The Official May 22, 2015 MCAT Thread

[fenderboi930]

I think many of you will agree that today is a great day to officially prepare for the May 22nd MCAT!!!

I was against the April 2015 MCAT because a typical 3 month schedule doesn't seem to work for
students and/or working test takers. With a little over 4 months of preparation we can go in with confidence!
It's all new and really scary--so let's kick MCAT butt together!!

I was also wondering, wouldn't many professional MCAT test takers and tutors want to take the MCAT 2015 as soon
as possible (April MCAT) so they can better they're material or teaching? Wouldn't that just destroy the curve?

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[Abraxas305]

I really appreciate all the post-test thoughts about the exam.
I'll be sure to write an in-depth experience of the exam (within the bounds of the AAMC agreement) to help other people better understand the new test.

 

[NaomiM]

What textbooks? I plan on getting some PDFs

I used Sociology 14th ed by Macionis and Psychology: Modules for active learning 12th ed. Both were pretty straightforward and filled in a few of the gaps left by the TPR book. I have to agree with DrHart tho, that having already taken general psychology, as well sociology were very helpful to have as background knowledge.

 

[nomdeplume1234]

wow thank you for the most excellent analysis!

Sorry if this post is a tad long. I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible but here is a rundown of my preparation/experience.

Concept Review:
5 months prior to exam: Began studying from TPR Complete MCAT. This is the big bad boy ~1500 pages covering all subjects. Overall, this is a good book. Read the chapter, highlighted, took the practice questions at the end. Anything I didn't understand I would read more on and make some flashcards. I averaged about 3-5 chapters per week. This was during a 14 credit hour semester, two research jobs, and various other obligations. I mapped out a schedule but fell behind about 5 weeks in. School and MCAT is a hard teeter totter to play on.
Strategy Studying:
8 weeks prior to exam: Read Kaplan's MCAT 528. I highly recommend this book! Even if you think your testing strategies are good, this book is still worth the read. It helps you develop a good approach. What should be going through your head as you read passages? As you look at questions, question stems? As you try to narrow down the answers? I will say that "passage maps" are not my thing. If this helps you, go for it. For me - I'm a slow reader but a good thinker ;P - so passage maps were a drag on time. Making a mental passage map and highlighting the important info worked very well for me. But everyone's different so I don't think its fair to say one method is better than another.
4 weeks prior to exam: Began taking practice tests. I recommend simulating the testing environment. I went to the public library at 9:00 (I know, not 8AM - my public library didn't open until 9) every Saturday for 3 weeks. Pack the snack you'll pack for test day. Go to the bathroom only on breaks. Don't touch your cell phone. Simulating helped me a lot. 7.5 hours of focused, high pressure/stress-situation problem solving is not something I do every weekend - so I think I greatly benefitted from "practicing how you play". (*Side note* Did not purchase the question packs. I hear they're decent but I'm cheap so I didn't bother.) I know I posted my scores in April's thread but I'll post them again:

TPR1: 500 Composite (143/230 = 62%)
Chem Phys: 123 (29/59 = 49%)
CARS: 127 (41/53 = 77%)
Bio: 126 (41/59 = 69%)
Psych Soc: 124 (32/59 = 54%)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
AAMC Official: (177/230 = 77%)
Chem Phys: (36/59 = 61%)
CARS: (45/53 = 85%)
Bio: (50/59 = 85%)
Psych: (46/59 = 78%)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
TPR2: 499 Composite (146/230 = 63%)
Chem Phys (38/59 = 64%)
CARS: (26/53 = 49%)
Bio: 45/59 = 76%)
Psych 37/59 = 63%)

You can see my scores are not super You can also see that I scored 15% better on the AAMC official practice test. This test (AAMC FL) is more representative of what my actual testing experience was today. TPR was so focused on the tiny details. AAMC was more big picture, reasoning about experiments/papers. Hate to be a Debbie Downer but my impressions in retrospect: the prep companies dropped the ball on this one. Wouldn't take a class (I didn't). Wouldn't spend more than a couple hundred bucks on their books (still didn't). Take your practice test scores with a grain of salt. Don't bother looking at the scaled scores, they're useless. Try to increase your raw score - although I didn't have much luck with that.

Testing:
Unremarkable. As I mentioned before, the AAMC FL is very representative of my actual testing experience. I'm disappointed that there was only one. I feel like I might have felt a little better if I had taken another 2-3 official practice tests. I saw a few really chunky jock-looking guys at my center. Hopefully they bring the average down (no offense, and as a side note - I have nothing against jocks but I'm a very skinny white boi):

Chem/Phys: felt better than official practice test. Almost ran out of time.
CARS: felt about the same as the official practice test. I'm still a slow reader so I had to pick up the pace towards the end.
Bio/BC: tbh I felt like I smashed this section. Almost mic dropped and walked out of the center. Then I realized there was one more section left.
Psych/Socio: similar to practice test = meh. make flash cards to study. memorize and pray what sticks is whats on your test.
*Overall I don't know what to think. Testing fatigue is a real thing, especially towards the end. Although I felt about the same as I did on the AAMC FL - maybe a tad worse or a tad better. Hard to say. #prayers

