The Official January 13, 2015 MCAT Thread
Started by kinipela
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I just dropped a January 13 MCAT seat in Little Rock, AK. Just an FYI.
Anyone else getting a whole lot wrong on EK 101 Verbal? I either get one wrong or three wrong per passage. I didn't get these scores from TPRH Verbal. Most of my scores were only one or two wrong per passage in TPRH. I only got like 28 more passages in TPRH and trying to save it for the last couple of weeks.
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Don't take EK101 scores too seriously. There are so many typos and some of their answers are just straight up wrong. Still, I think it's good practice having to deal with convoluted questions because it makes the reals ones seem so straightforward.
How's everyone's studying going? I'm happy that my finals are almost over so I can devote more time to this beast. I surely need more study time.. How's everyone else feeling?
Can't wait until finals are over either! I just want to solely focus on MCAT.
Took AAMC 4 today: 12/9/11 32
!!! I can work with that
Took AAMC 4 today: 12/9/11 32
!!! I can work with that
That's awesome! I'm starting my fl soon so I'll let ya know how it goes. But seriously.. My finals cannot come any sooner.
So I'm running out of biology passages soon from TPRH science workbook. Anyone have advice on more practice biology passages to use if I run out?
The MPrep Qbank is a pretty affordable option. http://www.mcatquestion.com/qbank.php
There passages are fantastic. I love it.
TBR Bio is ok too. Just hella expensive
Just dropped my ATL seat for Jan 15.
Is there room for one more??? Just snagged a Jan 13 seat in my hometown. Was originally scheduled for Jan 15 in ATL. I have 2 fewer days to study now. Freaking out!!! AHHHH
just a heads up to a lot of people, there are a bunch of new locations available on this date and some others 🙂
Taking this exam. Losing some motivation right now though after poor scores on translational motion & the forces/circular motion/ gravitation in TBR Physics.
Gen Chem/Bio scores for TBR were decent. Though I haven't even started studying for the verbal.
Switching gears a little on TBR Physics and will do content review and EK1001 first, then back to TBR passages, cause they are just killing me. Using wikipremed starting tomorrow, though.
Any tips?
Gen Chem/Bio scores for TBR were decent. Though I haven't even started studying for the verbal.
Switching gears a little on TBR Physics and will do content review and EK1001 first, then back to TBR passages, cause they are just killing me. Using wikipremed starting tomorrow, though.
Any tips?
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I think EC 1001 should help a lot. Do every third problem and if you miss one do the other two in the set. And supplement that with the content review.
What exactly is troubling you with these topics?
What exactly is troubling you with these topics?
I guess when I took Physics I, it was just a memorize, plug & chug game with a poor professor that had easy exams. Physics II I am a lot stronger in.
In the Translational Motion chapter, I had never even seen the 4 or so equations relating to parabolic motion and range.
Yea that's alright. You have plenty of time to master it with EC. I'm that way with g-chem. My professor completely rushed through acid/base chemistry so I'm so weak in that area... It's actually sorta funny...
Yea, knock out extra content review and do those every third problems like nsharma23 said. Also, khan academy has MCAT material if you really get stuck. How much content review have you done so far total? Also, most MCAT study schedules have the last month dedicated to doing all of the AAMCs and reviewing them. Have you been able to do any of those?
Thanks for the replies to both of you.
I am "done" with content review for biology, ochem, 2 TBR sections left for gen chem....and just getting started on Physics.
I will take AAMC FL 3 tomorrow and go from there. I am thinking of taking an FL every 3 days or so and between those days, focusing on sections/subjects in EK that I am not doing well on in the FLs.
Yea, that's what I'm doing. I have all of the EK 1001 books so that I can continuously be saturated on the two days that I review after a FL, but my main focus will be on reviewing the FL inside and out. Good luck to you.
23 on AAMC FL 3.
Made a bad decision of taking it around 9 PM today after studying most of the day....didn't simulate the exam with real timing or taking it all without distractions. Got a 7 on BS, 8 on VR, and 8 on PS. I'm okay with the 8 on PS cause of the trouble I've been having with Physics...but certainly will begin to hammer EK1001 for everything. 8 on VR okay too for me IMO cause I had never tried a single passage before. Disappointed on the 7 in BS as I thought bio and ochem were my strongpoints.
