The Official January 13, 2015 MCAT Thread
Started by kinipela
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GS verbal is notoriously awful. I would highly advise against taking those, and replacing with other verbal practice. However, the PS and BS are pretty good practice despite the fact that they're calculation heavy.
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Thanks, knew I wasn't crazy. Half the damn questions had like 3 correct answer choices supported by the passages...drove me nuts.
Update: officially going crazy.
Took AAMC 10 this morning and the breakdown: 12/7/13
7 in verbal...the lowest score I have ever gotten on verbal in anything...it seems my verbal score is on a downward trend and I was ecstatic my composite was still a 32 but in all the verbal sections I've done in all my prep so far I have never gotten lower than a 9, so this is pretty shocking.
And I know 10 is supposed to be hard but wow. I didnt think I'd do that bad on verbal
Took AAMC 10 this morning and the breakdown: 12/7/13
7 in verbal...the lowest score I have ever gotten on verbal in anything...it seems my verbal score is on a downward trend and I was ecstatic my composite was still a 32 but in all the verbal sections I've done in all my prep so far I have never gotten lower than a 9, so this is pretty shocking.
And I know 10 is supposed to be hard but wow. I didnt think I'd do that bad on verbal
No clue, honestly. I picked this date since my semester starts Jan 14th.
Lol, It's going down. When a team that was supposed to be worse than 8-8 has had a season like we've had, anything is possible. Firing on all cylinders. 28-24 Cowboys.
Soooooooo I just tried out the MCAT2015 Sample Test...
I took the first section (an hour and a half of "Chemical/Physical Foundations"). It was EXHAUSTING. There were SO MANY paragraphs, and the questions didn't feel as straight forward. I felt completely lost and just meandered my way through that s-storm. After that section was done, I basically ended my whole exam, because I didn't feel like getting my butt handed to me for another 4 and a half hours.
When I looked at my score report though, I got a 90%. I don't know how that's possible, and I'm going to go through my exam to see how I was able to get that percentage.
All I can say is that taking just ONE section of the new 2015 exam has given me 50000x the motivation to study for my Jan 13th MCAT than any dreams of med school ever did.
I took the first section (an hour and a half of "Chemical/Physical Foundations"). It was EXHAUSTING. There were SO MANY paragraphs, and the questions didn't feel as straight forward. I felt completely lost and just meandered my way through that s-storm. After that section was done, I basically ended my whole exam, because I didn't feel like getting my butt handed to me for another 4 and a half hours.
When I looked at my score report though, I got a 90%. I don't know how that's possible, and I'm going to go through my exam to see how I was able to get that percentage.
All I can say is that taking just ONE section of the new 2015 exam has given me 50000x the motivation to study for my Jan 13th MCAT than any dreams of med school ever did.
AAMC 10 today:
30 (10/11/9)
While I'm pretty thrilled about the score, I'm feeling sort of pessimistic about the actual exam. I'm shaky on content. There's a lot of orgo I never reviewed and I just feel generally weak in PS. The good news is I feel pretty good about how to navigate and attack the test. I just hate the fact that I'm not more confident in my prep up to this point. My initial goal was the 32-33 range, but I would take a 30 in a heartbeat right now. Hope you all are in better spirits than I am right now!
30 (10/11/9)
While I'm pretty thrilled about the score, I'm feeling sort of pessimistic about the actual exam. I'm shaky on content. There's a lot of orgo I never reviewed and I just feel generally weak in PS. The good news is I feel pretty good about how to navigate and attack the test. I just hate the fact that I'm not more confident in my prep up to this point. My initial goal was the 32-33 range, but I would take a 30 in a heartbeat right now. Hope you all are in better spirits than I am right now!
I'm in the same boat as you right now. Didn't spend nearly enough time on content as I feel I need to. But still, just doing the AAMC FLs, I feel like knowing the style of the test is a big plus. I went from a 23 on FL 3 to a 32 in FL 8...my average on 5 is a 27.2.
Unfortunately, I'm losing study time to thoughts about MD vs. DO chances, schools to target, etc. All in all, I will be content with a 26-28 at the very least because MD/DO doesn't make an ounce of difference to me.
This is my second time taking the exam.
For my first attempt, after averaging 29.5 on the AAMC practice exams, I ended up getting a 24 on the actual exam. Some advices I have for you: do not study the day before, and do not overthink things on the actual exam.
