• Hi! The search index is currently updating, search results will not include the full scope of the forums until it is complete.

The Official June 13, 2014 MCAT Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Sort by date Sort by votes
Seems like the lucky Friday the 13th MCAT theme seems to be:


upload_2014-6-13_22-2-20.png


See you guys in a month... GL to all
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
wuhsabee said:
How was this test compared to your last test? In terms of difficulty and diversity of topics (more ochem/more Chem/more physics, etc)
Click to expand...

I remember being very stressed when I took it in 2012. I was contemplating just leaving after the PS, which I think really brought down my VR score. In terms of content, I remember the PS being more balanced in terms of content of Physics and Gen Chem. Same with the BS section.

The test today was very strange in that Physics was the majority of the PS and Bio was the majority of the BS.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
OK, took a break and weighing in.

PS: Physics is my weak spot by a long shot. But I have to say, everything I saw on the exam I knew I has seen before. I did every single question TBR had in their books and I definitely recognized all of it. Having said that I really didn't watch the clock because I felt like I was going at a good pace. Then realized too late that I needed to speed things up. Left me making very quick decisions on some Chem passages that I am typically good at and not being able to check marked questions. I was panicking because going through it I kept saying "everyone is going to comment on how easy this section was and I'm sure I lost easy marks by doddling". So I'm glad it gave us all some challenges. (Though I'm sure my standard of " good PS mark" is some of your worst marks)

VR: Was fine and most were interesting enough. There's definitely that one that made me think where the hell did they pull these questions out of? I really wish we could see the answers because some I am incredibly curious about.

BS: Experimental passages are typically easy for me since doing my Master's so it was fine. I wish I had read the questions before the passage because the one set of questions I could have answered with the data and by skimming. So that was a waste.

Still I assume I'll attempt a rewrite. This really demystified the whole thing for me and given some time I could hone my knowledge and get my timing down where I'm not rushed. But wow, game day was a hell of a lot more chill than I expected.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
PS: I thought it was pretty easy (Disclaimer: I'm a Calc-phys Mech/E&M TA, so PS Physics is my forte). The only really tough question was that one that you had to know the abbreviation to get.

VR: Slightly more difficult than I was expecting; some of the questions were rather abstruse.

BS: As someone commented above, the passages read like a research paper.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
christinalouise said:
OK, took a break and weighing in.

PS: Physics is my weak spot by a long shot. But I have to say, everything I saw on the exam I knew I has seen before. I did every single question TBR had in their books and I definitely recognized all of it. Having said that I really didn't watch the clock because I felt like I was going at a good pace. Then realized too late that I needed to speed things up. Left me making very quick decisions on some Chem passages that I am typically good at and not being able to check marked questions. I was panicking because going through it I kept saying "everyone is going to comment on how easy this section was and I'm sure I lost easy marks by doddling". So I'm glad it gave us all some challenges. (Though I'm sure my standard of " good PS mark" is some of your worst marks)

VR: Was fine and most were interesting enough. There's definitely that one that made me think where the hell did they pull these questions out of? I really wish we could see the answers because some I am incredibly curious about.

BS: Experimental passages are typically easy for me since doing my Master's so it was fine. I wish I had read the questions before the passage because the one set of questions I could have answered with the data and by skimming. So that was a waste.

Still I assume I'll attempt a rewrite. This really demystified the whole thing for me and given some time I could hone my knowledge and get my timing down where I'm not rushed. But wow, game day was a hell of a lot more chill than I expected.
Click to expand...


This. EXACTLY how I felt. People on SDN freaked me out, no matter what the score is I'll study and take it one more time. I just want a good enough score to get in to a decent school.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Do you guys think, based on our post exam feelings that we should start studying again soon in-case we need to retake? or do we wait for our scores and go from there?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rebeldocs said:
Do you guys think, based on our post exam feelings that we should start studying again soon in-case we need to retake? or do we wait for our scores and go from there?
Click to expand...
If you're applying this cycle and end up retaking, you're probably not gonna wait very long before retaking, and if you also don't start studying until you get your scores, you might not get very long to study. Better safe than sorry, you know? Maybe you'll get your dream score this time, but if you don't, you wanna be prepared so you can get it on your retake! 🙂
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I don't think I have to do too much heavy studying for now. I'm going to put in a few good hours a week. I just think going in more time conscious would help me the most!