Made a bad decision of taking it around 9 PM today after studying most of the day....didn't simulate the exam with real timing or taking it all without distractions. Got a 7 on BS, 8 on VR, and 8 on PS. I'm okay with the 8 on PS cause of the trouble I've been having with Physics...but certainly will begin to hammer EK1001 for everything. 8 on VR okay too for me IMO cause I had never tried a single passage before. Disappointed on the 7 in BS as I thought bio and ochem were my strongpoints.
I took aamc 3 last night too. 23 as well (9/6/8). (I would've posted after but I didn't have time) I was disappointed as I thought I would have done a lot better. After ps I felt like I destroyed it butttt of course the chem section had its way with me. I'm gonna do more content review before doing aamc 4 and go through EK since I need more help.
Man I wish I wasn't as bad on verbal. The timer scares me. Whenever I do passage pairs as practice I do well (maybe 1 or 2 wrong) but as soon as it's a timed section I forget how to read basically....
Any advice? Is it just more practice needed?
Thanks.
Man I wish I wasn't as bad on verbal. The timer scares me. Whenever I do passage pairs as practice I do well (maybe 1 or 2 wrong) but as soon as it's a timed section I forget how to read basically....
Any advice? Is it just more practice needed?
Thanks.
Do EK 101. Do a 7 passage section a day (Since there's less than a month remaining). DON'T look in the back for explanations, because they suck and aren't helpful. I only say to do EK 101 because it will help you with timing. The passages are a bit easier to read, but the questions are a bit rough. Timing is one of the biggest things that help with Verbal, so that should help. I am a retake, and I didn't practice any verbal the first time and got an 8. Now, I am averaging 10-11 on verbal because I have practiced so much, and use the EK verbal method rather than the Kaplan method (that took way too long and didn't work for me). Hope this helps
Definitely does. Thank you. I'm going to start with those asap.
Their PS is incredibly difficult. Take your score with a grain of salt and do a AAMC
Not bad... There's definitely time for some improvement. Keep your head up and keep going strong!
AAMC 5 for tomorrow! I'm gunning for that 10 in verbal!
I'm doing AAMC 5 in a non-traditional way.
I started PS and had a slight panic attack. I suck at Gen Chem more than physics because I did all of the TPR SWB discretes in physics, but ran out of time before I could do the chemistry ones. I "like" chemistry so I thought I'd be cool. Wrong.
So I shut the computer down and figured out what to do. I decided to start over and after each question, hit "Show solution."
I find I retain the solutions' explanations much better if I literally just read the passage and worked through the problem. When I post-game the next day I'm usually not re-reading the passages so I have no idea if I'm replicating my thought process.
My plan for AAMC 6 is to simulate testing conditions, take a 5 hour break, and then post-game in the evening.
I started PS and had a slight panic attack. I suck at Gen Chem more than physics because I did all of the TPR SWB discretes in physics, but ran out of time before I could do the chemistry ones. I "like" chemistry so I thought I'd be cool. Wrong.
So I shut the computer down and figured out what to do. I decided to start over and after each question, hit "Show solution."
I find I retain the solutions' explanations much better if I literally just read the passage and worked through the problem. When I post-game the next day I'm usually not re-reading the passages so I have no idea if I'm replicating my thought process.
My plan for AAMC 6 is to simulate testing conditions, take a 5 hour break, and then post-game in the evening.
The "traditional way" never made much sense to me either. I like to review my questions right after I finish. Everything, including my reasoning, is still fresh and I can hone in on what missteps I took.
You did all the physics discretes in TPRH SWB? Damn, that's like 400+! I didn't know how I was going to fit that in with the TPRH passages, TBR passages, and FL's. Especially because they're so randomly placed, so I don't know where to go to hone in on my weaknesses.
Did you find that to be helpful? I usually don't have problem with discretes, but I do need to improve my speed in the PS especially regarding calculations.
