The Official June 5, 2014 MCAT Thread

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Hi everyone~ first-time poster and first-time exam taker here. Ahh I have to say it is so reassuring to read the posts in this thread, knowing that a lot of you guys are echoing the same feelings that I had/am having post-exam!

PS: I finished this section with no time to spare, so unfortunately had no time to review my answers. I always cut it close in terms of timing in PS, even for AAMC practice exams as well, but this time around, I definitely had to make what felt like quite a number of educated guesses and two wild guesses for the final two problems (due to timing gahh). I didn't feel like the section was too calculation-heavy as some are suggesting? (Definitely not to say I thought the section was easy, though, that's for sure!!) I've also heard that there are usually up to 10 different versions of the exam that are administered during any given exam day, so I wouldn't be surprised if we all had slightly different passages/problems. There were some questions that were very straightforward, and some that I literally could have had my physics/chem MCAT review books open in front of me and still wouldn't have made a difference. In terms of overall difficulty, I felt that a few of the passages were more on par with the PS on TPR's practice exams. At least in terms of the verbosity of some of the passages and purposely-intimidating-looking-but-extraneous-and-completely-useless data/information. I took a few TPR practice exams in addition to the AAMC's, but stopped taking those after a while because I felt like they weren't an efficient use of my time. Now I feel like I should've taken more, or at least should've taken them more seriously, but ahh, who knows!?

V: I finished this section with 30 seconds to spare, which was enough time to check over a grand total of 2 of my marked questions. I felt it was pretty similar in difficulty and style with the AAMC practice exams. The passages themselves were okay, some of the questions made me go - huh?? But, I can never tell with verbal...

BS: Also finished with no time to spare, and I'm not proud to admit this as a bio major, but I totally got owned by this section. Like really badly. I mean, a few of the bio passages were pretty straightforward, but some were just... (!!!) I was grateful that it wasn't orgo-dense, but some of those bio passages were killer! Overall, more similar in style to the later AAMC practice exams, I suppose. And as some people have mentioned, it definitely seemed to cover a very narrow range of concepts.

Immediately after the exam, I felt like I was run over by a train... and since then, I've vacillated between thinking I did okay to thinking I completely bombed it. Tried to do some retail therapy today in hopes of distracting myself, but I've just constantly been thinking about this exam! Leaving for a family vacay to tropical climes tomorrow, and gonna have to try my best not to be a major debbie downer during the whole trip...
 
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Definitely with you guys here, PS was insane. My easiest and thus least studied for section, until AAMC#11, when it was my worst section, basically I put off some of the insane kaplan style heavily quantitative sections because of the qualitative nature of the early aamc's. For exams like #11, the clearest antecedent to this one, by far, that was a big mistake. Anyone in Kaplan, seriously do those PS sections, get 60-70% and get your timing and math down (though the nature of the test is variable). Heavily quantitative sections change timing, at least for people who are more conceptual/visual and can breeze through many more questions.
I thought VR and and BS were pretty standard, although my nerves were pretty shot from PS...EEK! It's nice to hear the consensus on this board though, I could not agree more. If I scored anywhere near my AAMC average not only will I be thrilled, but that will mean the curve on actual MCAT exams are far more gentle than any of the practice exams.
And yes of course it's absurd to obsess over things we can't change, while I rationally understand that...I CAN'T HELP IT! Every remembered PS question puts me in a downward spiral of uncertainty!
 
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ChubbyFace said:
Definitely with you guys here, PS was insane. My easiest and thus least studied for section, until AAMC#11, when it was my worst section, basically I put off some of the insane kaplan style heavily quantitative sections because of the qualitative nature of the early aamc's. For exams like #11, the clearest antecedent to this one, by far, that was a big mistake. Anyone in Kaplan, seriously do those PS sections, get 60-70% and get your timing and math down (though the nature of the test is variable). Heavily quantitative sections change timing, at least for people who are more conceptual/visual and can breeze through many more questions.
I thought VR and and BS were pretty standard, although my nerves were pretty shot from PS...EEK! It's nice to hear the consensus on this board though, I could not agree more. If I scored anywhere near my AAMC average not only will I be thrilled, but that will mean the curve on actual MCAT exams are far more gentle than any of the practice exams.
And yes of course it's absurd to obsess over things we can't change, while I rationally understand that...I CAN'T HELP IT! Every remembered PS question puts me in a downward spiral of uncertainty!
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I totally agree with the remembering questions part! I made a list of all the questions on PS that I had to make educated/wild guesses on and I came up with about 9. I usually don't have to flat out guess on any! Ahhh. In hindsight, I probably could have figured some of them out had I just calmed down. I'm just hoping most of those were the experimental questions haha.
 
