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

 

[octap]

deleted

 

[Suluki]

im also taking 9/1 test. i feel alright about verbal and bio (confident enough for 10-12 on each), but im still stuck on reviewing for PS . is anyone else besides me horrified by optics, chemical kinetics, and anything K constant related?? any advice on how to study these? or any tips/tricks...

Fluids get to me the most!

For some reason, I feel like PS is the hardest but my worst scores seem to be in BS. What the heck?! That was always supposed to be the easy stuff...

 

[abdelraziq13]

Hi. I am taking the mcat on this day. I was just wondering if anyone else felt kinda unconfident/uncomfortable in their practice test scores. I have been averaging in the range 36-39 on all of my aamcs but I honestly do not feel prepared. I always feel like I'm getting lucky. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

 

[osprey099]

Hi. I am taking the mcat on this day. I was just wondering if anyone else felt kinda unconfident/uncomfortable in their practice test scores. I have been averaging in the range 36-39 on all of my aamcs but I honestly do not feel prepared. I always feel like I'm getting lucky. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

You're averaging those scores on your practice tests but feel unprepared?

 

[abdelraziq13]

Yea I'm not sure why but I just don't feel confident. I'm not sure if I'm the only one or what but I never expect to do near as well as I actually do when I am taking the aamcs. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same way

 

[Narmerguy]

Yea I'm not sure why but I just don't feel confident. I'm not sure if I'm the only one or what but I never expect to do near as well as I actually do when I am taking the aamcs. Just wondering if anyone else feels the same way

You're going to be fine. Even doing less than your practice test averages allows you to be competitive at every school in the country seeing as only a handful of schools have a median MCAT score of 36-37.

 

[abdelraziq13]

You're going to be fine. Even doing less than your practice test averages allows you to be competitive at every school in the country seeing as only a handful of schools have a median MCAT score of 36-37.

Thanks. Ive just been noticing that many of the recent test takers seem to do much worse on the real mcat than on their practice aamcs and its starting to get me worried.

 

[deleted479237]

Hi. I am taking the mcat on this day. I was just wondering if anyone else felt kinda unconfident/uncomfortable in their practice test scores. I have been averaging in the range 36-39 on all of my aamcs but I honestly do not feel prepared. I always feel like I'm getting lucky. Does anyone else ever feel like this?

That's an amazing range for practice tests. I don't think you can call yourself unprepared if you're already pulling off 30+

 

[abdelraziq13]

Thank you all for your advice. I was just wondering: do you guys think it would be a good idea to redo all the aamcs under real testing conditions in this final week? Not so much for the scores, but just to get in the habit of waking up and focusing that early in the morning? Also I was wondering, how noisy is it in the testing centers? Are there typically many distractions? I have been practicing under quiet conditions and I would hate to lose focus because of noise in the testing center? Thank you all and good luck to everyone

 

[osprey099]

Seems like 8/23 had a hard PS and an easy BS. Would it be logical to hypothesize that we may have a easy PS and a hard BS, or the other way around?

 

[jmanning345]

.

 

[lamborghiniMD]

I agree! My ideal test would be an easy PS that's gen-chem heavy, a VR section comparable to that of AAMC 11 's and a BS section that's bio heavy.


Just took AAMC 11 today, I felt destroyed by the PS section, but I thought the VR and BS was doable. Ended up with a 31, although I would've scored higher if I read some of the questions properly.

 

[Narmerguy]

Seems like 8/23 had a hard PS and an easy BS. Would it be logical to hypothesize that we may have a easy PS and a hard BS, or the other way around?

I wouldn't expect it to be any particular way. People's idea of a "hard" section is different. Also it's difficult to know how hard something was really without knowing how it's curved. I wouldn't focus too much on it.

 

[Big N Tasty]

I wouldn't expect it to be any particular way. People's idea of a "hard" section is different. Also it's difficult to know how hard something was really without knowing how it's curved. I wouldn't focus too much on it.

