The Official July 2, 2014 MCAT Thread
Started by johnnytest
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Less than 2 weeks away! How's everyone feeling?
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Taking it too! I have been feeling more confident, I finally have a verbal strategy down and its fairly consistent so hope it works. I have been taking GS exams, and while tough, I feel as if they are prepping me well for what I need to improve on.
Hoping for around 32+, so fingers crossed!!
Hoping for around 32+, so fingers crossed!!
Awesome, what's your verbal strategy, if you don't mind me asking.
where has this thread been? lol... planning to take this July 2nd as well. I am no where near where I want or expect to be after taking only AAMC 3, though my verbal is strong.
What is the best way to improve the sciences? should I be spending time reading all the passages like it's verbal, or is this really something that can be improved with more content review? I feel like my content is weak and it costs me.
What is the best way to improve the sciences? should I be spending time reading all the passages like it's verbal, or is this really something that can be improved with more content review? I feel like my content is weak and it costs me.
What'd you score on FL3? I ended up getting a 8/11/12 about a month ago, going to be doing lots of practice exams in the near future.
did pretty abysmal honestly. I scored 9/10/8 for a 27 total. couldn't believe how bad I did in BS, no clue what to do to improve most there.
honestly considering either just canceling this test and scheduling again for August, or sitting for it and possibly voiding if I feel I did awful. who knows at this point.
I feel your pain. This test is ruining my summer.
absolutely lol. planned on getting it over with July 2nd and enjoying the rest of my summer bummin it with a beer in my hand... clearly not happening.
So every time iI read the passage I try to keep the main idea in my head. As take my time while reading the passage, somewhere from 4-5 minutes actually then do the questions in 3 minutes because I have a solid understanding.
Every sentence I read I always ask myself if the idea is just a supporting idea or actually includes the main idea of the passage. Typically, the main idea will be the first sentence, last or right in the middle. If I am reading something that is definitely a main idea because there is no fluff, I write it down on the sheet of paper. If it is a supporting idea I quickly skim by it.
After I am done reading the entire passage, I'll have like 6-8 bullet points that are each just a couple words from the notes I wrote down. What I do now is I read over the bullet points and formulate the main idea again. So I go from top to bottom on that list and try to interconnect every idea together to ensure I see how the passage was organized and put together. It helps me keep my mind straight and by going over the idea 3 times (once while reading, second while writing down and third while reviewing at end) I get a very consolidated idea of what is going on and can answer the questions fairly quickly. I have been getting around 10/11 thus far so I hope to keep it up!
Anyone else just realize that this exam is in a week?
Freaking out now xD
Freaking out now xD
crazy. but I feel like I'm reaching the point that I just want to take it already. don't know if that's good or bad lol
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Anyone know if AAMC #4 is one of the easier exams?..
I got 12/10/11
I got 12/10/11
I've heard 9, 10 and 11 seem to be good representations. It seems like most actual scores tend to be one of those three scores you get.
I think for #4, the science sections are easier but the verbal is harder. I believe...not entirely sure.
it's definitely one of the easier ones. I took 4 a couple days ago, then took 9 today. 9 was wayyyyyy more difficult, even though my score was similar. go figure lol
You got this. Hoping the best for ya
I'm sure that's rough, but the best thing you can do is be confident going in. sleep well, think clearly, and let things happen as they will. good luck to you!
I feel you. I'm so done with this, lol.
Well, this is the final weekend stretch, gents.
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How's everyone feeling?
My greatest weakness has always been the biology stuff (I've only taken the bare minimum requirements). Really hoping for an Orgo heavy BS.
For PS - weakest area is definitely optics/diffraction - I've been studying this stuff for months now, and it still doesn't make sense to me. Gen Chem is probably my strength here.
My greatest weakness has always been the biology stuff (I've only taken the bare minimum requirements). Really hoping for an Orgo heavy BS.
For PS - weakest area is definitely optics/diffraction - I've been studying this stuff for months now, and it still doesn't make sense to me. Gen Chem is probably my strength here.
I've never used Chad's videos. I assumed you had to pay for them?
yes you pay, but IMO it's the best PS resource out there if you're not the type of person who can just learn staring at a book (like me). I went from zero PS knowledge to consistent 10-11 on practice tests solely because of chads vids.
Not particularly.
Gen chem is my weakness. Physical sciences in general, actually. ):
And if the Biological sciences are nothing like the practice FLs, there goes my trump card.
I expected bio to be my major strength. surprisingly I'm having a lot more trouble in that section. guess I'm not too great at quickly reading scientific graphs and tables.
Yes you have to pay, and I guess it might be too late just to buy it for a couple days. But if you are willing, I would go ahead and try! Physics section is only 6 'days' worth of videos, and each day is roughly 1 hour 40 minutes if you watch it at faster speeds.
