The Official Sept 1, 2012 MCAT Thread

[MAnne]

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I was registered for May 31, but was not ready so I changed my date. With having a family, work, and volunteering, I underestimated the amount of time I needed. I started studying in February and took 2 AAMC's in April and was rudely awakened. I am taking Orgo 2 Lab and a 1 credit research course during July-mid August so I figured this date would give me enough time to get the content down.

Where is everyone at in their journey?

~M

 

[Big N Tasty]

Anyone feel like verbal is just up for grabs thing for those of us scoring in the 9-11 range on practices? I feel like to get a 11, I need to just walk in there with the right mind set and focus focus focus

I know that feel, bro. Literally stuck in that range. Let's just hope for the right mentality come Saturday!

 

[osprey099]

I know that feel, bro. Literally stuck in that range. Let's just hope for the right mentality come Saturday!

Yea when I did AAMC 10 and 11 verbal, I didn't feel like I was REALLY understanding what the author was saying, not due to lack of english/reading, but due to a lack of concentration and even sometimes thinking of something else. Probably the best way to solve this problem is to relax the day before and get a good's nights sleep (none of which I did before I took AAMC 10 and 11 lol).

 

[Suluki]

Ahh!!! Just took AAMC 9 and went 13/10/12!!!

I'll count this as a nice confidence boost going into the home stretch 😀

Good job! A 13 in PS is amazing!

 

[mushuwu158]

Ahh!!! Just took AAMC 9 and went 13/10/12!!!

I'll count this as a nice confidence boost going into the home stretch 😀

Nice bro. Got the same score last Friday. Unfortunately, that ego boost made me a little lazy over the weekend haha. Now I feel a little guilty about that. Oh well, back to practice passages!

 

[osprey099]

Is it just me or is anyone else not really doing heavy (>1hr/day) studying this last week? I'm just so tired of it and really just want to take it already to get it over with.

 

[lastdrop]

I just took my last practice test. AAMC 10, 12/10/12. Although it felt much easier to me than AAMC I ended up with the same overall score.

All I have left is reviewing the test tonight, light review of the last couple chapters of my BR books Weds/Fri, and absolutely nothing on Friday. Last time I tried to review EVERYTHING the last few days and it ended up stressing me out more than anything.

 

[lastdrop]

Is it just me or is anyone else not really doing heavy (>1hr/day) studying this last week? I'm just so tired of it and really just want to take it already to get it over with.

I will probably do about 2 hours Weds/Thurs, but definitely not anything extreme. At this point, I don't think an extra few hours of studying will increase my score.

 

[osprey099]

I will probably do about 2 hours Weds/Thurs, but definitely not anything extreme. At this point, I don't think an extra few hours of studying will increase my score.

Yea I don't feel like doing additional passages at this point will be of any help. Can't wait till it's over. This is the one time I actually want school to start haha

 

[jmanning345]

I couldn't even finish up the couple of 1/3 BR I had left, in the same mentality where I just want to take it and get it over with - going to do some passive studying while watching TV or something but I think after you finish the AAMCs everything seems kind of pointless after.

 

[lastdrop]

Yea I don't feel like doing additional passages at this point will be of any help. Can't wait till it's over. This is the one time I actually want school to start haha

Same. I welcome the large load of school work over the seemingly unending amount of content and studying for the MCAT.

 

[Suluki]

Just took AAMC 11 and got 10/9/12.

I was really happy with the biology and I'm hoping that the real thing is similar with all the experimental biology. I'm really inclined to forget small details so exp bio allows me to just reason through it.

The PS is pretty much average. I usually get 11 or 10.

The VR was a huge suck. I normally get 10 at the lowest and a 9 is pretty unacceptable. I'll be redoing if I get a 9 on the real thing, no matter what my other scores are.
Some of those passages just really got to me. I haven't reviewed it yet but the photography passage killed my energy.
I did feel pretty drained during it... I'm hoping that my adrenaline will be a lot higher when I'm actually writing for real.