True, assessing difficulty is extremely relative and it doesn't help that we don't really know how the AAMC scales the exam lol.

Nevertheless, my ideal mcat would be:

PS: Gen chem heavy with mostly quantitative physics problems (a la AAMC 5)

VR: Uhh...just...yeah, idk similar to
AAMC 3

WS: Something political or ethics related

BS: Focus on cell and molecular bio with a lot of orgo

 

[mushuwu158]

Whelp, one more week guys. Took my last AAMC test, got a 36. So hopefully I just need to some practice passages for the week up until Thurs to keep myself primed. Speaking of which, do you guys reccommend just relaxing the day before MCATs, or still a little practice to prevent mental atrophy?

 

[lamborghiniMD]

Yeah now that think of it, my ideal test would be:

PS similar to AAMC 5's PS
VR similar to AAMC 11's VR
BS similar to AAMC 7 or 11

then I'd be very happy lol

 

[jmanning345]

Practice tests all finished up:

AAMC 9: 32
AAMC 10: 34
AAMC 11: 31

Was too bad about 11, literally switched a verbal answer with a second left and made some silly reading errors in the bio that cost me a 33, was 1 away on both - but I suppose that's the nature of the beast.

I didn't think the dreaded Ebola passage was that bad, I took like 20 minutes doing it, but it was doable/fun. I got two wrong on it and they were more or less unrelated to the experiment being presented ironically.

Overall I leave with a good taste in my mouth coming off the practice tests, 11 felt the most Physics heavy to me and the chem was the most difficult I think and I still managed a good score.

Verbal will be the key on the real deal, misinterpreting 1 passage bad could knock you down to the 8-9 range easy, definitely seems like the most variable section despite thinking it would be my best score going in.

Going to spend the next couple days going over 11, then probably see if I can get a full review going from the wikipremed before the test. And I still have to look at how to format a written section hah. Good luck with the final preparations to the 9/1/12'ers.

 

[Suluki]

I find that I have a seriously hard time concentrating when doing the verbal.

I took AAMC 9 a couple of days ago and scored a 9 on the verbal.

2 days later (so today!), I retook just the verbal and scored a 11. I never looked at the answers or reviewed it after the first time but of course, it will still be easier the second time since I would have retained some familiarity with the material.

I'm not really sure if this is significant for the aforementioned reason... But I do think that I struggle with keeping my energy up after the PS section.

My conclusion? Tomorrow, I am taking AAMC 10 and I will be throwing back some chocolate during the first break.

Hopefully, it goes better! I really want a 33 (or more!) and have been getting 11 on PS and BS so an 11 on verbal would get me where I want to be.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for what to do about your energy levels? I do already try to take 5 second breaks between passages like EK suggests.

 

[jmanning345]

I drink a half of a five hour energy before I start, and the rest before verbal. I might bring another since the real thing has writing.

Only downside is it increases the need to use the bathroom.

 

[Suluki]

Exactly! I'm addicted to Coke but it makes me go waay to often. Even with the 10 minute breaks, it would distract me too much.

 

[Testosterone]

I drink a half of a five hour energy before I start, and the rest before verbal. I might bring another since the real thing has writing.

Only downside is it increases the need to use the bathroom.

Imagine having to do a bio passage on the effects of ADH inhibition on a full bladder.

 

[mushuwu158]

I find that I have a seriously hard time concentrating when doing the verbal.

I took AAMC 9 a couple of days ago and scored a 9 on the verbal.

2 days later (so today!), I retook just the verbal and scored a 11. I never looked at the answers or reviewed it after the first time but of course, it will still be easier the second time since I would have retained some familiarity with the material.

I'm not really sure if this is significant for the aforementioned reason... But I do think that I struggle with keeping my energy up after the PS section.

My conclusion? Tomorrow, I am taking AAMC 10 and I will be throwing back some chocolate during the first break.

Hopefully, it goes better! I really want a 33 (or more!) and have been getting 11 on PS and BS so an 11 on verbal would get me where I want to be.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for what to do about your energy levels? I do already try to take 5 second breaks between passages like EK suggests.