I don't remember any abbreviation I didn't recognize. I don't know if it's post-test blinders, out do we have varient tests?

The whole time I wrote I kept trying to make mental notes of all the questions but now I remember a couple in each section and the rest is blank. I remember the trial questions more!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
And I chatted to the lady getting the tests set up (there were only 6 of us in the center) and she asked that all the scrap paper be kept in the booklet. It seemed like a normal request. Then she said "and please don't eat any. We had one guy eat corners out of each page and I went through a lot of hell to collect the pieces he hasn't swallowed. Guess he was nervous"

So as nervous as you may be in there, you'll hopefully never be eating-the-scratch-paper nervous!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Random completely irrational freak out question. Under the AAMC website, when you try and look at your scores, our test date won't be up there at all, right? Like, no indication that we even took the test or the date up with no score, right? For some reason I'm paranoid that I clicked 'don't score', even though I'm sure I clicked score.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Has anyone received an email asking to fill out a post MCAT survey? I'm afraid I did really bad and they are wanting to know why I want to go to medical school. lol
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Zippy92 said:
Random completely irrational freak out question. Under the AAMC website, when you try and look at your scores, our test date won't be up there at all, right? Like, no indication that we even took the test or the date up with no score, right? For some reason I'm paranoid that I clicked 'don't score', even though I'm sure I clicked score.
Click to expand...

I'm paranoid, too. It's natural. I highly doubt you accidentally pressed the void.
Dicholormethane said:
Has anyone received an email asking to fill out a post MCAT survey? I'm afraid I did really bad and they are wanting to know why I want to go to medical school. lol
Click to expand...

I got one too.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rebeldocs said:
Do you guys think, based on our post exam feelings that we should start studying again soon in-case we need to retake? or do we wait for our scores and go from there?
Click to expand...

I also took the exam and to be quite honest, I don't know how to feel about it. Everything's kind of a blur right now. Physics has never been my strong subject and always think that it's the hardest out of the three during my practice tests. This one was no exception. I would definitely keep my guard up and study until July. If you study and end up doing well, that's great. You may have wasted your time and effort but it at least gave you a sense of security. If you have to retake it, that's okay because you've been studying for a month so you can just sign up for August and get another month in for more practice if you really want to apply this year. At this point it's really out of our hands, all we can do is hope for the best and study just in case.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0 Downvote
Am I the only one who feels kind of lost without this pressure to study? I find my mind wandering at work and thinking "What am I studying tonight?? Oh... right..." Probably the weirdest feeling coming out of this. I need a time engulfing hobby STAT!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Although I'm not feeling super confident about my test score, I couldn't imagine studying in the meantime. I am still working to get my primary out but should be done within the next day... we'll see if I get some extra will power to review material after that. Oof!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Im gonna work on my personal statement this week + submit my primary by the end of nxt week.
After that, I mite start studying for verbal just in case..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
brood910 said:
Im gonna work on my personal statement this week + submit my primary by the end of nxt week.
After that, I mite start studying for verbal just in case..
Click to expand...

Ah, this is my plan too. For some reason I just can't get myself working on my app without knowing how I did lol... I feel better coming out of this exam than I did my first, but I ended up doing decently last time, so I'm crazy worried I did worse this time around
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dicholormethane said:
Do you feel like you bombed it? I know the PS section killed me.
Click to expand...
I felt like it could have been worse, but yeah the physics sucked. I thought VR and BS were okay though. Generally orgo would hole me down a bit, but I thought it was super easy on the exam so I have high hopes for that score. I just hate doing my apps without knowing my score. 🙁
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ah, I just realized I got two of the bio discretes wrong... I dunno how I'm going to make it another month lol
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
ZapadniyRus said:
Ah, I just realized I got two of the bio discretes wrong... I dunno how I'm going to make it another month lol
Click to expand...

