The Official September 18, 2014 MCAT Thread

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orangetea said:
Today:

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This had me dying lol.
 
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All the best tomorrow guys. Relax today and make sure you get a good night's sleep and a good meal before ur test!
 
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CharuMD said:
I need motivation from you guys. I totally freaked out last time...(JULY 24th) 🙁 can't focus while working on verbal :uhno:
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to be honest that's my fear too. I did some verbal last night and was so tired of it. Did poorly on a few passages and just decided not to touch it today. Finishing up some review atm and just looking over equations. I would say take a deep breath before each passage.
 
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CharuMD said:
I need motivation from you guys. I totally freaked out last time...(JULY 24th) 🙁 can't focus while working on verbal :uhno:
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Nothing more you can really improve on in less than 24 hours man. Just make sure you keep your head clear. Treat yourself. Go buy something you've always wanted. That should take your mind off the exam.


This will officially be my last post on SDN until it's all over. Good luck everyone!
 
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Any of you guys voiding this exam? I'm not necessarily ready and am almost 100% voiding this unless I feel great as I take it. Not sure when to register for the next one
 
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CharuMD said:
I need motivation from you guys. I totally freaked out last time...(JULY 24th) 🙁 can't focus while working on verbal :uhno:
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Yeah, all i want out of this test is a good verbal score honestly, totally bombed verbal on the july 24th tes

tcon91 said:
Nothing more you can really improve on in less than 24 hours man. Just make sure you keep your head clear. Treat yourself. Go buy something you've always wanted. That should take your mind off the exam.


This will officially be my last post on SDN until it's all over. Good luck everyone!
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I did exactly that but it only comes in on Friday (iphone 6)!!!! ARGHHHHH
 
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If you can accomplish 1 goal, your score will probably improve (or at least not drop much below) from your AAMC average.

That is: Don't panic.

Of course, thinking about not panicking only makes me panic more (esp on Verbal) lol.
 
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The verbal section of the exam has me worked up for the exam tomorrow, especially after bombing verbal on 7/24.

Hopefully the 35 I got from my GS-10 practice exam today will translate to a good score tomorrow...
 
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PsychoPass987 said:
The verbal section of the exam has me worked up for the exam tomorrow, especially after bombing verbal on 7/24.

Hopefully the 35 I got from my GS-10 practice exam today will translate to a good score tomorrow...
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It seemed i was between 2 so much on that test....guess i chose the wrong one a lot to pull my 6. Curve must have hurt us a lot also
 
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vik66 said:
It seemed i was between 2 so much on that test....guess i chose the wrong one a lot to pull my 6. Curve must have hurt us a lot also
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I concur. I was also eliminating a lot of the answers down to 2 for just about every question.

I wonder how many questions in verbal were considered experimental. The number of experimentals and the relative easiness of the section may have contributed to that harsh curve.
 
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PsychoPass987 said:
I concur. I was also eliminating a lot of the answers down to 2 for just about every question.

I wonder how many questions in verbal were considered experimental. The number of experimentals and the relative easiness of the section may have contributed to that harsh curve.
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Have you been hitting verbal hard since you found out your score? Ive tried to do a full length verbal from the EK 101 book everyday
 
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vik66 said:
Have you been hitting verbal hard since you found out your score? Ive tried to do a full length verbal from the EK 101 book everyday
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Yes. I've done a few of the long verbal sections of the AAMC R exams as well as TPRH hyperverbal exams. Also, I've been doing constant full length exams of GS exams including the revised verbal exam. Despite what SDNers say about GS verbal, I actually didn't think it was bad practice material. I think the scaled score may be inflated by 1-2 points at most, but that's it. I've been hitting 9-12 on the GS verbal and 9-10s on AAMC and TPRH.

How have your verbal scores from EK ranged?
 
