The Official May 22, 2014 MCAT Thread

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dramatrauma

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I will be a 'retaker' and I have not decided between May 22nd or May 31st. If I end up choosing May 31st, I will be a supporter here... GL to all of you!
 
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I took the Mar 22 exam, and I signed up for this one too, just in case, i dont do so hot.
 
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First time poster! I signed up for this exam as well, studying with ek, tpr and tbr... How are you guys doing?
 
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Meh.. Just doing FLs, not quite sure if I'll ever be ready for this monster. How are you guys doing on the FLs? Have you guys got all the important formulas memorized?
 
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Is anyone feeling prepared? I feel like I have so much I don't know but my full lengths are going well so I guess I'm not a good judge of myself
 
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I got 38s on aamc 9 (12/14/12) and aamc 10 (13/13/12) but kaplan fl 4 was much rougher (12/11/10). I'm hoping my aamc scores are much more reflective!

I'm super lucky that verbal has always come pretty easy to me, which I think makes the aamc style of passage based questions in the science also a little easier. I wish I could offer advice!

The only thing I can say, which might sound stupid, is that I try to like the verbal passages. I love reading and it's easier to understand passages if you decide to be interested in what they're talking about. And honestly, a lot really are cool topics if you forget you're being tested on them!
 
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Good job on aamc 9 ;) How is the difficulty compared to lower ones (3,4,5..)? I'm going to try your method though I feel like I can understand most passages, I usually get lost by the answer choices or do not understand what the question is asking.
 
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I found the earlier tests a little heavier on knowing things and solving problems while the later ones often focus more on interpreting passages and being able to apply knowledge there.

For me the later ones were easier as my strengths lie more with reading comprehension and critical thinking type problems while content knowledge is my weakness.
 
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Hi everyone! I just found this thread and I made an account specifically so I could post here :)
My scores have been pretty consistent since January, despite Kaplan's RIDICULOUS curve in comparison to the stringency of the AAMC one. At this point, I don't think there's much I can do to significantly impact my score either way. Just trying to brush up one some finer points of Orgo and memorize physics equations. I'm aiming for a 36 ideally, although I'll be content with a 34 or above. Verbal is definitely my most variable score, but I'm not really sure how to fix it so late in the game. I practice daily.
 
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starlite911 said:
Hi everyone! I just found this thread and I made an account specifically so I could post here :)
My scores have been pretty consistent since January, despite Kaplan's RIDICULOUS curve in comparison to the stringency of the AAMC one. At this point, I don't think there's much I can do to significantly impact my score either way. Just trying to brush up one some finer points of Orgo and memorize physics equations. I'm aiming for a 36 ideally, although I'll be content with a 34 or above. Verbal is definitely my most variable score, but I'm not really sure how to fix it so late in the game. I practice daily.
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are you scoring 30's on ur aamc ? am scoring 20's on my TPR's and couple aamc's i took, and cant seem to improve my scores....i think i wasnt doing enough questions from the beginning...just started testing couple weeks ago but am consistently getting 20's...
 
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RN2MD2014applicant said:
are you scoring 30's on ur aamc ? am scoring 20's on my TPR's and couple aamc's i took, and cant seem to improve my scores....i think i wasnt doing enough questions from the beginning...just started testing couple weeks ago but am consistently getting 20's...
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Yes, I've been scoring 30s on my AAMCs. I haven't taken any TPR's, just the 5 "required" Kaplan ones. I'm a bio major, so I think that has helped me a lot, plus I took biochem this semester which has been helpful for reviewing a lot of concepts. The first AAMC I took in late March I actually got a 36 on. I've gone as high as 38 on AAMC's, but the one I took today I got a 33 on, which isn't a bad score, but it's discouraging to see regression, especially since my exam is Thursday!! When are you testing?
 
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starlite911 said:
Yes, I've been scoring 30s on my AAMCs. I haven't taken any TPR's, just the 5 "required" Kaplan ones. I'm a bio major, so I think that has helped me a lot, plus I took biochem this semester which has been helpful for reviewing a lot of concepts. The first AAMC I took in late March I actually got a 36 on. I've gone as high as 38 on AAMC's, but the one I took today I got a 33 on, which isn't a bad score, but it's discouraging to see regression, especially since my exam is Thursday!! When are you testing?
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Nice!
 
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starlite911 said:
Good luck! I took it yesterday :). My nervousness is building, but I don't know what else I can do at this point!
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I did worse on 11 than I have for a while :( it was probably good though so now I have slightly more realistic expectations! I don't know why I had so much trouble, I just felt much shorter on time than usual. And in the end I still did fine with a 34 (12/11/11) but it would be nice to have done my best on my last full length!
 
