The Official Sept 11, 2013 MCAT Thread

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ovenmitts

ovenmitts

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Here it is, the official thread for those of us writing on Sept 11th.

This will be my third time taking the MCAT. Yes, that's right - my third time. It's been a rough ride to say the least and my confidence has definitely plummeted.

Here's to hoping third time's the charm!

Sept 11ers unite!
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Perhaps, one of the passages you were confident in, actually turned out poorly for you?

I dont think AAMC completely disregards experimental psgs, especially if one does well on it... I mean most people would spend a fair amount of time on the experimental psgs (which are often the most difficult) and as a result, decreases the time available for the other psg's... surely the AAMC would take this into consideration... Dont have any information to support this conclusion, but it seems fairly obvious and fair imo.
 
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4 lyfe said:
Perhaps, one of the passages you were confident in, actually turned out poorly for you?

I dont think AAMC completely disregards experimental psgs, especially if one does well on it... I mean most people would spend a fair amount of time on the experimental psgs (which are often the most difficult) and as a result, decreases the time available for the other psg's... surely the AAMC would take this into consideration... Dont have any information to support this conclusion, but it seems fairly obvious and fair imo.
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lol what makes you have so much faith in the AAMC being so considerate lol :lol:

They write that the experimental questions do not count towards your score whatsoever. I doubt they have the time to run statistical analyses on how long each examinee spent on those questions and then somehow "factor" that into your final score (i.e., I do not see how the statistics would work). Nor would they care enough, imo.
 
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Razer said:
Yeah sounds like you would end up with a bad score if you missed a lot of non-experimental Qs despite nailing all of the experimental Qs. Does anyone know if entire passages are experimental or if it's just single question stems?
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It is not clear. Could be both. By definition, though, if a passage is experimental, then all the questions that go with it are probably experimental as well. No guarantees but the logic follows.
 
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4 lyfe said:
Perhaps, one of the passages you were confident in, actually turned out poorly for you?

I dont think AAMC completely disregards experimental psgs, especially if one does well on it... I mean most people would spend a fair amount of time on the experimental psgs (which are often the most difficult) and as a result, decreases the time available for the other psg's... surely the AAMC would take this into consideration... Dont have any information to support this conclusion, but it seems fairly obvious and fair imo.
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I'm not gonna argue against your non-sense pure conjecture that AAMC chooses which passages to grade because as you admitted it's based on no fact. But I have no idea how such conjecture is "fairly obvious and fair." lol
 
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the reason I was pondering that is b/c on 06/20 BS, I felt like I nailed it except 1 passage and the usual 5-7 careless errors and got 11. I was pretty sure that the 1 passage was experimental b/c it was.....a bit too far left field. I wouldn't say it was super hard but of all passages it was the hardest. So unless the experimental passage that day was an easy passage (which there were a few).....

A friend of mine said he was sure (looking up afterwards) that he missed 5+ Qs on 06/20 BS b/c he too also had his careless errors but that one passage I thought was experimental he "felt" like he nailed it and ended up with a 14 to his major shock.

Now I know this isn't sort conclusive proof or evidence of how AAMC grades MCATs but it was just a hunch/idea. It could just be completely wrong but it was just a thought that crossed my mind.
 
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So how's everyone doing as we continue the wait? I honestly cannot give myself any comfort as to whether I did well or didn't. I definitely felt as if I was in a more rushed mindset during the exam and the only section I felt like I rocked without question is verbal. The other two were "interesting". I know i've missed questions but I also hope there are things I got right that I'm not thinking about.
 
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Aghh I feel you, I thought the VR section of the 2:00 PM test has harsh, it reminded me of some TPR verbal passages I did. I completely forgot to do a passage because I ran out of time, how would you guys think this could affect my score?
 
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Hi all!
I'm totally late to the thread, but I figured I would add my thoughts to the mix. This is my first SDN post, although I have been a long time reader. I have been using sdn mostly for the mcat study schedule, which in my opinion is priceless. After the exam I googled 9/11/13 mcat to see what, if any, info I could find that might put my mind at ease. That's when I found this thread, and I must say it is nice to see I'm not the only person that is dealing with post exam stress and self doubt. I only wish I would have found it sooner so I could have had a group of people to discuss all the pre exam topics and stressors with rather than friends and family who honestly can't comprehend the scope of this beast. Anyway, Im glad I no longer have to wait in agony alone, and I'm glad to have people to discuss my feelings with, as I'm sure everyone else in my life is sick of hearing about the mcat!

As I said above, I used the sn2ed schedule for the most part, making adjustments as necessary to accommodate my full time work schedule. It was very difficult to follow while working FT, but I basically worked and studied FT for a total of ~75 hr/wk. I did cut out the hat trick, only did VR when my timing allowed it, and I cut out the final 1/3s in order to get moe FLs in. My stats for the practice exams:

AAMC #3 36 (11/12/13)
AAMC #5 33 (10/11/12)
AAMC #7 36 (13/11/12)
AAMC #9 37 (12/12/13)
AAMC #10 36 (12/11/13)
AAMC #11 36 (11/11/14)

As far as the exam goes, I took the 8 am test and don't know how to feel about it. The PS seemed pretty straight forward but I definitely felt rushed during VR and BS. There was one topic from Phys 1 that I didn't want to see, but sure enough it was there. I definitely didn't feel great walking out of the exam, other than being glad it was over. However, I felt about the same as I did when I took #11 and it turned out well, so hopefully the avg holds true. Honestly, if I'm +/-5 ill be stoked. I hope everyone else gets the score they want/deserve! At least we can say we overcame a major milestone and challenge!
 