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Phew, just reserved my seat just in case I totally bombed this one. Now I can stress a little less and take a slight break before hitting the books again

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
 
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BuckeyeN4tion said:
Also, question: so the scale/curve is predetermined correct? So even if we all fail the PS the scale won't change?
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If all of you failed the PS, then chances are that those who took the questions before you failed it as well and this result would be reflected in the scale that they determined. So, no.
 
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Leviosaaa93 said:
I totally agree with the remembering questions part! I made a list of all the questions on PS that I had to make educated/wild guesses on and I came up with about 9. I usually don't have to flat out guess on any! Ahhh. In hindsight, I probably could have figured some of them out had I just calmed down. I'm just hoping most of those were the experimental questions haha.
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I have come to the conclusion after reading a coupla threads that
1. Pre test everyone complains about PS being abnormally difficult
2. Everyone still scores around their AAMC average
3. The term "bombed it" is relative to the test taker. People who score 14s on practice might Bomb it meaning they didnt feel like they did perfect but guessed on a coupla questions whereas people who score low on practice tests and say they bomb it actually bomb it.

Guessing on about 9 is like an 10-11 on AAMC tests and with the MCAT curve probably higher.

I am just saying this for the future test takers to help them not get psyched out by reading these threads
 
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XxSynapsexX said:
Lets not get carried away here bro... its pretty clear AAMC is the best material out there and the AAMCS scores correlate closely to real scores
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Pointless was strong, my bad. I guess I still think they're useful, but don't be fooled and misled into thinking the earlier AAMCs are what the test is now is what I wanted to say. Maybe it was just me, but the real thing seemed like there were less obvious, easy-type questions you can pick out.
 
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Im pretty chill about the test. However, I had a nightmare about the verbal reasoning section last night lol
 
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Based on the replies here and my two experiences taking the MCAT, here are my opinions:

I took all the AAMC tests, and scored a 12 in PS for all of them the first time around. I guess I could have improved it, but I was happy with a 12 so I didn't do a lot of review. This was a mistake, and I ended up with a 10 on the real thing last time (April 5th, the PS section was not hardest section on that test).

While taking the AAMC tests, I realized that I was very prone to make errors in the calculation-heavy questions. These usually involve manipulating one or more equations, and then plugging and chugging from there. So my strategy was to mark all of the calculation questions and recheck those, since I'm less likely to screw up one of the conceptual questions than I am to miss an exponent or something. Also, rechecking the concept questions can be problematic, and chances are your second guess isn't any better than your first (either you grok the concept or you don't). After this test, I had about 12 or 13 questions marked, and no time to go back and check any.

So it's not that the AAMC tests are useless. They are absolutely the best source for learning what the test looks like, and how it feels to pace yourself with the different sections. You can read about strategies from TPR all you want, but after you complete 10 PS sections you'll understand the format intuitively. The AAMC's are not representative of the difficulty of the real test. In this case, it meant more calculation-heavy questions which are more intimidating, leave more room for error, and just take longer even if you're comfortable with math. Sometimes the VR section will be full of impenetrable tomes scribbled in some zany professor's moleskine, pontificating about "the self" or whatever in order to keep his tenure. Other times BS will be hard, but I wouldn't know because I'm used to faking my way through it with a 9 or a 10.

Overall what I'd recommend to prepare for this sort of test is to get the biggest book of practice problems you can find and do all of them.
 