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Discretes are an efficient way to drill information. It's annoying to find the discretes that pertain to your weaknesses, but the discretes in the TPRH SWB are grouped together by topic although they aren't labelled explicitly.
Also, I didn't really fit it in. I did all of them in the summer.
You do you @beluga_whale !!!
After studying for this exam for 8 months and just now getting my scores in the 30's, I don't believe there is just one 'right' way to post game a FL, do verbal, or study for the MCAT in general.
Do what you KNOW works best for YOU!
I just checked and it seems like there are far fewer discretes in the other sections. I really wonder why there are more than 4x physics discretes. Did you time yourself while you did them? I don't even know how I'm going to break them up. I'm just going to give them a go tomorrow. If anything, it will help me quickly manipulate variables and get better at dimensional analysis which is my major weakness.
I didn't time myself because I was focused on learning. Your goals/needs are probably much different.
I understand, that's what I did when I was learning the content. Now timing is really my limiting reagent. 😉
What's up fellas?!?!??!
How's everyone's studies going? Any score progresses???
How's everyone's studies going? Any score progresses???
I'm now in the full length test/EK 1001/flash card phase of my prep. I got a 32 (10,10,12) on AAMC 4 and felt awesome about it. Then I did AAMC 5 and completely bombed it: 26 (7,9,10). I have NEVER received lower than an 8 on any PS, but the entire test looked like gibberish and I couldn't for the life of me understand the passages well enough to answer the questions well. Back to the drawing board. I am focusing solely on my weaknesses right now: Light/lenses & Solids/fluids & Solutions chemistry. I am treating AAMC 5 like the perfect storm that exploited all of my weaknesses mixed with me simply not being on my game. AAMC 7 will let me know if I am right...
Same weaknesses here. I've always hated fluids. I actually still don't know whether to treat blood as a real or ideal fluid. There's a question in an AAMC I remember I solved by Q = Av or basically Q is proportional to r^2 and then a problem I solved more recently using poiseulle's flow or Q is proportional to r^4.
I think you'll appreciate this quote:
"I am an old man now, and when I die and go to heaven there are two matters on which I hope for enlightenment. One is quantum electrodynamics, and the other is the turbulent motion of fluids. And about the former I am rather optimistic.
—Horace Lamb, Annual Reviews in Fluid Mechanics"
I usually hate being sent home from work cause I need the $$$, but it was a slow day so I asked to be sent home. Thank the lord, 'cause I have too much work to do.
I'm going to do the discrete physics questions from TPRHSWB. Focusing on speed. Must make this stuff second nature. I need to get as much done as possible before the holidays when the library closes.
Just finished AAMC 4. Got a 28 (9, 9, 10). This was the exact same score/breakdown as AAMC 3. Not that happy with the score but not discouraged. I'll check what were my weaknesses later.
Does anyone have any advice for staying awake/energized during the test? I felt like I couldn't remember information that I read like a paragraph ago (especially on Verbal). I'm also taking these practice AAMCs in the morning since the real test is in the morning as well.
Does anyone have any advice for staying awake/energized during the test? I felt like I couldn't remember information that I read like a paragraph ago (especially on Verbal). I'm also taking these practice AAMCs in the morning since the real test is in the morning as well.
Try eating something between sections. I usually go with nuts or granola. I feel like I can concentrate much better if I eat a snack between vs when I don't. Keep that blood glucose up to fuel the brain!! 🙂
Joining you guys on this as soon as my last final is over. I got distracted from studying by thinking about the MCAT and ended up here. 
Just did AAMC FL 7 and busted out a 31. I felt that was a lot closer to where I am at than my crappy AAMC 5 score. So far:
AAMC 4: 32 (10,10,12)
AAMC 5: 26 ughghghgh (7!!,9,10)
AAMC 7: 31 (11,9,11)
I'm just going to keep chugging along and working on all of my weaknesses. Stay in the fight folks.
AAMC 4: 32 (10,10,12)
AAMC 5: 26 ughghghgh (7!!,9,10)
AAMC 7: 31 (11,9,11)
I'm just going to keep chugging along and working on all of my weaknesses. Stay in the fight folks.
