The Official June 5, 2014 MCAT Thread

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Did anyone else void? how can you bring yourself to Score your exam when you know that you did terrible in one section?

A bad MCAT is the kiss of death for MD school...whoever knowingly did bad is brave
 
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^^ lol for me it wasn't knowingly. But my practice scores went up an average of 6 points, so I have good feeling about this test 😛
 
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I looked at that void or score screen for the longest time, thinking maybe I should void.

Anyone remember all the VR passages? I'm still paranoid I missed an ENTIRE passage because I honestly don't remember anything about mammals. With 4 seconds left I hit "end section" and got the thing that says I left some item/s blank, I thought it was only one/two questions so I was like whatever, but now I'm getting really antsy thinking I maybe missed an entire passage.
 
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MansaMusa31 said:
Did anyone else void? how can you bring yourself to Score your exam when you know that you did terrible in one section?

A bad MCAT is the kiss of death for MD school...whoever knowingly did bad is brave
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Well define terrible. I think your perceived performance will be worse on the real thing. A typical test-taker may feel worse leaving the actual exam than they do after finishing a practice exam, but will likely score near their average. Unless you really had no clue on more than one passage (or you ran out of time and didn't answer questions), and you are confident you can be objective, I don't think you should void.

Everyone's situation is different. It may be better is score a point lower and get your applications complete, than to delay a month and not be complete until late August. Every school handles multiple MCATs differently, so you should be aware how programs you're interested in handle multiple scores. It can hurt at some schools, and while I agree it's best to take it only once, it's not automatic rejections (if you get a competitive score for said school).
 
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MichaelBergen said:
I looked at that void or score screen for the longest time, thinking maybe I should void.

Anyone remember all the VR passages? I'm still paranoid I missed an ENTIRE passage because I honestly don't remember anything about mammals. With 4 second left I hit "end section" and got the thing that says I left some item/s blank, I thought it was only one/two questions so I was like whatever, but now I'm getting really antsy thinking I maybe missed an entire passage.
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I doubt you missed an entire passage. I had to sit and think about what passage they were referring to for the longest time. Mammals is a very broad category and the passage was pretty specific. One word and I'm sure it'll come back to you. But I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say the word... Just think about what mammals are and what types of things are included in the category.
 
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MichaelBergen said:
I looked at that void or score screen for the longest time, thinking maybe I should void.

Anyone remember all the VR passages? I'm still paranoid I missed an ENTIRE passage because I honestly don't remember anything about mammals. With 4 second left I hit "end section" and got the thing that says I left some item/s blank, I thought it was only one/two questions so I was like whatever, but now I'm getting really antsy thinking I maybe missed an entire passage.
Click to expand...

Maybe it was an experimental passage. Maybe whoever said mammal may have meant some other word that may be related to mammal. Don't stress, you probably didn't miss an entire passage as you would've been done with a lot more time remaining (than typical). Don't sweat it.
 
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That exam
Heday said:
Well define terrible. I think your perceived performance will be worse on the real thing. A typical test-taker may feel worse leaving the actual exam than they do after finishing a practice exam, but will likely score near their average. Unless you really had no clue on more than one passage (or you ran out of time and didn't answer questions), and you are confident you can be objective, I don't think you should void.

Everyone's situation is different. It may be better is score a point lower and get your applications complete, than to delay a month and not be complete until late August. Every school handles multiple MCATs differently, so you should be aware how programs you're interested in handle multiple scores. It can hurt at some schools, and while I agree it's best to take it only once, it's not automatic rejections (if you get a competitive score for said school).
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While you definitely raise good points...most ppl comnebrig right now seem completely terrified from their performance DURING the exam. Post exam jitters is normal but when ppl are emphasizing total destruction on one particular section...there's a reason besides the psyche part. You can still submit now and have a score by August to give you a good chance as most med schools start checking apps on the beginning of Aug unless you're early decision
 
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MansaMusa31 said:
That exam

While you definitely raise good points...most ppl comnebrig right now seem completely terrified from their performance DURING the exam. Post exam jitters is normal but when ppl are emphasizing total destruction on one particular section...there's a reason besides the psyche part. You can still submit now and have a score by August to give you a good chance as most med schools start checking apps on the beginning of Aug unless you're early decision
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If you felt destructed then you should definitely void. As far as post-exam reactions and scores go, I say there isn't a correlation. This is based solely on all the MCAT threads I've read in the past year.
 