This may seem counterintuitive, but during your 10-minute break, do some sort of light exercise like push-ups or even walking around. Inccreases blood flow to the brain and gets you breathing normally again (I noticed that when I take my AAMCs, I have a tendency to take smaller breaths when I'm concentrating on passages, not sure if that applies to everyone). Plus, light exertion gives a small confidence boost.

 

[Suluki]

This may seem counterintuitive, but during your 10-minute break, do some sort of light exercise like push-ups or even walking around. Inccreases blood flow to the brain and gets you breathing normally again (I noticed that when I take my AAMCs, I have a tendency to take smaller breaths when I'm concentrating on passages, not sure if that applies to everyone). Plus, light exertion gives a small confidence boost.

Actually, I really like that. I agree that exercise can give you a boost so I will try that tmr (doing AAMC 10) and see if it helps. Thanks for the advice! I'll check back tomorrow to report how the verbal goes.

I'm starting to feel like my 10 minute breaks are going to be really busy! Sign out, go to locker, eat (low blood sugar so it's a must!), pee, do a quick exercise, and sign back in.

 

[Ryush]

Less than a week left, what are you guys doing this week as final preparation? I'm taking AAMC 11 and debating if I should take a non AAMC FL as well.

 

[osprey099]

Less than a week left, what are you guys doing this week as final preparation? I'm taking AAMC 11 and debating if I should take a non AAMC FL as well.

I'm just going to take AAMC 11 (my last AAMC Fl) and probably some light content review. Each day this week, I'm going to try and get some exercise (running/swimming). At this point, I don't really see how an extra FL or additional practice can really help especially if you've spent the entire summer studying.

 

[deleted479237]

Less than a week left, what are you guys doing this week as final preparation? I'm taking AAMC 11 and debating if I should take a non AAMC FL as well.

I might do two more practice exams, one kaplan and one aamc (11). Not really going to do content review anymore since I'm scoring decent on PS and BS. Go to the gym a couple times would be good, and some video games 😛

Shouldn't overdo it on the last week since you should already be good from studying all those months 😉

 

[Big N Tasty]

Imagine having to do a bio passage on the effects of ADH inhibition on a full bladder.

Or even worse, one on the effects of vasopressin inhibition...

But yeah, I'm doing AAMC 9 tonight, 10 on Tuesday and 11 on Thursday.

 

[Suluki]

Actually, I really like that. I agree that exercise can give you a boost so I will try that tmr (doing AAMC 10) and see if it helps. Thanks for the advice! I'll check back tomorrow to report how the verbal goes.

I'm starting to feel like my 10 minute breaks are going to be really busy! Sign out, go to locker, eat (low blood sugar so it's a must!), pee, do a quick exercise, and sign back in.

Must have gone well because I scored an 11 on my verbal today! 🙂
Thanks!

@Ryush

My plan for the rest of the week is to take AAMC 11 (just took AAMC 10) and do content review in Bio. I will also be firming up some of my trouble areas in phys (fluids! and electricity), chem, and orgo.

I've also been practicing the WS when I do my practice AAMC so I think I'll be looking into that a bit more. I feel pretty confident about it tho... which might be wrong.

The day before, I am taking completely off. I'll clean my apt and head off to the hotel (I don't want to deal with an hour of transit in the morning) to relax.

Honestly, I think my last few days are going to be a bit busier than I'd like but oh well! I really need to look at that bio.

 

[lastdrop]

If you are going to take AAMC 11 as your last test, keep in mind that this is generally regarded as the trickiest, most reading intensive of all the AAMC practice tests.

It is also regarded as the most similar to the real thing. Having taken the MCAT twice, I agree with this. Both of my previous exams were very reading intensive and passage based.

If you let this catch you off guard AAMC 11 can be discouraging, which is obviously not ideal for test day.