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I jst thought the bio passages are extremelyy dense, especially the last 2-3 in the end. I had to reread 2 times to really understand wats going on. Just threw me off really. I didn't think PS is as bad there were a couple of weird, wtf questions, but i think it was okay, i was more worrried about bio. And verbal was actually very readable, but the questions are okay, vr is extremely unpredictable. tho
 
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Also took june 5th. second time taking mcat.
idk about how to feel about this test really. all i know is that I usually have 6 minutes left in bio for double checking, but this time i ran out of time....this is the first time in the history of practice tests and actual mcat test that I have ever ran out of time in bio. this was all because I read the killer bio passage 3 times to understand it fully, which im glad i did because I only guessed on 1 qs on that passage. the downside however is that i missed 3-4 easy FREAKING questions just because I didn't have time to check.
at the end of the day I hope it works out, last time I got an 11 in BS.
Verbal was easier to read but longer...i noticed that it took me longer to finish reading, and some questions had like 2 really good answers🙁
I'M trusting in God! This is my year. And im faithful that God will do it for me!
Here's to hoping for 28+
 
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ADAUC said:
Also took june 5th. second time taking mcat.
idk about how to feel about this test really. all i know is that I usually have 6 minutes left in bio for double checking, but this time i ran out of time....this is the first time in the history of practice tests and actual mcat test that I have ever ran out of time in bio. this was all because I read the killer bio passage 3 times to understand it fully, which im glad i did because I only guessed on 1 qs on that passage. the downside however is that i missed 3-4 easy FREAKING questions just because I didn't have time to check.
at the end of the day I hope it works out, last time I got an 11 in BS.
Verbal was easier to read but longer...i noticed that it took me longer to finish reading, and some questions had like 2 really good answers🙁
I'M trusting in God! This is my year. And im faithful that God will do it for me!
Here's to hoping for 28+
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I am in the same boat basically. Really hoping for a at least a 28. I need a miracle here. I felt so overtaken by this exam... I have gone through this exam more than I should. This is is the YEAR!!
Hopes up
 
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damn...I feel awful! how many of you submitted the app already? did you just choose 1 school (your state school)?
 
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For the Bio section I have heard of others reading Nature/Science and Wikipedia pages about certain topics to gain more of a "bio" background.. do you think that would have helped with some of the dense BIO sections you had on your test?

Also regarding PS... was it difficult because formulas were hard to recall or you knew for example that you have to use F=ma but the numbers were just kinda wack?

Thanks!! and remember to stay positive.. trust your training not your post test feelings 🙂
 
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orangetea said:
For the Bio section I have heard of others reading Nature/Science and Wikipedia pages about certain topics to gain more of a "bio" background.. do you think that would have helped with some of the dense BIO sections you had on your test?

Also regarding PS... was it difficult because formulas were hard to recall or you knew for example that you have to use F=ma but the numbers were just kinda wack?

Thanks!! and remember to stay positive.. trust your training not your post test feelings 🙂
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honestly, I would recommend going over the AAMC outline. every test is different. you won't really get much help by asking what each section was like...
 
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Anyone remember all the VR passages? I'm still at 6/7 and I'm not sure if my brain is just blocking any memories of that one I can't remember, or if I really didn't read it and somehow skipped all the questions for it...
 
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MichaelBergen said:
Anyone remember all the VR passages? I'm still at 6/7 and I'm not sure if my brain is just blocking any memories of that one I can't remember, or if I really didn't read it and somehow skipped all the questions for it...
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I wish I could tell you the ones I remember, but I'm not sure what the rules are with all of that. I'm sure you didn't miss a whole section though. Sometimes I wonder if I hit void by accident, but I know I didn't. It's probably just your brain playing tricks on you.

AspiringERMD said:
I hear you. I could honestly conceive of anything from like 28-38. I have no idea. At all.
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I have been doing the same thing as both of you. I told my family anything from a 29-37 wouldn't surprise me, because I really have no idea.

orangetea said:
For the Bio section I have heard of others reading Nature/Science and Wikipedia pages about certain topics to gain more of a "bio" background.. do you think that would have helped with some of the dense BIO sections you had on your test?

Also regarding PS... was it difficult because formulas were hard to recall or you knew for example that you have to use F=ma but the numbers were just kinda wack?

Thanks!! and remember to stay positive.. trust your training not your post test feelings 🙂
Click to expand...

