
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Long time lurker of the MCAT boards here. After postponing this test twice this summer (it was such a mistake for me to try to study on top of working and summer classes :( ) I'm finally going to take it at 1PM on the 16th. I took my first post-content review practice FL yesterday, AAMC 5R and scored a 37 (PS 13 VR 11 BS 13). I'm pleased with the score and would be ABSOLUTELY ECSTATIC to get this score on the real deal but really felt like I just lucked out on the topics tested, in particular for BS. What is everyone else doing for OChem and Bio practice? I have TPRH Science WB but am looking to do whatever I can get my hands on. What about EK Bio 1001? Has anyone found that text helpful?
 
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gettheleadout said:
Stereoisomers would be considered different compounds because physical properties vary between diastereomers.
Click to expand...

But those two ((R)-2-bromopentane & (S)-2-bromopentane) are enantiomers; same physical everything. Still different compounds? I think not.
 
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inycepoo said:
But those two ((R)-2-bromopentane & (S)-2-bromopentane) are enantiomers; same physical everything. Still different compounds? I think not.
Click to expand...

Identical compounds have identical systematic names, and stereoisomers don't. "Compound" is a bad term to use anyway, the question should specify "constitutional isomers" if that's what it wants; "compound" isn't an IUPAC term.
 
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inycepoo said:
But those two ((R)-2-bromopentane & (S)-2-bromopentane) are enantiomers; same physical everything. Still different compounds? I think not.
Click to expand...

a lot of MCAT questions come down to semantics, unfortunately. In this case, Enantiomers certainly are different molecules or "compounds.". They are not superposable, so they're different.
 
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inycepoo said:
But those two ((R)-2-bromopentane & (S)-2-bromopentane) are enantiomers; same physical everything. Still different compounds? I think not.
Click to expand...

Except for rotation of polarized light and chemical activity

Btw, hi guys :hello:

Looks like we're in this boat together! Or ship. Or ark. Or a.... speedboat! Speedboats are cool.
 
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ElCapone said:
Except for rotation of polarized light and chemical activity

Btw, hi guys :hello:

Looks like we're in this boat together! Or ship. Or ark. Or a.... speedboat! Speedboats are cool.
Click to expand...

hopefully not this ship.

Titanic_Trailer.jpg
 
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It looks like I am joining you guys August 16th at 1pm. Original MCAT was cancelled at the testing center so I am now bumming around and doing some TPRH/Kaplan until August 16th. AAMC 7-11 avg was 33. Hoping to keep it there for another 11 days!!!!
 
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I agree that AAMC VR is easier, but I still have a hard time focusing through the entire VR section.

Incidentally, AAMC #7 bent me over today. I was feeling pretty good about stuff until this morning, but I'm trying to not let it get me too down.

Scored a 24 (8PS, 6VR, 10BS) I'm very surprised at my PS since I've been consistently hitting 10's, and idk about VR.... it didn't seem that bad while I was taking it, but while reviewing it I realized I tend to lose focus about halfway through the passage, and end up making a lot of wrong assumptions about the main point and author's view on certain things.

I realize that fluctuations in scores mean serious content weaknesses (so far scored 26, 31, 28, 24), but when my VR is all over the place idk what to do. I'm considering experimenting with drinking a lot of caffeine before my next test to see what happens, as well as taking the reading of VR passages VERY slowly to help me get the main idea.
 
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O Grady said:
I realize that fluctuations in scores mean serious content weaknesses (so far scored 26, 31, 28, 24), but when my VR is all over the place idk what to do. I'm considering experimenting with drinking a lot of caffeine before my next test to see what happens, as well as taking the reading of VR passages VERY slowly to help me get the main idea.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd be more worried about that at this point than anything else, especially at that score range.
 
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hmmm maybe it's just me then. I feel like whenever I read AAMC passages I just read the words on the page without taking them in so by the end of the passage I don't know the main points/tone of the passages

Also, does anyone have good reading sources to help with the humanities passages? I know it might be a little too late, but better late then never
 
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99dmg said:
Anyone find that AAMC's passages are way harder to read than EK or TPR's passages?
Click to expand...
I find them generally less interesting but the questions certainly are easier (than TPRH, anyway)...just a matter of losing focus for me after four (personally, boring) passages (~30 questions). I guess hopefully a real (40 instead of 59 questions, 7 instead of 9 passages) MCAT will be easier?
 
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O Grady said:
I agree that AAMC VR is easier, but I still have a hard time focusing through the entire VR section.

Incidentally, AAMC #7 bent me over today. I was feeling pretty good about stuff until this morning, but I'm trying to not let it get me too down.

Scored a 24 (8PS, 6VR, 10BS) I'm very surprised at my PS since I've been consistently hitting 10's, and idk about VR.... it didn't seem that bad while I was taking it, but while reviewing it I realized I tend to lose focus about halfway through the passage, and end up making a lot of wrong assumptions about the main point and author's view on certain things.

I realize that fluctuations in scores mean serious content weaknesses (so far scored 26, 31, 28, 24), but when my VR is all over the place idk what to do. I'm considering experimenting with drinking a lot of caffeine before my next test to see what happens, as well as taking the reading of VR passages VERY slowly to help me get the main idea.
Click to expand...

I may be remembering incorrectly, but isn't 24 around what you got previously? I don't mean to be foreboding, but I agree that fluctuation over a 7 point range from twenties to thirties is concerning. Are you confident sticking to August for your retake?
 
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Ansar said:
I find them generally less interesting but the questions certainly are easier (than TPRH, anyway)...just a matter of losing focus for me after four (personally, boring) passages (~30 questions). I guess hopefully a real (40 instead of 59 questions, 7 instead of 9 passages) MCAT will be easier?
Click to expand...

I think this is one of the problems as well. I find AAMC passages uninteresting which makes it hard to focus on the content/comprehend the passages.
 
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