*The Official MCAT January 2018 Thread*

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mariposas905

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Hey guys! Now that the new test dates are out, I figured I'd start a thread for all the January 2018 test-takers prepping for (and most definitely, slaying) this beast! 😉 This is a retake for me, but I'm aiming high! Who else is taking it in January?

I'm sure that sharing insights and support on SDN will make this journey all the more worth it. I have a feeling 2018 is off to a great start! Good luck everyone and may the odds be ever in our favor.
 
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I did mine timed at first....that was a mistake lol. These represent the hardest questions on the real MCAT and let's face it...many of them are going to be unscored trial questions that AAMC puts out anyways
 
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quick question. I know that at the beginning of the test, it asks for us to identify our name and pic, etc. Has a personal picture/headshot been showing for you guys when you take practice tests at the beginning of each one/.
 
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BBBallIsLife said:
quick question. I know that at the beginning of the test, it asks for us to identify our name and pic, etc. Has a personal picture/headshot been showing for you guys when you take practice tests at the beginning of each one/.
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Nope that is only for the real exam. You have your headshot and palm veins pictures taken every time before you check into exam room
 
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on I side note, I'm just curious how everyone feels in general. For me, personally, I don't feel 100% confident b/c my FL scores have been fluctuating and not quite where I want them to be. I have spent plenty of time doing section banks and content, but I just feel like it hasn't been enough. I know its too late to make a major changes since my test is Saturday, but is anyone else in the same boat?
 
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BBBallIsLife said:
on I side note, I'm just curious how everyone feels in general. For me, personally, I don't feel 100% confident b/c my FL scores have been fluctuating and not quite where I want them to be. I have spent plenty of time doing section banks and content, but I just feel like it hasn't been enough. I know its too late to make a major changes since my test is Saturday, but is anyone else in the same boat?
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Well, I've never heard of anyone who said that they were confident going in or going out of the exam. Even for those who got 520+....the MCAT is mostly reasoning, and there are hard questions on there that are trial/unscored, giving most people a bad impression of how they did
 
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BBBallIsLife said:
on I side note, I'm just curious how everyone feels in general. For me, personally, I don't feel 100% confident b/c my FL scores have been fluctuating and not quite where I want them to be. I have spent plenty of time doing section banks and content, but I just feel like it hasn't been enough. I know its too late to make a major changes since my test is Saturday, but is anyone else in the same boat?
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If I score the average of my AAMC exams, or even a point or two below, I'll still walk away with a score I'm happy with so I'm ready to do this **** and be done with it.
 
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BBBallIsLife said:
on I side note, I'm just curious how everyone feels in general. For me, personally, I don't feel 100% confident b/c my FL scores have been fluctuating and not quite where I want them to be. I have spent plenty of time doing section banks and content, but I just feel like it hasn't been enough. I know its too late to make a major changes since my test is Saturday, but is anyone else in the same boat?
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Definitely relatable. I'm feeling the same way. I'm just going to channel BBB ya know 😉
 
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WMMCDNLD1 said:
Just took the B/B SB for the first time. Did surprisingly well 81%, Seems like metabolism is my only weakness.
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Oh my gosh those last like 15 questions I was so mad at myself I was like "Why is there so much metabolism?!?!?" I binge watched literally an obscene amount of videos of glycolysis, tca, etc, glycogenolysis, glycogenesis, gluconeogenesis, PPP, everything I could think of.
 
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Gilakend said:
Oh my gosh those last like 15 questions I was so mad at myself I was like "Why is there so much metabolism?!?!?" I binge watched literally an obscene amount of videos of glycolysis, tca, etc, glycogenolysis, glycogenesis, gluconeogenesis, PPP, everything I could think of.
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I just made some more flash cards. As long as it doesn't ask me to name a random metabolic intermediate based on its chemical structure, I should be okay lol.
 
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SiakTiDoc said:
There's section SBs? Or are those the question packs?

And Good luck to the testers tomorrow, you guys got this! 😀
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There are three Section Banks (SB) one for C/P, B/B and P/S. Each SB has 100 questions in it. The passages in the SBs are suppose to be representative of the hardest passages that AAMC will produce. Others have reported that a score of 70-80% correct will translate to a good results on the real deal.

Question packs are 120 questions long, with a break halfway through. There is one for Chemistry and Physics, two for Biology and CARS. These are easier passages, some say they are geared more towards content review. The CARS Q packs are pretty hard though, especially the first half of CARS-1.

I found that the SB helped tremendously with understanding experimental designs and interpreting data from the passages.
 
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WMMCDNLD1 said:
There are three Section Banks (SB) one for C/P, B/B and P/S. Each SB has 100 questions in it. The passages in the SBs are suppose to be representative of the hardest passages that AAMC will produce. Others have reported that a score of 70-80% correct will translate to a good results on the real deal.

Question packs are 120 questions long, with a break halfway through. There is one for Chemistry and Physics, two for Biology and CARS. These are easier passages, some say they are geared more towards content review. The CARS Q packs are pretty hard though, especially the first half of CARS-1.

