The Official July 13, 2013 MCAT Thread

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EphemeralRose3

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Hey everyone. I was originally registered or 5/23, but due to a serious lack of discipline and a busy work schedule, I had to reschedule my test date for 7/13.

What are your study plans? And, do you think that this July test date would put you at a significant disadvantage in this upcoming app cycle?

Thanks.

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In for retake here too. Will have my app submitted with old score and verified so ill be ready when I get this score.
 
In for retake here too. Will have my app submitted with old score and verified so ill be ready when I get this score.

Have just signed up for this MCAT date after receiving my May 11th score today.. very disheartening
Oh well! back to the books...

:thumbup::thumbup: good luck to both of you. Also my 2nd time. How/what are you using for practice?

We can and we will do this!:)
 
Well previously I took a Kaplan course and it was incredibly helpful for the sciences... My scores in those were acceptable
This time Im going to use some EK for verbal because I have seen several positive reviews for that!
But I am open to suggestions for verbal because my 7 last time is not going to cut it!!
 
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:thumbup::thumbup: good luck to both of you. Also my 2nd time. How/what are you using for practice?

We can and we will do this!:)

Good luck to you too!

Well since I used my aamc tests last time I bought both TBR and GS cbts.
Using those but not doing the GS verbal cause I heard bad things. Using a combo of ek and tbr for content and practice problems. Really trying to improve verbal because that's the only thing keeping me back from constantly getting 30+ :(
 
Well previously I took a Kaplan course and it was incredibly helpful for the sciences... My scores in those were acceptable
This time Im going to use some EK for verbal because I have seen several positive reviews for that!
But I am open to suggestions for verbal because my 7 last time is not going to cut it!!

I took a Kaplan course before and I thought it was a waste of time and money :(. Everyone is different, though. I guess I couldn't focus much on it since I was taking a full load of sciences and doing other things as well. Anyway, I did like the materials Kaplan offered for practice. Now I have that plus the tbr and tpr... But realistically i obviously can't use all of it so I've been doing a mix... But mostly EK and then mixed problems/passages from each EK/tbr etc.
for verbal I suggest you do follow EK. The key is practice! You have enough time to perfect that. I've been using passages from the different sources as well... I like to mix it up so that I don't get used to one approach.
Any suggestions for ps? :D
 
I took a Kaplan course before and I thought it was a waste of time and money :(. Everyone is different, though. I guess I couldn't focus much on it since I was taking a full load of sciences and doing other things as well. Anyway, I did like the materials Kaplan offered for practice. Now I have that plus the tbr and tpr... But realistically i obviously can't use all of it so I've been doing a mix... But mostly EK and then mixed problems/passages from each EK/tbr etc.
for verbal I suggest you do follow EK. The key is practice! You have enough time to perfect that. I've been using passages from the different sources as well... I like to mix it up so that I don't get used to one approach.
Any suggestions for ps? :D

I dont know how much this will help but what helps me is content review one day and questions on it the next. So if on Monday I read and take notes on circuits then on Tuesday I'll take some quizzes on that info from my online kaplan stuff.

Need some VR help though! :scared:
 
For those of you scoring a steady 9-12 on your verbal sections, would you mind sharing your technique? I would really appreciate it!

What I do is, read the entire 1st paragraph, form a main idea, then read the remaining paragraphs, but skip the details. For some reason, I keep misinterpreting or misreading a line or detail from the passage and getting simple questions wrong. I'm not sure if its a comprehension issue with me, a timing issue or both.
 
Retaking on 7/13

Scored a 9P/12V/9B last year after averaging 9-10 on AAMC BS/PS and 14 on VR. Add my below average GPA to that along with a very late app (September MCAT), and I received 2 interviews but ultimately 0 acceptances.

Still gonna do content review until June 30th because I know that's where I'm weak based on my EK 1001 practice. I'm a solid test taker but just need to her that content knowledge solid.