 

[rorogena88]

Just took AAMC 10 and scored a 10/9/10 (I might be doing DO because I don't know if I will score around my average since I tend to panic on standardized exams. so yeah I am shooting for 27+

I thought aamc 10 was harder than the other aamc exams but will see how I do on aamc 11

when is everyone taking aamc 11?

 

[lastdrop]

AAMC 10 is also regarded as similar in difficulty as the real MCAT. Some people even feel that AAMC 10 is harder than 11. I am sure it just depends on the testers strengths.

I am taking AAMC 10 on Tuesday. I took AAMC 11 yesterday. During the test, I felt like I was missing particularly more than usual and was not comfortable with the passages. I did my best to take my time though and interpret what the passages were saying and ended up with my average on practice exams (34 - 11/11/12). I can only hope the real thing will go like this.

 

[geh926]

Sept 6th taker here but I wanted to get some advice on the order for my last three FL's. Have 9, 10, 11 to take this Tuesday, sat, and next monday before that thurs test. Any advice on which order? I just really don't want to bomb 10/11 and lose hope all together. Thanks! Freedom is right around the corner 🙂

 

[Suluki]

If you are going to take AAMC 11 as your last test, keep in mind that this is generally regarded as the trickiest, most reading intensive of all the AAMC practice tests.

It is also regarded as the most similar to the real thing. Having taken the MCAT twice, I agree with this. Both of my previous exams were very reading intensive and passage based.

If you let this catch you off guard AAMC 11 can be discouraging, which is obviously not ideal for test day.

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely keep that in mind. I'm planning to take it Tuesday and take a day to go over it and clear up any issues. Hopefully that'll boost my confidence if it destroys it! 🙂

Took AAMC 10 today and got 11/11/10. Bio is a bit lower than normal but as I mentioned before, I'll be devoted the remainder of the time reviewing it so hopefully that'll help (a lot of my errors were simply forgetting facts). I'm aiming for a 33 but I will accept a 32.

 

[lastdrop]

Sept 6th taker here but I wanted to get some advice on the order for my last three FL's. Have 9, 10, 11 to take this Tuesday, sat, and next monday before that thurs test. Any advice on which order? I just really don't want to bomb 10/11 and lose hope all together. Thanks! Freedom is right around the corner 🙂

In my opinion, I would take 9, 11, then 10. This is based off the general consensus of difficulties, with 9 being the easiest of the 3 and 11 being the hardest. Just keep in mind that for some people 11 might be a breeze while 11 might be monstrous.

All analyzing aside, as long as you don't let one terrible score ruin your confidence (which it shouldn't so long as you've been working hard, developing a critical approach to problems and scoring well on the average), the order of these lasts tests does not matter.

The real MCAT is difficult, but as stated a gazibillion times elsewhere on SDN, is usually reflective of your practice AAMC tests +/- a couple points.

 

[Ryush]

Oh I definitely agree. Exercising is a must for me I find that I can concentrate much better when I've been on a regular routine or playing sports on a regular basis. So definitely not going to give that up this week haha.

What do you guys think about the writing section? Anyone bothering to take those during practice FLs? I think I'm just going to look over the rules/strategies briefly on Thursday and go with that, not too concerned about it.

 

[Suluki]

Oh I definitely agree. Exercising is a must for me I find that I can concentrate much better when I've been on a regular routine or playing sports on a regular basis. So definitely not going to give that up this week haha.

What do you guys think about the writing section? Anyone bothering to take those during practice FLs? I think I'm just going to look over the rules/strategies briefly on Thursday and go with that, not too concerned about it.

I've been doing the WS when I do the practice AAMC, just so I can get a true feel for how the real exam will feel. But other than that, I haven't really been doing much else!

 

[osprey099]

Ughh just got a 32 on AAMC 11 (13PS, 9V, 10BS). Worried about BS because I made a lot of reading errors (at least 3 reading errors) and got a lot of the discrete/discrete like questions wrong.