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DualDocDreamer said:
Honestly, if I'm +/-5 ill be stoked. I hope everyone else gets the score they want/deserve! At least we can say we overcame a major milestone and challenge!
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Lol some BIG **** needs to go down for a 5-point fluctuation from your AAMC average. It's more like +/- 2 from your averse.
 
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So I have decided to not look at my exam grade when it comes out lol I'm going to use scholingers cat in this and if I don't look at the score I couldn't of failed it right? I already have my aps in so or doesn't matter anyway lol
 
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itsallgood19 said:
surprisingly i feel this test thread is dead compared to the thread for my last mcat...anyone else thinking the same?
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This thread was pretty active up until a few days after the exam when things started to die down. Now everyone is waiting and I'm sure this thread will blow up again when the release date gets nearer.
 
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DualDocDreamer said:
6 pts below your total avg or your AAMC avg? The sdn consensus seems to be that +/- 2 is pretty accurate based on the AAMC avg but other tests (Kaplan, GS etc.) tend to vary more.
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total average. yea that makes sense though I was under the impression that gold standard had a harsher grading scale though. it doesn't.
 
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grburst said:
Had a dream I scored a 7 on VR and got a 5 in BS
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I had a dream the other night that I scored a 39. It was one of those dreams where you seriously question if it was real as you start to regain consciousness. Obviously pretty upset when I came around haha.
 
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Damn me too.. I had a dream the other day that I scored 13+/12/13+ ... then I woke up... and I was like fml
 
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You know, since AAMC already has our scores, I'm surprised they don't have a "pay for your score early" option. I bet tons of people would shell out $50 to get their scores 2 weeks after the test.
 
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slickwillbo said:
You know, since AAMC already has our scores, I'm surprised they don't have a "pay for your score early" option. I bet tons of people would shell out $50 to get their scores 2 weeks after the test.
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:laugh: Although that would probably make them more money than provoking rewrite signups, I don't think they would be allowed to do that.


2 weeks down, 3 to go.
 
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Hey guys i took the Sept 11 exam. OMG i flipping hate myself.:mad:
Honestly, i can tell you that this test was really easy but for some reason it was really hard.
I never get nervous when i am taking an exam but that day i was soooo nervous that when i started the exam i could barely think omg.
The PS section i had the potential to do very well except i felt the question didn't ask me any questions from my studies except maybe a few. The 1st passage was completely passage based or idk what based bc i certainly could not use my own information.
The PS seemed to me like it was ridiculing me seriously. It dindt ask any hard questions but the wording was sooo weird. I made so many mistakes some were even easy questions.
The Verb was really easy also and i actually got a 4 in on of my aamc practice exams so idk what happened that day but i think i did well in my verbal.
The BS section same thing except for one passage the questions were majorly tricky and thus i got caught up made many mistakes a dummy would make omg. I was so upset couple days after then i had to start looking for jobs so i forgot a little.

But now these few days the many SIMPLE mistakes i made are haunting. I actually dreamt last night that for some reason AAMC sent everyone the average scores for each section only. And when i so the average of the PS section it was a 14 lol Seriously that PS was so easy but really tricky and i made so many mistakes i am sure the curve or what ever is going to f me hard. flipppp!!!!

BTW so you guys now my level i got A's in Orgo Bio and Physics. Ii failed English though lol. But i never got above 31 in the Aamc practice exams always making dumb mistakes.

One last the bio section f the genetics passage f it really hard i had to guess on that passage like what the flip it was so long and so complicated i was getting so nervous i skipped it and came back. I still remember most of the questions and they haunt me everyday!!!!


I am so nervous about this exam its my first time and i felt that studying was basically a waste of time. But doing practice exams specially hards ones like the Berkeley review are really good.

text 914-846-8938
 
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slickwillbo said:
You know, since AAMC already has our scores, I'm surprised they don't have a "pay for your score early" option. I bet tons of people would shell out $50 to get their scores 2 weeks after the test.
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This would actually come in very useful! I took the Aug 2nd exam and immediately signed up after for Sept 11 anticipating a retake. My Aug 2 scores came in a week before the Sept 11 exam after the cancel refund deadline so in the case of not needing a retake, paying 50 bucks to get my score in early could have saved me a good bit of money by letting me cancel early. Unfortunately, I needed the retake haha but that option would have been great under different circumstances. AAMC knows how to bring in the bucks.
 
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Im jealous that you guys have MCAT score dreams. I want one haha I feel like that will prepare me better for looking at my score when it actually comes out haha.
 
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lol i finally got a job. So i think once i start working time will fly!!!!!! especially since i start work at 5am. GOSh i really really really really rallly rallly reall yrealyrealrayleyarlar layrlay lryalryal hope i did well in that exam. I don't want to waste more time studying for it. Specially since i am applying next summer and those esssay are a "bone crusher!!" (The Hobbit, 2013).
 
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Hope everyone does well on the exam. My AAMC average was around 37.55... just want anything over 34.
 
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