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PsychoPass987 said:
Yes. I've done a few of the long verbal sections of the AAMC R exams as well as TPRH hyperverbal exams. Also, I've been doing constant full length exams of GS exams including the revised verbal exam. Despite what SDNers say about GS verbal, I actually didn't think it was bad practice material. I think the scaled score may be inflated by 1-2 points at most, but that's it. I've been hitting 9-12 on the GS verbal and 9-10s on AAMC and TPRH.

How have your verbal scores from EK ranged?
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Hmm, honestly had to look up GS bc ive never heard of it haha. Ive been averaging 10 questions wrong per EK verbal section (i think that is like 9/10)...I couldnt really sway from that number as hard as I tried to pick apart the questions which scares me. I hope the sheer amount of passages ive done will help me. I definitely have learned to understand the passages, and what the authors message is though
 
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vik66 said:
Hmm, honestly had to look up GS bc ive never heard of it haha. Ive been averaging 10 questions wrong per EK verbal section (i think that is like 9/10)...I couldnt really sway from that number as hard as I tried to pick apart the questions which scares me. I hope the sheer amount of passages ive done will help me. I definitely have learned to understand the passages, and what the authors message is though
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I think that's the most important thing. Understanding the main idea of the passage helps with answering many of the questions. I find that if I can't even get a strong sense of the main idea, no matter how much I try, I won't even be able to answer half of the passage questions correctly.

I've done EK verbal prior to the 7/24 exam, and I liked their methodologically of approaching the passages and questions. I found the first 5-6 verbal exams to be good, but they started to steer away from AAMC style towards the later exams.
 
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Yes, and there is a lack of humanities passages. Most of the passages were easy to follow and had a somewhat interesting theme.

Im tempted to do one more EK verbal section tonight...
 
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I wish there was some NFL going on....may dive into a documentary, any suggestions? I have HBO and Netflix
 
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Getting ready for bed. Hopefully I can sleep well tonight. Good night and good luck everyone!!


Sent from The World Tree using SDN Mobile
 
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Got a great night of sleep. Around 10 hours (woke up around 8 but decided to sleep till 10). I didn't feel ready for the exam yesterday and was sure I am going to void. Instead, I'm going to try to go with the mentality of not voiding. Maybe if I feel comfortable enough to not void but the odd thing with the AAMC practice tests, when I think I did bad, I do better than usual and when I think I did good, I tend to do worse. Decisions, decisions. If I do retake it, I'm retaking it sometime in January (there are about 5 good locations which I hope are still there by 9/20 if I do resign up). Very likely I will void for the experience since this term is very light academically for me.

Good luck to all of you, I will likely post how my experience was later tonight.
 
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Dreamstoo said:
Got a great night of sleep. Around 10 hours (woke up around 8 but decided to sleep till 10). I didn't feel ready for the exam yesterday and was sure I am going to void. Instead, I'm going to try to go with the mentality of not voiding. Maybe if I feel comfortable enough to not void but the odd thing with the AAMC practice tests, when I think I did bad, I do better than usual and when I think I did good, I tend to do worse. Decisions, decisions. If I do retake it, I'm retaking it sometime in January (there are about 5 good locations which I hope are still there by 9/20 if I do resign up). Very likely I will void for the experience since this term is very light academically for me.

Good luck to all of you, I will likely post how my experience was later tonight.
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Considering that the real MCAT is almost assuredly harder than the AAMC FLs, you probably will feel inclined to void. However, I guess you have to take into account that the real MCAT is probably curved slightly better for the sciences at least.
 
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justadream said:
Considering that the real MCAT is almost assuredly harder than the AAMC FLs, you probably will feel inclined to void. However, I guess you have to take into account that the real MCAT is probably curved slightly better for the sciences at least.
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For voiding, I'm kind of freaking out. Do I just press I would like to void option and press next? And if I do the trial section option shouldn't appear right?
 
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Dreamstoo said:
For voiding, I'm kind of freaking out. Do I just press I would like to void option and press next? And if I do the trial section option shouldn't appear right?
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Right - it's just like in AAMC FLs.

You can go practice on AAMC 3 if you want lol.
 