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MichaelBergen said:
Alright. I remember 3/7 VR passages lol I'm just happy I remember the one I want to read more about, gonna try to look it up now lol.

Any other guys who let their facial hair grow out while studying, not giving two flips what they look like? I'm so excited to get rid of my MCAT beard haha
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I remember 5/7 lol. But I agree, sometimes they're interesting. I find myself psychoanalyzing myself on some of the social science passages. As far as the beard, I shaved yesterday because I didn't want them to look at my ID and say they can't recognize me.
 
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Leviosaaa93 said:
I doubt you missed an entire passage. I had to sit and think about what passage they were referring to for the longest time. Mammals is a very broad category and the passage was pretty specific. One word and I'm sure it'll come back to you. But I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say the word... Just think about what mammals are and what types of things are included in the category.
Click to expand...
Yes I said mammal because I felt like saying specifics would be bad

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
 
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MichaelBergen said:
Alright. I remember 3/7 VR passages lol I'm just happy I remember the one I want to read more about, gonna try to look it up now lol.

Any other guys who let their facial hair grow out while studying, not giving two flips what they look like? I'm so excited to get rid of my MCAT beard haha
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Dude I look like such like a hobo right now
 
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MichaelBergen said:
Alright. I remember 3/7 VR passages lol I'm just happy I remember the one I want to read more about, gonna try to look it up now lol.

Any other guys who let their facial hair grow out while studying, not giving two flips what they look like? I'm so excited to get rid of my MCAT beard haha
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Lol I haven't shaved in a month but I wouldn't consider what sits on my face (and a lot of my neck) a beard...
 
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I definitely voided that exam...I am going to study EVERY PS topic on the syllabus and not just glance over the low yield....God be with me and give me another Verbal and Bio like that again but I rebuke that PS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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MansaMusa31 said:
What's upsetting is that the bio section was super fair and verbal wasn't too crazy
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OMG I thought I was the only one who felt this way! PS, was insane! VR, was quite interesting. BS, was a walk in the park almost, with the exception of like a few questions! If it wasn't for the latter two, I definitely would've voided too!
 
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The bio section had a lot on the same topic IMO, and then very little or none on other major topics...I know there are only 52 Qs, but the AAMC practices seemed much more balanced.
 
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JustACavalier said:
The bio section had a lot on the same topic IMO, and then very little or none on other major topics...I know there are only 52 Qs, but the AAMC practices seemed much more balanced.
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I second that. The test has definitely changed from AAMC3 to today.
I think AAMC11 Bio was somewhat representative. Nothing prepared for 1/2 of PS section, nothing is representative of it, a new beast has been created..

Now it's one month until doomsday or a big relief off of our shoulders.
 
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BS had a lot of concepts related to my research. But I still thought the questions were challenging.

The more I think about this test the more terrible I feel. It's gonna be a long month...
 
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MichaelBergen said:
Alright. I remember 3/7 VR passages lol I'm just happy I remember the one I want to read more about, gonna try to look it up now lol.

Any other guys who let their facial hair grow out while studying, not giving two flips what they look like? I'm so excited to get rid of my MCAT beard haha
Click to expand...
Hmm idk I like my caveman look...
 
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TheJourney said:
I second that. The test has definitely changed from AAMC3 to today.
I think AAMC11 Bio was somewhat representative. Nothing prepared for 1/2 of PS section, nothing is representative of it, a new beast has been created..