Brush up on review this next week, but don't overstudy. The more I reviewed things approaching the exam, the more I started to get anxious. Honestly, the MCAT is not really about memorizing facts. It's more about comprehension and thinking critically. Because much of it is passage based, you can actual get a lot of the answers directly or indirectly from the passages.
When I took the actual test, the first passage was a really tough physics one (on the thread of the exam, most everyone agreed that it was really tough). I felt like I guessed on all but one of the questions based on this passage. This really degraded my confidence going into the exam, and this just got to my head. I ended up losing much of my confidence, and as a result felt like I was losing my way of thinking. I was questioning many of my answer choices and marked every question I wasn't completely sure of. (In the middle of the exam, I even questioned whether I should go on this path to become a doctor haha). Anyways, when I went back to these questions, I ended up switching many of them (this was also the pattern for my VR and BS sections). I would encourage you to always go with your first instinct, unless you are completely sure that the other one is correct.
While the format of the actual exam was much like the AAMC practice exams, I will warn you that I thought the actual exam was a tougher. But overall, as long as you can reason through the concepts, you should be fine. And also, don't feel discouraged that I ended up doing a lot worse than the average of my practice exams. Most of my friends scored around their averages, and I know one that scored 3 points above her average.
Like I said, just try to take it easy this next week; and for the day(s) before, just relax. Be confident in what you've prepared over the past weeks/months, and just do the best with what you've got: and that is your smart brain 🙂
For my first attempt, after averaging 29.5 on the AAMC practice exams, I ended up getting a 24 on the actual exam. Some advices I have for you: do not study the day before, and do not overthink things on the actual exam.
Brush up on review this next week, but don't overstudy. The more I reviewed things approaching the exam, the more I started to get anxious. Honestly, the MCAT is not really about memorizing facts. It's more about comprehension and thinking critically. Because much of it is passage based, you can actual get a lot of the answers directly or indirectly from the passages.
When I took the actual test, the first passage was a really tough physics one (on the thread of the exam, most everyone agreed that it was really tough). I felt like I guessed on all but one of the questions based on this passage. This really degraded my confidence going into the exam, and this just got to my head. I ended up losing much of my confidence, and as a result felt like I was losing my way of thinking. I was questioning many of my answer choices and marked every question I wasn't completely sure of. (In the middle of the exam, I even questioned whether I should go on this path to become a doctor haha). Anyways, when I went back to these questions, I ended up switching many of them (this was also the pattern for my VR and BS sections). I would encourage you to always go with your first instinct, unless you are completely sure that the other one is correct.
While the format of the actual exam was much like the AAMC practice exams, I will warn you that I thought the actual exam was a tougher. But overall, as long as you can reason through the concepts, you should be fine. And also, don't feel discouraged that I ended up doing a lot worse than the average of my practice exams. Most of my friends scored around their averages, and I know one that scored 3 points above her average.
Like I said, just try to take it easy this next week; and for the day(s) before, just relax. Be confident in what you've prepared over the past weeks/months, and just do the best with what you've got: and that is your smart brain 🙂
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AAMC 9 11/10/11: 32
I'm a retaker and for some reason when I was able to score 12 on the verbal on my first aamc, the 12 eludes me here.
When I took my first mcat, I knew I had not had nearly enough time to study, so I guessed on about 60% of the physics and kind of joked my way through the verbal section.
If only I could summon up that kind of calm again.
And bio. bio. bio. Well, I'm going to do some heavy bio content review this week.
I'm a retaker and for some reason when I was able to score 12 on the verbal on my first aamc, the 12 eludes me here.
When I took my first mcat, I knew I had not had nearly enough time to study, so I guessed on about 60% of the physics and kind of joked my way through the verbal section.
If only I could summon up that kind of calm again.
And bio. bio. bio. Well, I'm going to do some heavy bio content review this week.
Just out of curiosity, when are you guys gonna finish up studying/doing passages?
Friday I am taking my last AAMC FL. I'm not doing any more passages until the test.
I may passively look through my notes this weekend to reinforce whatever I can, but I'm not gonna stress myself out over it.
Anybody take the TPR FL's over the past few weeks? I already took all of the AAMC exams prior to my first MCAT, now I'm using TPR exams. Scoring between 28-32. Do you guys know how that translates over to AAMC? I dont want to take the AAMC exams again because they'll be inflated.
