The Official March 22, 2014 MCAT Thread...

[BeachBlondie]

I'm registered!

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[ezking]

If anyone would like my seat for the test in San Francisco, PM me because I am going to drop my seat soon!

 

[stuw]

I hope I can still hang out with you guys in this thread even though pushed my exam back a few weeks to April but it's all the same to me at this point considering I'm not even counting days anymore. Just focusing on doing better in my practice exams. Looking at the great scores in the January 25th MCAT thread is making me more anxious.

On the upside I scored, an 11 on Verbal on a Kaplan CBT. Although, I hear Kaplan has a forgiving curve. I was still shocked I did so well. Think I'm starting to get the gist of verbal passages. My PS and BS are still below a 10 though. Highest I got on PS was a 9 on Kaplan and a 7 on AAMC. Not sure what I'm going to do about that. BS has been even lower (ouch!) - I admit I've been putting off studying Biology/Orgo thinking I can wing it.

Of course you can still hang out with us and yeah definitely. Saw those scores and couldn't believe all of the 35+

And congrats! It's all about making small advances and improvements, so I'm sure you're on the right track.

I actually just took aamc 4 just now, and goodness I see what everyone means about the tests getting harder. Couldn't crack a 10 on either ps or bs (hit 9 on ps and 8 on bs...don't know what happened) but i for some reason jumped up to a 10 on verbal. I'm hoping to takethis as a sign of an upward trend to myscores. doing post analysis after dinner tonight~

 

[Saxappeal1]

Yeah, im kind of shocked at that too... Who else was really shocked at all of the REALLY good scores that SDN'ers posted on the 1/23 and 1/25? Like, jeez. So jealous

 

[madmuttal]

my first aamc test. aamc 3...13/6/12...........freaking verbal is pissing me off....based on tpr Fls, my verbal has been on 8-10 range comfortably doing 6 passages and guessing on a lot of Qs on last passage.....

with aamc 3, i forced myself to do all 7 passages and did worse....very discouraging.....

 

[madmuttal]

As I was reviewing BS section in AAMC 3, noticed I got a question wrong regarding imprinting, conditioning, habitutation and discrimination...this was a free standing Q....i checked mcat outline on aamc website and i don't find these concepts in evolution category....anyone wanna shed some light?

 

[brood910]

As I was reviewing BS section in AAMC 3, noticed I got a question wrong regarding imprinting, conditioning, habitutation and discrimination...this was a free standing Q....i checked mcat outline on aamc website and i don't find these concepts in evolution category....anyone wanna shed some light?

Yeah, I didnt know what imprinting was, but I got it right.
If you know what conditioning, habituation, and discrimination mean, I think it was pretty obvious.

 

[brood910]

my first aamc test. aamc 3...13/6/12...........freaking verbal is pissing me off....based on tpr Fls, my verbal has been on 8-10 range comfortably doing 6 passages and guessing on a lot of Qs on last passage.....

with aamc 3, i forced myself to do all 7 passages and did worse....very discouraging.....

That's why I always say AAMC verbal is the only practice that "really" helps.
Other sources are good for getting timing down + getting used to these boring passages, but not for thinking in the way AAMC wants you to think.

I am on the same boat btw.. I am getting 13+ on PS, 11+ on BS all the time, but this freaking verbal............ Sigh...

 

[madmuttal]

That's why I always say AAMC verbal is the only practice that "really" helps.
Other sources are good for getting timing down + getting used to these boring passages, but not for thinking in the way AAMC wants you to think.

I am on the same boat btw.. I am getting 13+ on PS, 11+ on BS all the time, but this freaking verbal............ Sigh...

I see... how are you doing on aamc verbal?

 

[brood910]

I see... how are you doing on aamc verbal?

7~9..
I always have to guess for the last passage btw..

 

[madmuttal]

i c...you have done other aamcs other than 3 and 4? are you able to sustain the high 30s? ....man i'm doing aamc SA verbal....they are so different and very good too...

 

[madmuttal]

7~9..
I always have to guess for the last passage btw..

i c...you have done other aamcs other than 3 and 4? are you able to sustain the high 30s? ....man i'm doing aamc SA verbal....they are so different and very good too...

 

[brood910]

i c...you have done other aamcs other than 3 and 4? are you able to sustain the high 30s? ....man i'm doing aamc SA verbal....they are so different and very good too...

I took #5 too.
I got over 30, but VR always kills my overall score.. Only if I can score above 10 on VR, 40+ is not a dream for me..