Bottom-line/My recommendations:
Firstly and most importantly, take a biochem class before you take this test. In fact, I would recommend taking a class in all the subjects (yes, psychology and sociology as well). If you want to feel really comfortable, take a genetics class and a metabolism/physiology class. Even if this is just to reinforce the basic concepts you learned, it helps. If you had to pick one class to not have under your belt, it's physics II. This should be evident from the 5% physics material in Chem/Phys. If this is your case, cut your losses. 5% missed from physics is nothing compared to the 25% biochem from the two science sections.
If you have the ability to take a psych and socio class, do it. At least, this is what I did. I imagine this will be debated by some testers. In my honest opinion, it helps enormously to have the stress of an exam/paper for a class to help you remember terms/concepts. I know we're (mostly) all science geeks here - but I'd recommend taking the 101 class. It'll buff your GPA and make your studying come MCAT time loads easier.
Read scientific papers. I'm fortunate enough to work in a molecular genetics lab where we breed transgenic mice. I feel like the amount of lab work/ reading I did was possibly the best preparation for this test (as absurd as that sounds). If you are currently in research (and even if you aren't), download the "Read" app by QxMD. This app updates a feed with brand spanking new papers and you can track tags relevant to your work/what you're interested in. Even if you only read a few papers a week, looking at the graphs, analyzing the data, thinking about and understanding what the researchers did and why is the most valuable studying you can do. Until TPR/Kap come out with better review materials, I would prioritize your studying:
AAMC FL/Material > Practice Reading Papers > Biochem Class/Concept Review > TPR/Kap Content Review > TPR/Kap FLs > Game of Thrones

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own don't flame me bruh. Obviously others will disagree with my thoughts. My opinions are just here for you May kiddos and others. And from my practice scores you can see my weaknesses were Chem/Phys and a bit of Psych/Socio so my opinions reflect this. But everyone's different so keep that in mind. Also, I won't know what I got for several weeks so for all I know this could be the recipe for mediocrity. *sigh

 

[otterxavier]

I felt well-prepared for the psych/soc section from TPR's book. There were a handful of terms that I didn't recognize, but was able to guess correctly on most of them.

I get the "lol once AAMC reads this they'll take all of the AA questions off of the next test," but... seriously, amino acids are so important and so foundational that they ain't going nowhere. Memorizing the one- and three-letter abbreviations, the side chains, their properties (hydrophilic/hydrophobic, acidic/basic, charged/uncharged, polar/nonpolar), and any special quirks (e.g., cysteine forms disulfide bonds, tryptophan and tyrosine are responsible for UV absorbance) is much easier, and probably higher-yield, than a lot of the other random junk that people routinely memorize for the MCAT.

 

[otterxavier]

Also, a piece of advice that I got from the test center staff (so, I'm assuming that it's legit and okay to share): At the start of the test there's a 10 minute tutorial on how to navigate the exam. You are allowed to write on your scratch paper during the tutorial. So if you're already familiar with the computer interface (it's the same as all of the online practice tests), you can use the 10 minutes to jot down whatever notes, formulas, structures, inspirational sayings, etc. that you want to have in front of you during the exam.

 

[nomdeplume1234]

Funny you should mention this because when I took the exam the security lady came in and told me to stop writing notes during the tutorial and start the exam. She also gave me dirty looks at the end when I was writing feedback to AAMC on the exam.

Also, a piece of advice that I got from the test center staff (so, I'm assuming that it's legit and okay to share): At the start of the test there's a 10 minute tutorial on how to navigate the exam. You are allowed to write on your scratch paper during the tutorial. So if you're already familiar with the computer interface (it's the same as all of the online practice tests), you can use the 10 minutes to jot down whatever notes, formulas, structures, inspirational sayings, etc. that you want to have in front of you during the exam.

 

[somedudehere]

I felt well-prepared for the psych/soc section from TPR's book. There were a handful of terms that I didn't recognize, but was able to guess correctly on most of them.

I get the "lol once AAMC reads this they'll take all of the AA questions off of the next test,"

What source helped you prepare most for AA? I have a bunch of different books but none really seem to go into enough detail with AA.

 

[Holmwood]

What source helped you prepare most for AA? I have a bunch of different books but none really seem to go into enough detail with AA.

https://www.aamc.org/students/apply...knowledgemapconcepts2/368560/cpfbfc5cc5d.html

 

[otterxavier]

Funny you should mention this because when I took the exam the security lady came in and told me to stop writing notes during the tutorial and start the exam. She also gave me dirty looks at the end when I was writing feedback to AAMC on the exam.

You made me worried so I went and looked it up... the MCAT Essentials definitely says "You may use your scratch paper during the Tutorial and Examinee Agreement section."

 

[otterxavier]

What source helped you prepare most for AA? I have a bunch of different books but none really seem to go into enough detail with AA.

Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry has a <10 page section on amino acids that covers just about everything. With probably more detail than you really need on acid/base properties of AAs.