I have huge anxiety issues so I'm not really studying this week. Just watching MCAT videos and thinking about the material. I had a bit of burn out last week and took a day off. I felt much better after 1.5 days of not studying. I'm eating healthy, practicing waking up early and I'm debating whether to take my AAMC 11. I took AAMC 9 and got a 9/11/9 which isn't fabulous but I would love that score on the real deal. I really don't want to kill my confidence going into the test by taking AAMC 10 or 11 and scoring a 20 or something.
Welp, I'll come back to this page a little over a month to see if this radical relaxation technique helped.
Welp, I'll come back to this page a little over a month to see if this radical relaxation technique helped.
just did my first FL since october. Kaplan 2. skipping verbal. 10 PS and 12 BS - down by one in PS and up by one in BS. i'm happy i finished in time though - that's a first. i also didn't come across any material that seemed foreign to me.
i'm sticking with my "multiple FL's/day." routine - will do a TBR one in a bit.
i'm sticking with my "multiple FL's/day." routine - will do a TBR one in a bit.
I'd highly recommend you take AAMC 10 and 11 as they're the most representative of the actual test.
Would you say that your average from 7-11 is most indicative, or more from 10-11? (obviously not easy to get a solid average from a sample size of two, but I took 10 and got a 30 while my total average is a 31.5) Also, I took AAMC 11 last time I was prepping for the MCAT, so I can't take it again.
Hey guys. I Was scheduled for this test day but I just got diagnosed with the flu today. I don't if I'll feel well enough for Tuesday so I'll probably have to postpone. Does anyone know the earliest day to register for a new test? Also are there still spots left for jan 23 in Texas (it won't let me check)?
Thanks. Good luck to everyone on the 13th!
Thanks. Good luck to everyone on the 13th!
I just checked and there is only availability in Lubbock, TX as well as lots of other states
Keep it up!
Just got a 9/9/10 on AAMC 9 myself. Ugh, I hated that verbal a lot. Went from 12 VR on FL 8 to 9. consistently had a 10 from 4-7.
Overall, not too upset. My desired score range is 27+ as I want to go DO. Not counting FL 3, I'm at 28, 27, 27, 32, 28. Also a 27 on GS-1. Consistency here is crazy lol
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I also caught the flu. I on the recovery side tho. I'm still going to take it on Tuesday just to get experience, plus I don't think we can get anymore refunds. I'll be taking it on the 23rd hopefully fully recovered and knowing exactly what to expect.
I decided to check out this thread for the first time, and it's making me nervous 
Gah!
My first exam was January 2013 (11 PS 8 VR 12 BS) and I'm finally retaking it. Last time, my range was 31-35 with AAMC 10 being the 35 but only scored a 31 on the real thing. My verbal was low and I did not like how I scored on the lower end of my range which is why I'm retaking. Might have procrastinated a little too long to do it though 😛
This time around, my average seems a bit higher which is comforting. I just took AAMC 10 and 11 (13/11/13 and 14/10/14 respectively) which is awesome. I am very nervous that there will be a repeat of last time where the tests right before the real exam were great, but when it really counts I screw it up. Gah! so nervous!
Gah!My first exam was January 2013 (11 PS 8 VR 12 BS) and I'm finally retaking it. Last time, my range was 31-35 with AAMC 10 being the 35 but only scored a 31 on the real thing. My verbal was low and I did not like how I scored on the lower end of my range which is why I'm retaking. Might have procrastinated a little too long to do it though 😛
This time around, my average seems a bit higher which is comforting. I just took AAMC 10 and 11 (13/11/13 and 14/10/14 respectively) which is awesome. I am very nervous that there will be a repeat of last time where the tests right before the real exam were great, but when it really counts I screw it up. Gah! so nervous!
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Pretty stoked I just took AAMC 10 and pulled a 32 (12/10/10). I've been struggling with verbal lately so that was a big confidence booster. Here's my break down so far..
Kaplan 2: 12/9/9 30
Kaplan 3: 10/9/11 30
Kaplan 4: 9/8/8 25
Kaplan 5 11/9/11 31
AAMC 4 7/9/11 27
AAMC 7 9/6/10 25
AAMC 8 10/9/11 30
AAMC 9 11/7/9 27
AAMC 10 12/10/10 32
My verbal score is all over the place, so hit or miss for me.. UGH.
Kaplan 2: 12/9/9 30
Kaplan 3: 10/9/11 30
Kaplan 4: 9/8/8 25
Kaplan 5 11/9/11 31
AAMC 4 7/9/11 27
AAMC 7 9/6/10 25
AAMC 8 10/9/11 30
AAMC 9 11/7/9 27
AAMC 10 12/10/10 32
My verbal score is all over the place, so hit or miss for me.. UGH.