 

[gkdubey]

Who here wants to skype and go over FL's soon? I will be taking 5 TBR CBT's and all the Kaplan FL's. Also I will be retaking only the LONG VERSIONS of the AAMC FL's since I have already taken all the short versions. If anyone else is going over this stuff and wants to go over it together PM me or just reply back here. I find it helpful to go over it with people. By the way just got my score back from Jan 25th, not too happy about it. Got a 28. The ****ed up part is that I got an 8 on PS, my best section! WTF. I got 10's on VR and BS. Here's the thing, I thought I FAILED BS, SO BAD! And i thought i killed PS! SO WTF. I was scoring as high as 13's on my PS Sections in practice tests! I thought I had PS Down. I guess not. This same **** happened to a friend of mine too which is weird. He got a 7 on PS ,and 10's on the rest. So we are both confused as ****. I almost want to pay for a rescore but I know that probably wont change anything. Anyways, the reason I am not using AAMC FL's besides the reason being that I have already done them once, is that I realize I need to set the bar higher. The TBR CBT's and Kaplan FL's are way harder than the AAMC FL's so I think if I use harder materials the test can only seem easier. The only explanation for my low PS score is that there must have been TONS of trick questions that I did not happen to catch on the real MCAT and I must have fallen for the traps. So I need to keep an eye out for them this time. I am NOT taking my test in March, that's too soon and I've wasted too much time for that, but I still want to hang out with you guys. Anyways, hopefully a couple of us can get together and start doing some serious FL's here. I think it will really help. Holla back.

 

[madmuttal]

20 more days guys!! when would be the best to take the last FL before exam? I've AAMC 7-11 left...a week before?

 

[brood910]

OMG....
3 weeks.... Im gonna die from nervousness.

 

[madmuttal]

OMG....
3 weeks.... Im gonna die from nervousness.

Ya i know....since we're in the end, how is it best to do content review? is it even best to do content review to keep the info fresh in the mind? is it better t0 just do additional questions instead of content review?

 

[sb213]

ugh, I'm so frustrated! Just took AAMC 7 and got a 29 (9/11/9) after getting 30s/31s on my last few!!! ahhhh. this is horrible.

 

[brood910]

Just took AAMC#7. 14/6/13
FML...
For some reason, I couldnt focus at all during this exam, especially for verbal..
Sigh........

ugh, I'm so frustrated! Just took AAMC 7 and got a 29 (9/11/9) after getting 30s/31s on my last few!!! ahhhh. this is horrible.

Can you give me 2 pts from your verbal score? I will give you 3 points for science.

 

[missdoc91]

Just took AAMC#7. 14/6/13
FML...
For some reason, I couldnt focus at all during this exam, especially for verbal..
Sigh........



Can you give me 2 pts from your verbal score? I will give you 3 points for science.

Dude same with me! Got 6 on verbal 13/6/11

 

[sb213]

Just took AAMC#7. 14/6/13
FML...
For some reason, I couldnt focus at all during this exam, especially for verbal..
Sigh........



Can you give me 2 pts from your verbal score? I will give you 3 points for science.

SO jealous of your science scores! you are doing great!! Maybe your 6 in verbal was a fluke?

 

[brood910]

SO jealous of your science scores! you are doing great!! Maybe your 6 in verbal was a fluke?

Nah..
I scored 6 on AAMC#3 too.
I always get a random score on verbal ranging 6~9..

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

Nah..
I scored 6 on AAMC#3 too.
I always get a random score on verbal ranging 6~9..

maybe I missed it but how the heck have you reviewed for your sciences, particularly PS? those are some kick ass scores my friend.

 

[brood910]

maybe I missed it but how the heck have you reviewed for your sciences, particularly PS? those are some kick ass scores my friend.

I did intense content review for 2 months while doing 1/2 passages from TPRH science workbook.
After that, I started doing TBR passages for PS and continued doing TPRH for BS.

Also, I made my own "cheat" sheet on which I summarized everything very concisely.
After reviewing things on this a couple of times, I didnt really have to look at them again. I am just doing more passages these days.

