Noticed there was no thread for the March 31st MCAT so, here it is!
Who has began studying?!?!
Who has began studying?!?!
*The Official March 2017 MCAT Thread*
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wow! I'm planning to do 2 FLs/week and I thought that was a lot! But I'm glad to hear that it's paid off for you! I'm desperate to raise my score within the next few weeks too so hopefully it fares just as well for me..
I'm thinking of saving my AAMC FLs for the last 2 weeks. Should I do them earlier? later?
Use the them to predict your score and gauge your over all understanding. I would do one scored fl asap to see where you stand, then adjust your studying accordingly. Then take another one couple days before the real one.
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Sounds good!
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Is it just me or is the AAMC C/P Section Bank really hard....
I got about half way through the C/P Section Bank last night and had to stop because it made me want to just re-read all of my C/P books and start content review again. I think this one is definitely the hardest of the three.
Trust me if you can master them , you ll be alright.. You have like 3 week which should be enough... Took unscored and lots of SB style question on there... so performing great on them is Golden! I will go over them again before the exam.. Oh, Gosh i suck at verbal!Is it just me or is the AAMC C/P Section Bank really hard....
Just 3 weeks left until test day! I took the AAMC unscored sample last Sunday (506 with the reddit score calculator), then AAMC scored #1 this sunday, AAMC scored #2 next sunday, and then just thinking to do section banks until test day. Anyone think this is a good plan? How are you all doing on the AAMC sample tests?
Also, has anyone heard how accurately the unscored correlates to the actual mcat?
Also, has anyone heard how accurately the unscored correlates to the actual mcat?
I'm doing the same. Section bank questions for practice and 1-2 full lengths a week, saving the AAMC FLs for the last 2 weekends.
There's this spreadsheet from another thread that has a compilation of practice tests from the materials they used + AAMC + actual score that you might find helpful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/5wpxta/mcat_2017_score_spreadsheet_input_your_exam_day/
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I forgot who posted about this strategy but I just used it on the unscored sample test and found it really helpful. I realized I almost always was rushing the last passage of C/P section so someone recommended basically during the tutorial at the start of the real test writing down the times that you should be done with each passage. On science passages, give yourself 8 minutes and then 15 minutes for the 15 discretes. Then, I crossed out the times once I finished that passage. Oh and save the discretes for last so:
1:27 passage 1 end
1:19 passage 2 end
1:11 passage 3 end
etc.
I did this for both c/p and b/bc and I finished both sections with 5 minutes left.
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Thanks!
I've been improving on my times using TikiTorch's method but I will definitely try that method out as well. I'll be doing 2 more FLs this week so I'll update you guys after those. Can't believe it's in only 3 weeks!
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No problem! Yeah I've been studying on and off since July, so I can't wait to take it and have it be over withThanks!
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Yeah, I am signed up to take it in a few weeks too. I was able to get a seat in CA but only after stalking the registration page for any open seats. I have taken about 10 FL at this point and have found that NS are harder than the AAMC exams. I took the AAMC Sample exam 2 weeks ago (517), a NS FL last week (505) and AAMC Practice Exam 1(513) this week and still have one more NS FL and AAMC Practice test 2 left.
I was wondering if anyone who has any previous experience could fill me in on the lunch situation. It says we can't leave the facility during lunch but mine is at a hotel, so what is defined as the facility?
I was wondering if anyone who has any previous experience could fill me in on the lunch situation. It says we can't leave the facility during lunch but mine is at a hotel, so what is defined as the facility?
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Is it just me or is the AAMC C/P Section Bank really hard....
Section Bank = MCAT, see my recent post on that. However, you can absolutely learn to confidently process Section Bank passage types. Yeah, its hard. How many people pick up a musical instrument and play like a virtuoso the first time? Rule #1: Don't be intimidated.
Here's a couple of hints:
1. Work on several passages WITHOUT timing. Prove to yourself that given enough time and careful thinking, everything you need to own that passage is either in the passage itself, or is a basic science concept.