 

[newbeginnings]

For me,the AMCAS practice questions were very representative of the Phys/Chem and Bio sections. CARS was a bit harder than the amcas practice question and seems to be more on the level of the official guide questions. As for Psych/Soc.... well, Khan Academy's social passages were good practice and TPR was good preparation. Nothing I say will matter because I'm pretty sure everyone gets different tests...

When you say AMCAS practice questions, do you mean AAMC Question Packs or Official Guide questions?

 

[nolookpass]

I came back from the running wheel and I find the april thread got shot down....

Anyway, test was great. Finished an hour early.
While I can't go into the specifics of what you need to know, I will recommend that you do the khan academy passage questions as a way to get used to analyzing scientific experiments. I know not everyone works in a research lab, so I think that's the only way to get sufficient practice. I'm not sure what to recommend for the folks having trouble reading graphs... I think that's more of an intuitive thing.

For me,the AMCAS practice questions were very representative of the Phys/Chem and Bio sections. CARS was a bit harder than the amcas practice question and seems to be more on the level of the official guide questions. As for Psych/Soc.... well, Khan Academy's social passages were good practice and TPR was good preparation. Nothing I say will matter because I'm pretty sure everyone gets different tests...

As for the Phys/Chem biochemistry... Khan academy's videos did not help me at all, but retrieving obscure minutiae from the memory compartment of 2 years ago's biochem course did. If you are planning on taking a biochem course, make sure it's the one intended for science majors, not the flaky elective one for nutrition majors. If you're not... then well god speed. You can always try studying from TBR with the list provided by AMCAS as a guideline.

I was also thinking the ACS biochem study guide would be a good preparation, but I can't seem to find them anywhere...

Okay so I plan on using AAMC outline + Kaplan + Khans videos + Lehninger tb for biochem since it seems to be such a focus. You say Khan sucked. What should I do?

Also is it worth doing Khan's stuff for bio/chem/physics? I was planning on just using TBR since I'm almost done with those things with TBR. Which khan stuff specifically helped you with experimental things? You recommend any apps/sites to go to to read articles?

I plan on reading TPR for socio/psych. Were Khan's videos good?

I used Sociology 14th ed by Macionis and Psychology: Modules for active learning 12th ed. Both were pretty straightforward and filled in a few of the gaps left by the TPR book. I have to agree with DrHart tho, that having already taken general psychology, as well sociology were very helpful to have as background knowledge.

So for a person like me who has taken neither class. Would Reading TPR, using the outline and reading the corresponding things in the textbook be enough for me? Are khans videos also good? How would I practice?

 

[Skyrich]

Best sociology/psychology books?

 

[UncomfortablyNumb]

Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry has a <10 page section on amino acids that covers just about everything. With probably more detail than you really need on acid/base properties of AAs.

I just took it. If you don't have Lehningers Biochem, there's a youtube video that covers the chapter very well.



That mixed with the "memorize AA in 20 minute" video really helped me. I took Biochemistry at Berkeley and my professor didn't make us memorize ANY AA, not even names. So I was a bit behind the curve here.

In terms of the exam, I've taken the old version too. While the new one is longer, the pace of the old one was such that you could never catch your breath. It's SO MUCH EASIER NOW! The physical science is still difficult but it seems like they toned down the physics passages and warped them into how it relates to medicine. It may seem trivial but it's a lot easier for me to answer a physics question based in medicine. My degree is in Psychology so that section went well. Two passages were harder than the AAMC PT and all were longer. I finished the PT with 35 minutes to spare, the real thing with 10 minutes. I should've memorized more sociology terms, they don't overlap with psych as closely as I thought! Khan Academy is alright. They seem to have quite a few videos that are useless though.

If you're just thinking about how to start studying (and you find yourself here), my advice is not to pay for a class. I took a TPR class and it was awful. The types of questions were not representative of the actual MCAT and the material they covered was too deep in certain areas like physics. MCAT tests on concepts over algebra. I found it irritating when the tutor would explain a problem in 10 minutes and when I asked him how you'd do it in 60 seconds, he would just stare and say "you wouldn't. You'd have to guess" It was very discouraging. Use the old AAMC tests if you can find them. If you don't know the concept they are testing on then you stop and learn it. After 10+ tests there's not many fastballs they're going to be able to throw at you. The new practice test is very useful for that kind of studying, especially with AA. By then end of it, you should have a "cheat sheet" of all the formulas/concepts you're rusty on and it's great for review.

Test day, I regurgitate all the formulas or relationships I have trouble with on my scratch paper during the tutorial section so I have something to reference if I blank. I wrote down my acid/base AA and a few others.

Hopefully this helped... this is my first post so be nice! I finished my MCAT and figured I might be of some use on here today. I know there's a lot of apprehension about this new exam and I think it's a bit unwarranted (perhaps my scores will say otherwise). If you've taken the requisite classes: Genetics, Biochem, microbiology, etc. You should do well.

 

[nolookpass]

I just took it. If you don't have Lehningers Biochem, there's a youtube video that covers the chapter very well.



