The Official Sept 1, 2012 MCAT Thread

Started by MAnne
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MAnne

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
 
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Well, not even 24 hours after my exam, i now know that i got at least 1 PS question wrong, 1 verbal wrong (since I guessed on it) and 2 BS questions wrong. Gonna be a long long 30 or so days and a lot of nightmares along the way 🙁
 
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I almost cracked out loud when I read the last 4 lines of that MCAT ordeal something to do with MCAT policy and disclaimer or something to that effect, and they gave us 5 mins to read the last 4 lines, while in the exam they bombard us with 7 psgs for 60 mins.
 
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sps27 said:
I almost cracked out loud when I read the last 4 lines of that MCAT ordeal something to do with MCAT policy and disclaimer or something to that effect, and they gave us 5 mins to read the last 4 lines, while in the exam they bombard us with 7 psgs for 60 mins.
Click to expand...

lmao
 
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Just a reminder:


The staff at SDN understands that your MCAT experience will inevitably leave you uncertain about your performance and that the urge to discuss the specifics of your MCAT on SDN may become overwhelming. Please understand that in taking the MCAT, you have signed a contract with the AAMC requiring you to abide by certain rules. For your convenience, SDN is publishing the AAMC rules to maintain the testability of the MCAT, the integrity of the admissions process as a whole, and to protect our members (YOU). Therefore, please be aware that the AAMC requires:

1) Do not discuss the specifics of the MCAT exam. This includes, but is not limited to:
Divulging one or more answer choices, parts of answer choices, or the answer itself
Revealing the question stem itself or a part of the question stem
Outlining part of the process required to solve a problem
Soliciting specific information about a question
Asking another user to Private Message (PM) you regarding a question/passage
Highlighting the specifics of a passage, including information not directly related to a question
Posting entire questions
Discussing any other information that would make it easier to answer an MCAT question
As a litmus test, ask yourself the following question before posting:
Will what I am about to post make it easier for another member to answer an MCAT question? Will it give them a specific idea about what to expect on an exam?
2) Do not make posts that falsely claim that MCAT scores are available.
The stress of waiting for scores is intense enough where posting false “scores are up” posts serves only to increase the unneeded and unwelcome anxiety of your peers. These types of posts fall under "trolling and intending to inflame."

Members found violating this policy will be post-held for 7 days.
Important:
The AAMC actively searches SDN threads for people who disclose information from their MCAT exams.
While SDN's strict TRUSTe certified privacy policy is to not disclose the identity of its members, AAMC may subpoena such information and if so, SDN must comply.
If you are caught doing so, the AAMC reserves the right to report this activity to all schools to which you've applied, void your MCAT score, and revoke your eligibility to sit for future MCAT exams.
If this occurs, you will never be able to attend a US Medical School.
Consequently, please realize that we maintain an extremely strict policy for the good of everyone.
Thank you for your attention, and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact a moderator.

Good luck on test day!
The MCAT Forum Moderators
 
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Here's AAMC 11 scale:
15 52-52 40-40 50-52
14 49-51 39-39 48-49
13 47-48 37-38 47-47
12 45-46 36-36 44-46
11 42-44 32-35 41-43
10 38-41 29-31 36-40
9 35-37 27-28 33-35
8 31-34 24-26 29-32
7 26-30 21-23 27-28
6 22-25 18-20 24-26
5 19-21 16-17 22-23
4 16-18 14-15 19-21
3 11-15 12-13 16-18
2 6-10 10-11 15-15
1 0-5 0-9 0-14

So since yesterday's MCAT BS was definitely a lot tougher than AAMC 11 BS, would this be a reasonable scale then?

15 50-52
14 47-49
13 45-46
12 42-44
11 38-41
10 34-37
9 30-33
8 26-29
 
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Do the questions in each separate passage start at #1? In the AAMC practice tests, the numbering goes straight from #1-142. Just curious.

Thanks.
 
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thank you. Odd that the practice tests dont incorporate that. Oh, one more question. Is there double-click highlighting (say if you're highlighting just a word)? In the practice tests, just one click would bring up that annoying note window.
 