2. Draw out everything: Especially with acronyms, signaling molecules, steps in an experiment, etc. Transfer the text into simple diagrams that look like a flow chart and tell you which molecule stimulates which other molecule, etc.
Once you push through the dense language and acronyms, its all pretty simple stuff...and I realize it might not look that way right now, but it's true.
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I would assume don't leave the hotel? But, also how did you obtain a score for the sample exam? It's unscored. Unless you converted your score somehow?
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I personally brought my lunch and stayed in the waiting area (which had a lot of seats). No one was necessarily monitoring us (there were security cameras in the waiting area and the testing room, but I don't think they extended outside in the hallway), but I was a little paranoid and didn't want to risk anything. It was also nice to talk to other people who were taking the MCAT at the same time and try to loosen up/relieve some stress. I was actually so uptight during my exam that I didn't eat much of anything that I brought during lunch or any of my breaks -- I had to force myself to eat food because I knew I would be hungry later. Good luck!
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The hotel will probably have a "lab" where you take the exam that is also accompanied by a small room where you do your check-in for the actual exam (ID check & fingerprint etc.) This room, where the restroom is also located, will be the room you can take breaks in/snack in/etc.
Also just a tip - don't take in too many fluids during any of your breaks. This is my second time taking the exam (first time around I just wasn't prepared in the slightest) and I had some tea in the morning of my first exam. To put it lightly, I almost peed my pants 40 mins into the CARS section, yes that may have been due to some nerves but still, just be careful about your fluid intake
. I think someone earlier had said that reddit has a post that assists you in scoring the unscored practice exam.
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Just got done with taking another FL... Got a 127/123/125/126... I swear CARS is going to be the end of me
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Just got done with taking another FL... Got a 127/123/125/126... I swear CARS is going to be the end of me
Which FL did you take if you don't mind me asking? I just took one as well but my situation is different from yours - CARS is fine but C/P sucks. For CARS just make sure you're practicing every single day at a minimum of 3 passages a day (this will help you read faster, I don't really know how, but it will).
You got this man, don't get discouraged.
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If you do the more difficult Nextstep or Altius FL's, section bank will feel a lot easier in comparison.Is it just me or is the AAMC C/P Section Bank really hard....
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I took Kaplan FL 5. Khanacademy really helps for easy content review!
I think I take too long to read the passages and then don't give myself enough time to answer the questions properly. This timing thing is a killer.
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I did, I noticed that too haha
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What is everyone planning to do after their exam?
I'm thinking about going to see either Ghost in the shell or the Power Rangers movie.
I'm thinking about going to see either Ghost in the shell or the Power Rangers movie.
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100% drinking LOL. Everyone on this thread definitely deserves to celebrate/relax after the exam.
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This made me laugh. Let's be friends.
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Good luck to all of you testing tomorrow!
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scored it
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Yeah, felt like i got molested (really no joke)
Yeah, this totally was totally different, if anything this confirmed one THING = AAMC READS THIS Reddit/ SDN!! ZERO SB STYLE PASSAGE, I REPEAT 0 SB STYLED PASSAGE... MAYBE YOU DIDNT HEAR ME BUT ZERO SB STYLED PASSAGE.
If i were any of the April text taker.. I'll focus on Kaplan and TPR and supplement with EK. I swear to God, if i had only used EK materials to prep for this test i would have scored under 500!! I repeat ZERO SB STYLED-PASSAGES.
C/P = Tf was this!! Totally caught me off guard , wasnt expecting this much Gen chem! Zero , i repeat zero SB C/P passages on this section! Gosh, feel like i have wasted time reviewing the SB. Anyone who prep with Kaplan/ TPR should have NAILED THIS section .I seriously regret not going over TBR Gchem 2 again. ZERO SB PASSAGE !! Dont put all of your eggs in one BASKET AT APRIL TAKERS! DONT DO IT. TBR/ or TPR + EK / NS or SB.
Cars = Easy to read, no WTF passage imo.
Bio= Breeze, it worried me because this section was a bit easy.
PSY = explained why Bio was easy, This **** WAS MEAN! NO JOKE.. Seriously mean!