I don't think reading other, random, dense information would particularly help you. Studying the content outline would better prepare you for the bulk of the questions. Some of them will only pertain to a passage, and on our test, one of those passages was very convoluted. Tests can become more confusing if they use a lot of canceling words like inhibition and anti- and it gets hard to keep everything straight, amongst all the new information and concepts. As for PS, I felt the gen chem was harder than the physics and it was more asking for inherent knowledge that I didn't have and can see how it could fall under sections on the content outline, but most people wouldn't study regularly. Physics had one question that required a formula I did not have, but never would have had.
 
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My two cents on the BS:

I think it would be helpful reading research publications with test results/graphs similar to the Ebola passage from AAMC 11 (right?). I feel like those are the toughest kinds of passages (for me at least), and being able to understand -/- CatL, -/+ CatB, etc and understanding experiment design would be a tremendous benefit. You want to read the thesis and start being able to design your own experiment (and be relatively close to how the passage's experiment protocol is). That way, your job is to interpret the results, extrapolate what "it all means," and be able to apply the concepts in different situation. I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time trying to make sense of the experimental design (why certain variables were chosen, why others weren't, etc) rather than interpreting the results.
 
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So here's my questions: My AMCAS app is ready to submit, and June 5 was my first MCAT, so it's listed as score pending. Do I go ahead and submit, even though I don't know my score (or feel very optimistic)? At this point, waiting for scores from a retake would put me behind, right? Any of you in the same situation?
 
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Hey guys, I also took the test on June 5th! It was my second time taking the test; got a 27 the first time!
I honestly didn't think that PS was as bad as everyone is saying it was( it was on the harder side and had lots of calculation but it wasn't horrendous) verbal was so much easier than the my first test( I walked out of that one thinking I scored a 3). I was doing good in BS until I hit the hard passages towards the end( kinda upset) but whatever!
I'm surprised at how chill I am this time around, I wasn't nervous going in and I wasn't freaking out walking out!
I just wish I had my scores so I could finalize my school list!
 
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nairopil said:
So here's my questions: My AMCAS app is ready to submit, and June 5 was my first MCAT, so it's listed as score pending. Do I go ahead and submit, even though I don't know my score (or feel very optimistic)? At this point, waiting for scores from a retake would put me behind, right? Any of you in the same situation?
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I'm in the same situation, what I'm doing is selecting my state public schools, and taking advantage of the quicker processing times early in the cycle. Then come July 8th, I will get my score and see what additional schools are worth the money to apply to or whether I need to re-test.
 
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nairopil said:
So here's my questions: My AMCAS app is ready to submit, and June 5 was my first MCAT, so it's listed as score pending. Do I go ahead and submit, even though I don't know my score (or feel very optimistic)? At this point, waiting for scores from a retake would put me behind, right? Any of you in the same situation?
Click to expand...

Yeah go ahead and submit. You want your application to be verified. AMCAS will release verified applications to the designated schools on June 27. Schools should see on your AMCAS that you're waiting for a score (if they look at your application before July 8th). So it's in your best interest to submit now (with one school). You can add other schools after you get your score back (that way you don't waste money applying to schools where your MCAT is too high to too low).
 
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So I guess the takeaway from the May 8th thread is regardless of your post-test feelings, expect to score around your AAMC averages give or take a few points. Wish everyone the best of luck. Only twenty-something days left.
 
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krefetz1 said:
So I guess the takeaway from the May 8th thread is regardless of your post-test feelings, expect to score around your AAMC averages give or take a few points. Wish everyone the best of luck. Only twenty-something days left.
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It's not just May 8th. It's an unwritten rules that most people will score +/- 2 from AAMC average (barring you forgot to do a passage or something else crazy).
 
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Also took the test on June 5th. Well... Where do I begin....
First the computer that I was using was effed up, kept popping out messages saying that the system needed to close a program and send an error report.. It finally started working properly 5 minutes later (after 2 reboot by the staff). THAT THREW ME OFF A LITTLE, what came next was PS questions that I had never encountered before, I had to guess on bonding and periodic trends problems. First two passages probably took me 20 minutes.
So 20 minutes into the exam, I heard a loud thud and looked up and saw this slim girl passed out on the floor (I sat close to the door)... like actually eyes shut unconscious. THAT GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK. My hands were shaking for the next 5-10 minutes and I had to re-read a lot. The girl was fine by the way, I saw her during the two breaks so I know she kept writing. I think she was just intimidated by the PS questions? I score between 12-13 on PS on practice tests, usually with 15 min to spare. This time I finished with 20 seconds remaining, I'm hoping for a 10. I squeezed a mini panic attack in the break and cried in the little girl's room after PS.
VR was ok, it's my weakest subject, I found the passages were easier to understand but there was also more to read.
BS was ok too, I guess I was lucky in the sense that my research has to do with epigenetics, so the questions were not as bad. Had to guess on some questions though..

