The Official October 25th, 2014 MCAT Thread

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Violagirl

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2011
Messages
213
Reaction score
110
Hey all! Just thought I'd get a thread out there for those of us taking the MCAT on October 25th! Feel free to post how you plan to study, any study tips/tricks you might have or other resources you found helpful that might benefit others. I originally planned on taking the MCAT on July 12th but ended up having to reschedule with the hassle of job hunting. Now that I have a new job lined up, I ended up rescheduling to take it in October instead in getting back on track with studying. Best of luck to everyone taking it!
 
Hey everyone. I'll be taking it on Saturday too. This is my 3rd retake. Let me give you a little advice. Don't be panic. Remember that everyone here is on the same boat. If you feel like one section is tough, it will be the same for everyone else. I'd say the real thing is harder than AAMC 10 and 11. One thing I noticed from taking twice is one section will be hard: can be PS, VR, or BS. I prefer to have a tough BS, but we might have a hard PS section like October 21. It sucks bc you might be distracted for the other 2 sections. That is what I'm telling you here. If we have a hard PS section, don't let that ruin the VR and BS section. That happened to me twice.

Also, the verbal passages might be "longer" than normal, so don't be passive on that section guys. You have to be 100% focus on it. I always run out of time on it. Anyway, goodluck to everyone. I hope I never have to retake it again.

ME TOOOOOO. This is my third time as well...the only diff is that I just spent the last five months of my life studying....cheers everyone =D
 
Best of luck to everyone, and see you on the other side. I was studying formulas, endocrine and digestive systems today, and at a certain point I was like,the marginal benefits of remembering that melatonin comes from the pineal gland are not worth the stress of one more piece of little information. I even had several more verbal tests I could have taken, but at this point, I feel like being fresh is the best thing to do. As my profile suggests, I will be drinking tea tomorrow and maybe watching a movie. Time to relax and recharge. Also, sleep as much as possible tonight, because it may be slightly more difficult to sleep on friday night.
 
"ME TOOOOOO. This is my third time as well...the only diff is that I just spent the last five months of my life studying....cheers everyone =D"

@Chickenmaster how have you not burned out yet? ... 5 months, hats off to you. I did only 3, with the first month being kinda relaxed, and that felt like a fairly significant amount.
 
And Radiation affects Melatonin... Oh Wow look at that, WE GOT THIS BOYS & GIRLS.. See you on the other side i'll be the one with Jack Daniels in all it's glory. §
 
Hey Everyone. Am taking this too and right now am terrified. I mean i have been ranging between 33-36 on aamc 3-11 and i did 11 yesterday and got 12/11/12 but am scared because first i normally do section by section then review not all 3 at once so what if i get burnt out. and then the oct 21st thread described the physics section as hell. so am guessing since its the same month it will be hell again. ive already taken this once. i cant fail again :'(
 
Steadily improving. Too bad I don't think I can do another practice test with 100% motivation. I just finished AAMC #9 and got a 27 (9/9/9). My eyes are dry and vision blurry. That should add another wrinkle tomorrow afternoon. Last thing today is to memorize all the electrical & energy formulas that have leaked out of my brain. Good luck all!
 
"ME TOOOOOO. This is my third time as well...the only diff is that I just spent the last five months of my life studying....cheers everyone =D"

@Chickenmaster how have you not burned out yet? ... 5 months, hats off to you. I did only 3, with the first month being kinda relaxed, and that felt like a fairly significant amount.

Got my dream in my pocket, that's all I needed 🙂
 
Wow, that was brutal. I ran out of time in PS. Guessed on a lot. I wrote down most of the formulas on the scratch paper before starting, but I couldn't understand 3 passages, so it was useless. I missed a freebie question in BS at the end, since I ran out of time there as well. VR was OK and I had 5 minutes left. I predict 7/10/9 and returning to Wall Street next year.
 
Last edited:
I thought PS was pretty tough. May have caused me to lose concentration on VR at the beginning. I found myself guessing blindly on some PS and VR questions due to time constraint. BS was the only section I felt I did well on. Predicting an 8/7(hoping)/10
 
Hate to sound like a complainer but all that studying was pointless. PS barely had math. I memorized concepts and equations and barely had to use anything. The topics they tested are so far off from what the practice tests are like. aamc 11 is nothing like the actual test. Bio was okayish. Ochem passage was brutal . I lost some time on it but finished with 2 mins left. I'd be lucky to get 8/8/10
 
yeah thought the test was weird as ****, especially physical sciences. verbal was ok. never realized how long the actual test is compared to the practice tests, i think this might just be the stress of the actual environment though.
 
Interpreting the data on some of those passages was hell. Do this, do that, then do a switcheroo. WTF. I wish I could see the security camera footage of my facial expressions. I can't register for another test yet, since it thinks I'm still in this one. Anyone else seeing the same thing?
 