 

[deleted479237]

Just finished AAMC 8 (I somehow forgot to do this one)

29 (PS 9, 10 VR, 10 BS)

damn it PS....I been getting 10's and now I get a 9 in it T_T
That 30 would have boosted my confidence but now it looks like I have to brush up a bit of PS
-sigh-

Did anyone feel AAMC8 PS was a bit harsher in the curve?

 

[osprey099]

Just finished AAMC 8 (I somehow forgot to do this one)

29 (PS 9, 10 VR, 10 BS)

damn it PS....I been getting 10's and now I get a 9 in it T_T
That 30 would have boosted my confidence but now it looks like I have to brush up a bit of PS
-sigh-

Did anyone feel AAMC8 PS was a bit harsher in the curve?

I thought 8's scale was normal. I have attached the grading scale for AAMC 3-10. You can compare AAMC 8 to the others.

 

[deleted479237]

I thought 8's scale was normal. I have attached the grading scale for AAMC 3-10. You can compare AAMC 8 to the others.

Thanks!

 

[Mettagame]

just finished AAMC FL 10. i thought it went OK but i scored below my target score and got 33 (11V 11P 11B) i'm feeling really distraught cause i feel like i don't have enough time to shore up on all my weaknesses

confidence is at an all time low

 

[Sports Junky]

Hey everyone, I hope everyone is doing well in the final week!

I just re-took AAMC 8, and my scores were definitely inflated due to prior exposure. I took all of the AAMC's a few months ago in order to prep for the July 14th MCAT, and now I have no real indicator of where I currently stand.

Would you guys recommend taking any of Kaplan's exams? Or should I just continue to take a few more AAMC's and hope that my memory has faded?

 

[Suluki]

just finished AAMC FL 10. i thought it went OK but i scored below my target score and got 33 (11V 11P 11B) i'm feeling really distraught cause i feel like i don't have enough time to shore up on all my weaknesses

confidence is at an all time low

It makes me sad that my goal score (33) is a disappointment for some! 🙂

 

[Ryush]

Hey everyone, I hope everyone is doing well in the final week!

I just re-took AAMC 8, and my scores were definitely inflated due to prior exposure. I took all of the AAMC's a few months ago in order to prep for the July 14th MCAT, and now I have no real indicator of where I currently stand.

Would you guys recommend taking any of Kaplan's exams? Or should I just continue to take a few more AAMC's and hope that my memory has faded?

Kaplan 1-6 aren't that bad, I'd say they're worth taking after AAMC's if you have them. My guess is that if your score for AAMC 8 is inflated, it's probably inflated for the rest of the ones you took as well 😛

 

[osprey099]

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

 

[Sports Junky]

Kaplan 1-6 aren't that bad, I'd say they're worth taking after AAMC's if you have them. My guess is that if your score for AAMC 8 is inflated, it's probably inflated for the rest of the ones you took as well 😛

I guess I'll have to give Kaplan a shot then. The only reason I'm hesitant is because Kaplan's exams tend to have more discrete-like questions as opposed to reasoning-based questions. And their scale is already out of whack to begin with haha.

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

Focus and endurance definitely do come into play during the Verbal sections. I feel that I get 1-2 additional questions wrong in the last three passages simply because I am exhausted and read more carelessly towards the end. I am considering taking an extended verbal section (via combining additional passages onto full-length exams) so that I can build 'super-endurance'. I'm going to try taking 9 or 10 passages at once and see how that works out. I will let you guys know if it was a complete fail haha

 

[Suluki]

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 totally agree! I have the same range of 9 (exhausted after 3 passages)-11 (feeling good!). What helps me is to pump up during the break before (exercise, have some sugar) and take mini breaks between each passage. I'm hoping I'll pull off an 11 on the real deal but I'm happy with a 10.

 

[geh926]

10's across and I'll be happy at this point 🙂

 

[Narmerguy]

Got my highest practice score on my previous FL and now I'm too scared to take another one because I know it will go down 😛 Need to suck it up and go though.

 

[Big N Tasty]

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

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