My dream score is 12p/13v/12b. Aiming for 11p/13v/11b. The minimum composite I'd be happy with is 33.

Hello, what schools did you apply to, and what was your GPA?
 
I've been scoring between 9-10 on the Ps and Bs. using princeton and TBR, is there anything else i can do to improve i'm looking to break the 11-12 barrier.
 
I've been scoring between 9-10 on the Ps and Bs. using princeton and TBR, is there anything else i can do to improve i'm looking to break the 11-12 barrier.

I'm looking for same thing. I've been scoring between a 5-8 on Verbal SMH!! :bang:
 
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Took my first AAMC FL today (3) and got an 11-11-11! I know it is supposed to be one of the easy ones but I'm very happy since that was my goal score for the real thing! Hope everyone's studying is going well.
 
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Took my first AAMC FL today (3) and got an 11-11-11! I know it is supposed to be one of the easy ones but I'm very happy since that was my goal score for the real thing! Hope everyone's studying is going well.

Nice! It is easier but that's a great start. Keep studying and hopefully you'll be doing even better by aamc 11
 
Took my first AAMC FL today (3) and got an 11-11-11! I know it is supposed to be one of the easy ones but I'm very happy since that was my goal score for the real thing! Hope everyone's studying is going well.

Good job! I only hope this studying pays off and I get 30+ on the real thing. This will be my second time taking this test. Any tips for PS? Thanks!
 
Good job! I only hope this studying pays off and I get 30+ on the real thing. This will be my second time taking this test. Any tips for PS? Thanks!

Knowing why stuff happens and the relationships of formulas helps a lot for physics. Don't memorize every situational formula but definitely know all the important ones. For chem
You just have to understand the concepts.

PS was my best subject....

Now if anyone has good verbal tips that would be great.
 
Thanks for the tips! I'm not doing excellent on verbal but I've tried different things and for me... The Kaplan method is very time consuming and misleading. You should look into the EK way of doing verbal... Focus focus focus when you read and read the passages to understand the author's purpose and main idea. I think the key lies in actually reading the passage well ONCE so that if you must go back to the passage, you have an idea more or less where to look. Really it's all about practice with 100% focus. Try passages from different materials if you can. I start full lengths next week.. Finishing content review/practice this week.
Good luck we can do this!

Lets go HEAT!
 
Knowing why stuff happens and the relationships of formulas helps a lot for physics. Don't memorize every situational formula but definitely know all the important ones. For chem
You just have to understand the concepts.

PS was my best subject....

Now if anyone has good verbal tips that would be great.

Thanks for the tips! I'm not doing excellent on verbal but I've tried different things and for me... The Kaplan method is very time consuming and misleading. You should look into the EK way of doing verbal... Focus focus focus when you read and read the passages to understand the author's purpose and main idea. I think the key lies in actually reading the passage well ONCE so that if you must go back to the passage, you have an idea more or less where to look. Really it's all about practice with 100% focus. Try passages from different materials if you can. I start full lengths next week.. Finishing content review/practice this week.
Good luck we can do this!

Lets go HEAT!
:)
 
Thanks for the tips! I'm not doing excellent on verbal but I've tried different things and for me... The Kaplan method is very time consuming and misleading. You should look into the EK way of doing verbal... Focus focus focus when you read and read the passages to understand the author's purpose and main idea. I think the key lies in actually reading the passage well ONCE so that if you must go back to the passage, you have an idea more or less where to look. Really it's all about practice with 100% focus. Try passages from different materials if you can. I start full lengths next week.. Finishing content review/practice this week.
Good luck we can do this!

Lets go HEAT!

I have been recently using EK. I think what I need to do is to focus on reading it for the main idea clearly instead of just reading it for the sake of reading words
 
hey 07/13 test takers, hows studying going?? i took the mcat on 5/11 and BOMBED the VR section and will need to retake. There's also no seats in my area right now but seats usually open up 2 weeks before the test so i should be fine for that.