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cherrycokezero said:
I did worse on 11 than I have for a while :( it was probably good though so now I have slightly more realistic expectations! I don't know why I had so much trouble, I just felt much shorter on time than usual. And in the end I still did fine with a 34 (12/11/11) but it would be nice to have done my best on my last full length!
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My last practice test wasn't as good as I expected either. I was more nervous taking that test than usual, don't know if that's how it's gonna be on the real thing.
 
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What is everybody doing today and tomorrow? Does any of you guys know if they like to keep it cold in the testing center?
 
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hypothalamus13 said:
My last practice test wasn't as good as I expected either. I was more nervous taking that test than usual, don't know if that's how it's gonna be on the real thing.
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Ugh I sure hope not... I'm usually not too nervous of a test taker, although to be fair I've never felt like a test mattered as much as this one. Here's hoping we all just enter zen mode and become expert focused test taking masters come Thursday!
 
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hypothalamus13 said:
What is everybody doing today and tomorrow? Does any of you guys know if they like to keep it cold in the testing center?
Click to expand...

Today I'm planning to go over my last test and just read over some notes on stuff I struggle with. Tomorrow probably check out the testing center, watch some tv, and hopefully sleep
 
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cherrycokezero said:
I did worse on 11 than I have for a while :( it was probably good though so now I have slightly more realistic expectations! I don't know why I had so much trouble, I just felt much shorter on time than usual. And in the end I still did fine with a 34 (12/11/11) but it would be nice to have done my best on my last full length!
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It was one of my lower test scores too :( Even though I did fine like you did too [35 (10/13/12)], seeing a score that low in physics as the last one before the test is a little scary. I think I got a little tripped up by how passage-based it was maybe? I don't know. Just hoping for both of us we see improvements on test day!
 
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cherrycokezero said:
Today I'm planning to go over my last test and just read over some notes on stuff I struggle with. Tomorrow probably check out the testing center, watch some tv, and hopefully sleep
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Doing the exact same thing today. I'm gonna try to get up early in the morning hopefully that'll make me sleep well tomorrow night. Getting in the zone on test day would definitely help haha.
 
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One day before the biggest exam of our lives, I managed to badly strain a muscle in my lower back. I don't know how well I'll be able to sit through a 5 hour exam because of the vicodin. Jeez...perfect timing, eh.
 
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DoctorCupcake said:
One day before the biggest exam of our lives, I managed to badly strain a muscle in my lower back. I don't know how well I'll be able to sit through a 5 hour exam because of the vicodin. Jeez...perfect timing, eh.
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That's the worst! If it's at all possible, I'd think about taking the test a little later or take it and seriously consider voiding if you're taking Vicodin during the test...
 
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cherrycokezero said:
That's the worst! If it's at all possible, I'd think about taking the test a little later or take it and seriously consider voiding if you're taking Vicodin during the test...
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That's what I'm thinking, too. Might just end up taking it and voiding. Argh!
 
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Well that was anticlimactic

Overall it was quite reasonable for me. I got pretty tripped up on an orgo passage but that's not all that surprising considering it's my weakest area. One girl wore scrubs to the mcat and I judged because who does that (sorry if you're on here). It's hard to judge how well I did, but I didn't feel like I totally bombed it which is good!

Now just a month wait ugh
 
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Overall, there was nothing that seemed too difficult or too easy. I felt like the vr passages were a little longer but not as hard to understand, but the questions gave me a little more trouble than usual (vr is basically always my strongest area) ps was if anything a little easier and the br passages were generally pretty straightforward and not too long
 
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Also: I live in Boston and I decided to take uber to the testing center so I didn't have to worry about public transit delays and I drove down longwood ave which is where Harvard med and children's hospital and stuff are and the guy driving me was like "I bet you'll work here someday" and it was weirdly soothing and I got way less nervous and it was just a really nice thing to happen
 
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That whole test felt like one giant guess. One of the PS passages I just could not understand. Guessed blindly on three PS questions. Only if I had just a little more time.
 
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That orgo passage had me like

donkey.jpg
 
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I feel like I guessed quite a bit. And I agree with the sentiments about that orgo passage.
 
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Pericynthion said:
You guys are freaking me out...I thought the bio/orgo section was the easiest.
Click to expand...

Other than that one passage, I thought it was pretty easy. And its totally possible that you just knew the material and did fine! Also, does anyone know if we all get the same test? Or are there a few different tests?
 
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cherrycokezero said:
Other than that one passage, I thought it was pretty easy. And its totally possible that you just knew the material and did fine! Also, does anyone know if we all get the same test? Or are there a few different tests?
Click to expand...

You're right. -breathes- I have the added benefit of just finishing up actually learning Orgo II two weeks ago so the material is quite fresh in my head. >__<
I did end up choking on simple calculations in PS though. -shakes fist-
 
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