The Official August 2015 MCAT Thread

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Pusheen said:
Dude, you are not alone. My mind just starts swimming when the passage just goes on and on about HJLHDI7 SUHFDSJK8 and DHOFSD1-2. It just never stops, they keep introducing more and more new ones!!! :laugh: I was just doing a passage like this and I thought of this post.
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The hardest passage on my test had about 7 molecules, all with scientific names, and each fit into a complex web of covalent modifications with each other, binding with each other, different localizations in the cell.. It was absurd 😕
 
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Pusheen said:
Dude, you are not alone. My mind just starts swimming when the passage just goes on and on about HJLHDI7 SUHFDSJK8 and DHOFSD1-2. It just never stops, they keep introducing more and more new ones!!! :laugh: I was just doing a passage like this and I thought of this post.
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Ughh those are the worst sometimes I try to take little short notes as I'm reading those kinds of passages. That hasn't really helped me lol
 
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EEtoPre-Med said:
I couldn't agree more with this. I got an 86 on the AAMC FL and I think that B/B and C/P was tough. So maybe it'll turn alright for us!
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We can only hope! I distinctly remember thinking I was going to have bombed the C/P and psych sections and got 93 and 88% respectively. I really feel like the MCAT is uniquely capable of making you feel like you did terribly when you actually did pretty well. I hope some of the earlier test takers answer my other thread so I can see if the trend is more broad!
 
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Minions2015 said:
how many questions do you guys gets right on the CARS section? i can't break over 50% 🙁
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Maybe you just don't have the gift. It's OK, take your 7-8 on this section and get on with your life. Or do more practice and just hope/pray you get better. You might, or you might not. EK101 has been historically very helpful.

Also since you've established a control study of "normal, boring" you, you might also try taking the sections with caffeine/amphetamines (assuming you have an RX) and note the difference. Use whichever state has provided you with the best score when you go in for test day. Profit. Rinse and repeat for USMLE/COMLEX.
 
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Pusheen said:
Dude, you are not alone. My mind just starts swimming when the passage just goes on and on about HJLHDI7 SUHFDSJK8 and DHOFSD1-2. It just never stops, they keep introducing more and more new ones!!! :laugh: I was just doing a passage like this and I thought of this post.
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Biochemists are so lame with their nomenclature. Though there are some cool ones. Flippase comes to mind.
 
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StudyLater said:
Maybe you just don't have the gift. It's OK, take your 7-8 on this section and get on with your life. Or do more practice and just hope/pray you get better. You might, or you might not. EK101 has been historically very helpful.

Also since you've established a control study of "normal, boring" you, you might also try taking the sections with caffeine/amphetamines (assuming you have an RX) and note the difference. Use whichever state has provided you with the best score when you go in for test day. Profit. Rinse and repeat for USMLE/COMLEX.
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Lol at "the gift" :laugh:

But actually tho. Reading is one thing and reading comprehension is another. There's no way to improve you're reading comprehension skills over night, its sorta ingrained over a period of years. People who get better with EK101 don't really improve their ability to comprehend Shakespearean excerpts, they just become more familiar with the type of questions/ wrong answer choices that the test writers often use.
 
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FutureMrDr said:
Lol at "the gift" :laugh:
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Glad you caught that 🙂

FutureMrDr said:
There's no way to improve you're reading comprehension skills over night, its sorta ingrained over a period of years.
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Damn SES strikes again 😉

Profound said:
I remember there was an ion channel in the heart or or somewhere and they literally named it "funny channel" because it acts "funny" in terms of ion movement.
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I've not heard of such a channel. I obviously haven't studied enough. 😳
 
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Thanks guys!! i am planning on taking MCAT on the 21st. i was wondering if anyone knows when preliminary scores come out? is it 3 weeks after the test and actual score a week or so after that? Thanks in advance.
 
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Minions2015 said:
Thanks guys!! i am planning on taking MCAT on the 21st. i was wondering if anyone knows when preliminary scores come out? is it 3 weeks after the test and actual score a week or so after that? Thanks in advance.
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So only April, May and June test takers get prelims. AAMC shortchanged the rest of us 😛
 
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But for every one of these cool names there is 10,000 GHQ12FCK6GALAXYX12BLASTOFF-type names.

Despite how cool its function is, how the heck am I supposed to share your discovery when you name things that way? No one will remember it.
 
