The Official November 7, 2014 MCAT Thread

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M.D.orbust

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Hey all! I am signed up for this date. 8:00 a.m. Yikes!!! I am aiming hard to make 40+ my reality so hence me making this thread so early. A former lab- mate and current medical student had a ton of MCAT prep stuff she gave to me. So I have the Examcrackers set, Hyperlearning set, regular Princeton Review, audio osmosis, and practice MCAT tests from a variety of sources I also do the MCAT questions a day through email and on my phone (to help with super quick recall). I am officially studying legitimately now. Currently starting with Examcrackers. I'd love to hear from you all doing the same. Let's do this!!!
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j9260 said:
From my research all throughout SDN, Chad doesn't cover all the content you need to know for the MCATs. Some say he has ran through the AAMC topic list to try and focus on topics the AAMC focuses on, so you can trust you will barely (if at all) talk about topics you DON'T need to know about the MCATs, but Chad actually says that you should never use JUST his videos to prep for the MCATs. Consider it supplementary.

Lots of pre-meds (check out the 30+ thread for proof) have used Chad's videos and have gone up in the sciences from 6, 7, 8s to 10s+, but you will most likely never find any pre-med who has only used Chad's videos as their content review to study for the MCATs.

But he definitely doesn't ramble on about a single problem. He does it clearly and concisely from the few videos I have watched so far, especially on Physics. If you're uncertain, do more research about his videos on SDN and check out his free videos. Lots of pre-meds loved his videos and found it exceptionally helpful, but even he will admit that his videos might not be for everyone.
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I'm going to get a subscription tomorrow since you are!!
 
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Hey guys,

Anyone wanna join me in for a study group? Im just starting to study but hopefully all goes well
 
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j9260 said:
Are u gonna check out the free videos or do the one wk trial to see if u wanna get them?
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I think I am going to do the one week trial first but by what you and the majority of SDN say....I think I am gonna get a subscription lol. Now question is 3o or 60 days. I like 60.
 
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Perry6 said:
Heck yeah! I am doing questions right now from EK bio and TPRH verbal workbook.
Are you still doing content review?
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Im pretty much done with content review. I took the MCAT on August 7 and just got my score back but I didnt do so well so I'm retaking. I dont think I had enough practice. Are you in the Philadelphia area?
 
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Janus_Kinase said:
I think I am going to do the one week trial first but by what you and the majority of SDN say....I think I am gonna get a subscription lol. Now question is 3o or 60 days. I like 60.
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I was originally go 30 days but a SDNer said she used it up to a couple before test day to help review content. I could picture myself doing that so I got 60 days, but up to u! :)
 
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j9260 said:
I was originally go 30 days but a SDNer said she used it up to a couple before test day to help review content. I could picture myself doing that so I got 60 days, but up to u! :)
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I can see myself doing that as well :) thank you!!
 
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Where RU guys in ur schedule right now? I'm literally a day or two away from finishing content review. (Sn2 schedule)
 
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linlintran said:
I didnt even start yet :( Im hoping to find a study buddy who hasnt started yet lol
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I hope u find one soon! It goes without saying to not wait too long so you have enough time to fit in practice.

What are u looking in for a study buddy?
 
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j9260 said:
I hope u find one soon! It goes without saying to not wait too long so you have enough time to fit in practice.

What are u looking in for a study buddy?
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Like someone to go over questions together and talk about concepts we dont understand to get a better clarification. I heard studying in pairs is a lot better so we dont get distracted easily.
 
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For those interested in hearing about Chad's videos, I just finished the first three videos of Physics and did the quizzes.
Though the topics aren't the toughest ones (units, vectors, kinematics), I did feel like the learning and practicing process was smooth. Didn't feel like I struggled much and did feel like I learned much.

I'm looking forward to the tougher topics to come with Chad!

P.S. Does anyone feel like their minds are just dragging when reading about Physics? I've been PUSHING myself to finish this Kaplan Fluids chapter...and my brain is just not pleased. It's taking me forever! TAKE 3 COMING SOON
 
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linlintran said:
I didnt even start yet :( Im hoping to find a study buddy who hasnt started yet lol
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I have a private tutor who is now studying in Med school. I think a private tutor may help you with catching up the schedule as well as figure out what you need to work on hard. (i look it as another form of study buddy haha)
 
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Currently struggling with understanding Fluids & Solids... YIKES!
Finished the Kaplan chapter and moving onto Chad Videos now, then back to Kaplan prac problems on that topic.
I should probably move on after that and use other resources, like TBR, Youtube, or TPR, if I find the topic to me tough in the future.

How are the rest of you doing with fluids and solids??
 
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imran1011 said:
Where RU guys in ur schedule right now? I'm literally a day or two away from finishing content review. (Sn2 schedule)
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Woah, you're far ahead! I'm currently on Ch.6 for all the subjects, so I have about another four more weeks to go till I finish content.
 
