The Official August 2015 MCAT Thread

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Pusheen said:
It's unfortunate that most people older than us don't put any value on internet activities. Like sure, it's not the end-all of hobbies, but I wish it wasn't taboo to talk about.
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And it'd be great if some of those older folks would admit to be female gamers that do really well in end-game mechanics ... 😉 just sayin' :wacky:

The things I've learned from playing a video game across the planet with people much younger than me has been interesting, fun, and man I learn a lot. About myself, what's important to younger people; I've had kids (<18 yr olds) have their parents talk to me about having raised my son alone and how well he turned out; I've had kids talk to me about running away... only to talk to their parents (in one case, she was pregnant and wanted to get an abortion without telling her mom; afraid her mom would disown her)... I've had another young many tell me about being obese and a high school drop out go on to play at a community college and get his AA... And for me? Video games kept me going in the dark ages.

It is too bad that video games like EQ and WoW became fodder for the media to stereotype all gamers because of the actions - horrible actions - of a few miscreants who happen to share our species.

okay, I digressed there. Sorry 🙂
 
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james11 said:
Dont worry about retake contingencies till you get a score. Have a beer and relax. I'd kill to be in your shoes.
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Pusheen said:
I'm a high score gunner too, so I get it, but I don't think you should do anything til you get your score back. You sound like you're in good shape. Just wait it out.
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My concern is that since score release is on Aug 8 and the test would be on Aug 12, I wouldn't have any time to prep if I waited till I got my score
 
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levelsands said:
My concern is that since score release is on Aug 8 and the test would be on Aug 12, I wouldn't have any time to prep if I waited till I got my score
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Sept 12 is 5 weeks away. If you have the money to throw away, do it. You can always just no-show (which might not look good for you).

You can always prep and decide on the 8th.
 
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Ad2b said:
And it'd be great if some of those older folks would admit to be female gamers that do really well in end-game mechanics ... 😉 just sayin' :wacky:

The things I've learned from playing a video game across the planet with people much younger than me has been interesting, fun, and man I learn a lot. About myself, what's important to younger people; I've had kids (<18 yr olds) have their parents talk to me about having raised my son alone and how well he turned out; I've had kids talk to me about running away... only to talk to their parents (in one case, she was pregnant and wanted to get an abortion without telling her mom; afraid her mom would disown her)... I've had another young many tell me about being obese and a high school drop out go on to play at a community college and get his AA... And for me? Video games kept me going in the dark ages.

It is too bad that video games like EQ and WoW became fodder for the media to stereotype all gamers because of the actions - horrible actions - of a few miscreants who happen to share our species.

okay, I digressed there. Sorry 🙂
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It's true, it's unfortunate that the fringe has given a really bad image to something that can be very creative and intelligent.
 
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levelsands said:
My concern is that since score release is on Aug 8 and the test would be on Aug 12, I wouldn't have any time to prep if I waited till I got my score
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take it sept 23?
I think it's kind of a crapshoot that you would do better the second time around if you got a 515+.
 
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Pusheen said:
It's unfortunate that most people older than us don't put any value on internet activities. Like sure, it's not the end-all of hobbies, but I wish it wasn't taboo to talk about.
Best of luck to you this cycle!
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Agreed. You can learn a lot about other perspectives previously completely inaccessible to older generations at the touch of a button. You can chat with people who espouse cultures completely different than your own. I have more expanded political views than I was raised with because I've been able to talk to people of all differing opinions. It's a healthy opportunity.

Also, I think VR will be my highest score simply because I spent so much time arguing with people on the internet when I was younger. You really learn to double and triple check everything you're reading and typing so as to prevent anyone from exploiting a weakness :laugh:
 
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Pusheen said:
take it sept 23?
I think it's kind of a crapshoot that you would do better the second time around if you got a 515+.
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I would, but unfortunately the MCAT deadline for most Canadian schools is aug 12. Also, I'm more worried about scoring lower than 515, necessitating a rewrite
 
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UNMedGa said:
Agreed. You can learn a lot about other perspectives previously completely inaccessible to older generations at the touch of a button. You can chat with people who espouse cultures completely different than your own. I have more expanded political views than I was raised with because I've been able to talk to people of all differing opinions. It's a healthy opportunity.