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StudyLater said:
But for every one of these cool names there is 10,000 GHQ12FCK6GALAXYX12BLASTOFF-type names.

Despite how cool it's function is, how the heck am I supposed to share your discovery when you name things that way? No one will remember it.
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I personally like the systematic enzyme names. oxidoreductase, etc. It gives you a better idea of what the thing does without you ever having heard of it before.
 
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True. NADH-CoQ oxidoreductase. Succinate-CoQ oxidoreductase. CoQH2-cytochrome c oxidoreductase. I get those right?
 
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StudyLater said:
True. NADH-CoQ oxidoreductase. Succinate-CoQ oxidoreductase. CoQH2-cytochrome c oxidoreductase. I get those right?
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da2eea853666ae9123be92748b2f504f031250a3038560ea35c788dc7c2564f2.jpg


So many consonants!
 
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Mandee8767 said:
Anyone tired of sitting 6+ hours per day. Feel like I'm increasing my risk of a DVT! lol :heckyeah:
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This may be TMI but I got somewhat constipated when I suddenly became completely sedentary, taking 2 full lengths a week 😵 Not moving around sucks!
 
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WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot said:
I'm also interested to know if anyone closely followed the outline for P/S and still saw terms they didn't know? I watched the KA videos and made flashcards for P/S, but I also had a hard copy of the AAMC outline open the entire time to check off terms/people and make notes as I went along. And I downloaded a few intro psych and soc textbooks to clarify things if needed (+google, wikipedia, boundless, etc). I really hope that's enough. Despite never having taken psych (but two soc classes), I weirdly feel most prepared for the P/S section...
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The outline was my bible and there were terms I didn't know. Just spend some time with a very large flashcard deck.
 
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You know what would be great?? If they added a button that allows you to skip to the next passage. I'm so serious!! So much time would be saved!! I usually like skipping around but with this new exam I either start from beginning to end or start at the end and work my way back words.
 
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me16 said:
But the aamc would never do anything beneficial like that. They want students to wait, suffer and rethink all our answers lol.
View attachment 194839
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This meme is just amazing.

me16 said:
You know what would be great?? If they added a button that allows you to skip to the next passage. I'm so serious!! So much time would be saved!! I usually like skipping around but with this new exam I either start from beginning to end or start at the end and work my way back words.
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Totally agree. I had to awkwardly click a million times to get through the test.. would be nice to jump from passage to passage.
 
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How balanced is the new MCAT between the biochem and the old BS material that was a lot heavier in physiology? I did both the Bio Qpacks (83% and 88%) and noticed a lot of physiology. I know they are from the old MCAT, but are people still finding a considerable amount of physio/cell bio stuff on their exams?
 
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WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot said:
I really appreciate you posting your thoughts and perspective, but seriously 🙂 - from someone who struggles with time - do you have any tips for how you get through sections so quickly? How long did you take (weeks? months?) to do practice passages and FLs?
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So I studied all last summer for the old MCAT, which I did fine on but wasn't confident would get me into the schools I wanted to go to. And for that I basically did the SN2ed method with lots of passage prep and I think close to twenty FLs.

I think for me is that I would have about 10-20 minutes for PS, 5-10 minutes for VR, and 30 mins for BS back in the day. And so they really haven't added that much to each section in my opinion, just another passage, but have given us almost half an hour more time. So that right there I think explains the discrepancy in time. Also I'm just really familiar with this test by now (and it's not like I'm getting every question right just because I answer it fast... actually I'm kind of getting paranoid now that I think about my test more) so it's easier for me to go through things fast, mark ones that I want to revisit and spend more time on, and then just afterwards review each question carefully so I can get a nice overall impression of how I feel about a section.

I'm not a fast reader, at least not in the bookish sense, so I really think this just comes down to practice and familiarity with the test!
 
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clathrin413 said:
How balanced is the new MCAT between the biochem and the old BS material that was a lot heavier in physiology? I did both the Bio Qpacks (83% and 88%) and noticed a lot of physiology. I know they are from the old MCAT, but are people still finding a considerable amount of physio/cell bio stuff on their exams?
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It depends. My test had very very little physio, I was kinda bummed.
 
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moesman777 said:
Im in the same boat, taking an EK exam tomorrow but not sure which one. I've heard EK 3 and 4 are difficult. Might just do 4
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Ah come on. We got two weeks. You could take like 6+ in that time if you really wanted to with ample time to spare for review.