I think I know which bio discrete you're talking about, was a bunch of "nonsense" right? 😉

But yea as others have stated the Physical Science section destroyed me. I finished everything but there was a lot of informed guessing on my part. Though I thought I completely bombed the PS section on AAMC 11 and still managed a 10... hopefully that's the case here. BS was a cakewalk compared to AAMC 11, and verbal was fun, interesting reads. Now I just have to wait. Oh and apply blindly to a bunch of schools so that I can fulfill my neurotic desire to get in the cycle early! Yay
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mackwell said:
I think I know which bio discrete you're talking about, was a bunch of "nonsense" right? 😉

But yea as others have stated the Physical Science section destroyed me. I finished everything but there was a lot of informed guessing on my part. Though I thought I completely bombed the PS section on AAMC 11 and still managed a 10... hopefully that's the case here. BS was a cakewalk compared to AAMC 11, and verbal was fun, interesting reads. Now I just have to wait. Oh and apply blindly to a bunch of schools so that I can fulfill my neurotic desire to get in the cycle early! Yay
Click to expand...


One of them was haha, the other I knew what the question was all about but drew the structure out wrong
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey guys, frequent site visitor here, I had to finally make an account on here because of the MCAT last week. Must say that its relieving to not be alone feeling like the MCAT PS/BS sections were brutal this time. I was averaging a 10 on the AAMC tests for each section and really only scored that low due to stupid mistakes from the timing more than not understanding the information. I hope I pulled a 9 on each section at this point! good luck to all. See you when the rubble clears in a month.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I'm half considering powering through and re-writing before the scores come back. I know that seems illogical but I feel like I could do so much better! Especially with my timing. Dang.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Okay, weighing in after trying to forget about the test for a week and failing, lol.

PS- I thought this section wasn't as difficult as AAMC 11 was for me but much harder than 10, 9, or 8. Some of the questions were surprising but I always feel that way about PS. More Physics heavy than GChem, or maybe the Physics questions just felt more difficult. This section always makes me the most nervous because it could go either way. Definitely made a good number of educated guesses (on around 5-7 questions), so I'm hoping for some luck since I no doubt got a some of the ones I didn't guess on wrong too. Would've liked another 10 minutes on this section, but that's how I always feel. I was able to put an answer down for everything though without doing any random guessing. Honestly, I'm hoping that I broke double digits in PS at least.

V- Pretty straightforward passages relative to some of the practice tests AAMCs. That also makes me nervous in terms of the "curve". Then again, the curve is always brutal on this section, so I don't know how much it matters. Finished this section with about a minute to spare.

BS- I think some have mentioned this, but it felt like another verbal section. Definitely had those two longer and more convoluted passages. Personally, I saved those two for last, so I could spend the most time on them, but I still don't know if I understood one of them. Finished this section with a minute or so to spare as well. This section didn't really feel like any of the BS practice that I've done, and I'm wondering if anyone else got that feeling too?

Overall, I have no idea what to expect. I've gone back and forth giving myself everything from high 20s to high 30s (keeping hope alive). My AAMC average is a 34 and my goal score is a 36, but I got everything from 29-36 on practice tests in the last two weeks before the test (with a mostly upward trend except for my very last test, which was a 30), so it could really go any which way for me.

Definitely trying to stay sane until July 15, so it's nice to know everyone here is in the same boat. Gaaahhhhhhhh! I'm going to pull all my hair out from anxiety by the time scores are finally out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
AAMC avg: (13/10.7/12.4) 36.1 (low 31, high 39)

post-test predictions:
low: 11/8/10 29
high: 14/10/13 37

thoughts:
PS: tough. fast-paced. toss-up based on the curve. (5.5 min to check)
VR: hit-or-miss. some easy passages, a few i didn't like. no clue about the score. (4 min to check)
BS: some weird discretes. light/easy ochem. some passages made me feel uneasy. (12 min to check)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Lol I feel like I have something to say, and not care. Ami the only guy on SDN that didnt get 36 averages on his practice exams? I got like 27's and lower and felt like the aamc tests even after all the post phrasing didn't prepare me for the topics that were tested, just the layout and timing. Is everyone supposed to breaking 30's constantly to do well on this damn thing?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rebeldocs said:
Lol I feel like I have something to say, and not care. Ami the only guy on SDN that didnt get 36 averages on his practice exams? I got like 27's and lower and felt like the aamc tests even after all the post phrasing didn't prepare me for the topics that were tested, just the layout and timing. Is everyone supposed to breaking 30's constantly to do well on this damn thing?
Click to expand...