Now it's one month until doomsday or a big relief off of our shoulders.
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AGREED, a lot of PS review out there and the threads here on PS strategies are outdated bc its the common consensus that the new PS is a killer
 
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MichaelBergen said:
BS had a lot of concepts related to my research. But I still thought the questions were challenging.

The more I think about this test the more terrible I feel. It's gonna be a long month...
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Go do something to treat yourself and forget about the test man. You have earned it! I feel really bad about the test as well, but it's not gonna help any of us to dwell on it.
 
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not sure how much detail you guys can go into ...what about the PS was hard ? Was it the physics or the gen chem, was it conceptually difficult or just time wise or very math intensive or just rare topics?....Im supposed to be taking 06/13
 
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Retaker here: 3/22--> (11/4/11)

PS : Very calculation heavy. Just like GS exams. I'm glad I did GS FLs. GS FLs not only helped me with calculations but also helped with my timing (I had 15-20 mins to spare for aamc exams). For PS, I had 5-6 mins to spare today. There were 2-3 calculation questions which were impossible to solve for me even during the spare time. So I guessed on them. Unlike GS exams, pssages were very long. Prediction: >11. I ran out of time for the last passage and discretes during 3/22 exam but still ended up 11. So hopefully I do better than that.

Verbal: Did terrible last time. This time, I changed my strategy to focusing on topic/conclusion sentences and spent time on speed reading. First passage was very hard and it took me 10 mins to do. I thought i was screwed. But it got better cuz some of the passages were interesting/easier to read. I had to guess on 2-3 questions randomly in the last passage. Predicting: 6-8. I would be happy if I get 7 or 8 considering my previous performance.

BS: Felt good until 6th passage. Because of GS exams, I was doing passages very fast but it took forever to do that passage. Very hard. I would say twice times as hard as ebola. Discretes were doable. Hopefully, I didn't get a lot wrong in that passage. Finished the exam with 4 mins to spare and rechecked the answers.
Predicting a 11. If I hadn't done GS, I probably would have run of time on this section.

I don't know. hoping for a 30 with better verbal score than last time.
 
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Hi all. I'm a retaker.
PS: hard. Alot of the passages were obscure and some questions could not be solved easily with the information in the passage. Usually have time left over on this section, but not today.
VR: I thought it was okay. I'm not sure how I did, but the passages were definitely easier to read than the first test I took. Some weird questions though.
BS: started off easy and got hard towards the end. I thought some of the discretes were also out of left field. Overall better than PS tho.
Now for the waiting game..
 
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lawlzi said:
Hi all. I'm a retaker.
PS: hard. Alot of the passages were obscure and some questions could not be solved easily with the information in the passage. Usually have time left over on this section, but not today.
VR: I thought it was okay. I'm not sure how I did, but the passages were definitely easier to read than the first test I took. Some weird questions though.
BS: started off easy and got hard towards the end. I thought some of the discretes were also out of left field. Overall better than PS tho.
Now for the waiting game..
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I agree with this. Verbal had easily readable passages, albeit longer than I was used to, but the questions were still tough. PS had many calculations, and I probably guessed blindly on 2 of em. Bio def snuck up on me.
 
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PS was brutal . VS not bad. BS was a mixture. Missed 4-5 questions on the first section, made some educated guesses as well. Verbal was manageable. Missed a question or two on BS.
 
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bzhou said:
Unscored was interesting. I like the direction they're taking it.
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I agree. As a biochemistry UG and a biochemistry MS, I loved the trial section.

PS: Insane. Not to toot my own horn, but this is coming from someone who on Kaplan's (high difficulty) PS scored 11-13...
VR: Have your own opinions about AAMC/Kaplan/EK (I like EK VR), but this MCAT had LONG passages (6-8 decent paragraphs)...
Bio: One passage was difficult in particular, but P.O.E. helps...
 