With that said, I'm going max the 4 EKs and AAMC. Might only end up doing like 2-3 EKs though. We'll see.
 
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StudyLater said:
Ah come on. We got two weeks. You could take like 6+ in that time if you really wanted to with ample time to spare for review.

With that said, I'm going max the 4 EKs and AAMC. Might only end up doing like 2-3 EKs though. We'll see.
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2 weeks = 336 hours = 45 full lengths.

Get some coffee brewing and lets do this.
 
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Scumione said:
Just finished NS 2
P/C: 126 CARS: 124 B/B: 126 P/S: 125 Overall: 501
I know NS changed their scales, but do you guys think the scores are still deflated? Im aiming for a 510, and this was discouraging 🙁.
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I do think they're probably a little on the tough side, especially NS 2. I got a 511 on that one last week but I had a 90% on the AAMC sample which I took almost a month ago, for perspective.

2 weeks left, thank God. At this point I just want to take the damn thing. 8 FL's down... I'm gonna take 2 next week and then have a marathon five day review everything session, then just chill the day before.
 
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clathrin413 said:
How balanced is the new MCAT between the biochem and the old BS material that was a lot heavier in physiology? I did both the Bio Qpacks (83% and 88%) and noticed a lot of physiology. I know they are from the old MCAT, but are people still finding a considerable amount of physio/cell bio stuff on their exams?
Click to expand...

EEtoPre-Med said:
It depends. My test had very very little physio, I was kinda bummed.
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Yep, not enough physiology for me (since that's my strong suit). Mostly biochem, cell bio, general bio. And so. Much. Research.
 
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Just took the AAMC FL.

Chem/Phys - 80%
CARS - 87%
B/B - 78%
Psych - 81%

Total - 81%

Shooting for 512-515+
2 weeks left. Doable?

Thoughts on the exam
- Some stuff in chem/phys that I have to review
- CARS was wayyyy to easy compared to other tests I've taken and it's my weakest section
-Bio seemed doable but I can see how it can be really hard on the real thing. Really want to bring this up higher.
- Still need to review some terms for psych.

All in all, not terrible but there are definitely some areas I can improve in. I can definitely see where they could make the sections difficult so I'll be preparing for the worst in the next two weeks.

Almost there. I can almost taste the freedom.
 
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Profound said:
Just took the AAMC FL.

Chem/Phys - 80%
CARS - 87%
B/B - 78%
Psych - 81%

Total - 81%

Shooting for 512-515+
2 weeks left. Doable?

Thoughts on the exam
- Some stuff in chem/phys that I have to review
- CARS was wayyyy to easy compared to other tests I've taken and it's my weakest section
-Bio seemed doable but I can see how it can be really hard on the real thing. Really want to bring this up higher.
- Still need to review some terms for psych.

All in all, not terrible but there are definitely some areas I can improve in. I can definitely see where they could make the sections difficult so I'll be preparing for the worst in the next two weeks.

Almost there. I can almost taste the freedom.
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**** you're right where you wanna be. Must be nice.

Are any of you guys reviewing psych/soc and it's just term term term term term term term.........TERM? For everything we could very simply describe with common sense. I'm glad a lot have the sort of descriptive names that prevent the need for rote memorization, but a lot just seem to require it. I'm filling up pages and pages of my notepad just with terms/people to memorize lol. Bio, biochem, chem/ochem, and phys had one page each!

Though I have read on here that a lot of students see med school as just 2 years of hardcore memorization. Maybe this is good practice? 😀
 
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Profound said:
Just took the AAMC FL.

Chem/Phys - 80%
CARS - 87%
B/B - 78%
Psych - 81%

Total - 81%

Shooting for 512-515+
2 weeks left. Doable?

Thoughts on the exam
- Some stuff in chem/phys that I have to review
- CARS was wayyyy to easy compared to other tests I've taken and it's my weakest section
-Bio seemed doable but I can see how it can be really hard on the real thing. Really want to bring this up higher.
- Still need to review some terms for psych.

All in all, not terrible but there are definitely some areas I can improve in. I can definitely see where they could make the sections difficult so I'll be preparing for the worst in the next two weeks.

Almost there. I can almost taste the freedom.
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Not bad. Here's a thread with a spreadsheet that compiled everyone's practice scores (including the AAMC FL and specific prep company tests) and correlated them with their final scores on the real test. People who got comparable percentages on the AAMC FL seemed to score anywhere in the 509-516 range.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...d-practice-exam-scores.1143965/#post-16618738

Keep it up. The freedom is sweeter than you can imagine! You're now in the final lap - go all out.
 