AAMC FL 10...pulled a 10/10/11 for a 31 
Tied personal best for PS and new high score for BS. I can't tell if the improvement is just due to knowing topics better/test taking skills improving....or if the TPRHL SW is paying off.
Wish I could score that 12 on VR that I got again 😛
Previously:
AAMC 3 -23
AAMC 4 - 28
AAMC 5 - 27
AAMC 7 - 27
AAMC 8 - 32
GS-1 - 27
AAMC 9 - 28
I hope I'm peaking at the right time!!! Best of luck to all in these last few days.
Tied personal best for PS and new high score for BS. I can't tell if the improvement is just due to knowing topics better/test taking skills improving....or if the TPRHL SW is paying off.
Wish I could score that 12 on VR that I got again 😛
Previously:
AAMC 3 -23
AAMC 4 - 28
AAMC 5 - 27
AAMC 7 - 27
AAMC 8 - 32
GS-1 - 27
AAMC 9 - 28
I hope I'm peaking at the right time!!! Best of luck to all in these last few days.
So just finished taking my last practice MCAT. Been studying for the past 2.5 months (but am a full-time employee too, so finding time/energy to study is tough)
Breakdown so far:
AAMC 3 - 34 (13, 10, 11)
AAMC 4 - 37 (13, 11, 13)
AAMC 5 - 36 (13, 11, 12)
AAMC 7 - 36 (14, 11, 11)
AAMC 8 - 39 (14, 13, 12)
AAMC 9 - 36 (13, 11, 12)
AAMC 10 - 39 (14, 12, 13)
AAMC 11 - 41 (15, 11, 15)
I have to say that the final test being a 41 has me on a more positive note, but the fact that my Verbal has failed to improve at all throughout these 2.5 months of studying has me on edge. I don't like the fact that I need to depend on my PS/BS for a higher MCAT score, because they feel less reliable. I could suddenly get a question on one of those sections that I need to have prior knowledge to answer, and I would just have to randomly guess. Verbal seems like more of a skill, and clearly, I have not improved in that regard despite practicing.
What I'm hoping for going into the test is that I can finish the test without slowing down too much so that I don't run out of time. I am hoping to finish the test on a positive note and to end up receiving a score of at least a 38. Ugh, the pressure is really racking on, and I've lost all motivation to study - I'm just sitting here listening to Coachella music, dreaming about being on the grassy fields of the festival in a few months...
Breakdown so far:
AAMC 3 - 34 (13, 10, 11)
AAMC 4 - 37 (13, 11, 13)
AAMC 5 - 36 (13, 11, 12)
AAMC 7 - 36 (14, 11, 11)
AAMC 8 - 39 (14, 13, 12)
AAMC 9 - 36 (13, 11, 12)
AAMC 10 - 39 (14, 12, 13)
AAMC 11 - 41 (15, 11, 15)
I have to say that the final test being a 41 has me on a more positive note, but the fact that my Verbal has failed to improve at all throughout these 2.5 months of studying has me on edge. I don't like the fact that I need to depend on my PS/BS for a higher MCAT score, because they feel less reliable. I could suddenly get a question on one of those sections that I need to have prior knowledge to answer, and I would just have to randomly guess. Verbal seems like more of a skill, and clearly, I have not improved in that regard despite practicing.
What I'm hoping for going into the test is that I can finish the test without slowing down too much so that I don't run out of time. I am hoping to finish the test on a positive note and to end up receiving a score of at least a 38. Ugh, the pressure is really racking on, and I've lost all motivation to study - I'm just sitting here listening to Coachella music, dreaming about being on the grassy fields of the festival in a few months...
Also, is anyone else very much on edge, knowing that there is essentially no way to retake this exam? (Unless of course, you want to dedicate a whole lot of time, energy, and possibly money into studying for a completely new test)
Nice score on the final stretch. I held off and took AAMC 9 today rather than 10. Got beat up pretty hard on it.AAMC FL 10...pulled a 10/10/11 for a 31
Tied personal best for PS and new high score for BS. I can't tell if the improvement is just due to knowing topics better/test taking skills improving....or if the TPRHL SW is paying off.
Wish I could score that 12 on VR that I got again 😛
Previously:
AAMC 3 -23
AAMC 4 - 28
AAMC 5 - 27
AAMC 7 - 27
AAMC 8 - 32
GS-1 - 27
AAMC 9 - 28
I hope I'm peaking at the right time!!! Best of luck to all in these last few days.
