The Official June 13, 2014 MCAT Thread

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For practicing VR are you just reading the articles or are you timing yourself?

Well, this is my second one. I am retaking only because of verbal.. So I will have to try a different method to improve it. I have no idea how to study differently, but I will read 5 articles + do 7 passages per day. Also, I think I neglected the fact that post-analysis is the most important part for verbal when I was studying for 3/22 MCAT. So yeah, I will spend about 4/5 of my studying time on verbal everyday as science is still fresh for me.
 
@funtertaining15

How have you been/are you studying?
Hmm. Well I originally was using Kaplan, but now I'm mainly using it for the qbank. I've pretty much gone through all of Chad's videos, so I'm just doing EK practice questions... But lately I've sort of pushed orgo and physics to the side...I mainly go through my notes and use YouTube videos for the bio section. I'm currently reading EK gen chem b/c its my weakest of the PS practice problems on EK 1001. A few hours a day is all I can squeeze in while I study for finals. I've been trying to read the economist and the new yorker b/c my VR was horrible, last time I checked. I'll probably make up a schedule b/c it's a little disorganized at the moment. I also use mcat-review.org as a way to make sure I'm getting the content following the aamc outline.
 
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Well, this is my second one. I am retaking only because of verbal.. So I will have to try a different method to improve it. I have no idea how to study differently, but I will read 5 articles + do 7 passages per day. Also, I think I neglected the fact that post-analysis is the most important part for verbal when I was studying for 3/22 MCAT. So yeah, I will spend about 4/5 of my studying time on verbal everyday as science is still fresh for me.

Have you tried reading alternative material? Philosophy, articles from The Economist, Science articles etc? I have heard from a few people that it helped them out.
 
Hey all,

I'm actually taking the June 5th exam and am too lazy to make a thread lol. I've got about 5 weeks left and I'm scoring 5-6 range in EK Verbal. I'm using the EK strategy and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. In my post-analysis, I find that I get questions wrong mainly because I misinterpret the main idea or the author's intent. Any advice on how I can bring it up or if I can bring it up before test day? Thanks!
 
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do any of you have any good websites for philosophy articles?
Someone mentioned reading Nicomachean Ethics.
Lol, I took Intro to Politcal Theory my sophomore year and had to read that and the Politics...if it weren't for the teacher, I don't think I would have passed the class. I still have them, so I guess I'll try that, too.
I say this while I'm currently in a library, lol. I also have to write a paper, and one of the book I have to read may also be helpful.

I also heard about the Atlantic...def. will try this out: http://www.theatlantic.com/search/?q=a+close+read
also Wall Street Journal and New England Journal of Medicine are two others I might give a look.
If anyone has any humanities/phil. online articles (so I can get use to reading online, post it on here 🙂
 
So what stage of studying is everyone at?

I should be writing my first FL this week. Physics is my weak point but thankfully I think I have enough time to catch up on that.
 
So what stage of studying is everyone at?

I should be writing my first FL this week. Physics is my weak point but thankfully I think I have enough time to catch up on that.
I'm just trying to get through finals right now 😛 but I haven't taken any FL since march...may retake the first one but I'll have to consider inflation b/ I've already done 2 1/3 of the aamcs.... I'm trying out other books like EK for them orgo and bio TBR for physics...we'll see I guess.
 
hey guys i'm planing on retaking this date after i took the beast on march 22....this time i'm planing to exclusively study for verbal but review here and there for science...is anyone here retaking? how many FLs are you planing to take?
 
hey guys i'm planing on retaking this date after i took the beast on march 22....this time i'm planing to exclusively study for verbal but review here and there for science...is anyone here retaking? how many FLs are you planing to take?
Lol all of them..rest of the aamcs and prob Kaplan's.
 
hey guys i'm planing on retaking this date after i took the beast on march 22....this time i'm planing to exclusively study for verbal but review here and there for science...is anyone here retaking? how many FLs are you planing to take?