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j9260 said:
Currently struggling with understanding Fluids & Solids... YIKES!
Finished the Kaplan chapter and moving onto Chad Videos now, then back to Kaplan prac problems on that topic.
I should probably move on after that and use other resources, like TBR, Youtube, or TPR, if I find the topic to me tough in the future.

How are the rest of you doing with fluids and solids??
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Fluids and solids took me a little bit to get down. I have them down good, but man the very first passage in TBR was brutal. I remember taking it and for some reason could not make any relation at with what I knew to what the questions were asking. Was very frustrating.

Currently, for some reason optics is the hardest for me. Another aspect I'm realizing is that it seems very easy for me to make silly mistakes in terms of electrostatics/electromagnetism.
 
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Carbon090 said:
Fluids and solids took me a little bit to get down. I have them down good, but man the very first passage in TBR was brutal. I remember taking it and for some reason could not make any relation at with what I knew to what the questions were asking. Was very frustrating.

Currently, for some reason optics is the hardest for me. Another aspect I'm realizing is that it seems very easy for me to make silly mistakes in terms of electrostatics/electromagnetism.
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Im gonna guess ur doing lots of practice atm for optica and electro to help u out?
 
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j9260 said:
Im gonna guess ur doing lots of practice atm for optica and electro to help u out?
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Yes! Currently have the TBR for Physics and General Chemistry as well as the Hyperlearning Text from TPR for the sciences. Doing timed passages every day on topics I feel I need to work on. That in tandem with content review.
 
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MelloTangelo said:
Woah, you're far ahead! I'm currently on Ch.6 for all the subjects, so I have about another four more weeks to go till I finish content.
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This makes me feel SO much better about my life.

Edit: not to be offensive at all! I just felt really behind and that I was the only person!!
 
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Hi everyone, I am just starting the sn2ed's schedule and finish it in 2 months, since I wanna take the nov 7 test. I recently reviewed content using Kaplan books. So I was wondering if it wud help to just do passages from TBR to catch up? My PS and BS scores are at 7-8 average and I can't seem to get the score any higher cuz I can never finish in time. I have been following SDN and ppl say it really helps to follow sn2ed's schedule. At this point I am trying to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Any advice is appreciated.
 
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j9260 said:
Currently struggling with understanding Fluids & Solids... YIKES!
Finished the Kaplan chapter and moving onto Chad Videos now, then back to Kaplan prac problems on that topic.
I should probably move on after that and use other resources, like TBR, Youtube, or TPR, if I find the topic to me tough in the future.

How are the rest of you doing with fluids and solids??
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I actually felt okay with the fluid/solids and the few passages I did after the chapter. I just saw chads videos on hydrostatics and elasticity of solids. It got me thinking in a different way, which I like. About to do some practice problems again on this chapter so we will see how it goes!
 
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IcyMedPath said:
Hi everyone, I am just starting the sn2ed's schedule and finish it in 2 months, since I wanna take the nov 7 test. I recently reviewed content using Kaplan books. So I was wondering if it wud help to just do passages from TBR to catch up? My PS and BS scores are at 7-8 average and I can't seem to get the score any higher cuz I can never finish in time. I have been following SDN and ppl say it really helps to follow sn2ed's schedule. At this point I am trying to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Any advice is appreciated.
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Depends how much time you can allocate for studying. If you have a lot of time (and since you already have background in the subjects) I think it is doable to read/study the chapters along with doing the practice problems but you would have to double up on chapters in order to finish all content review this month and start FLs next month. If you do not have that much free time then I would say do the practice problems first and just go back to the chapters where you feel weakest (i.e. bombed the practice problems) If timing is an issue, be sure to time yourself and be strict about it! It is something you can improve on with enough practice.

We all are looking for that light...Just gotta keep going and try to stay off the icy roads. You got this!
 
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Will be finishing Organic content hopefully today.
Will start TBR passages for Physics/GChem along with TPR SWB tomorrow.

If any of you are using EK 1001 questions for Biology- please let me know some feedback on it. In the past I have read that it has some glaring errors in questions (some answers being outright wrong). Is there a thread on SDN that compiles all the EK 1001 Bio errors? I've never used the 1001 Bio for practice and maybe it will help me become a stronger scorer.

How's everyone else's study coming along :)
 
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PhysicsFailure said:
This makes me feel SO much better about my life.

Edit: not to be offensive at all! I just felt really behind and that I was the only person!!
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Don't worry where you are in terms of content knowledge. We have plenty of time from now until the exam. :)
 
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Few days off work! Must get into overdrive! Gotta finish this content review! Ugh.
 