Overall it was a very unforgettable exp. Seriously how often does someone pass out during an exam?
 
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janjan0528 said:
Also took the test on June 5th. Well... Where do I begin....
First the computer that I was using was effed up, kept popping out messages saying that the system needed to close a program and send an error report.. It finally started working properly 5 minutes later (after 2 reboot by the staff). THAT THREW ME OFF A LITTLE, what came next was PS questions that I had never encountered before, I had to guess on bonding and periodic trends problems. First two passages probably took me 20 minutes.
So 20 minutes into the exam, I heard a loud thud and looked up and saw this slim girl passed out on the floor (I sat close to the door)... like actually eyes shut unconscious. THAT GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK. My hands were shaking for the next 5-10 minutes and I had to re-read a lot. The girl was fine by the way, I saw her during the two breaks so I know she kept writing. I think she was just intimidated by the PS questions? I score between 12-13 on PS on practice tests, usually with 15 min to spare. This time I finished with 20 seconds remaining, I'm hoping for a 10. I squeezed a mini panic attack in the break and cried in the little girl's room after PS.
VR was ok, it's my weakest subject, I found the passages were easier to understand but there was also more to read.
BS was ok too, I guess I was lucky in the sense that my research has to do with epigenetics, so the questions were not as bad. Had to guess on some questions though..

Overall it was a very unforgettable exp. Seriously how often does someone pass out during an exam?
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That is hilarious honestly.

Anyway, I didn't think I'd be this insane about my score. One day I think I got a 33, the next I'm convinced I got a 25 haha. Oh well... only a month until we get our scores back.
 
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docemmettbrown said:
Yes only like 27 days... But who's counting... With a widget on their phones home screen... With a reminded that if I do poorly I will retake... No surely no one lol.

Sent from my LG-LS995 using Tapatalk
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Ecstasy or agony in exactly 4 weeks' time... wish I knew which to prep my brain for.

Hopefully all the questions we guessed on were the experimental questions lol
 
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I always draw out pathways for anything that has to do with biology, including the BS section of the MCAT. I work in research, and I always use this method because I read a lot of thesis papers from grad students. Most papers contain information that is fairly unfamiliar to me. Not to mention that sometimes I get a really dense signaling pathway paper with a bunch of feedbacks. Drawing out a mechanism really helps to simplify things. I can quickly look at a diagram and discern what happens when something is up-regulated or down-regulated. Since I consider myself a preternaturally competent visual learning, I retain a lot of what I see on a page for at least a few days. If I really need to know something, I concentrate pretty hard and can remember the pathway for much longer. I used this method on the June 5th MCAT for a few passages. One passage in particular really stood out, and I think if I hadn't used this method, I would have been a little lost 😛
 
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Doctora Foxy said:
Hi, welcome to SDN 🙂

If you go to print your application and scroll down to the very bottom, there will be a list of schools and dates of transmission.

But some schools will never show a date, so don't worry too much about that section. :wink:
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July 8th? Not the 7th?
 
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What are you all doing? I submitted the app on 11th and waiting to be verified. Starting my new job as SAT teacher tomorrow...pretty excited!! atleast this will get my mind off the exam...still working on DO application.
 
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uvrsol said:
What are you all doing? I submitted the app on 11th and waiting to be verified. Starting my new job as SAT teacher tomorrow...pretty excited!! atleast this will get my mind off the exam...still working on DO application.
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Im sitting around all day watching game of thrones and neglecting my American History hw.
 
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You guys should be receiving your Amazon gift cards pretty soon if you took the trial section.

That should keep you distracted enough until scores come in.
 
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I chose to take the trial section but then had to guess on everything because I remembered that I had to go to class right after the exam. Doubt im getting a gift card
 
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