TLDR= don't solely prep with EK.. DONT DO IT.. master the Sb and move on to something else. THIS TEST WAS A LOT SIMILIAR TO FL1. (at mod , deleted post if this violated any of our rules).
Yeah, this totally was totally different, if anything this confirmed one THING = AAMC READS THIS Reddit/ SDN!! ZERO SB STYLE PASSAGE, I REPEAT 0 SB STYLED PASSAGE... MAYBE YOU DIDNT HEAR ME BUT ZERO SB STYLED PASSAGE.
If i were any of the April text taker.. I'll focus on Kaplan and TPR and supplement with EK. I swear to God, if i had only used EK materials to prep for this test i would have scored under 500!! I repeat ZERO SB STYLED-PASSAGES.
C/P = Tf was this!! Totally caught me off guard , wasnt expecting this much Gen chem! Zero , i repeat zero SB C/P passages on this section! Gosh, feel like i have wasted time reviewing the SB. Anyone who prep with Kaplan/ TPR should have NAILED THIS section .I seriously regret not going over TBR Gchem 2 again. ZERO SB PASSAGE !! Dont put all of your eggs in one BASKET AT APRIL TAKERS! DONT DO IT. TBR/ or TPR + EK / NS or SB.
Cars = Easy to read, no WTF passage imo.
Bio= Breeze, it worried me because this section was a bit easy.
PSY = explained why Bio was easy, This **** WAS MEAN! NO JOKE.. Seriously mean!
TLDR= don't solely prep with EK.. DONT DO IT.. master the Sb and move on to something else. THIS TEST WAS A LOT SIMILIAR TO FL1. (at mod , deleted post if this violated any of our rules).
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I'm glad I wasn't the only who felt completely destroyed... C/P and P/S sections will make me have to retake the MCAT... ha.
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I definitely agree on the difficulty of C/P. I studied with Kaplan though, and it still was a bit of a mystery to me. However, I typically always did decently on this section during practice, so I am hoping that pans out. Biology though I consistently made 127 - 128 on all my practice exams (5), and for some reason Bio on this one didn't sit well with me. Ultimately, P/S and CARS felt like the easiest sections I have ever done even during the practice exams. I typically did average on those sections until I took my last AAMC and got 127's. So on the actual exam, it feels like I had a flip flop in performance. C/P and bio (unsure), CARS and P/S (good).[/
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I think life played an early April Fool's joke on me yesterday. I developed a migraine in the middle of P/S, and ended up bowing out of the test 15 minutes early. I finished the section without much worry about time or incorrect answers, but the pain was so bad that I just couldn't go back and review. Here's to hoping my intuition is correct, and I did do well on that section. I am also 90 - 95% sure I hit the button to score the exam, which has been giving me a bit of an aneurysm. I will have to call AAMC on Monday to make sure that I didn't deliriously hit the void button.
This is very close to how I felt about it too... I barely finished C/P without time to review, and know for sure I got some wrong that I had marked for review and figured out later. Bio felt deceivingly easy, and I did NOT feel at all that there was much of a biochemistry focus on either C/P or Bio. CARS was straightforward. P/S was brutal and out of left field. Was it just me, or did it seem like the test was heavily tilted toward memorized material as opposed to deduction? Seriously wondering whether I should retake it.
Felt that way on C/P , and B/B, i felt like you had a deduce a lot on PSY .. I was ready to interpret "them" Y and X axis. Literally less than 5% biochem on this test!
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Here are my practice scores leading up to the exam for some perspective:
Kaplan FL1/FL2/FL3: 498-502-503
AAMC FL1/FL2: 506(126/127/126/127)/509(129/128/126/126) **The AAMC Fl's were taken 2 weeks before 1 week before the exam**
My thoughts:
C/P: I feel like I did okay on this section, which worries me a little. It started out pretty easy (I actually cracked a grin because of how easy it felt) but then it quickly got harder and harder with each passage. I can't remember if there was more or less of one topic compared to FL1 and 2 but it was way easier than the SB. I used the Kaplan book set and each book has a percentage breakdown of information tested in each section of the MCAT. For C/P it is 25% Biochem, 5% Biology, 30% Gen. Chem, 15% Organic, and 25% Physics. I think this was pretty accurate.