I found that the SB helped tremendously with understanding experimental designs and interpreting data from the passages.
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Oh I see so just the break down of each of those sections is what people mean. Thanks for clarifying!
I'm planning on saving that till after FL #2 as a last minute study guide before the actual thing.
 
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Just finished the Online Official Guide Questions half test. Again, kind of disappointed with the final scores, even though I felt confident and positive the entire time. It wasn't horrible at least, but I mean its kinda too late to huge and significant changes. I'll go over it, but all I can hope for is a good day on test day. ag so annoying but ohwell
 
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Very nervous to take it tomorrow but I’ll be soooooo glad to get it over with... let’s just hope I can get some sleep tonight!
 
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Goodluck folks! Bring the heat and remember to breathe!
BTC0821 said:
Just got home from snowboarding for 10 hours; absolutely exhausted, completely ready for a good bit of sleep tonight. Averaged around 509 across AAMC exams so I'm ready to roll the dice with this test tomorrow. Good luck everyone taking the test tomorrow! Can't wait to be done with this
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Wow. That is pretty good activity the night before! Around the same average for me also. Good luck! AIM FOR THE MOON!
 
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SiakTiDoc said:
Oh I see so just the break down of each of those sections is what people mean. Thanks for clarifying!
I'm planning on saving that till after FL #2 as a last minute study guide before the actual thing.
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you may want to consider moving the section banks earlier in your practice regimine. lots of folks have suggested that they were very helpful, especially in review, to get a sense of the AAMC style. in my experience, anything left until the last minute is not very useful due to burnout, nerves and the time crunch.

best of luck to all testing this weekend and today!
 
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Could anyone let me know how the CARS went on the real thing? Was it similar to FL2 & FL3 or FL1? I felt FL1 was the hardest out of the three and had a totally different feel than FL3 CARS. Fl3 require more main idea questions where as FL1 was more detail oriented, going back to the passage etc.
 
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MoDiddy said:
Could anyone let me know how the CARS went on the real thing? Was it similar to FL2 & FL3 or FL1? I felt FL1 was the hardest out of the three and had a totally different feel than FL3 CARS. Fl3 require more main idea questions where as FL1 was more detail oriented, going back to the passage etc.
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That's funny cause I totally thought FL 3 CARS was harder. And the questions I missed in FL 3 CARS were detail oriented questions.
 
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BobbyKoch said:
You’re already done? Did you skip a section lol?
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I'm a fast reader. Go back a couple of pages here, we've been over this lol

Master Thinker said:
To those who took it today, how was it? Is it similar in difficulty to the AAMC FLs?
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I think it was more similar than dissimilar but I was still a little surprised and I've finished all the AAMC material but half of CARS 2.
 
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FutureDoctor06 said:
YO congrats! Can't imagine the relief you must be feeling right now. How were the testing conditions?
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The office was nice and those headphones were so luxurious lol I always practiced semi-distracted so test conditions would be an improvement. The passages had headings with question numbers btw everyone! Feel free to hit me up about specifics of the testing experience~
 
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prairiemusic said:
The office was nice and those headphones were so luxurious lol I always practiced semi-distracted so test conditions would be an improvement. The passages had headings with question numbers btw everyone! Feel free to hit me up about specifics of the testing experience~
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Thanks! Just wondering, anything you would have done differently today?(as in prep in morning, breakfast etc).
 
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FutureDoctor06 said:
Thanks! Just wondering, anything you would have done differently today?(as in prep in morning, breakfast etc).
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I was a little neurotic about this so I've been practicing with the same schedule down to the food and outfit. It took a lot of the stress out of today because it felt like just another full length practice day. I do wish I had left earlier because I had a little bit of trouble finding the exam site but I still had plenty of time. I looked over amino acids and physics formulas before I left and I'm glad I did.
 
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prairiemusic said:
I was a little neurotic about this so I've been practicing with the same schedule down to the food and outfit. It took a lot of the stress out of today because it felt like just another full length practice day. I do wish I had left earlier because I had a little bit of trouble finding the exam site but I still had plenty of time. I looked over amino acids and physics formulas before I left and I'm glad I did.
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Amino acids + formulas it is. Thanks!
 
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Just finished FL 3 thought c/p and cars were much harder. I think I will be hitting SBs one more time
AAMC1 512(129/127/130/126)
AAMC2 512(129/128/128/127)
AAMC3 515(129/126/132/128)

Congrats to those that have finished! any suggestions on how i should gauge my studying for next week will be greatly appreciated!
 
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D317279A-E3DF-449A-B34A-4B5B38FD13AF.jpeg
 
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I sincerely hope I didn't totally bomb it. Went to bed at 9pm last night and simply waited there until I left in the morning. I don't think I got more than an hour of sleep last night. My recommendation is to sleep; my prediction is that it helps.

The relief I'd sought has not come. sad
 
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i visited my testing center today and apparently they are not allowing us to bring in unopened packages of ear plugs. 2 bucks down the drain smh
 
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BBBallIsLife said:
i visited my testing center today and apparently they are not allowing us to bring in unopened packages of ear plugs. 2 bucks down the drain smh
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They're supposed to have earplugs and headphones for you - my center did. Ended up not using the plugs, they were uncomfortable, but the headphones were great
 
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