 

[orangeblue]

Who here wants to skype and go over FL's soon? I will be taking 5 TBR CBT's and all the Kaplan FL's. Also I will be retaking only the LONG VERSIONS of the AAMC FL's since I have already taken all the short versions. If anyone else is going over this stuff and wants to go over it together PM me or just reply back here. I find it helpful to go over it with people. By the way just got my score back from Jan 25th, not too happy about it. Got a 28. The ****** up part is that I got an 8 on PS, my best section! WTF. I got 10's on VR and BS. Here's the thing, I thought I FAILED BS, SO BAD! And i thought i killed PS! SO WTF. I was scoring as high as 13's on my PS Sections in practice tests! I thought I had PS Down. I guess not. This same **** happened to a friend of mine too which is weird. He got a 7 on PS ,and 10's on the rest. So we are both confused as ****. I almost want to pay for a rescore but I know that probably wont change anything. Anyways, the reason I am not using AAMC FL's besides the reason being that I have already done them once, is that I realize I need to set the bar higher. The TBR CBT's and Kaplan FL's are way harder than the AAMC FL's so I think if I use harder materials the test can only seem easier. The only explanation for my low PS score is that there must have been TONS of trick questions that I did not happen to catch on the real MCAT and I must have fallen for the traps. So I need to keep an eye out for them this time. I am NOT taking my test in March, that's too soon and I've wasted too much time for that, but I still want to hang out with you guys. Anyways, hopefully a couple of us can get together and start doing some serious FL's here. I think it will really help. Holla back.

I'm doing TBR4 tomorrow and AAMC5 or AAMC4 on Thrusdays. My plan is to do practice test Mondays and Thursdays.

 

[iskhan9999]

Taking aamc 8 tomorrow been steadily improving from 24 on 3 to 29 on 7. I took this past week off from taking AAMC tests and just reviewing and rereading a lot of content on stuff i've been getting wrong. Really hoping for a 30+ on tomorrows test and i'm getting nervous.

 

[workethic712]

got a 36 on today's Kaplan FL3. anyone have any idea how that translates to AAMC?

 

[madmuttal]

got a 36 on today's Kaplan FL3. anyone have any idea how that translates to AAMC?

I wouldn't focus too much on Kaplan's score but just focus on what i got wrong cuz kaplan has generous curve....just use it as learning tool....to find out where you stand, use aamc.....

 

[workethic712]

I wouldn't focus too much on Kaplan's score but just focus on what i got wrong cuz kaplan has generous curve....just use it as learning tool....to find out where you stand, use aamc.....

Yeah I heard the curve is strange. I've already exhausted all my AAMC tests because I took the test in Jan and voided. Now I'm wondering how to get a true diagnostic score.

 

[brood910]

Yeah I heard the curve is strange. I've already exhausted all my AAMC tests because I took the test in Jan and voided. Now I'm wondering how to get a true diagnostic score.

Take TBR FLs.
Their tests prepare you for the worst + their lenient scale compensates for its difficulty.
Their scores are very comparable to AAMC scores.

 

[scrub2scrubs]

Take TBR FLs.
Their tests prepare you for the worst + their lenient scale compensates for its difficulty.
Their scores are very comparable to AAMC scores.

Hey Brood, I sent in my order about one week ago to TBR for the FL's but I haven't heard anything yet. How long did they take to get back to you?

 

[brood910]

Hey Brood, I sent in my order about one week ago to TBR for the FL's but I haven't heard anything yet. How long did they take to get back to you?

About 12 days.

 

[workethic712]

Take TBR FLs.
Their tests prepare you for the worst + their lenient scale compensates for its difficulty.
Their scores are very comparable to AAMC scores.

I've heard TBR FLs are the next best thing to AAMC so I'll give them a try.
You mentioned that they have a lenient scale... wouldn't that be like the generous curve of Kaplan?

 

[brood910]

I've heard TBR FLs are the next best thing to AAMC so I'll give them a try.
You mentioned that they have a lenient scale... wouldn't that be like the generous curve of Kaplan?

TBR questions are much harder than AAMC ones. That's why their scale is lenient. I am not sure how difficult Kaplan is, but my TBR scores are really close to what I get on AAMC all the time.

 

[krogers21]

I suggest retaking AAMCs for practice but ignore the score. The AAMCs poorly reflected my actual MCAT by 5 points ( I was averaging 26 and got a 31!) but I reviewed every time after taking to increase my knowledge on the subject. If you're averaging a 40 on retaken AAMCs, I don't think that is going to represent your actual score (probably 30+ still) but it will verify that you have successfully studied the material.