Your scores seem (relatively) consistent. With higher scores like that it would seem that any deviation between scaled scores would be due to literally 2 or so questions. Actually as I write this I can no longer tell if this is supposed to build you up or make you more nervous, lol.
I saved AAMC 9 for my last F/L today and it beat me up pretty hard. I got my worst verbal and bio scores on it for a (12,8,9) 29. Not much of a confidence booster before the real deal, but my damn electricity went out along with a few other hiccups. My post-game analysis revealed that there were a total of FIFTY FIVE "hard" questions on AAMC 9 versus most tests which have around 10-13 hard questions. I hope ours has quite a bit less "hard" questions on it on Tuesday.
Completely agree... this is causing me a little more stress than necessary. Really hoping I have improvement and don't have to take the 2015.
Your scores are looking great too btw!
How do you see how many "hard" questions there are?
I hope our test has a nice, juicy, medium-rare curve to it
Huh. I never thought about registering for another test afterwards. I'm also on the recovery side of the flu but that's something I can now think about if I feel like I got rocked afterwards...
Underneath your composite score and above your analysis by subject, there is an area that allows you to "show detailed analysis for..." and to the right of that "And categorize by...". Just select "by item difficulty.
The total number of "hard" questions by test:
AAMC 4: 36
AAMC 5: 41
AAMC 7: 28
AAMC 8: 14
AAMC 9: 55
AAMC 10: 30
AAMC 11: 13
I did the worst on AAMC 5 and 7, but I got a 32 on AAMC 4 that had the next highest number of hard questions. Either way, yes I hope we get a massive curve. Actually, if I could score on the low end of your range I would be pretty happy with that lol.
Thanks...keep your head up! We're on the home stretch folks...
I took my last AAMC FL (#11) and managed to finally break into the 30s!!! I got a 30: 9PS/11VR/10BS. My science scores seem consistent, but the verbal seriously caught me by surprise. I could've sworn the verbal section was written in sanskrit but somehow I scored the highest I've ever gotten on any AAMC test.... I pray to all the gods that I can manage to do this on Tuesday!!
We're almost there!! Last stretch. I don't know about ya'll, but I do not want to study for a 7hr exam!!!
We're almost there!! Last stretch. I don't know about ya'll, but I do not want to study for a 7hr exam!!!
My scores are kinda all over the place, but with a definite improvement. I just really hope all this work is enough to get at least a 30 on the real deal.
Here's a breakdown of my scores:
AAMC #3: 22: 7/7/8
AAMC #5: 24 7/8/9
AAMC #7: 20 7/5/8
AAMC #8: 27 9/9/9
AAMC #9: 29 10/9/10
AAMC #10: 23 9/6/8 (have no idea what happened...bombed the verbal and I had some technical difficulty with the aamc website on the bio section so I definitely know I could've scored at least a 9 on that section)
AAMC # 11: 9/11/10
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ok ****. ****. ****. aamc 10.
I've been getting steady 10s on physical science for the last few aamcs and then suddenly on aamc 10, I got an 8!
Oh no.
I don't know what to do.
ow hard /representative is the PS on AAMC 10?
I've been getting steady 10s on physical science for the last few aamcs and then suddenly on aamc 10, I got an 8!
Oh no.
I don't know what to do.
ow hard /representative is the PS on AAMC 10?
Woke up early this morning to take AAMC 9. Just went over the exam, now gonna do some science workbook free standing.
Sunday, I'm doing 4-5 verbal passages and then SW for gen chem. At this point, not really much more left to learn...
Monday: Doing a few verbal passages so I don't lose the mindset, then relaxing.
Also, some advice to everyone which I have found useful. If you haven't already, spend these last few days waking up early and studying so that you can get your mind ready and focused to do problems at 8am. Believe me, you can end up making many very small and avoidable mistakes if you're going into your 8am test groggy and unfocused.
Took AAMC 9 this morning. A little concerned about how my total score is always around the same but my section scores vary. That dip in verbal is not comforting.
AAMC 7 10 10 10 30
AAMC 11 11 11 10 32
AAMC5 13 9 11 33
AAMC10 12 7 13 32
AAMC9 12 11 10 32
AAMC 7 10 10 10 30
AAMC 11 11 11 10 32
AAMC5 13 9 11 33
AAMC10 12 7 13 32
AAMC9 12 11 10 32