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Good luck guys!!! Remember that you know MORE than you think you know! Stay positive and confident!

Now go forth and rock this bit€h!!:shy:
 
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Hey guys, good luck today. We got this!

Yesterday I went for a long bike ride and stopped at a park at the halfway point. I was sitting on a bench when a homeless man sat on the bench adjacent to me and started eating out of a to-go box he had found in the trash can. I thought to myself, "Wow, here I am stressing about a test when there are people stressing about trying to find food for their next meal." Idk, it helped put things in perspective for me. Most of us have it really good, relatively speaking.

Also, this test is not a metric of our self-worth or value as human beings, nor should we see it as a number to tie to "how smart" we are. It is a test we're taking to gain admission to medical school and become physicians. That's it.

See you guys on the other side!
 
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Only wrote VR and trial section.

Interestingly, I overheard people talking and it is clear that the VR section is not identical even at the same testing centre on the same day and time. At least one of the passages is different, maybe even two. Five were definitely the same.

Average AAMC: 11
Expected: 7-12 (It felt "easier" than AAMC 11, which probably means a harsher curve... 34 or 35/40 will probably be 11). No idea.

Had psychology trial and thought it was quite easy and elementary. The trial sections are different as well...
 
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MCATcanada2014 said:
Only wrote VR and trial section.

Interestingly, I overheard people talking and it is clear that the VR section is not identical even at the same testing centre on the same day and time. At least one of the passages is different, maybe even two. Five were definitely the same.

Average AAMC: 11
Expected: 7-12 (It felt "easier" than AAMC 11, which probably means a harsher curve... 34 or 35/40 will probably be 11). No idea.

Had psychology trial and thought it was quite easy and elementary. The trial sections are different as well...
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uhhh....what??
 
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MCATcanada2014 said:
Only wrote VR and trial section.

Interestingly, I overheard people talking and it is clear that the VR section is not identical even at the same testing centre on the same day and time. At least one of the passages is different, maybe even two. Five were definitely the same.

Average AAMC: 11
Expected: 7-12 (It felt "easier" than AAMC 11, which probably means a harsher curve... 34 or 35/40 will probably be 11). No idea.

Had psychology trial and thought it was quite easy and elementary. The trial sections are different as well...
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Second texan2414
 
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I will edit or delete my post if it's giving too much away, but it was very clear that the VR passages were not identical at the same testing facility (on the same date and time).

Either the person was describing a passage in a very oblique way or they were different. 5 were for sure the same, 1 was likely different... 1 could not be recalled. I don't know if this person had any intention to mislead, but they seemed sincere.

Obviously I did not talk (or participate) in disclosing any type of detail about the test, but that is what I gathered from the conversation. I will not post the list of VR topics, but I think (as a group) we would come up with more than 7.
 
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MCATcanada2014 said:
I will edit or delete my post if it's giving too much away, but it was very clear that the VR passages were not identical at the same testing facility (on the same date and time).

Either the person was describing a passage in a very oblique way or they were different. 5 were for sure the same, 1 was likely different... 1 could not be recalled. I don't know if this person had any intention to mislead, but they seemed sincere.

Obviously I did not talk (or participate) in disclosing any type of detail about the test, but that is what I gathered from the conversation. I will not post the list of VR topics, but I think (as a group) we would come up with more than 7.
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So, what were your thoughts on your verbal section?
 
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I
MCATcanada2014 said:
I will edit or delete my post if it's giving too much away, but it was very clear that the VR passages were not identical at the same testing facility (on the same date and time).

Either the person was describing a passage in a very oblique way or they were different. 5 were for sure the same, 1 was likely different... 1 could not be recalled. I don't know if this person had any intention to mislead, but they seemed sincere.

Obviously I did not talk (or participate) in disclosing any type of detail about the test, but that is what I gathered from the conversation. I will not post the list of VR topics, but I think (as a group) we would come up with more than 7.
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It doesn't seem that you have disclosed any info, but I think what texan2414 and I were referring to was what you meant by "only wrote VR and trial section". You only completed the VR section and submitted for scoring? Is that, well.... Acceptable?
 