 

[stuw]

Took aamc 5 today and finally hit 30 (10/10/10). Really hope everything improves. I noticed I'm always 2-4 questions away from hitting an 11 or 12 ;-;

brood pls gimme ur ps/bs tips&tricks

 

[brood910]

Took aamc 5 today and finally hit 30 (10/10/10). Really hope everything improves. I noticed I'm always 2-4 questions away from hitting an 11 or 12 ;-;

brood pls gimme ur ps/bs tips&tricks

Read passages carefully as if you are reading verbal passages.
Many Qs can be answered by just referring back to them.
Also, if you are stuck, just move on. They are always asking SIMPLE stuff in a weird way. So dont over-think.

 

[Sean Lee]

Best of luck everyone!

I am taking it this date as well, and so far, I've gotten a 31 and 33 on AAMC 3 and 4.

If I can keep hitting 30s and up, then hopefully I can get a 30+ on the real thing!

 

[Sean Lee]

Read passages carefully as if you are reading verbal passages.
Many Qs can be answered by just referring back to them.
Also, if you are stuck, just move on. They are always asking SIMPLE stuff in a weird way. So dont over-think.

This is so true! Also, if you get stuck on a question, just skip it and come back later. It is amazing how things appear so easy on the second pass.

 

[workethic712]

I think I will take BR 4-7 and then finish off with a retake of my lowest AAMCs 3, 5, 8 and also 10+11 (since they are most representative of the more recent MCAT)

hopefully that will suffice...

 

[neel 123]

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[orangeblue]

Just took TBR 4

Need to find a way to reboot / energize/ my focus . I found my self drifting away and didn't get back on track (focus wise) when I had 2 passsages of VR remaining

Bio: Felt kind of low on energy: Maybe I'll eat dates, bananas and other fiber stuff instead of choco which doesn't work for me . Also will try some cold coffee (cappiccino) and take the test in the library so I'm dead on with the timing and also in a new environment

 

[iskhan9999]

aamc 8 just finished...got another ****in 29...10/9/10. I've accepted the 9 from verbal but PS and BS are pissing me off. I want to score higher but i don't know what to do. I review all the answers right and wrong did a week of pure review and I'm still stuck at the same point. I notice my concentration really decreases after VR and don't know what to change...tips please.

 

[Professor-X]

I'm feeling burnout. When I look at the material, I'm not comprehending it. I'm going to take a day off and see if that helps. Anyone else feel the same way? How is everyone's studying going?

 

[stuw]

Here's some advice to everyone struggling with test burnout/fatigue: first off, it's normal, especially if you've completed only several tests and are not doing them regularly. This is a huge reason why working through tests once or twice, even three times a week before the mcat is important--not only to understand the way aamc asks their questions, but to also condition yourself. just push on through and make sure to actually use the breaks in between passages.

also @Professor-X , i've had those days as well. What i recommend is to take maybe half a day off and just work on practice passages.

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Does anyone have any advice on how to minimize careless mistakes? There are always questions that I miss that I really shouldn't be missing, and those questions alone are keeping me from hitting 11's and 12's...halp

 

[brood910]

Here's some advice to everyone struggling with test burnout/fatigue: first off, it's normal, especially if you've completed only several tests and are not doing them regularly. This is a huge reason why working through tests once or twice, even three times a week before the mcat is important--not only to understand the way aamc asks their questions, but to also condition yourself. just push on through and make sure to actually use the breaks in between passages.

also @Professor-X , i've had those days as well. What i recommend is to take maybe half a day off and just work on practice passages.

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Does anyone have any advice on how to minimize careless mistakes? There are always questions that I miss that I really shouldn't be missing, and those questions alone are keeping me from hitting 11's and 12's...halp

Happened to me too. But fixed it quickly by just focusing more. Dont rush too much.

 

[madmuttal]

just did aamc 7.....13/8/13...wtf verbal!

 

[brood910]

just did aamc 7.....13/8/13...wtf verbal!

Lets hope that its verbal was unusually difficult...

 

[Professor-X]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll try those and see what happens.

I'm not sure about careless mistakes as I make those too. I'm at 10's in each section too, and it would be nice to eliminate careless mistakes to be at 11 or 12. I'm open to suggestions as well.

 

[brood910]

Wtf.. questions from MCAT official guide are way tougher than AAMC FLs.

 

[madmuttal]

Lets hope that its verbal was unusually difficult...

i hope so too man...i thought verbal wasn't that hard after i finished it.....kinda very nervous about verbal cuz based on what i'm hearing real deal verbal is longer and harder than FLs....