I'm not going to get too worked up about it but I'm really disapointed with the verbal and just wish I would have tried harder.

My goal at this point is a 31-32 with at least a 10 in every section.

 

[Narmerguy]

Is it just me or is anyone else not really doing heavy (>1hr/day) studying this last week? I'm just so tired of it and really just want to take it already to get it over with.

I feel tired of it, but equally frustrated at the thought of missing points because of some stupid fact/detail I forgot. I already bleed enough points from casual mistakes, the little factual slips are really irritating.

I've definitely lost the motivation to look at BR or do those passages. At this point I'm pretty much just going through the MCAT topic lists and reviewing stuff that I completely forgot or keep forgetting important details of.

Just took AAMC #10, As I expected, my score dropped from the previous high. Oh well, at least I know that's within my realm of possibility.

 

[Ryush]

Is it just me or is anyone else not really doing heavy (>1hr/day) studying this last week? I'm just so tired of it and really just want to take it already to get it over with.

I feel the same way. Been struggling to find the motivation to keep studying, but still feel like I have to since my average is one point away from my goal.

I've finished all the AAMC's at this point and I'm debating if I should take a Kaplan FL or let my brain relax, cause I've done 3 FL's each week for the past 3 weeks and am pretty darn tired from it.

 

[osprey099]

Just took AAMC 11 and got 10/9/12.

I was really happy with the biology and I'm hoping that the real thing is similar with all the experimental biology. I'm really inclined to forget small details so exp bio allows me to just reason through it.

The PS is pretty much average. I usually get 11 or 10.

The VR was a huge suck. I normally get 10 at the lowest and a 9 is pretty unacceptable. I'll be redoing if I get a 9 on the real thing, no matter what my other scores are.
Some of those passages just really got to me. I haven't reviewed it yet but the photography passage killed my energy.
I did feel pretty drained during it... I'm hoping that my adrenaline will be a lot higher when I'm actually writing for real.

I'm not going to get too worked up about it but I'm really disapointed with the verbal and just wish I would have tried harder.

My goal at this point is a 31-32 with at least a 10 in every section.

Yea, this is what I would like too. All of the experimental questions, although they are hard, are doable unlike the random small detail questions that you encounter. The small detail questions are either you know it or don't whereas the experimental bio passage questions gives you a shot at reasoning through it and getting it right.

 

[osprey099]

I feel tired of it, but equally frustrated at the thought of missing points because of some stupid fact/detail I forgot. I already bleed enough points from casual mistakes, the little factual slips are really irritating.

I've definitely lost the motivation to look at BR or do those passages. At this point I'm pretty much just going through the MCAT topic lists and reviewing stuff that I completely forgot or keep forgetting important details of.

Just took AAMC #10, As I expected, my score dropped from the previous high. Oh well, at least I know that's within my realm of possibility.

I feel you man. I also get killed on these random facts and detail questions on my practice AAMCs. I dunno how we can even prepare for that cause some of these random facts I never even encountered before in my TBR books.

 

[Testosterone]

I think this is a good and relevant read for all the fellow 9/1'ers.

http://news.uchicago.edu/article/20...-why-we-choke-under-pressure-and-how-avoid-it

 

[Savior94]

After taking about 15 practice tests, I'm finally taking aamc 11 tomorrow morning. I'm kind of scared because my scores have been fluctuating quite a bit and the general consensus shows that people usually improve but I drop or gain 1-6 points between all of my aamc's. It's not even like im scoring high 13-14 in all of the sections where it would be normal for such a big difference in scores. I hate that a lack of focus (which is what I hope the reason is because they're usually stupid mistakes) makes such a big difference between scores. Is anybody else going crazy about their score fluctuations?

 

[deleted479237]

I'm totally feeling the burnout, especially on the last few days.
I can barely do 3 hours of actual studying without feeling just so sick of it.

honestly, I just want to get rid of this and enjoy my last year of undergrad!