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I felt differently than most people.

PS: I thought this was the toughest section, but Physics has always been my weakest subject by far.

Verbal: Pretty easy.

Bio: Confusing and dense material! I wish they gave us more time because I was rushing in the last two passages, and didn't read as intently.
 
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abdelraziq13 said:
Does anyone know whether or not AMCAS will confirm if I had my test scored? I have just become super paranoid that I might have accidently chosen the option to void.
Click to expand...

You can call the AAMC and ask. The void report should be available to their customer service people within a week or so of the exam. Go to the MCAT website and look for the contact info for the MCAT people there.
 
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They should make the option to void incredibly small compared to the option to have it scored lol. Then you wouldnt get these paranoid people each session. And it should confirm a void multiple times.. Not sure if it does though, since I've never voided
 
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So I was breezing through the PS, Writing, and even the Verbal section. During my third break I was all "Oh yeah, bio is up next. I got this thing in the bag."

And then I read the first passage....
 
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I have a question for you guys. I took the MCAT on May 24th, and it seemed to me that there were a lot of questions that I could have answered correctly if I had known the concepts better through better review (and had certain things memorized from prep books that I didn't have at the time). It seems to me that for your Sept 1st exam, no amount of content review could have more prepared you for this exam (due to it being more experimental/strategic based). Is this accurate? On May 24th, we had a few bio passages (3 orgo however) that I remember they were pretty experimental/strategic as well.
 
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GomerPyle said:
I have a question for you guys. I took the MCAT on May 24th, and it seemed to me that there were a lot of questions that I could have answered correctly if I had known the concepts better through better review (and had certain things memorized from prep books that I didn't have at the time). It seems to me that for your Sept 1st exam, no amount of content review could have more prepared you for this exam (due to it being more experimental/strategic based). Is this accurate? On May 24th, we had a few bio passages (3 orgo however) that I remember they were pretty experimental/strategic as well.
Click to expand...

While our test contained a majority of experimental passages which required more reading comprehension to answer questions correctly, I think that without proper content review, the passages would have been beyond comprehension in the short amount of time (for me at least). So while content review certainly helps, you should put focus on understanding passages, experimental designs and work on reading critically while going through biology passages.
 
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GomerPyle said:
I have a question for you guys. I took the MCAT on May 24th, and it seemed to me that there were a lot of questions that I could have answered correctly if I had known the concepts better through better review (and had certain things memorized from prep books that I didn't have at the time). It seems to me that for your Sept 1st exam, no amount of content review could have more prepared you for this exam (due to it being more experimental/strategic based). Is this accurate? On May 24th, we had a few bio passages (3 orgo however) that I remember they were pretty experimental/strategic as well.
Click to expand...
After any MCAT exam I feel that 5% of what I know really gets tested. The questions can be so basic that you feel silly. And sometimes they are so complicated (with experimental data) that you really need to know a whole lot more than what is deemed necessary. So content review is necessary, but that will not sail you across. It is practice, speed of solving problems, and deep knowledge into favourite MCAT topics which show up frequently in the exam.
 
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GomerPyle said:
I have a question for you guys. I took the MCAT on May 24th, and it seemed to me that there were a lot of questions that I could have answered correctly if I had known the concepts better through better review (and had certain things memorized from prep books that I didn't have at the time). It seems to me that for your Sept 1st exam, no amount of content review could have more prepared you for this exam (due to it being more experimental/strategic based). Is this accurate? On May 24th, we had a few bio passages (3 orgo however) that I remember they were pretty experimental/strategic as well.
Click to expand...

lastdrop said:
While our test contained a majority of experimental passages which required more reading comprehension to answer questions correctly, I think that without proper content review, the passages would have been beyond comprehension in the short amount of time (for me at least). So while content review certainly helps, you should put focus on understanding passages, experimental designs and work on reading critically while going through biology passages.
Click to expand...

This for sure. If I was spending time trying to recall how certain concepts worked, that test was going to be suicide. However, I would probably say that I was very strong on the content review and found the questions extremely difficult. Yes, I would say that it did not feel to me that any additional content review would have helped me on the bio.