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Janus_Kinase said:
I think it is doable to read/study the chapters along with doing the practice problems but you would have to double up on chapters in order to finish all content review this month and start FLs next month.
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Thanks for ur support Janus_KInase. How many hours on average should it normally take for someone to do a day's work in Sn2Ed's schedule? I figured "Re-read ALL of the previous week's chapters" day should take the entire day.
 
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IcyMedPath said:
Thanks for ur support Janus_KInase. How many hours on average should it normally take for someone to do a day's work in Sn2Ed's schedule? I figured "Re-read ALL of the previous week's chapters" day should take the entire day.
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That depends on two things: the length of the chapter and how comfortable you are with the material. There are some fairly short Physics chapters but also there are also ochem chapters up to 50 pages long. I would suggest if you double up, combine the shorter chapter with longer ones. Play around with it and figure out what works best for you. Not everyone follows his schedule exactly; they tailor it to their needs. For example I usually just skim bio readings and focus on other stuff. I think as long as you get started ASAP you will figure what works best! Hope that helped.
 
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texan2414 said:
Will be finishing Organic content hopefully today.
Will start TBR passages for Physics/GChem along with TPR SWB tomorrow.

If any of you are using EK 1001 questions for Biology- please let me know some feedback on it. In the past I have read that it has some glaring errors in questions (some answers being outright wrong). Is there a thread on SDN that compiles all the EK 1001 Bio errors? I've never used the 1001 Bio for practice and maybe it will help me become a stronger scorer.

How's everyone else's study coming along :)
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Let m know if you find anything because I didn't know about the errors until you posted!
 
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texan2414 said:
Will be finishing Organic content hopefully today.
Will start TBR passages for Physics/GChem along with TPR SWB tomorrow.

If any of you are using EK 1001 questions for Biology- please let me know some feedback on it. In the past I have read that it has some glaring errors in questions (some answers being outright wrong). Is there a thread on SDN that compiles all the EK 1001 Bio errors? I've never used the 1001 Bio for practice and maybe it will help me become a stronger scorer.

How's everyone else's study coming along :)
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I have heard about errors in EK! Will let you know..also study is going... Been hitting the books hard..really trying to finish content review this weekend so I am feeling really rushed and overwhelmed and sad and depressed. Lol @ all the emotions!! Pushing through though!
 
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I will be incorporating Anki flashcards in my study schedule. I found a great tutorial for this software at:

Thought I would share this with everyone.
 
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texan2414 said:
I will be incorporating Anki flashcards in my study schedule. I found a great tutorial for this software at:

Thought I would share this with everyone.
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I have been using Anki but now I realized I haven't been using it correctly. I make flashcards of important equations or key ideas for each chapter but do not review everyday. Just right before I do problems in that section. Thanks for the vid!
 
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texan2414 said:
I will be incorporating Anki flashcards in my study schedule. I found a great tutorial for this software at:

Thought I would share this with everyone.
Click to expand...

I have always wanted to use Anki, but I am so accustomed to writing my notes out by hand! This makes it look so simple and quick to use. I am super busy and cutting down on unnecessary studying would be a huge time saver for me. Thanks for the video!!
 
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Brain is mush. Content review is almost over. Practice. Practice. Practice. Here I come!!! :(
 
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poop420 said:
have you been doing the passages at the end of each chapter ?
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Hell no! Haven't touched that **** yet. I had a lot of gaps on stuff...so I reviewed everything meticulously.... And then did practice questions from text books, online...to make sure I got the concept. The only practice stuff I have done is...Kaplan, 2 diagnostics and chapter quizzes.
 
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nystin said:
Hell no! Haven't touched that **** yet. I had a lot of gaps on stuff...so I reviewed everything meticulously.... And then did practice questions from text books, online...to make sure I got the concept. The only practice stuff I have done is...Kaplan, 2 diagnostics and chapter quizzes.
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cool we are in the same boat then ha ha.. I am going to be finished this weekended... But I have a really bad foundation so i will spend one week re-reading like crazy as well as doing questions.
 
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poop420 said:
cool we are in the same boat then ha ha.. I am going to be finished this weekended... But I have a really bad foundation so i will spend one week re-reading like crazy as well as doing questions.
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Yup. Know your feelings... I am so exhausted... from it all. Sigh. Taking a break today...studied in the morning.
 
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nystin said:
Yup. Know your feelings... I am so exhausted... from it all. Sigh. Taking a break today...studied in the morning.
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have you taken a FL yet?? Everyone driving me crazy about taking one .. The I see people on this thread taking them makes me feel like im behind ... But I start limiting my time on this site to focus more about me and doing things in my own time ....
 
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Do you guys/gals think a Kaplan would be a good place to take my first FL? I don't want to waste an AAMC! If so, and one in specific? Or are there any ones you'd recommend more online? I have already read through AAMC 3 :(
 
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