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Any know for sure if the curve comes from today's testers only or from all testers that have ever taken this version of the test?

I dont know if they even recycle tests or if they are new each time..
 
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premed1001 said:
Any know for sure if the curve comes from today's testers only or from all testers that have ever taken this version of the test?

I dont know if they even recycle tests or if they are new each time..
Click to expand...

You're never competing with people who took it the same day, the curve is based on past performance when they were the experimental sections.
 
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Also I'm definitely feeling a bit better about this test now that it's been a few hours..It's a nice feeling having apps submitted and being done with this test forever.
 
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Guys,

I'm trying to stay positive, but it was just too much for me as a first timer. I feel like I'm making excuses, but I think I may need to work on harder materials maybe because the AAMC tests, as expensive as they are, are just too MISLEADING, anyone agree? I mean, you'd think the test now would be representative of past given, but I think they just made it harder since there are so much competition now...

PS threw me off and it just went downhill from there - anyone with ideas on how to work with timing and/or know when to void/not void?
 
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kevaznboy said:
Guys,

I'm trying to stay positive, but it was just too much for me as a first timer. I feel like I'm making excuses, but I think I may need to work on harder materials maybe because the AAMC tests, as expensive as they are, are just too MISLEADING, anyone agree? I mean, you'd think the test now would be representative of past given, but I think they just made it harder since there are so much competition now...

PS threw me off and it just went downhill from there - anyone with ideas on how to work with timing and/or know when to void/not void?
Click to expand...

It was my first exam too and I was surprised at how hard it was. I came out of the PS smiling because I was so surprised. The only test that was at all representative was AAMC 11 IMO. I'm trying to stay positive too, but as of now I'm guessing I'll be signing up for a September test date.
 
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JustACavalier said:
It was my first exam too and I was surprised at how hard it was. I came out of the PS smiling because I was so surprised. The only test that was at all representative was AAMC 11 IMO. I'm trying to stay positive too, but as of now I'm guessing I'll be signing up for a September test date.
Click to expand...
Are you applying this cycle? I am debating a August or September retake and applying this cycle

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
 
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JustACavalier said:
It was my first exam too and I was surprised at how hard it was. I came out of the PS smiling because I was so surprised. The only test that was at all representative was AAMC 11 IMO. I'm trying to stay positive too, but as of now I'm guessing I'll be signing up for a September test date.
Click to expand...

Why September? I feel like if I have to retake I would probably shoot for late july or august at the latest.
 
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docemmettbrown said:
Are you applying this cycle? I am debating a August or September retake and applying this cycle

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I want to apply this cycle ideally, but I know my adviser will say the usual stuff about it being bad to apply late in the ball game, but I think I will just have to regroup and study even harder and possibly on harder materials/practice tests. Can't do anything without a good score first right?
 
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e1188 said:
Why September? I feel like if I have to retake I would probably shoot for late july or august at the latest.
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I am doing research abroad this summer and won't be back until August. I won't get my score until July and will be coming home mid-August, so it will give me a month to regroup and study
 
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It is basically pointless to buy any of the old AAMCs besides AAMC 11 - it may help you marginally, but that's it.

And worse thing is, if/when you retake, it probably won't be similar to today's....
 
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I found the PS section extremely difficult as well. In general, what percentage of the questions do you need to get correct in the sections to get at least a 10. Going from what I've seen from on the practice AAMC's, getting at least an 80% should guarantee you at least a 10. Does anyone else have any ideas?
 
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psp251 said:
I found the PS section extremely difficult as well. In general, what percentage of the questions do you need to get correct in the sections to get at least a 10. Going from what I've seen from on the practice AAMC's, getting at least an 80% should guarantee you at least a 10. Does anyone else have any ideas?
Click to expand...
From what I've read from Kaplan and from AAMC/Kaplan FL's, I think ~80% is a 10 and ~90 is a 12-13 for PS and BS
 
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