That mixed with the "memorize AA in 20 minute" video really helped me. I took Biochemistry at Berkeley and my professor didn't make us memorize ANY AA, not even names. So I was a bit behind the curve here.

In terms of the exam, I've taken the old version too. While the new one is longer, the pace of the old one was such that you could never catch your breath. It's SO MUCH EASIER NOW! The physical science is still difficult but it seems like they toned down the physics passages and warped them into how it relates to medicine. It may seem trivial but it's a lot easier for me to answer a physics question based in medicine. My degree is in Psychology so that section went well. Two passages were harder than the AAMC PT and all were longer. I finished the PT with 35 minutes to spare, the real thing with 10 minutes. I should've memorized more sociology terms, they don't overlap with psych as closely as I thought! Khan Academy is alright. They seem to have quite a few videos that are useless though.

If you're just thinking about how to start studying (and you find yourself here), my advice is not to pay for a class. I took a TPR class and it was awful. The types of questions were not representative of the actual MCAT and the material they covered was too deep in certain areas like physics. MCAT tests on concepts over algebra. I found it irritating when the tutor would explain a problem in 10 minutes and when I asked him how you'd do it in 60 seconds, he would just stare and say "you wouldn't. You'd have to guess" It was very discouraging. Use the old AAMC tests if you can find them. If you don't know the concept they are testing on then you stop and learn it. After 10+ tests there's not many fastballs they're going to be able to throw at you. The new practice test is very useful for that kind of studying, especially with AA. By then end of it, you should have a "cheat sheet" of all the formulas/concepts you're rusty on and it's great for review.

Test day, I regurgitate all the formulas or relationships I have trouble with on my scratch paper during the tutorial section so I have something to reference if I blank. I wrote down my acid/base AA and a few others.

Hopefully this helped... this is my first post so be nice! I finished my MCAT and figured I might be of some use on here today. I know there's a lot of apprehension about this new exam and I think it's a bit unwarranted (perhaps my scores will say otherwise). If you've taken the requisite classes: Genetics, Biochem, microbiology, etc. You should do well.

Thanks for the post. You majored in Pysch, but as a person with no background in it as well as no background in sociology how would you study for it? How about biochem? What material did you use for bio/chem/physics/orgo and did that help you today?

 

[meant4med]

I took the test today too.
From reading through some posts on other threads and from April's before it was closed off, it seems to me that unfortunately the test (as hard as AAMC is trying not to do this) caters to your academic training. I have a behavioral sciences background, and this felt the psych/soc section was super easy, whereas most people's posts make me think they are going to have nightmares about it... Verbal was easy, longer than I anticipated though. I actually though b/bc was pretty easy too. However (and this is where again, background seems to play a role), I thought the chem/phys section was overall not like all the other aamc material and catered to people with strong bc backgrounds, and felt it was relatively difficult compared to the other three.

If there's one point I'd stress it would be to this: you don't want to be a person with an advanced science background crying over your psych section, and you don't want to be a social sciences background person crying over your bc sooooo go hard after your weak spots!

 

[UncomfortablyNumb]

I used the TPR study materials (all 20lbs of them!) but got discouraged quickly with the types of questions they had. The wording and style is completely off and sometimes just plain wrong. Verbal is hideous. I took the MCAT the first time with just Bio 1 under my belt -- I do not advise this. I went back and took medical microbiology. I wish I had time/money to take genetics and immunology because I feel it would've really helped my understanding. I've used TPR material, AAMC exams, EK audio osmosis, and current AAMC testing material. I would just stick with the AAMC materials and do what I mentioned before about reteaching yourself the concepts as they come up since they should be review. Honestly, if i had done this in the beginning, I would've saved myself a lot of time, money, and stress.

If you have zero psychology background, I'd stick with the Khan videos. They seem to cover the most topics but they're longer than they really need to be. If you don't know about the experiments they're talking about then wiki. Psych is pretty damn easy. You just need to read it once. The experiments you'll hear in Psych 101: Stanford Prisoner experiment, Little Albert, Milgram, Pavlov. You should know each experiment inside and out. Not just what was going on but why and what it illuminated about the human condition. Those themes are the basics of psychology. Knowing the basics of clinical psychology (different approaches and typical disorders), child development, and cross-cultural psychology should be a really good start. I've honestly never taken sociology but the Khan videos helped. Once I took the AAMC practice test I knew which ones I should focus on.

 

[UncomfortablyNumb]

Side Note: Did anyone else have an abnormally large ratio of older (30+) people taking the exam? I only counted 3 people who looked early 20's. (I may have glanced at a few ID's in the check-in process) I'm wondering if these are tutors voiding exams and how they will effect the overall curve. I thought I read AAMC doesn't add voided scores into the curve but I don't know about this first section. They are bribing people to take it. I find it hard to believe they're going to be throwing out test scores.

 

[Levrone]

When I signed up to register for the MCAT, there was a box you had to check/uncheck that asked if you were an MCAT tutor, so I thought those scores wouldn't be counted toward the average :/

 

[StarFall]

How's everyone with their studies?
I pushed my Guide questions to next weekend. This weekend I'll be tackling all of the Question Packs since it seems that these were not representative of the test, but more for content review. After I finish the Question packs by tomorrow, I'll be reviewing and filling in my holes the following work week (or trying to while working FT).