Unfortunately i gave up on studying ever since the exam so gotta review stuff ASAP and get ready. I want to finish up the application materials this week and get the last bit of partying out of my system this weekend and start studying on monday.

Any one have suggestions for verbal? And feel free to ask any questions about the test, im glad to help. Also lets bring this thread to life..the may11 thread was live as fuk. lets stay updated and get this done right!
 
Good job! I only hope this studying pays off and I get 30+ on the real thing. This will be my second time taking this test. Any tips for PS? Thanks!

Nothing you haven't heard before unfortunately! When you review, don't skim over things you don't understand. I often find myself doing this unconsciously. If you feel yourself going "I don't really get this, but whatever", force yourself to go back.
 
Nothing you haven't heard before unfortunately! When you review, don't skim over things you don't understand. I often find myself doing this unconsciously. If you feel yourself going "I don't really get this, but whatever", force yourself to go back.

Been trying my best to do that!

No point in making yourself feel better by reinforcing stuff you're good at. Better to miss questions in practice than during the real thing
 
One other method I've been using, which is sort of unconventional: I'm using TPRH science workbook, and I split the passages in half. During the first half of the passages, if I don't know something that I need to answer the question, I just look it up. I'm not talking about simple recall questions, but if I don't know a formula or something. I just don't see the point of just guessing and wasting questions so early in practice.

For the second half, I won't do it, but it's been working for me so far!
 
hey 07/13 test takers, hows studying going?? i took the mcat on 5/11 and BOMBED the VR section and will need to retake. There's also no seats in my area right now but seats usually open up 2 weeks before the test so i should be fine for that.

Unfortunately i gave up on studying ever since the exam so gotta review stuff ASAP and get ready. I want to finish up the application materials this week and get the last bit of partying out of my system this weekend and start studying on monday.

Any one have suggestions for verbal? And feel free to ask any questions about the test, im glad to help. Also lets bring this thread to life..the may11 thread was live as fuk. lets stay updated and get this done right!

I took that one as well and also bombed the VR. I just started studying again last week so im only taking a month to prepare... Any suggestions on how to study for the next month??
 
I took that one as well and also bombed the VR. I just started studying again last week so im only taking a month to prepare... Any suggestions on how to study for the next month??

yeahh i got a 5 in verbal. alot of schools prescreen at 7 so it really ****ed everything up..what did u use to study the first time around? I was on TBR for sciences and switching to TPRH science workbook for the sciences this time. I used a mix of TPRH and EK101 for verbal but didnt go through all of it so can use the rest but i need to get a solid strategy to hit 9-11 on verbal.

Im not doing any content review. I feel like i learned all the material but will need to read my notes over and dive right into practice passages. Not sure what to do for full lengths either. I will prob look thru AAMC 9,10,11. Maybe il take kaplan exams as full lengths.. let me know if that sounds like a solid plan and tell me what ur study plan is.
 
yeahh i got a 5 in verbal. alot of schools prescreen at 7 so it really ****ed everything up..what did u use to study the first time around? I was on TBR for sciences and switching to TPRH science workbook for the sciences this time. I used a mix of TPRH and EK101 for verbal but didnt go through all of it so can use the rest but i need to get a solid strategy to hit 9-11 on verbal.

Im not doing any content review. I feel like i learned all the material but will need to read my notes over and dive right into practice passages. Not sure what to do for full lengths either. I will prob look thru AAMC 9,10,11. Maybe il take kaplan exams as full lengths.. let me know if that sounds like a solid plan and tell me what ur study plan is.

That sounds like a good idea especially if you were satisfied with your science scores. Ive heard the only way to deal with VR is practice sections so thats good too. Im doing EK 101 because in the past i did exclusively kaplan plus 5 AAMC tests. But i did my best directly after content review so im doing that and a practice test every weekend.
So far EK 101 has been very useful though!
 