 

[deleted479237]

I think this is a good and relevant read for all the fellow 9/1'ers.

http://news.uchicago.edu/article/20...-why-we-choke-under-pressure-and-how-avoid-it

What if I told you I read this like I read a verbal passage hahaha
I really need a life outside the MCAT >.>

 

[lamborghiniMD]

Done with FLs!! Just going to relax and do a light review on thurs and do a couple verbal passages Friday and that's it.

I feel somewhat confident in my FL scores, but I know I could be getting a lot higher scores if I didn't second guess myself, especially in the BS section. I just need to learn to trust my intuition and not second guess...i guess lol.

PS-VR-BS
AAMC 4: 11- 9 - 9 (29)
AAMC 5: 12 - 9 - 9: (30)
AAMC 7: 9 - 8 -10: (27) (took this test with a fever and an empty stomach)
AAMC 8: 11- 9 - 10 (30)
AAMC 9: 12 - 9 - 9 (30)
AAMC 10: 14 -9-10 (33)
AAMC 11: 10 -11 -10 (31)

I didn't do these tests in order.... I did 5-9, 11 then 4 & 10.

Seriously good luck everyone!!! We worked so hard this summer, now let's show AAMC and prove we will be great doctors 🙂 !!

 

[oh but wait]

Where the **** did my summer go.

For the past couple of days, I keep getting this feeling that I'm not actually about to take the MCAT. Surreal isn't it?

Also, at this point, I'm wayyy too tired to even be stressed.

 

[osprey099]

Where the **** did my summer go.

For the past couple of days, I keep getting this feeling that I'm not actually about to take the MCAT. Surreal isn't it?

Also, at this point, I'm wayyy too tired to even be stressed.

I agree 100% with what you said! I'm too tired to even start "stuyding" for the Writing section.

 

[hsaid]

Good luck on Sept 1st guys!

It looks like all of you guys will do wonderful!!

I decided to join the 9/11ers and help out in their curve. 😉

Hoping for anything above a 24/25


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile

 

[kalypso]

Good luck guys. You got this. No matter what happens, its just a test ok?

GOFIGHTWIN!

 

[MAnne]

I thought I was going to be ready but I'm just not. 🙁 My dad has been in the hospital for over a month and I have been working like crazy. My scores are really bad so I am thinking I will take the test and then void. I am already getting secondaries to fill out and don't know if I should bother. I plan on taking in January as well. Or can I take the test and just not release the scores until after my Jan test? How does that work?

 

[jamiechan]

3rd retake. Super nervous and I want to get this over with!!!

 

[Mettagame]

does anyone else find that the explanations to the questions on the AAMC FL science sections are really abysmal? a lot of times they just state that so and so is the correct answer without justifying it whatsoever

 

[Mettagame]

also i've always busted my rear end on the last few days especially the last few hours before every midterm, final, SAT, high school AP, IB test so i'm not doing anything different this time.

i really need to look over my notes a few more times and review AAMC FL 11 on friday

remember guys, limits, like fears, are often just an illusion

 

[Narmerguy]

does anyone else find that the explanations to the questions on the AAMC FL science sections are really abysmal? a lot of times they just state that so and so is the correct answer without justifying it whatsoever

Yeah that kind of got on my nerves. Thankfully most of the times I could figure out why it was wrong despite their explanation.

 

[lastdrop]

does anyone else find that the explanations to the questions on the AAMC FL science sections are really abysmal? a lot of times they just state that so and so is the correct answer without justifying it whatsoever

I definitely felt this way for some questions. Same deal with some of the EK1001.

"The answer is C, because C is the right answer."

While most of the AAMC practice tests are well written, it is interesting to see that even within those old tests several poorly written questions. I guess all we can do is be prepared for an ambiguous question or two on the test and not spend too much time on them.

 

[octap]

delete

 

[osprey099]

also i've always busted my rear end on the last few days especially the last few hours before every midterm, final, SAT, high school AP, IB test so i'm not doing anything different this time.

i really need to look over my notes a few more times and review AAMC FL 11 on friday

remember guys, limits, like fears, are often just an illusion

I think it's better to take a break these last few days unless if you really feel like you need to study. If you've been studying for 3+ months, an extra 10 practice passages is probably not gonna help much. Better to relax and get mentally prepared for Saturday these last several hours.