Just going to spend the next 4 days studying physics like a madman. Like, all day every day.
Yo, guys. You can get access to Chad's Videos for a week for free, you just have to remember to cancel your trial before the week ends. There's a button on the front page to access it.
Gonna use these to study the hell out of physics. ^^
Gonna use these to study the hell out of physics. ^^
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Well, what's the best way to brush up on BS stuff in the next few days? just read EK? do TBR practice passages? no clue. help a brother out!
I really wasn't a fan of EK Bio, but it's what I used. I'm a bio major so that really helped, then again I don't know what the actual "experimental" MCAT looks like so... not sure! :c
Less than 4 days from now :/
Monday is going to be my last day to study...Tuesday I'll go over my cheat sheet and then go to bed at 11.
I have to wake up at 6, be ready to leave at 6:30 and drive for an hour to the place I have to be at 🙁
Monday is going to be my last day to study...Tuesday I'll go over my cheat sheet and then go to bed at 11.
I have to wake up at 6, be ready to leave at 6:30 and drive for an hour to the place I have to be at 🙁
What mentality will you guys maintain these next few days?
1) I'm as ready as I'll ever be (having studied throughout this past school semester and for 2+ months this summer)
2) This is going to be the /actual/ MCAT exam - completing this will be an accomplishment in itself and one step closer to pursuing a career in medicine
3) I'm going to be so *bleeping* RELIEVED once it's over after studying for this long
Honestly, for me, 3 is what keeps me going (doing practice test after practice test and going over my weaknesses.)
1) I'm as ready as I'll ever be (having studied throughout this past school semester and for 2+ months this summer)
2) This is going to be the /actual/ MCAT exam - completing this will be an accomplishment in itself and one step closer to pursuing a career in medicine
3) I'm going to be so *bleeping* RELIEVED once it's over after studying for this long
Honestly, for me, 3 is what keeps me going (doing practice test after practice test and going over my weaknesses.)
All 3 of those. Same with waking up, augh. Though I'm only about 30 minutes away from testing center.
I took AAMC 10 today and did subpar in VR. I finished with about 8 minutes remaining - last time I took too long to do it, so I guess this time I didn't really focus on finding the answer in the passage. I guess let this be a lesson to you that even though its timed, you should really try not to rush.
I did surprisingly better than in both PS and BS, breaking my previous high. I guess part of it has to do with what kinds of questions it asks.
I took AAMC 10 today and did subpar in VR. I finished with about 8 minutes remaining - last time I took too long to do it, so I guess this time I didn't really focus on finding the answer in the passage. I guess let this be a lesson to you that even though its timed, you should really try not to rush.
I did surprisingly better than in both PS and BS, breaking my previous high. I guess part of it has to do with what kinds of questions it asks.
I'm currently watching Chad's videos in Physics/Gen chem. Blasting through them all yesterday/today which is like 12+ hours a day of videos. Gonna start doing more practice exams on Monday/tuesday after class, go to bed at like 10, take my MCAT, come home and grab a beer.
Try to use strategy in PS. First try and eliminate obviously wrong options. It really helps when you have 2 options to decide from. I have been trying this since the past month and I end up finishing with 10 mins to spare in PS. When I took couple of practice tests before even content review, i scored 10-11 just with alot of strategy. Mind it that I graduated from undergrad in 2011 and hadn't review PS since then. Now that I am familiar with the material as well, I am able to get 12-14 pretty consistently..
Just finished up all of Chad's PS videos in 2 days. My head realllllly hurts. Sleeeeeeeeeep.
lol insane. took me a couple weeks to get through them all. hope it helps
Does anyone on the thread have insight as to how predictive my AAMC 9, 10, and 11 exam scores are of the real MCAT? I'm sure this type of question is asked very frequently but I haven't found any conclusive answers as of yet
If you skim down the 30+ thread, I think you'll find that people's scores tend to be within 2 or 3 points of their practice test averages. There are exceptions and outliers, of course, but the AAMC practice exams seem to be pretty good predictors in general.
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I think it really helped. I had like zero conceptual understanding of force / torque mechanics or solubility / pH calculations, and I feel much stronger there now.
I did basically skip physics 2 content though, since I learned a bunch in that class.
Going to take a FL soon, we'll see.
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yeah he's great in some of those. glad it was helpful.
anyone with any advice on what the most high yield studying to do the next couple days is?
haha wow great list! thank you!
anything from Bio you find to be high yield? any suggestions are welcome.
lol i feel as though my bio knowledge is above average due to my undergrad classes, yet it is always my worst section. i blame my lack of truly comprehending the passages/graphs/figures in order to get the gimme questions. definitely something I will be focusing on.