I have four Kaplan and haven't decided how many AAMC exams I want to buy and take. Not sure if I'd like to get some of TBR CBT... anyone have personal experience with them?
 
I have four Kaplan and haven't decided how many AAMC exams I want to buy and take. Not sure if I'd like to get some of TBR CBT... anyone have personal experience with them?
the higher AAMCs tests (ie 9,11, etc) are more difficult compared to 3,4,5...at least form what I've heard...but I've only taken the first 2 1/2...I heard the last one is a beast.
TPR: Their verbal might be worth getting..I think they were sued 10 years ago for sending employees in to take the tests and were thought to have used the tests as a way to structure their own tests...IDK...
EDIT: I read that wrong. I though it said "TPR" not "TBR." Whoops. Never mind.
 
6 weeks and counting! I can't believe how close it is creeping up. What's everyone's plans for this last leg?

I'm going to pack in as many FLs as I can, finish the passages in TBR books, maybe try some Khan Academy videos, and try not to go mental.
 
Lol okay; I never said it was true...then again, I guess it's different for each person😛

Yes. It is all subjective. However, as AAMC points out, you are likely to get what you get usually.
If you find any FLs harder, it's because they hit your weak areas. I barely have any weaknesses for science, so I dont see any difference. It's POSSIBLE to find AAMC 11 harder because questions are more calculation-heavy. But their DIFFICULTY is not different from the previous FLs at all. It's just the different types of questions that get you. If you practiced a lot of calculation problems, it wont affect you at all.
 
Havent started redstudying yet. Im so scared. I bought the Princeton workbook. Not sure how much Ill get done in a month but heres to giving it our all.

If I reschedule....is July (12th/24th/25th) too late for this cycle? I dont want to wait a year or anything...and Im scared I wont get in if I wait that long for my scores, but I feel like I wont be fully ready for this one. Any advice guys?
 
Havent started redstudying yet. Im so scared. I bought the Princeton workbook. Not sure how much Ill get done in a month but heres to giving it our all.

If I reschedule....is July (12th/24th/25th) too late for this cycle? I dont want to wait a year or anything...and Im scared I wont get in if I wait that long for my scores, but I feel like I wont be fully ready for this one. Any advice guys?
My friend took hers in July and is now an MS3. If you do well and have good ECs I think you'll be okay. You'll be later in the "pile" but it's not super late. If it means you'll get a better score, so be it. Just submit your app by June, though. Go with the earliest you feel comfortable with... I'd do the 12th or even late June if possible.
 
Originally signed up for June 5th, but forgot that my registeration logged me out. So when I went back a few weeks later, all the June 5th slots were filled, so I'm taking it June 13th now (which is the day after my 21st bday wtf).

Man this last month is gonna be pretty brutal for me. I've hit around 32s for the FL exams, but I wanna bump it up a couple points. What is everyone else doing their last month? I'm just doing FL exams mostly and reinforcing any weaknesses in PS and BS I have
 
Lol.. my friend's score proved to me that luck is one of things that play an important role..
His avg on FLs was 35. He never got over 12 on science sections. But on the real deal, he got 15/11/14
 
Damn, that's amazing. And gotcha I'll just screw all the FL practice and just buy as many four leaf clovers and rabbits feet as possible and just stockpile them in my pants until test day
 
Hey, it couldn't hurt could it? Put some eggs in the study basket, put others in the four leaf clover basket.

I'm going through the AAMC self assessments, finishing the questions in TBR books, do few more EK VR tests, and tackling the AAMC FLs.
 
Ahh only did AAMC 3 + 4 and a free Kaplan so far, but scores are decent. I'll finish reviewing by Monday and then gotta kick it up a notch and do the remaining AAMCs. Thank goodness the weather sucks here else I'd be tempted to go outside and frolic.

Is everyone doing the AAMCs in order??
 
aamc #3: 10/9/11 = 30 (low = verbal)
aamc #4: 11/12/9 = 32 (low = bio)
aamc #5: 8/11/12 = 31 (low = physical)

original date = june 5, but now taking it with you guys. aiming for a 34. need to work on physical science.
 