On the physical science section, there were a couple questions that would have been easier if I had memorized various obscure details about a concept, but I still knew sufficient to eliminate wrong answers to the right answer (though there was one question that I went back and checked and it definitely is not on the list of PS topics).

Bio did not feel this way. I thoroughly understood the concepts, rather, the passage's application of them (and added terminology) made it extremely difficult for me to understand much of what was going on. I found myself rereading sections of the passage to try to figure out a nuanced meaning or determine which piece of background knowledge was the most appropriate to apply to this situation. It sounds simpler than it felt at the time. I really can't fathom how someone would handle many of those questions if they didn't have the basic background knowledge down. That was a monster of a test.
 
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I guess I wasn't super surprised by anything on the PS section, although there were a couple discretes that I had to make an educated guess at. I was anywhere from 11-15 on AAMC tests, so hopefully I can score >10. BS was a bit more difficult, but I personally like more experimental, logic based bio questions. I scored highest on the BS on AAMC 11 with a 14, which I thought was similar to our bio section.
 
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WhiteCoatSyndrome said:
I guess I wasn't super surprised by anything on the PS section, although there were a couple discretes that I had to make an educated guess at. I was anywhere from 11-15 on AAMC tests, so hopefully I can score >10. BS was a bit more difficult, but I personally like more experimental, logic based bio questions. I scored highest on the BS on AAMC 11 with a 14, which I thought was similar to our bio section.
Click to expand...

TBH, I scored highest on the AAMC 11 bio with a 15 and this test felt considerably different (difficult) compared to that.
 
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Yeah, I thought 11 was considerably easier as well. 11 was a few of moderate difficulty and the Ebola as the only hard one. This test felt like a couple Ebola level difficulty and then two passages of difficulty greater than the Ebola.

Remembered another question from bio I'm pretty sure I got wrong today, only section I fear bombing potential just due to simple errors I keep recalling. Already got a point off in dumb questions I should have gotten right, which seems deadly when it's hard to know how the passages went.

One I remembered today wasn't simple error though, was a side subject off of a normal topic, didn't even go over it in 2 years of molecular bio / genetics.
 
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jmanning345 said:
Yeah, I thought 11 was considerably easier as well. 11 was a few of moderate difficulty and the Ebola as the only hard one. This test felt like a couple Ebola level difficulty and then two passages of difficulty greater than the Ebola.

Remembered another question from bio I'm pretty sure I got wrong today, only section I fear bombing potential just due to simple errors I keep recalling. Already got a point off in dumb questions I should have gotten right, which seems deadly when it's hard to know how the passages went.

One I remembered today wasn't simple error though, was a side subject off of a normal topic, didn't even go over it in 2 years of molecular bio / genetics.
Click to expand...

Well, I missed 3 discretes at the end due to lack of time. Two on the Orgo passage. 4 more that I later recalled and didn't get. So at least 10. Which drops me to a 11 according to AAMC 11. So...I am screwed on BS. It's so frustrating! Ahh!!
 
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On the bright side, I marked 8 questions in PS - of which I got 3 right. So, I think I will probably land a 11/12 on PS. 10/11 in VR. 9/10 in BS. Highest: 33. Lowest: 30. Average: 32.
 
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Should I be worried if all I can remember were questions I got wrong in the PS section lol. I know I got 3 wrong and guessed on another 4 or 5 which I can't confirm 100& if they were right or wrong.
 
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I know I have at least 2 wrong in PS (because I guessed) and at least 5 wrong in BS so far. Sucks because I really need my PS to be like a 14 to pull up my horrendous BS score of most likely a 8 or 9.
 
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Guys, does anybody think that there was a mistake in the PS section ? One of the questions just did not have the right answer listed ... is it just me ?
 
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bk9iq said:
Guys, does anybody think that there was a mistake in the PS section ? One of the questions just did not have the right answer listed ... is it just me ?
Click to expand...

I was thinking this as well. I have done the math in my head over and over again, but could only get an answer that was between the two answers I had it down to.

Was it a discrete question?
 
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lastdrop said:
I was thinking this as well. I have done the math in my head over and over again, but could only get an answer that was between the two answers I had it down to.