 

[luckyprincess93]

"The first percentile rank tables for the new exam will be estimated from the scores of test takers who sit for the first few test administrations.
Because the 2016 application cycle will open before the 2015 testing year is done, we will use data from the first few administrations of the new exam to create the percentile rank tables that your admissions committee can use for 2016 selection. We recognize that the first test takers on the new exam may be different from test takers who sit for the exam later in the year. It is possible that early test takers will be higher scoring than those who test later. We also recognize that 2015 may be an unusual testing year. Some test takers may decide to wait until 2016 to sit for the new MCAT exam. We can estimate the new percentile rank tables for a typical year using the data from the first few administrations of the new MCAT exam because history tells us that MCAT scores vary in predictable ways for test takers from different undergraduate institutions, years in college, gender, racial/ethnic groups, and other demographic characteristics. We will use historic data to estimate what the distribution of scores will look like in a typical testing year given the characteristics and scores of early test takers." -AAMC

"How will the new score scale be developed?
The percentile ranks reported in the 2015 testing year will be based on the scores of examinees who test on April 17 and 18. The AAMC anticipates that these examinees will be atypical of examinees who take the new MCAT in a typical testing year—one that runs from January to September and that is not in the midst of change. If the AAMC examination of the data indicates that these examinees are atypical, we will account for the differences by adjusting the resulting score distributions so they reflect our best estimate of the distributions we’ll see in a “typical year”.

These adjustments—which have been carefully researched using a wide range of data about past examinees—will enable us to provide examinees with percentile ranks when we release the very first set of scores in June. We will use these same percentile ranks for all of the scores reported in the 2015 testing year—that is, all scores from the 2015 testing year will be attached to the same set of percentile ranks." -AAMC


judging by what I bolded, they are going to deflate our grades!!!

 

[Holmwood]

When you say AMCAS practice questions, do you mean AAMC Question Packs or Official Guide questions?

Amcas practice test/sample test.

Question packs are not useful for anything other than getting used to test taking and checking some very basic concepts.

Okay so I plan on using AAMC outline + Kaplan + Khans videos + Lehninger tb for biochem since it seems to be such a focus. You say Khan sucked. What should I do?

Also is it worth doing Khan's stuff for bio/chem/physics? I was planning on just using TBR since I'm almost done with those things with TBR. Which khan stuff specifically helped you with experimental things? You recommend any apps/sites to go to to read articles?

I plan on reading TPR for socio/psych. Were Khan's videos good?




So for a person like me who has taken neither class. Would Reading TPR, using the outline and reading the corresponding things in the textbook be enough for me? Are khans videos also good? How would I practice?

Okay so I plan on using AAMC outline + Kaplan + Khans videos + Lehninger tb for biochem since it seems to be such a focus. You say Khan sucked. What should I do?

Just focus on Lehninger textbook and do all their practice problems while checking with the AAMC outline. Kaplan is eh...

Also is it worth doing Khan's stuff for bio/chem/physics? I was planning on just using TBR since I'm almost done with those things with TBR. Which khan stuff specifically helped you with experimental things? You recommend any apps/sites to go to to read articles?

I'm divided on this. TBR is the best for grinding down the minutiae of gen chem, ochem, and physics. Just because they have less emphasis on the physics and ochem doesn't mean those materials are useless. So long as you follow the concepts list from AMCAS and skip the ones that aren't in that list, you'll be able to cover all grounds and still be efficient.

Khan academy has alot of experimental passages, and some of the questions are pretty difficult. I wouldn't treat it as an mcat simulation, but it's still suitable practice for making sure you're correctly analyzing/understanding experiments. The most important part about these passages is whether you can figure out the main hypothesis, the methods, the graphs/results, and the weakness/limitations. And I think Khan academy does an all right job in assessing all of that.



Overall, khan academy videos are too basic. Some of them are downright wrong.

 

[allantois]

Jeez am I confused about this test.

 

[GEToutLADYits6AM]

So I am confused? Is tpr psychology and sociology enough for the mcat exam or not?

 

[allantois]

So I am confused? Is tpr psychology and sociology enough for the mcat exam or not?

More likely not. I encourage everyone to read reddit for more info on this past two test administrations.

I seriously doubt how much weight med schools will put into this new section.