Also, I think VR will be my highest score simply because I spent so much time arguing with people on the internet when I was younger. You really learn to double and triple check everything you're reading and typing so as to prevent anyone from exploiting a weakness :laugh:
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Ya..Even stuff like being a mod or a great gamer is valuable imo, just because of the mental effort/creativity involved. I don't really do any of those things, but I know plenty of incredibly intelligent people who do.

I was always too wimpy to argue with people on the internet as a kid. :laugh: I was scarred when someone cussed me out when I sucked at online checkers
 
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UNMedGa said:
Agreed. You can learn a lot about other perspectives previously completely inaccessible to older generations at the touch of a button. You can chat with people who espouse cultures completely different than your own. I have more expanded political views than I was raised with because I've been able to talk to people of all differing opinions. It's a healthy opportunity.

Also, I think VR will be my highest score simply because I spent so much time arguing with people on the internet when I was younger. You really learn to double and triple check everything you're reading and typing so as to prevent anyone from exploiting a weakness :laugh:
Click to expand...

Correcting people's grammar (your is not you're is not yer is not UR; their's is not there's is not der - unless in Germany - is not ... yep, and then there are the humorous, gut busting funnies that happen).

Though I will say I pull up the 😛opcorn: when things turn to Canadian v US politics 😉
 
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Pusheen said:
Ya..Even stuff like being a mod or a great gamer is valuable imo, just because of the mental effort/creativity involved. I don't really do any of those things, but I know plenty of incredibly intelligent people who do.
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In WoW, the mathematics behind gear changes + potions + elixirs + professions is basic calculus and multivariable analysis.

Of course, I just play to kill stuff 😀 (probably shouldn't put that on any secondary no matter what 🙄 )
 
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Pusheen said:
Ya..Even stuff like being a mod or a great gamer is valuable imo, just because of the mental effort/creativity involved. I don't really do any of those things, but I know plenty of incredibly intelligent people who do.

I was always too wimpy to argue with people on the internet as a kid. :laugh: I was scarred when someone cussed me out when I sucked at online checkers
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I grew up religious and at times religion gets a lot of hate on the internet, so I learned to defend myself from attacks at a pretty young age. And I learned how to determine which battles are worth fighting, as well as when I should question my own opinion vs. stand firm. I really think it helped me with CARS because I've never found that particular section to be all that difficult. You really learn to dissect an argument in an organic way (as opposed to formal logic study approaches to CARS, which use confusing terms and are not really useful for people who aren't inclined towards philosophy)
 
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UNMedGa said:
I grew up religious and at times religion gets a lot of hate on the internet, so I learned to defend myself from attacks at a pretty young age. And I learned how to determine which battles are worth fighting, as well as when I should question my own opinion vs. stand firm. I really think it helped me with CARS because I've never found that particular section to be all that difficult. You really learn to dissect an argument in an organic way (as opposed to formal logic study approaches to CARS, which use confusing terms and are not really useful for people who aren't inclined towards philosophy)
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We have a very similar background 😉
yeah, I'm the same way with CARS. Philosophy + science is the bomb. Fantastic way to look at the world. I would add a major or minor in philosophy if I had the time and money.
 
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Ad2b said:
Correcting people's grammar (your is not you're is not yer is not UR; their's is not there's is not der - unless in Germany - is not ... yep, and then there are the humorous, gut busting funnies that happen).

Though I will say I pull up the 😛opcorn: when things turn to Canadian v US politics 😉
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My personal favorites are when rednecks from back home post something inflammatory about a truck brand. People get offended about criticism of their truck choices like it's their political views or religion being slandered.
 
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UNMedGa said:
My personal favorites are when rednecks from back home post something inflammatory about a truck brand. People get offended about criticism of their truck choices like it's their political views or religion being slandered.
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Oh my gosh this is why I refuse to live outside of a big city
 
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Pusheen said:
We have a very similar background 😉
yeah, I'm the same way with CARS. Philosophy + science is the bomb. Fantastic way to look at the world. I would add a major or minor in philosophy if I had the time and money.
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Awesome - you should do well on CARS then! I've always been sort of iffy with philosophy - I love thinking about the world's great questions, but I get kind of annoyed when philosophy writers (particularly the ones from Kaplan CARS practice) use ridiculously flowery language when it would otherwise be more understandably worded. Haha
 
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UNMedGa said:
Awesome - you should do well on CARS then! I've always been sort of iffy with philosophy - I love thinking about the world's great questions, but I get kind of annoyed when philosophy writers (particularly the ones from Kaplan CARS practice) use ridiculously flowery language when it would otherwise be more understandably worded. Haha
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The CARS writers ain't got nothing on the classics. (I promise I'm not trying to be a snob :laugh:)
 
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@Pusheen - unfortunately, some of the most uninformed came from big cities where the people wondered if life actually existed outside their state lines.
 