AND THE MCAT DREAMS HAVE BEGUN... last night dreamed i got a 31 (10/11/10) after getting my 2nd 31 in a row on aamc #7 (so far 30; 32; 31; 31). not only that but after returning to what was appearently my house that was way smaller it started to rain and my computer screen was broken (it appears either someone broke in or i punched it). i keep making stupid reading mistakes - after going back over my exams, probably half of my science wrong answers i would easily know the answer to if given alone, but when i have to answer 144 questions under timed conditions i keep making little reading mistakes...

my original goal was a 33 and that's certainly attainable but i'm more worried about hitting a wall and not being able to overcome accumulating little errors than gaps in my content. i'd almost rather know areas to improve than have a problem with my actual test taking ability.
 
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I took the SAs last weekend which completely shook my confidence. As I had expected, physics is what is dragging me down thus far. I'm also relatively nervous about how hard the OChem questions will be (I sucked hard on that SA as well). Bah! 3 weeks! The only topics I am remotely confident now are VR and Bio but there's always room for improvement.

I don't know whether I should retake (if I don't get a decent enough mark) this summer or take the new MCAT next fall. There's already one school up here that has said they'll no longer accept old MCATs once the new one rolls out. I'm just waiting for the rest to follow suit.
 
finally broke 33 last night (12/10/11) on aamc #8, with my highest physical sciences score yet. thought that section was harder in comparison to the earlier exams, if the upcoming exam is more like the later FLs, i'm expecting horrible passages. still hate reading passages on the screen, but life.
 
Took AAMC7 today after finishing GS1~7.
I had 20 mins left for PS. Even though I took it a few months ago, I barely remembered any questions. I guess GS really helped me get the timing down.

Also, note to everyone. Skim through passages for PS while highlighting important things. This really helps.
 
Took AAMC7 today after finishing GS1~7.
I had 20 mins left for PS. Even though I took it a few months ago, I barely remembered any questions. I guess GS really helped me get the timing down.

Also, note to everyone. Skim through passages for PS while highlighting important things. This really helps.

I did aamc 8 today and finished 15 mins left to spare for PS and 12 mins for BS. went over every question in that time and was able to get 2-3 more questions correct. GS definitely helped me too!!

how are you doing on aamc verbal? I'm scoring 9-10. When I first did it, used to 6-8. Hoping my latest scores aren't too much inflated. Also i'm able to finish all the 7 passages.
 
I did aamc 8 today and finished 15 mins left to spare for PS and 12 mins for BS. went over every question in that time and was able to get 2-3 more questions correct. GS definitely helped me too!!

how are you doing on aamc verbal? I'm scoring 9-10. When I first did it, used to 6-8. Hoping my latest scores aren't too much inflated. Also i'm able to finish all the 7 passages.

LOL. As I said bf, our scores are so similar. I am getting 9-10 on verbal now and I used to get 6-8 as well.
 
25 on #3 and reviewed. (7/8/10)
24 on #5 and not reviewed. (8/7/9)
Low scores because I didn't finish end part of content reviews. Wanted to gauge where I was roughly.

Planning to finish content reviews by this Monday 6/2 WITH self assessments (SA).
Finished/took SA Bio and got a scaled score of 9 before finishing last chapters of content review. Finished Bio content review and reviewed SA Bio.

Planning to take FL's (5-11) starting 6/3 or 6/4 starting with FL 5 again.
Finish FL's and review FL's by 6/11 or 6/12.

Does this sound reasonable? What are your thoughts?
Also, I would like to stick with 6/13 test date for a committee letter. However, pushing back is an option if it is absolutely needed.
Thanks.
 
just finished #9: 11(43)/11(33)/10(42) = 32. was 1 question away from +1 in both physical and bio, which would have finally put me at my target score of a 34. feel like screaming but it's late. i'd almost prefer a steady incline (28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33) than keep getting the same score and thinking i've plateaued (30; 32; 31; 31; 33; 32). so close and yet so close. ugh.
 
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