Just took AAMC 4. 8/10/10.
My AAMC 3 was 8/8/7, so I am thrilled to go from a 23 --> 28. My verbal has improved with practice and BS from content review. PS is where I have review the least, finding it hard with being on christmas vaca, but have ordered TPR SW and will practice my ass off in the last 2-3 weeks.
My AAMC 3 was 8/8/7, so I am thrilled to go from a 23 --> 28. My verbal has improved with practice and BS from content review. PS is where I have review the least, finding it hard with being on christmas vaca, but have ordered TPR SW and will practice my ass off in the last 2-3 weeks.
Congrats on the score increase! I'm taking 4 today and hoping for a similar improvement. The TPR SW is awesome; I got mine a couple weeks ago and it has a TON of great practice. I wish I'd had it throughout my review.
AAMC 4: 9/9/10
Pretty excited after getting 7/6/9 on AAMC 3. I felt a lot more relaxed and engaged today. I'm consistently running out of time and bombing the last 3 passages on verbal though. Got 12 wrong over the last 3 passages on 3, and 8 wrong over the last 3 passages on 4..so that's something I'll have to work on. But overall pretty pumped.
Are you guys reviewing your FLs in one day or 2?
Pretty excited after getting 7/6/9 on AAMC 3. I felt a lot more relaxed and engaged today. I'm consistently running out of time and bombing the last 3 passages on verbal though. Got 12 wrong over the last 3 passages on 3, and 8 wrong over the last 3 passages on 4..so that's something I'll have to work on. But overall pretty pumped.
Are you guys reviewing your FLs in one day or 2?
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Thanks. Are you reviewing your FLs? If so, how are you doing it? Per lazyindy's recommendation, get a notebook and for each question record:
1) The subject of the question (i.e. physics - waves and periodic motion)
2) Your thought process when attempting to answer the question
3) Why you missed the question. Did you miscalculate? Did you not have a good conceptual understanding of the material tested in the question? Did you miss information contained in the passage?
Look for patterns. For example, when reviewing AAMC 3, I was consistently missing questions to which the answers were contained in the passage. I wasn't in a good frame of mind, I panicked a lot, and I didn't stay focused. It's crucial that maintain confidence throughout the test. Don't be intimidated by a passage. Work through it. Even if the material seems difficult, you can likely reason your way through it.
I didn't use the above method for verbal. For verbal, I retook the passages before I reviewed the answers (somewhat timed, but I was more interested in figuring out why I did so poorly in certain passages). I didn't write anything but tried to understand the thought process behind the answer explanations. If I got a question wrong twice, I made sure I understood how I needed to change my thought process to answer certain questions. I did MUCH better the second time around, which tells me I was having a timing issue more than anything else.
So basically try to figure out why you're struggling. If it comes down to not knowing the concepts, then identify your weaknesses and work on them through EK 1001 and TBR/TPRH passages. But I'm guessing you could improve a lot just by improving your mentality/thought process/test-taking strategies. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I hope it helps.
Dang, that's a really good improvement. I agree completely. I swear there are SO many answers to questions in the passage that you notice after the fact on PS and BS.
Just took AAMC 5 and got my first 30 (11/9/10). I've been doing physics and general chemistry passages nonstop for the past few days so I'm glad to see improvement in PS. Two questions that I got wrong on PS were based on math errors... My BS score has remained the same however so I'm looking to do more passages from TPRH SW.
Out of curiosity, how is everyone studying for the final stretch? I'm doing TBR/TPRH SW passages for two chapters everyday except for the days when I take an AAMC FL. Does anyone recommend this or something else? Hang in there, everyone!
Out of curiosity, how is everyone studying for the final stretch? I'm doing TBR/TPRH SW passages for two chapters everyday except for the days when I take an AAMC FL. Does anyone recommend this or something else? Hang in there, everyone!
Doing my last AAMC tests this coming weekend and the following weekend. For that last week when I don't have an actual "new" AAMC test, I'll probably retake an old one or do the 2015MCAT test for the heck of it. I'm just trying to do practice every day, but it's a freakin drag.