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:diebanana: :smack: :eyebrow: was in LA in ... a long time ago ... marching band from ND. We got asked if we were:

1) afraid of Indians (Native American Indians)
2) knew how to drive cars
3) had watched TV
4) if the people in #1 still lived in teepees ...

I left CA thinking what a bunch of uneducated dolts. Now I just think they're entertaining cuz everyone in CA is like the Kardashians, right? 😛

KIDDING! KIDDING!! 😀
 
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Ad2b said:
:diebanana: :smack: :eyebrow: was in LA in ... a long time ago ... marching band from ND. We got asked if we were:

1) afraid of Indians (Native American Indians)
2) knew how to drive cars
3) had watched TV
4) if the people in #1 still lived in teepees ...

I left CA thinking what a bunch of uneducated dolts. Now I just think they're entertaining cuz everyone in CA is like the Kardashians, right? 😛

KIDDING! KIDDING!! 😀
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🤣we can't help it man, every movie we see that isn't about LA or New York is about some rednecks out in the middle of nowhere (think Napoleon Dynamite).
 
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Ad2b said:
Like FARGO?!?!? 🤣🤣
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haven't seen it, so can't respond.
There are some pretty darn uneducated people out there though. I grew up in Eastern Europe and I've had the dumbest questions asked of me. (Are you a Communist? Did you have exotic pets? lolwut 😵 )
 
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I know a lot of people complain about this, but why did AAMC stop revealing preliminary score ranges? I took it Aug 5th and this 1month+ wait is just brutal! :bang:
What are you people doing to avoid thinking about your scores?

I guess waiting beats studying, though. 😉
 
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Hey all! I did pretty well on the AAMC FL (86% overall) but CARS is wrecking me (79%). You all have been mentioning philosophy and such as a contributing factor to your success. I honestly thought that CARS would be my best section as I have a huge love for philosophy and the humanities. However, I find myself stuck in rut with it all...
Good luck to you guys! You're gonna kill it!
 
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StudyLater said:
Here's my answer: **** that question.

Alternatively, you could look at it based on size. Ya know, larger....gives up electron easier because it can more easily stabilize the resulting positive charge. It's the same reason I- is a better leaving group than Cl-.

To be fair, I didn't know what the hell an oxidation potential was until I googled it just now. Apparently they literally just meant potential to be oxidized. It sounded like reduction potentials for batteries or something.
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Mmm... Yeah... It's frustrating. I understand their explanation and all, but other times I've seen them take the stability of the shells into consideration as well so it's like when do I consider one over the other and when do I ignore one over the other? Oh well..
 
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levelsands said:
I didn't do many practice tests, but got a 509 and a 511 on kaplan FL 1 & 2 and scored 88%/92%/88%/92% on the AAMC full length, and I'm hoping that translates to roughly 515 or above. Would it be realistic to rewrite if I get anything under a 515?
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How competitive is Canada? Or are you just a perfectionist?

Pusheen said:
It's unfortunate that most people older than us don't put any value on internet activities. Like sure, it's not the end-all of hobbies, but I wish it wasn't taboo to talk about.
Click to expand...

Well it's obvious why they don't. Every person online is a 48 year old two-time sex offender living in his mother's basement playing WoW 18hrs/day, or a 12-year-old Nigerian hacker posting lottery scams and fake cruise tickets.

Minions2015 said:
Where are y'all getting your Psych terms from?
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Kapkhan.

UNMedGa said:
My personal favorites are when rednecks from back home post something inflammatory about a truck brand. People get offended about criticism of their truck choices like it's their political views or religion being slandered.
Click to expand...

Ma treck is ma relijun *spits out 10 pounds of tobacco*

Pusheen said:
haven't seen it, so can't respond.
There are some pretty darn uneducated people out there though. I grew up in Eastern Europe and I've had the dumbest questions asked of me. (Are you a Communist? Did you have exotic pets? lolwut 😵 )
Click to expand...