Interpreting the data on some of those passages was hell. Do this, do that, then do a switcheroo. WTF. I wish I could see the security camera footage of my facial expressions. I can't register for another test yet, since it thinks I'm still in this one. Anyone else seeing the same thing?

I need to register for a new test too. Does anyone know when it'll open up for us to do so?
 
No one else thought PS was INSANELY hard and long!

I though VR/BS were fair and normal, but PS was ridiculous!!! Tell me it wasn't just me

Me during physics sciences: +pissed+
 
at our center one guy gave up after PS so if u finished, kudos to you.

PS/VR for me was good.

BS was a merry go round and fell off a couple times.

Lets all stay hopeful till our scores surface. we all might be surprised. Have faith §
 
PS was verbal in disguise lol. No need to memorize equations or write them down. VR was easy read but the questions were tricky. Alot of not, least, most accurate type questions. I can only keep my thoughts straight for so long before my brain shuts down lol. Bio I thought was kinda hard. I wish something like ebola passage from aamc 11 was on there rather than the tricky genetics. Stupid tables.
 
PS... no words except this: :boom:
BS... a LOT better than PS. Some of the passages/questions were pretty tricky
VR.. I guess okay... typical like the rest. Interesting passages although so i guess that was a plus 👍
~overall: may the curve be ever in your favor.
 
PS... no words except this: :boom:
BS... a LOT better than PS. Some of the passages/questions were pretty tricky
VR.. I guess okay... typical like the rest. Interesting passages although so i guess that was a plus 👍
~overall: may the curve be ever in your favor.


I agree, PS I don't even know what that was. I probably got a 1/15. I even changed a right answer at the last minute 🙁 But Verbal and BS were pretty good. There was one passage in bio which I had no idea what was going on, but other than that it wasn't bad at all. I'm a anatomy/physiology instructor and I was happy as **** because there two questions on content I had just taught... LAST WEEK. So we'll see, fingers crossed. Here's to suffering for a month.. Can't wait for the MCAT score nightmares to begin Lollll
 
I feel a little better after reading you guys' posts. Thank god I'm not the only one who thought the PS was WTF...... = = the first 2 passages totally threw me off. I had no idea of what I was reading. I think I only used 2 or 3 formulas out of all the ones I memorized. VR is never my strong area. I felt the passages were longer than the ones on the practice tests I took. BS was hard but better than the other two sections. I did all the AAMC practice tests as well as a couple from Kaplan. But the real thing was so much harder!! :arghh::arghh::arghh: Definitely gonna sign up for retake......
 
PS was ridiculous, little to no use of math and equations... actually annoyed bc it wasnt similar to any of the practice AAMC exams
VR was good, interesting passages
BS was great and i even finished early
 
I know I got ONE right on PS I just googled it. Maybe I can sleep tonight after all knowing at least it's not 0 because that's literally how I felt... Like ZERO. My scratch pages had every physics formula on it, I don't think I used any...
 
its really weird I took the sept 6th mcat (voided) and while i felt the VR and BS were more or else similar to the later AAMCs, it's like they completely reformatted the physical sciences portion. when i took the test today it was more of an iq test. all the other tests I've taken were straight calculations, formula manipulation, and making baby step inferences from what you already know. there's no way studying would have helped me on today's PS, i walked in expecting to just churn out the PS so i was pretty taken aback after the first few passages.
 
PS - The hardest subsection by far. I had to blindly guess on 2 problems. I don't know what you guys are talking about when you say there were only a few calculations...There were a considerable number of computational problems. I hope there is a generous scale.

Verbal - I think I hit a homerun. I wouldn't be surprised if I got a 15, honestly. Unlikely, but I feel like I did super well on this one.

BS- the first 30 questions or so were easy...then it got hard....and on top of that, I really really had to pee...nevertheless, I'm confident I got 10+ on BS
 
PS-meh..I wrote down a ton of formulas but only used a bit. I was able to finish it on time.

VR-was ok, not as brutal as some of the aamc tests imo. I'm not confident either because this section can go either way.

BR-my downfall. I completely screwed this section up. Everyone else is saying the bs was easy or okayish but I felt it destroyed me. The first couple passages were fine then the last ones really got to me. I was rushed on time and my educated guesses were probably off.

Planning for a retake. I'm not even praying anymore because I don't think the score is going to be anywhere around my averages either.
 
This was a retake for me.

PS: I strongly considered voiding after this section. What on earth was that?!? I am retaking because of a low PS section I got in my last exam, but now I think it's going to be even lower. 🙁 I looked up the answer to two questions that I remembered, but of course I got it wrong. This section is keeping me out of medical school, and I think it went worse than last time. FML. +pissed+

VR: Passages were interesting, but very long. I ran out of time on the last passage. *sigh*

BS: This is the only section where I thought I did reasonably well. It was a welcome relief from the nightmare that was PS.