 

[deleted479237]

I think it's better to take a break these last few days unless if you really feel like you need to study. If you've been studying for 3+ months, an extra 10 practice passages is probably not gonna help much. Better to relax and get mentally prepared for Saturday these last several hours.

You're totally right! The only thing I'm doing is reading the economist and flashcards. Any more studying and my brain would melt at this point. 😛

 

[lastdrop]

I think it just depends on the person. If you've been taking practice tests and have been making silly mistakes caused by reading errors/lack of focus, taking Friday off is probably better. If you've been missing questions mostly due to content and your focus has been sharp, then studying Friday might let you squeeze another point or two out of the test if you're lucky.

 

[Narmerguy]

Finally took the AAMC #11..definitely felt a lot harder than some of the earlier versions, but I still got above my average so I suppose it can be compensated for. I feel like there's something wrong with me...this is obviously a good score, but I'm so irritated by the problems I could have gotten right that I can't even really enjoy it. I suppose this'll keep me sharp and finishing strong, but I just feel so bitter.

 

[Suluki]

Just took AAMC 11 and got 10/9/12.

I was really happy with the biology and I'm hoping that the real thing is similar with all the experimental biology. I'm really inclined to forget small details so exp bio allows me to just reason through it.

The PS is pretty much average. I usually get 11 or 10.

The VR was a huge suck. I normally get 10 at the lowest and a 9 is pretty unacceptable. I'll be redoing if I get a 9 on the real thing, no matter what my other scores are.
Some of those passages just really got to me. I haven't reviewed it yet but the photography passage killed my energy.
I did feel pretty drained during it... I'm hoping that my adrenaline will be a lot higher when I'm actually writing for real.

I'm not going to get too worked up about it but I'm really disapointed with the verbal and just wish I would have tried harder.

My goal at this point is a 31-32 with at least a 10 in every section.

Ugh, I don't know what I am doing here. I retook just the verbal of AAMC 11 a couple of days later and went from 9 to 11. I didn't look at the answers after the first time so the only advantage is previous exposure to the passage and questions (which admittedly is huge).

I guess I am going to have to go really slow tomorrow because I seem to understand the material but just fail to leave enough time to sink in.

I can't believe it is almost here! By the looks of the posts here, most of you are going to have really great scores!
I'll be taking tomorrow completely off and relaxing. Cannot wait for this to be done with!

 

[rorogena88]

I think this is a good and relevant read for all the fellow 9/1'ers.

http://news.uchicago.edu/article/20...-why-we-choke-under-pressure-and-how-avoid-it

thanks
I really needed this
I took the 6/21 mcat and my actual score was about 15 points lower than my avg due to me panicking..anyway I am hoping I can control my nerves this time and that things go well

 

[CorgiDoctor]

Does anyone have any last minute tips for time management in the PS section? I can get such a great score when I'm un-timed, but when I take the practice tests I always end up running out of time with about 2 passages to go, so I have to rush through / completely guess on them. It's really frustrating because when I go back over the test I'm losing out on easy questions that I would definitely get right if only I had time to read the passage.

 

[indianjatt]

Does anyone have any last minute tips for time management in the PS section? I can get such a great score when I'm un-timed, but when I take the practice tests I always end up running out of time with about 2 passages to go, so I have to rush through / completely guess on them. It's really frustrating because when I go back over the test I'm losing out on easy questions that I would definitely get right if only I had time to read the passage.

Maybe set an allocated amount of time for a pair of passages?
i.e.
16 minutes for a set of two passages, one minute per discrete. That way you don't spend too much time on one passage and you avoid having to guess on a passage that you may have otherwise gotten correct. Also mark questions that you are unsure of. Just put your best educated guess and move on. Only come back to them if you have time to spare at the end.

 

[Ryush]

Also if you run into questions that you don't know/can't find in the passage, put down your best guess and mark it so you can back and think about it more if you have time.