Hey hey the McCarthy era ended a while ago. If you just so happen to be Communist you can just say it you know. 🙄

Pusheen said:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1Yd5-z8djMNL25k9w60X8yCFSlGY_M2Qynrjj_ph2l24/htmlview#

someone needs to sticky this bad boy
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The mods here don't sticky important stuff. Only boring stuff like rules and regulations.

TheaterOfTheme said:
Hey all! I did pretty well on the AAMC FL (86% overall) but CARS is wrecking me (79%). You all have been mentioning philosophy and such as a contributing factor to your success. I honestly thought that CARS would be my best section as I have a huge love for philosophy and the humanities. However, I find myself stuck in rut with it all...
Good luck to you guys! You're gonna kill it!
Click to expand...

You are a side-splittingly funny person. :laugh:
 
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lostnconfused said:
Mmm... Yeah... It's frustrating. I understand their explanation and all, but other times I've seen them take the stability of the shells into consideration as well so it's like when do I consider one over the other and when do I ignore one over the other? Oh well..
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Yeah but that doesn't really apply here. You're talking losing electrons to get to a full or half-shell configuration. If that were one of the options, it'd probably be higher ranked than what it's compared to. Losing electrons to get to full shell is going to be more favorable than losing electrons to get to half shell. But I don't even think they usually make em that hard.
 
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I feel like the test prep companies are making me worse at CARS... They teach you to think of the questions and answers this way, and then that way, and then make sure you separate your thoughts and common views of the world from the passage/author, etc. etc. when I feel like the AAMC questions are much more straight forward. I'm doing the verbals from the past AAMCs and am finding myself over-thinking everything and under-estimating the use of common logic. :cyclops:
 
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Pusheen said:
haven't seen it, so can't respond.
There are some pretty darn uneducated people out there though. I grew up in Eastern Europe and I've had the dumbest questions asked of me. (Are you a Communist? Did you have exotic pets? lolwut 😵 )
Click to expand...

Which country? I spent a couple years living in Hungary (not really "eastern" but closer than, you know, France or something)
 
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StudyLater said:
How competitive is Canada? Or are you just a perfectionist?
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I'm not 100% on this, but a lot of schools in Canada that look at the MCAT had an average score of 30-33, with schools that don't traditionally weight the MCAT heavily still having an average admitted MCAT score of 30+
 
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TheaterOfTheme said:
I don't think I see the humor -_-
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I like subtle comedy but I'm also a nerd that likes explaining things, so you're in luck!

The score you received correlates with those that have done better than ~95% of people on the MCAT. The claim you were "wrecked" indicates to the reader that you received what would be considered a terrible score. Therefore, the use of the word "wrecked" is an exaggeration and consequently could be considered comical by those who find humor in gross hyperbole.

Now for your post-passage question:
@StudyLater would agree with which of the following?
a) @TheaterOfTheme is totally out of line with his statement and should seek therapy for anger management.
b) @TheaterOfTheme should take into better consideration who his/her audience is and as a result more coherently communicate what might be considered subjective terms.
c) @TheaterOfTheme should not ever use the word "wrecked" to describe getting lower than the 95th percentile on the MCAT.
d) @TheaterOfTheme should continue to pursue his goal of a high score on the MCAT.
 
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A CARS strategy that has worked well for me has been especially focusing on the first paragraph (really, read it slowly, don't move on until you've internalized it), the first and last sentence of every paragraph, and the last paragraph. It doesn't work perfectly for all passages, but usually this exposes the main ideas vs. the details for me. I found myself scoring a lot higher on CARS after employing this method (got 80+% on TBR Verbal, which is supposedly pretty challenging, 87% on OG a few weeks ago).

Not sure if this will help anyone, but it definitely helped me a lot!
 
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lostnconfused said:
I feel like the test prep companies are making me worse at CARS... They teach you to think of the questions and answers this way, and then that way, and then make sure you separate your thoughts and common views of the world from the passage/author, etc. etc. when I feel like the AAMC questions are much more straight forward. I'm doing the verbals from the past AAMCs and am finding myself over-thinking everything and under-estimating the use of common logic. :cyclops:
Click to expand...

I also felt this way towards the end of my prep time. The CARS section on my last Kaplan FL was the lowest it had ever been, but I ended up doing better on the actual AAMC FL.
 
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