I'm with you man, I got a 25, 29's, 27's, and a 30 on my practice exams. I didn't feel prepared at all for the real thing. Mainly because I wasn't ready for the length of the passages in the PS and BS (especially) sections. Nor was I ready for the complexity of the PS section and having the majority of it be physics when it was almost always dominated by chemistry. I felt like I trained for a half marathon with the practice exams, showed up and had someone all of the sudden tell me I would be running a full marathon today. Oh well, gotta pray for a scale.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thank God I was starting to think i'm a ***** or something! I do really well in most subjects- Physics is just not one of them. My brain just doesn't work that way. I put in a bunch of work for it and still had the monster PS section. Praying for at-least an 8+.. I mean I can keep up with docs in the ER and get stuff done.. really hate the fact this test determines my future esp with physics being part of it haha that's the worst. 3 weeks to go.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Raincouver said:
Hey y'all! Any advice for those of us taking it on Saturday the 21st 😀
Click to expand...

Best thing you can do now is relax and PACE when the exam comes. Assume all passages are much longer than practice ones and treat them as such. May the force be with you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Rebeldocs said:
Best thing you can do now is relax and PACE when the exam comes. Assume all passages are much longer than practice ones and treat them as such. May the force be with you.
Click to expand...
Thanks...my main problem is timing...I'm already finished my undergrad so content is not an issue. But the timing...really kills my confidence...it's so hard to move on from a question that you know you can answer but should guess and leave it cause you're too slow at it...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yup, timing was REAL hard on this exam IMO. The practice tests never forced my hand for time, but on the real deal I was hard pressed for it. Those biology passages were just BRUTAL. Not only were they long, but extremely complex and hard to understand.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey all,
Finally decided to make an account on this silly website full of frantic pre-meds like myself.
Reapplicant for this cycle. Got 4 interviews the first time around (31,3.6 gpa), but no dice apparently 🙁
Thought I would take a second shot at this beast of an exam, and so I took it with the rest of you.

My feelings:
PS: I agree with the majority- it was hard. This is a strong section on practice tests for me 11-13, but this exam was painful still. Lots of integration from passages and plenty of raw mathematics/trig that seems less represented by practice exams. Definitely guessed on a few, but managed to finish on time. I have to imagine they'll "throw out" the question with the weird unit because it seems like virtually nobody knew how to use it.
VR: Always a crapshoot. Felt good (per the usual) and just finished in time. A couple tough, but not diabolical, passages. Most the rest were easy/average. I tend to generally feel that I did great on verbal sections and then end up with a random score between 8-14. I'd be pleased with a 10 or better for this section.
BS: Personally, I'm worried about the scaling for this section. The organic chemistry was a joke -- felt as if all the reactions, mechanisms, and stereochemistry I studied were useless. The easy ochem points are the reason for my concern. The biology seemed like a balance. I think they mixed a couple easier passages with a couple brutal ones to arrive at some kind of average difficulty when mixed with the easy ochem. Should help the scale a bit. Finished this section on time.

Predicted range:
PS: 10-12
VR: 9-12
BS: 11-14
30-38
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mdr8 said:
I'm with you man, I got a 25, 29's, 27's, and a 30 on my practice exams. I didn't feel prepared at all for the real thing. Mainly because I wasn't ready for the length of the passages in the PS and BS (especially) sections. Nor was I ready for the complexity of the PS section and having the majority of it be physics when it was almost always dominated by chemistry. I felt like I trained for a half marathon with the practice exams, showed up and had someone all of the sudden tell me I would be running a full marathon today. Oh well, gotta pray for a scale.
Click to expand...
I am in the same boat as you two, getting 25-32 with verbal being the big kicker. I felt like I knew the material, but the application of everything was tough. I felt like this is how the knew MCAT is going to be as opposed to the traditional one like the practice tests
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

pretty_positron
  • Question Question
*The Official MCAT June 2018 Thread*
9 10 11 12 13
Replies
615
Views
43K
daw05
daw05
meraki_soul
  • Question Question
*The Official MCAT March 2018 Thread*
Replies
4
Views
2K
Mooseforkicks
M
ICUBlue
  • Question Question
*Official June 2017 MCAT Thread*
7 8 9 10 11
Replies
528
Views
56K
BurntFlower
BurntFlower
mariposas905
  • Question Question
*The Official MCAT January 2018 Thread*
24 25 26 27 28
Replies
1K
Views
114K
EMS0821
EMS0821
Doctor_Faith07
  • Question Question
*The Official September 2, 2017 MCAT Thread*
2
Replies
85
Views
8K
Zenabi90
Z
Top