 

[Holmwood]

"The first percentile rank tables for the new exam will be estimated from the scores of test takers who sit for the first few test administrations.
Because the 2016 application cycle will open before the 2015 testing year is done, we will use data from the first few administrations of the new exam to create the percentile rank tables that your admissions committee can use for 2016 selection. We recognize that the first test takers on the new exam may be different from test takers who sit for the exam later in the year. It is possible that early test takers will be higher scoring than those who test later. We also recognize that 2015 may be an unusual testing year. Some test takers may decide to wait until 2016 to sit for the new MCAT exam. We can estimate the new percentile rank tables for a typical year using the data from the first few administrations of the new MCAT exam because history tells us that MCAT scores vary in predictable ways for test takers from different undergraduate institutions, years in college, gender, racial/ethnic groups, and other demographic characteristics. We will use historic data to estimate what the distribution of scores will look like in a typical testing year given the characteristics and scores of early test takers." -AAMC

"How will the new score scale be developed?
The percentile ranks reported in the 2015 testing year will be based on the scores of examinees who test on April 17 and 18. The AAMC anticipates that these examinees will be atypical of examinees who take the new MCAT in a typical testing year—one that runs from January to September and that is not in the midst of change. If the AAMC examination of the data indicates that these examinees are atypical, we will account for the differences by adjusting the resulting score distributions so they reflect our best estimate of the distributions we’ll see in a “typical year”.

These adjustments—which have been carefully researched using a wide range of data about past examinees—will enable us to provide examinees with percentile ranks when we release the very first set of scores in June. We will use these same percentile ranks for all of the scores reported in the 2015 testing year—that is, all scores from the 2015 testing year will be attached to the same set of percentile ranks." -AAMC


judging by what I bolded, they are going to deflate our grades!!!

From what I understand, they'll "curve" the april examinees, but not the later examinees. As for the direction of the curve, you can read it in various ways.

Is the mean lower than average due to lack of preparation materials? Was the test made easier in anticipation of the lack of preparation materials?
Are people who take the earlier test more likely to be confident about their test taking abilities (the distribution will likely be clumped up in the higher end in this instance)?

As for AAMC adjusting the score distribution, I think the introduction of new sections with very little test preparation will likely contribute alot of deviation from the expected normal distribution. I think there might be a bimodal distribution for the biochemistry and social sciences section and a relationship with college coursework/major taken. Adjusting does not always mean an overall curve up or down either. It could very well be treating bimodal distribution as two normal distributions and just mash it together, and using the expected distribution as a guideline for determining the endpoint of spread and whatnot.

I don't know, too much speculation. Either way, I expect that they will be fair about it. . . so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Besides, they even said that the equivalent of a 30 mcat will lead to a 70% chance of acceptance rather than the projected 50% chance of acceptance for the old applicants. So you can't use the standard of the old mcat. We can probably think of it as a default curve up, and any curve down would be considered "fair".

 

[sciencefee]

Some people on reddit mentions that TPR is NOT sufficient for the psych/soc section of the AAMC, but one person mention that he/she found the barron books useful. Has anyone used the Barron's book to give me their opinion on this?

 

[Holmwood]

Some people on reddit mentions that TPR is NOT sufficient for the psych/soc section of the AAMC, but one person mention that he/she found the barron books useful. Has anyone used the Barron's book to give me their opinion on this?

Barron seems quite good. I was looking at the quizlet and saw some terms I recognized that weren't in the TPR, with alot of useful information about research methods.

 

[Abraxas305]

ehhhh I'm gonna just whip out my old Psych and Socio textbook and look at the specific sections in accordance to the outline.

 

[NaomiM]

@luckyprincess93 where did you find this info about the scoring? Could you link to it?

 

[Levrone]

ehh.. I was gonna try to watch all khan vids on psych but im not sure now. Is it better to just read all the terms of a psych textbook? Also I think I will start to focus on EK passages now and cut back on TBR... and really focus on biochem and cut back on physics/chem

someone on reddit said besides EK exams and AAMC 2015 exam, no other exam was similar or that helpful :/

edit: Barron's book looks pretty good

for biochem, what's the best way to prepare? Kaplan biochem and learn everything about a.a. (from other sources)?

still kind of scared about the data interpretation on the new exam, i knew it was gonna be important but haven't really been working on understanding how to interpret the data.. now im getting worried

 

[DrAfrika]

I basically read Kaplans Biochem book cover to cover, so now I'm just gonna go in depth with amino acids using TBR and I might look into Barron's (heard it was good as well)

Still not sure how to go about behavioral sci. tho

 

[sciencefee]

Barron seems quite good. I was looking at the quizlet and saw some terms I recognized that weren't in the TPR, with alot of useful information about research methods.

could you provide me with a link to the quizlet?

 

[Flashfan]

Here is how the score will be developed:
https://www.aamc.org/students/advisors/mcat-advisors/427058/howwillthenewscorescalebedeveloped.html

 

[drrao88]

Anyone take the Kaplan diagnostic? The 2.5 hr one?

I got a 501 and I need to bring that up to a 510, might have to push this back to June.

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[drrao88]

Good luck finding a June spot. Even if your state pops up, the program is buggy and will show no seats available.

Theyll likely open up as soon as the July dates open. People always push their dates back, the only reason it is so pcked now is because no one can even register for July onwarsds.

 

[songl4a]

.

 

[drrao88]

I just took my first NS FL and got a 499, although I kept getting distracted, someone almost burned down their house yesterday and the fire trucks were blaring for almost an hour. I took the diagnostic from them in Feb scored 489. I took a Kap diagnostic and scored a 510.

My test endurance is horrible :/

Did u take the 2.5 hour diagnostic? The one that was like 20 questions a section?