Only 20 more days! I'm just about finishing up content review so I think I will do one practice test everyday between the AAMC's and Kaplans.

Gonna be a rough 3 weeks.
 
Don't let those threads get to you. It's common to feel like the MCAT destroyed you right after you're done taking it.
 
Hey everyone,

I'm thinking about practicing some more using the aamc self assessments.. But I don't think I'll have time to complete each test. If I do Certain passages, how can I check my answers?also is anyone familiar how these are formatted? Do they simulate MCAT-style passages and questions?
What do you guys think is better practice: tbr/EK passages or these self assessments?

Thanks and good luck! Just a few more weeks! :oops:
 
If I remember correctly, a lot of the assessment passages came from the old AAMC 6R test. It's pretty good practice and it covers a wide range of topics.

If you don't want to complete the entire assessment you could just guess, but then obviously your scores at the end won't be reflective of your abilities. You have to complete the entire test to see the correct answers. You can't reset the test either *unless you call the AAMC*
 
If I remember correctly, a lot of the assessment passages came from the old AAMC 6R test. It's pretty good practice and it covers a wide range of topics.

If you don't want to complete the entire assessment you could just guess, but then obviously your scores at the end won't be reflective of your abilities. You have to complete the entire test to see the correct answers. You can't reset the test either *unless you call the AAMC*

Thank you!
 
hi everyone,

i took the 06/20 test and ps went horribly so im retaking on july 13th! really tired and burnt out from my may/june studying though :(

how is everyone else doing?
 
Only 20 more days! I'm just about finishing up content review so I think I will do one practice test everyday between the AAMC's and Kaplans.

Gonna be a rough 3 weeks.

Don't burn yourself out! This is what I did the first time I took it, and needless to say it didn't go so well.

I heard many students take the final week off to do something fun. Are you guys going to take the whole week off or just the day before the test?
 
Don't burn yourself out! This is what I did the first time I took it, and needless to say it didn't go so well.

I heard many students take the final week off to do something fun. Are you guys going to take the whole week off or just the day before the test?

Yeah, you're right. I think I'll just do one test every other day, with some review in between.

Last time, I took the day before my test "off". And by off I mean I did light review :p
 
Don't burn yourself out! This is what I did the first time I took it, and needless to say it didn't go so well.

I heard many students take the final week off to do something fun. Are you guys going to take the whole week off or just the day before the test?

Last time I absolutely burned myself out. I took 4 practice tests the week but did take the day before off. However, I don't recommend taking the whole week. I also don't recommend taking 4 FL the week of!
I will be taking one the weekend before and probably one the Wednesday before, review on Thursday and Friday- Saturday morning off.
 
For those of you that are taking this again, what do you think is the biggest reason you didn't do as well as you hoped the first time?

Anxiety and nervousness probably plays a huge role, and some people stated that they were burnt out. Any others?
 
def nervousness and feeling burnt out.
i tried to take 4 practice exams within like 6 days of the exam...dunno why :(
and then there were a few super ahrd passages that REALLY made me panic :(
 
For those of you that are taking this again, what do you think is the biggest reason you didn't do as well as you hoped the first time?

Anxiety and nervousness probably plays a huge role, and some people stated that they were burnt out. Any others?

I would say I wasn't confident enough. First passage on PS was super confusing and I thought it messed me up so it effected everything else after negatively. PS ended up being my best section
 
Thanks for the responses guys, best of luck! T-2 weeks =)

Then I can finally go out and enjoy the rest of my summer. Woot woot.
 
Thanks for the responses guys, best of luck! T-2 weeks =)

Then I can finally go out and enjoy the rest of my summer. Woot woot.
I was originally taking my test July 2nd. Moved it to July 13th, but I've been active on the other thread instead of this one.


Guess it's time to join ya'll over here!!! Let's rock this.
 
Hey everyone! How's the studying going with just under 2 weeks left?