Was it a discrete question?
Click to expand...
No, the one that I am thinking of was in a passage .. it is a straightforward calculation question .. I don't know probably I am wrong ... even though I wasted about four minutes of the test trying to solve it but could not come up with an answer that is similar to the answer choices...
 
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bk9iq said:
No, the one that I am thinking of was in a passage .. it is a straightforward calculation question .. I don't know probably I am wrong ... even though I wasted about four minutes of the test trying to solve it but could not come up with an answer that is similar to the answer choices...
Click to expand...

There was a question which asked for the number closest to the real answer. Maybe it was that one.
 
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Your exam must have been hell then (just like the one I took on May 24th). I look at the other threads and there isn't as much b!tching, which means some tests are just much harder than others. Unfortunately, yours was pretty bad...
 
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GomerPyle said:
Your exam must have been hell then (just like the one I took on May 24th). I look at the other threads and there isn't as much b!tching, which means some tests are just much harder than others. Unfortunately, yours was pretty bad...
Click to expand...

That means we have a better curve right? (PLEASE SAY YES)
 
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SN2ed said:
Just a reminder:


The staff at SDN understands that your MCAT experience will inevitably leave you uncertain about your performance and that the urge to discuss the specifics of your MCAT on SDN may become overwhelming. Please understand that in taking the MCAT, you have signed a contract with the AAMC requiring you to abide by certain rules. For your convenience, SDN is publishing the AAMC rules to maintain the testability of the MCAT, the integrity of the admissions process as a whole, and to protect our members (YOU). Therefore, please be aware that the AAMC requires:

1) Do not discuss the specifics of the MCAT exam. This includes, but is not limited to:
Divulging one or more answer choices, parts of answer choices, or the answer itself
Revealing the question stem itself or a part of the question stem
Outlining part of the process required to solve a problem
Soliciting specific information about a question
Asking another user to Private Message (PM) you regarding a question/passage
Highlighting the specifics of a passage, including information not directly related to a question
Posting entire questions
Discussing any other information that would make it easier to answer an MCAT question
As a litmus test, ask yourself the following question before posting:
Will what I am about to post make it easier for another member to answer an MCAT question? Will it give them a specific idea about what to expect on an exam?
2) Do not make posts that falsely claim that MCAT scores are available.
The stress of waiting for scores is intense enough where posting false "scores are up" posts serves only to increase the unneeded and unwelcome anxiety of your peers. These types of posts fall under "trolling and intending to inflame."

Members found violating this policy will be post-held for 7 days.
Important:
The AAMC actively searches SDN threads for people who disclose information from their MCAT exams.
While SDN's strict TRUSTe certified privacy policy is to not disclose the identity of its members, AAMC may subpoena such information and if so, SDN must comply.
If you are caught doing so, the AAMC reserves the right to report this activity to all schools to which you've applied, void your MCAT score, and revoke your eligibility to sit for future MCAT exams.
If this occurs, you will never be able to attend a US Medical School.
Consequently, please realize that we maintain an extremely strict policy for the good of everyone.
Thank you for your attention, and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact a moderator.

Good luck on test day!
The MCAT Forum Moderators
Click to expand...


Could you direct me to where on the constitution this is allowed? I agree that test questions should not be discussed since it breaks the spirit of testing, however, in light of the guidelines put forth here, the mere mentioning of any infringement on the right of free speech is a simple violation of the constitution. The constitution is effective even in cyberspace among US citizens.
 
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bk9iq said:
No, the one that I am thinking of was in a passage .. it is a straightforward calculation question .. I don't know probably I am wrong ... even though I wasted about four minutes of the test trying to solve it but could not come up with an answer that is similar to the answer choices...
Click to expand...
I think I know which question you are talking about. I just guessed on that question lol.
 
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bk9iq said:
Guys, does anybody think that there was a mistake in the PS section ? One of the questions just did not have the right answer listed ... is it just me ?
Click to expand...
And there is also an error in the free test PS section (Test no 3 which I got) on the AAMC website, once again in the PS section. Not sure if anybody else noticed it.
 
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