Overall, I think I'm going to go cry now. If I got my AAMC 11 score, I would celebrate for weeks.
 
First timer :'( Reading this makes me feel a little better...

PS: Like everyone said, I don't think I really used any of the formulas I memorized. I knew one of the answers from common sense, and then didn't pick it cause I kept calculating something else... :'( but overall I felt it was so much more like VR than it was on the AAMC.. that first passage already gave the "what the heck" tone..

VR: Felt like longer passages than normal... Barely got to finish, and only had a minute or so extra so not enough time to go back to a few marked ones to see if I could have last minute epiphanies..

BS: First 30 questions weren't too bad, but there were those 1-2 passage near the end that I just completely could not comprehend anymore or think clearly anymore.. :'(

I'm averaging ~31 on my AAMC FL's (29-34) for 6 of them, and honestly I feel like I got a 26... maybe lower...
Usually I finish and feel okay, but when I finished this time it was like "shiiiiiit...."

I'd be so happy for a 30.. :'(
 
The ps blew my mind today. No clue how anyone could have studied for that. Nothing I have ever learned/read could have helped me I felt like. I literally was just like wtf by the end of it.
vr- ran out of time. felt way longer than normal. had to basically skim last passage and guess. i know i got at least on right on it though.
bs- felt good at first then BAM!!! **** got real about half way through

got a 32 on aamc 11 and was confident going in but definitely feel I scored sub 30.
 
Did anybody void? I think I made a terrible mistake by choosing to have it scored.

I regretted not voiding as soon as I clicked to have it scored then I got on this forum and realize other people felt the same way about all the sections..especially how bs lures you with sweet candy/nice questions then BAM, chainsaws you up.
 
Did anybody void? I think I made a terrible mistake by choosing to have it scored.

I felt exactly the same, but I felt that if it was so "oh crap" to me, then it'd probably be the same to a lot of other people who studied similarly so hopefully I just score around what I usually score since they're scaled anyways...
 
That PS was rough....
It felt like it came from nowhere, and I felt that most of the prior AAMC tests were way easier in PS. (all that time memorizing formulas... all coming to naught.)
The VR and BS felt alright, but after taking the physical sciences section, I could feel it bleeding over and my attention kept drifting to how badly I did on the PS. Ended up choosing to have it scored.
 
THe first 2 passages in PS got me off my A game, but the discretes and the rest of the passages were not that bad. Actually, there were a lot of rearranging of the equations to get to the answer. Also, a lot of proportions were on the exam but only the formula of things.
I ran out of time on one passage, and that one passage I ran out of time of was not hard, in my opinion 🙁.

VR: Was always and forever be my weakness 🙁
BS: I left 6 questions blank, and that genetics passage was ruthless. I felt good about the first couple of passages, and then it all went down hill. I literally debated for five mins, if I was going to void or get it scored. Thirty seconds left and I pushed the score button 🙁. I am kind of regretting it now.

I am going to sign up for the Jan exam ASAP!
 
PS: Started with all the standalone questions, felt like many of them were fairly simple. I feel lucky to have started the passages with all of the GC passages, because those were considerably easier than some of the Physics passages. I would say there was one HARD Physics passage, one easy, and the others in the middle. With about 30 minutes left, I had to go pee. With 15 minutes left, My kidneys felt like they were gonna burst. I just bit the bullet and finished the last question with 1:30 left on the exam, and said screw the extra 90 seconds, I need to take a piss and pressed end section. LOL

VR: This section is the reason this was my retake. Last time, I guessed on 2 passages and rushed through a 3rd one due to time constraints. I remember coming out my first time and being upset on how long the passages were, but this time around I realized that they're not too far off from the practice AAMCs. It's just the small screen at the testing center makes the length of the passage longer but the width less. I only ended up blindly guessing on one question, which odds are will be better than before. Felt some of the passages were enjoyable to read. Others were ok. Not really hard passages to get the authors argument, but the questions provided a little more difficulty than reading the passages. A lot of ones where two answers are left, and which one is the best.

BS: Killed it. Ochem passages just required a good read, understanding, and organization of the whole passage. Concepts were not difficult, just needed to know how to apply it. I still think people study too much for Ochem, based on the two times I've taken it, but hey, to each their own. The first bio passages were fairly easy and straightforward. Got caught up on 2 discretes, but gave my best guess on them. One passage at the end took awhile, and I ended up guessing on 2 questions at the end of the passage due to a lack of time. Still felt solid.

Estimated score range: 26-32, but don't really know what to expect coming out of that.

Good luck to all.
 
Man now I'm worried that I might have skipped a whole passage in VR..I can't recall anything from the test. Post Mcat stress? :scared:
 
Top