I got a little behind this weekend as I am in Canada and it's a long weekend up here. Combine that with 30 degree weather (celsius, 80ish fahrenheit) and I'm not getting much done! I'm super happy with my last practice test though (12-12-12 on AAMC 5), so I'm taking a little break.

Planning on doing my remaining 5 practice tests, the self- assessments, and rereading EK bio before the test. Busy but doable, I think!

So, last minute study plans, anyone?
 
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I'm taking some AAMC diagnostics together with a practice exam every other day until a few days before the 13th. The AAMC diagnostics I feel like will help me get a good feel of MCAT wording/questions and such, while figuring out exactly what I need to polish up on =)

Haven't been hitting my target on the practice exams yet, but I have been doing mostly TPR and Cracking the MCAT exams. Hopefully the AAMC ones will give me hope =)

Good luck all, home stretch!
 
I'm retaking the AAMCs. Don't know how effective this is but I'm scoring pretty well. :D
 
I'm retaking the AAMCs. Don't know how effective this is but I'm scoring pretty well. :D
I'm currently not doing all too hot, but I think my mistake-making abilities tend to do more with incorrectly reading the passage and answering the questions rather than lack of content review. I make the most idiotic mistakes.


TPRT2 - 25 (7/9/9)
AAMCT4 - 28 (10/9/9)
AAMCT5 - 33 (13/12/8)
AAMCT7 - 28 (9/11/8)


Taking AAMCT8 tomorrow along with the AAMC GChemistry Diagnostic.
AAMC T9 on Thursday, AAMCT11 on either Saturday/Sunday, and AAMCT10 on Tuesday.
 
I'm currently not doing all too hot, but I think my mistake-making abilities tend to do more with incorrectly reading the passage and answering the questions rather than lack of content review. I make the most idiotic mistakes.


TPRT2 - 25 (7/9/9)
AAMCT4 - 28 (10/9/9)
AAMCT5 - 33 (13/12/8)
AAMCT7 - 28 (9/11/8)


Taking AAMCT8 tomorrow along with the AAMC GChemistry Diagnostic.
AAMC T9 on Thursday, AAMCT11 on either Saturday/Sunday, and AAMCT10 on Tuesday.

Those aren't bad. Is bio your weaker area? Are you retaking?
 
Those aren't bad. Is bio your weaker area? Are you retaking?
No, first time. I just didn't have time to prep for the MCAT earlier, which is why I'm taking it July 13th.

I never took a Physiology course, but I did intensive review early June. I thought I understood it all, but maybe not. I think my scores are pretty wonky and all over the place; other than my consistently not-so-good 8/9s in BS. Let's just hope I can pull it up!
 
Hey all!

We're getting closer!!!! I want to work on those aamc self assessments but I know I won't be able to get through them all... I was wondering if anyone who has completed them would be willing to share the solutions with me? I'd be forever grateful!! Or does anyone know of a way I could get the solutions without them showing on the test (so it doesn't ruin the passages I'd like to complete)?

Thanks and good luck on the final prep!!
 
Hey all!

We're getting closer!!!! I want to work on those aamc self assessments but I know I won't be able to get through them all... I was wondering if anyone who has completed them would be willing to share the solutions with me? I'd be forever grateful!! Or does anyone know of a way I could get the solutions without them showing on the test (so it doesn't ruin the passages I'd like to complete)?

Thanks and good luck on the final prep!!
I don't think theres an easy way to share the answers. I suggest just doing the passages that you want to do and then guessing on everything else to see the answers.

No, first time. I just didn't have time to prep for the MCAT earlier, which is why I'm taking it July 13th.

I never took a Physiology course, but I did intensive review early June. I thought I understood it all, but maybe not. I think my scores are pretty wonky and all over the place; other than my consistently not-so-good 8/9s in BS. Let's just hope I can pull it up!
Yeah, this test is hard without physiology. Physiology is a course in which you really have to immerse yourself if you want to understand it well.
 
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