 

[NicksMD]

If you're done with content review, why push your date back? There is till plenty of time left to work on your weaknesses/build endurance/answer a lot of practice questions and exams.

 

[allantois]

TBR does not go into that much detail on AA specifically. As for Barron's my concern is that while they are probably great for content, the questions on AP exams are discreet (except for the FRQ part) so they won't emphasize the same test taking strategies or integration of other subjects, and of course there is no AP Sociology

 

[Holmwood]

If you're done with content review, why push your date back? There is till plenty of time left to work on your weaknesses/build endurance/answer a lot of practice questions and exams.

They're waiting for more info to leak out I suspect. It doesn't exactly help that the amcas guidelines were sort of vague on their expectations, and the current prep materials are way off target.

Can you really blame them though? If you're spending 300 bucks and deciding the fate of your next decade, you need alot of assurance. Even so, I think it'll take a couple years for the prep companies to get reliable materials out there, so extending the test date by 1-2 months isn't going to make too much of a difference.

 

[newbeginnings]

ehh.. I was gonna try to watch all khan vids on psych but im not sure now. Is it better to just read all the terms of a psych textbook? Also I think I will start to focus on EK passages now and cut back on TBR... and really focus on biochem and cut back on physics/chem

someone on reddit said besides EK exams and AAMC 2015 exam, no other exam was similar or that helpful :/

edit: Barron's book looks pretty good

for biochem, what's the best way to prepare? Kaplan biochem and learn everything about a.a. (from other sources)?

still kind of scared about the data interpretation on the new exam, i knew it was gonna be important but haven't really been working on understanding how to interpret the data.. now im getting worried

I think which source to use is kinda subjective at this point... Someone here said TPR FLs seems to resemble it the most back in the earlier April posts before it closed...

And I agree with you about data analysis. I know for the old MCAT, for the past 2 years, apparently the bio was already VERY experiment heavy so that's why I'm not really freaking out. If those people (like my friends) pulled a 10+ with only EK (and I study the biochem) it probably won't be that bad....

 

[Ulgarmoose]

More likely not. I encourage everyone to read reddit for more info on this past two test administrations.

I seriously doubt how much weight med schools will put into this new section.

I can't imagine medical schools are ready to place a priority on or off any section right now though. Since how the scoring will work and what it will represent are still sketchy I would think they're just going to look at percentiles for the moment. They don't have enough information to make justified choices like that imo. Then again, who even knows if they need reasons


In regards to Khan Academy for psychology:

I didn't watch any of their videos and won't, but I seriously had like 5 out of 10 passages ask about cognitive dissonance. Not impressed.

In regards to TPR for psychology:

As someone that took a dozen psych courses, the book is basically all trivial. I'll supplement it with some specific reading online, but nothing else.



Still seems that mastering AAs and the biochem material will be a boon on test day.

Also, I agree with the sentiment of being increasingly confused. Cool.

 

[somedudehere]

So I'm going through my BR book to review bio...I'm positive this book is more detailed than my biochemistry textbook.

 

[FOCUSandEARNit]

.

 

[Bookworm36]

Someone being naughty?

Idk I got kindof freaked out for a second there.

 

[Bookworm36]

Sorry if this post is a tad long. I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible but here is a rundown of my preparation/experience.

Concept Review:
5 months prior to exam: Began studying from TPR Complete MCAT. This is the big bad boy ~1500 pages covering all subjects. Overall, this is a good book. Read the chapter, highlighted, took the practice questions at the end. Anything I didn't understand I would read more on and make some flashcards. I averaged about 3-5 chapters per week. This was during a 14 credit hour semester, two research jobs, and various other obligations. I mapped out a schedule but fell behind about 5 weeks in. School and MCAT is a hard teeter totter to play on.
Strategy Studying:
8 weeks prior to exam: Read Kaplan's MCAT 528. I highly recommend this book! Even if you think your testing strategies are good, this book is still worth the read. It helps you develop a good approach. What should be going through your head as you read passages? As you look at questions, question stems? As you try to narrow down the answers? I will say that "passage maps" are not my thing. If this helps you, go for it. For me - I'm a slow reader but a good thinker ;P - so passage maps were a drag on time. Making a mental passage map and highlighting the important info worked very well for me. But everyone's different so I don't think its fair to say one method is better than another.
4 weeks prior to exam: Began taking practice tests. I recommend simulating the testing environment. I went to the public library at 9:00 (I know, not 8AM - my public library didn't open until 9) every Saturday for 3 weeks. Pack the snack you'll pack for test day. Go to the bathroom only on breaks. Don't touch your cell phone. Simulating helped me a lot. 7.5 hours of focused, high pressure/stress-situation problem solving is not something I do every weekend - so I think I greatly benefitted from "practicing how you play". (*Side note* Did not purchase the question packs. I hear they're decent but I'm cheap so I didn't bother.) I know I posted my scores in April's thread but I'll post them again:

TPR1: 500 Composite (143/230 = 62%)
Chem Phys: 123 (29/59 = 49%)
CARS: 127 (41/53 = 77%)
Bio: 126 (41/59 = 69%)
Psych Soc: 124 (32/59 = 54%)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
AAMC Official: (177/230 = 77%)
Chem Phys: (36/59 = 61%)
CARS: (45/53 = 85%)
Bio: (50/59 = 85%)
Psych: (46/59 = 78%)
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
TPR2: 499 Composite (146/230 = 63%)
Chem Phys (38/59 = 64%)
CARS: (26/53 = 49%)
Bio: 45/59 = 76%)
Psych 37/59 = 63%)

You can see my scores are not super You can also see that I scored 15% better on the AAMC official practice test. This test (AAMC FL) is more representative of what my actual testing experience was today. TPR was so focused on the tiny details. AAMC was more big picture, reasoning about experiments/papers. Hate to be a Debbie Downer but my impressions in retrospect: the prep companies dropped the ball on this one. Wouldn't take a class (I didn't). Wouldn't spend more than a couple hundred bucks on their books (still didn't). Take your practice test scores with a grain of salt. Don't bother looking at the scaled scores, they're useless. Try to increase your raw score - although I didn't have much luck with that.

Testing:
Unremarkable. As I mentioned before, the AAMC FL is very representative of my actual testing experience. I'm disappointed that there was only one. I feel like I might have felt a little better if I had taken another 2-3 official practice tests. I saw a few really chunky jock-looking guys at my center. Hopefully they bring the average down (no offense, and as a side note - I have nothing against jocks but I'm a very skinny white boi):

Chem/Phys: felt better than official practice test. Almost ran out of time.
CARS: felt about the same as the official practice test. I'm still a slow reader so I had to pick up the pace towards the end.
Bio/BC: tbh I felt like I smashed this section. Almost mic dropped and walked out of the center. Then I realized there was one more section left.
Psych/Socio: similar to practice test = meh. make flash cards to study. memorize and pray what sticks is whats on your test.
*Overall I don't know what to think. Testing fatigue is a real thing, especially towards the end. Although I felt about the same as I did on the AAMC FL - maybe a tad worse or a tad better. Hard to say. #prayers

Bottom-line/My recommendations:
Firstly and most importantly, take a biochem class before you take this test. In fact, I would recommend taking a class in all the subjects (yes, psychology and sociology as well). If you want to feel really comfortable, take a genetics class and a metabolism/physiology class. Even if this is just to reinforce the basic concepts you learned, it helps. If you had to pick one class to not have under your belt, it's physics II. This should be evident from the 5% physics material in Chem/Phys. If this is your case, cut your losses. 5% missed from physics is nothing compared to the 25% biochem from the two science sections.
If you have the ability to take a psych and socio class, do it. At least, this is what I did. I imagine this will be debated by some testers. In my honest opinion, it helps enormously to have the stress of an exam/paper for a class to help you remember terms/concepts. I know we're (mostly) all science geeks here - but I'd recommend taking the 101 class. It'll buff your GPA and make your studying come MCAT time loads easier.
Read scientific papers. I'm fortunate enough to work in a molecular genetics lab where we breed transgenic mice. I feel like the amount of lab work/ reading I did was possibly the best preparation for this test (as absurd as that sounds). If you are currently in research (and even if you aren't), download the "Read" app by QxMD. This app updates a feed with brand spanking new papers and you can track tags relevant to your work/what you're interested in. Even if you only read a few papers a week, looking at the graphs, analyzing the data, thinking about and understanding what the researchers did and why is the most valuable studying you can do. Until TPR/Kap come out with better review materials, I would prioritize your studying:
AAMC FL/Material > Practice Reading Papers > Biochem Class/Concept Review > TPR/Kap Content Review > TPR/Kap FLs > Game of Thrones

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own don't flame me bruh. Obviously others will disagree with my thoughts. My opinions are just here for you May kiddos and others. And from my practice scores you can see my weaknesses were Chem/Phys and a bit of Psych/Socio so my opinions reflect this. But everyone's different so keep that in mind. Also, I won't know what I got for several weeks so for all I know this could be the recipe for mediocrity. *sigh

Great info! I totally agree about the articles/papers. Glad I have some recent research, but seriously do not feel good about the last section. Maybe I will get lucks? Doubt it, maybe have to take again. A sociology class might really be helpful. I've taken psych classes but no sociology class. For me, the first and last sections were rough. Maybe it has to do with test anxiety too.

 

[Bookworm36]

ysteine forms disulfide bonds, tryptophan and tyrosine are responsible for UV absorbance)

Khan videos helped me with that. I think the Key with the Khan videos (why some like them and some don't) is to be selective. Don't zone out and watch them all at once. Just watch those videos that you miss answers to on practice exams multiple times.

 

[Bookworm36]

Ahhhh sorry so many posts in a row! idk how to not do this.... okay, after 60+ posts I think I'm figuring out the technicalities of the db

I was gonna try to watch all khan vids on psych but im not sure now. Is it better to just read all the terms of a psych textbook? Al

The most important thing = learn the material! It don't matter where you get the material, just learn it backwards and forwards. Khan videos or text book, learn it. If you drill it into your skull, it will come out on test day.