CARS: Meh, CARS was CARS. The passages were a few paragraphs longer but the formatting of the test application seemed to squeeze the margins way in (at least on the computer I tested on) so I think the passages looked a bit longer than they actually were. My strategy for this section was to glance at the passage to determine if it was a hard one with fancy words I didn't know or an easy one similar to a newspaper article. For the latter I would read the questions first and read through the passage until I got the answer. This gave me more time to slow read the harder passages first so I could actually grasp the higher level language.
B/B: This one is a complete toss up. Not as hard as the SB but it was definitely the hardest section other than P/S for me. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't we only required to know the structure of 20 amino acids? The AAMC really wanted to celebrate April 1st I guess.
P/S: Umm...WHAT WERE THOSE TERMS?? I was expecting to see a few new ones, but this was just frustrating. Other than the questions with obscure terms this was straight forward. I predict a mighty curve.
I finished each section with around 5-7 minutes to spare.
I'm hoping to score around 510 (512 if I'm lucky) based on the increases in my scores and the average increase between the AAMC Full-lengths and the real deal.
Congrats to everyone who tested. Now, we wait.
Kaplan FL1/FL2/FL3: 498-502-503
AAMC FL1/FL2: 506(126/127/126/127)/509(129/128/126/126) **The AAMC Fl's were taken 2 weeks before 1 week before the exam**
My thoughts:
C/P: I feel like I did okay on this section, which worries me a little. It started out pretty easy (I actually cracked a grin because of how easy it felt) but then it quickly got harder and harder with each passage. I can't remember if there was more or less of one topic compared to FL1 and 2 but it was way easier than the SB. I used the Kaplan book set and each book has a percentage breakdown of information tested in each section of the MCAT. For C/P it is 25% Biochem, 5% Biology, 30% Gen. Chem, 15% Organic, and 25% Physics. I think this was pretty accurate.
CARS: Meh, CARS was CARS. The passages were a few paragraphs longer but the formatting of the test application seemed to squeeze the margins way in (at least on the computer I tested on) so I think the passages looked a bit longer than they actually were. My strategy for this section was to glance at the passage to determine if it was a hard one with fancy words I didn't know or an easy one similar to a newspaper article. For the latter I would read the questions first and read through the passage until I got the answer. This gave me more time to slow read the harder passages first so I could actually grasp the higher level language.
B/B: This one is a complete toss up. Not as hard as the SB but it was definitely the hardest section other than P/S for me. Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't we only required to know the structure of 20 amino acids? The AAMC really wanted to celebrate April 1st I guess.
P/S: Umm...WHAT WERE THOSE TERMS?? I was expecting to see a few new ones, but this was just frustrating. Other than the questions with obscure terms this was straight forward. I predict a mighty curve.
I finished each section with around 5-7 minutes to spare.
I'm hoping to score around 510 (512 if I'm lucky) based on the increases in my scores and the average increase between the AAMC Full-lengths and the real deal.
Congrats to everyone who tested. Now, we wait.
I felt like on certain questions in C/P, the questions seemed easy and you would pick the answer that you normally would... UNTIL YOU REREAD WHAT'S IT'S ACTUALLY ASKING FOR.
The AAMC's trying to sucker punch us, I tell ya!
The AAMC's trying to sucker punch us, I tell ya!
The notion that C/P for this test was based on pre-2015 MCATs was floated around on reddit. It's not like we would know, but would the AAMC do that? I thought after the format change they wrote tests anew.
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CARS was my lowest too... I'm seeing people with 130/124/130/129 (scores not mine). Must have not been the greatest curve. Are you shooting for MD or DO?
508 as well, 128/124/128/128; CARS just had to eff me up. Kind of disappointed with the low CARS Score, felt like i killed it! And not planning on re-taking anytime soon. Hopefully, i'll land somewhere.
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