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Oh, yeah, I'm a 3rd year Canadian, so I'm only applying to McMaster this year (they only look at VR). To elaborate, an 11 in VR would put me in an above-average position for McMaster. I still have to do CASPER and the MMI (if I get an interview). My background is psychology and sociology, so I will be fine if I have to rewrite the new MCAT. Sorry about the confusion -- I was under the impression that people writing at the same place and time would have the same MCAT, so I thought it was notable to prove that it is not the case.

As for VR, I found it comprehensible, which is worrying. Even the denser passages seemed on the "easy" side, so I think I will have a high raw score, but obviously that does not mean I will have an acceptable scaled one. I'll post some more thoughts once the post-test anxiety dissipates.
 
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Post-test thoughts:
PS: Definitely tested my weak areas. Estimate a score of 8-9..
VR: Pretty easy except for 1 or 2 passages. Nothing too dense which I was happy about. Estimate a score of 9.
BS: Only had 1 tricky passage or so with some tricky discretes. I kept going back and forth between 2 answers. Estimate of 10-11.
 
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That was interesting. I think it was a fair exam, much better than July 12th.

PS: Was OK, but I dunno. I don't even remember it anymore. But, I was running out of time, which is unusual for me for PS. That has me concerned.
VR: Passages were straightforward, nothing complex. However, I felt that the questions were hard, and therefore I was running out of time.
BS: All experimental/research based pretty much. Much better than last time. The last passage was a little Meh...And the last question of the 6th passage drove me crazy, I think I just made is complicated for no reason.
 
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Ugh Verbal I ran out of time! bio 1 passage was a bit tricky but I might have missed the east ones. PS was easier than the other sections!
I desperately need to get a 7 on VR OR 3rd retake in JAN 🙁 Life is not beautiful 🙁
 
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My immediate thoughts: MUCH better than July 12th.

For today, verbal sticks out as the worst for me. A lot of the passages were truly interesting and straightforward, but the questions were rough. I'm really worried about this score.

I loved all of the gen chem in PS. I thought the physics was pretty fair and much much better than July 12th. Physics is my weakest and although there were a lot of questions that I was unsure of, I thought it was fair.

BS was killing me at first. I was so lost with some of the passages and just had to move on. But I ended up having extra time, went back through the tough ones and made sense out of a few questions that I guessed on before. Still not too confident.
 
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SwedishMD2B said:
That was interesting. I think it was a fair exam, much better than July 12th.
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True that. I don't remember specifics on the July 12th, I just remember constantly thinking "what the f***". Of course I had those thoughts today too, but not nearly as often as July 12th.
 
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I voided it because my post exam predictions wasn't what I wanted and timing messed me up on verbal big time.
PS- it's mostly a blur now. there were like one or two physics passages that were getting on my nerves.
VR- first passage ate up a lot of time for me. For some reason, really got thrown off in the end on time too.
BS- surprisingly felt stronger on this than usual. One passage that threw me off a bit. Rest was reasonable. I know I made one discrete mistake and a passage mistake.
Oh well I voided it. Haven't completed the last 4 AAMCs and knew I could do a lot better in January. Verbal felt like a crap shoot and I felt it was too risky to count the MCAT if VR backfired on me.

Proctors were very nice, the testing environment was nice. can't really predict what I got if i had counted it.
 
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If your first VR passage was the same as mine, I will echo your sentiment.. In fact, I was unsure of 14 questions (average when I get 5-8 wrong), and 10 of them were from the first 20 questions. I was extremely confident of my answers from 20 - 32.

I thought the natural science passage was easier than usual. If I had to compare it to a test, I'd say it was similar to AAMC 9 (the VR). If I'm remembering correctly, I scored 35/40, which translated to the highest 11. I was relieved to not have a Darwin passage after its overrepresentation in the practice materials. One of my humanities passages gave me major deja vu of an Examcrackers passage, though.
 
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