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StudyLater said:
**** you're right where you wanna be. Must be nice.

Are any of you guys reviewing psych/soc and it's just term term term term term term term.........TERM? For everything we could very simply describe with common sense. I'm glad a lot have the sort of descriptive names that prevent the need for rote memorization, but a lot just seem to require it. I'm filling up pages and pages of my notepad just with terms/people to memorize lol. Bio, biochem, chem/ochem, and phys had one page each!

Though I have read on here that a lot of students see med school as just 2 years of hardcore memorization. Maybe this is good practice? 😀
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Yes, this annoyed me about the psych section. They come up with weird terms which could very simply (or at least more descriptively) be delineated. Often during prep, I'd encounter a term which I had never heard, but which described a concept which I did in fact know.
 
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Okay I did battle with the MCAT this past Thursday. This is my second time taking this thing. First time: 128-126-127-123
Second time:
CP: This has always been my strong area, went fairly well. I agree with some of the other post here. Get familiar with your amino acids. As one who has faced it twice, amino acids are a must. Most importantly the groupings and of cause the strange ones. I found this section quite a breeze on thursday, It was a bit more mathematical than usual which was to my liking. So hoping for atleast 128
Cars: Cars cars cars thou art a mean lady. First of all it started out nicely then went DARK very quickly but still managed to finish on time. Was just unsure on some of the answers. I did take a 126
B/B: This section wasn't bad. I might have eaten more than i needed to during break so started off a bit sluggish but finished in ample time to go back and check on the previous questions. But fairly manageable. There is a lot of emphasis on knowledge and facts on here but i personally believe that future test takers should be more focused on working the passages. Lets face it how often do we really get a question wrong because we didn't know the concepts???
P/S: This section was like I was in the twilight zone!!! some unfamiliar concepts. but mostly abstract experimental stuff.
Verdict: People taking it later in August. QUIT STRESSING, if you read the psych book, stressing lowers performance. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and then learn from your mistakes. There is no substitute for PRACTICE. and if experiments are not your friend, pick up examkrackers verbal/ experimental/ mathematics book and READ. it was GREAT all that bull about control group, independent, dependent variables blah blah. Even if you think you know it, get even more comfortable because going through passages, identifying hypothesis, independent varaible, dependent variable and conclusion will serve you NICELY!!
Good luck everyone and remember, there are no easy roads to places worth going.
 
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WaSei89 said:
Okay I did battle with the MCAT this past Thursday. This is my second time taking this thing. First time: 128-126-127-123
Second time:
CP: This has always been my strong area, went fairly well. I agree with some of the other post here. Get familiar with your amino acids. As one who has faced it twice, amino acids are a must. Most importantly the groupings and of cause the strange ones. I found this section quite a breeze on thursday, It was a bit more mathematical than usual which was to my liking. So hoping for atleast 128
Cars: Cars cars cars thou art a mean lady. First of all it started out nicely then went DARK very quickly but still managed to finish on time. Was just unsure on some of the answers. I did take a 126
B/B: This section wasn't bad. I might have eaten more than i needed to during break so started off a bit sluggish but finished in ample time to go back and check on the previous questions. But fairly manageable. There is a lot of emphasis on knowledge and facts on here but i personally believe that future test takers should be more focused on working the passages. Lets face it how often do we really get a question wrong because we didn't know the concepts???
P/S: This section was like I was in the twilight zone!!! some unfamiliar concepts. but mostly abstract experimental stuff.
Verdict: People taking it later in August. QUIT STRESSING, if you read the psych book, stressing lowers performance. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and then learn from your mistakes. There is no substitute for PRACTICE. and if experiments are not your friend, pick up examkrackers verbal/ experimental/ mathematics book and READ. it was GREAT all that bull about control group, independent, dependent variables blah blah. Even if you think you know it, get even more comfortable because going through passages, identifying hypothesis, independent varaible, dependent variable and conclusion will serve you NICELY!!
Good luck everyone and remember, there are no easy roads to places worth going.
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if you don't mind me asking, how did you score on the AAMC FL before your first attempt? I took it thursday as well, but definitely just feel really iffy about the whole thing. Do you think this time went a lot smoother?
 
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