Also does anyone think that it's almost stressful to relax the last day or two? I'm basically done studying now, but I keep thinking that there's more I could be doing to improve my score.

 

[deleted479237]

Also if you run into questions that you don't know/can't find in the passage, put down your best guess and mark it so you can back and think about it more if you have time.

Also does anyone think that it's almost stressful to relax the last day or two? I'm basically done studying now, but I keep thinking that there's more I could be doing to improve my score.

Honestly, I know exactly how you feel but I doubt another day would make your score improve drastically. Better to relax. I WANT to study more but I know that I'm just going to stress even more if I get something wrong.

 

[abdelraziq13]

I'm at the same point too, but I'm most worried about verbal. It just seems like every day I take a break from verbal I forget everything. Does anybody think it would be a good idea to take a timed verbal section Friday morning? I know I can't learn any extra info for the ps and bs sections in a day but verbal just seems like such luck to me. It's weird though, because no matter how bad I feel after finished a verbal section on the aamc I always end up with a 10 or 11. It's really begining to stress me out. Anybody feel the same?

 

[Narmerguy]

I'm at the same point too, but I'm most worried about verbal. It just seems like every day I take a break from verbal I forget everything. Does anybody think it would be a good idea to take a timed verbal section Friday morning? I know I can't learn any extra info for the ps and bs sections in a day but verbal just seems like such luck to me. It's weird though, because no matter how bad I feel after finished a verbal section on the aamc I always end up with a 10 or 11. It's really begining to stress me out. Anybody feel the same?

I don't feel the same simply because my score has pretty much been one of two scores the entire time. I've literally gotten the same two verbal scores since I started studying (except one fluke when I somehow hit a point higher). I've decided that it's just too arbitrary for me to try to keep practicing, clearly I don't have an effective method of improving at this point.

But if it's stressing you, certainly doing some more verbal won't hurt. It may even relax you a bit because you feel as though you're doing something productive.

 

[abdelraziq13]

Thanks for the advice. I know what you mean. It seems like no matter what I do I always get the same verbal score. I was just wondering: I finish my verbal section typically with less than a minute left. Do you guys think that will be fine on the real MCAT? I know its not the optimal situation but I'm slightly concerned about the claims that the real MCAT has a longer verbal section

 

[Suluki]

Thanks for the advice. I know what you mean. It seems like no matter what I do I always get the same verbal score. I was just wondering: I finish my verbal section typically with less than a minute left. Do you guys think that will be fine on the real MCAT? I know its not the optimal situation but I'm slightly concerned about the claims that the real MCAT has a longer verbal section

I'm the same! If I'm tired, I might get a 9. If I'm feeling really energetic, I might get an 11. But almost always I get a 10. If I have to retake, I'll have to figure out another method to improve.

In regards to the timing, I thought the consensus was that it is not longer but appears longer since a bigger font is used. This is something to keep in mind because you don't want to rush thinking it is longer when it is really the same.

 

[osprey099]

Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!! 🙂

 

[PingPongPro]

Gl everyone. Try your best to stay relaxed and don't do any hard studying with so little time left. No need to freak yourself out. Last year, I relaxed the last 2-3 days before the exam and didn't even think about the test. I just hung out with friends, read for fun, and drink several beers to top of the night. I think it helped me get a good night's sleep and feel more refreshed for the test.

 

[deleted479237]

I wish everyone the best of luck!
You all studied really hard and I am sure everyone will be fine 🙂

If we need to vent off after the exam, I'll see you guys on SDN tomorrow haha

take care everyone!

 

[Godric]

I've been to upset about my scores to bother posting on here. But I figure with tom being the exam I could make an exception. Heres my plan, pray for the best, do my best tom, get my exam scored, enjoy the 2 days of summer I will have, and start the fall semester. I think I'll have to plan for a retake, so I might have to make up a study plan, but I'll leave that part for later.

Good luck fellow 9/1'ers.

 

[Ryush]

Best of luck everyone!