Worst MCAT story

[SarahL]

I just got done reading the "How much do you have to fill in the bubbles" thread -- funniest thing I've seen on SDN. (Souljah gets my vote for funniest post.) Now I'm wondering what everyone's experiences with the MCAT have been.

I had a broken chair the day I took mine. It was on a lever that swing back and forth, so that one chair was "in" when the other was "out." Only because mine was broken my chair was always "out." They wouldn't let me switch seats because then I would have been sitting right next to someone and we were supposed to be in a staggered arrangement. So I spent the whole day with my arm stretched across the table holding onto the other side to keep myself close enough to fill in those stupid bubbles.

To top it off it was freezing cold, but they weren't allowed to turn on the heat because it was a Saturday, so we all took it in our winter coats.

I'm sure others have better stories than this....Care to share them?

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[kylie]

I had a horrible inner ear infection in AUGUST! It was awful. The pain...the medicine I could not take because it made me drowsy...the cold air conditioning blowing on/in my ear. SO I understand about being uncomfortable during the exam.

 

[otter]

Okay, nobody will top this (I hope). This is not my personal experience, by the way, but it's what I heard from my TA's friend.

He said that there was this girl who was really sick (maybe nervous?) during the MCAT and she threw up all over her test. The worst part was that the proctors wouldn't pause or delay the testing. So everybody, including the poor girl and those sitting right near her, had to just keep working. Can you imagine having to fill in the puke-covered Scan-trons? I am sorry if I'm grossing you out but this is the story I heard.

 

[oldman]

man, that would suck so much to have someone puke all over...i can imagine the smell.

 

[Dr. L]

I think I would definitely petition AAMC that the test was given under inappropriate conditions if that happened. Thats so gross to have to sit there, what a distraction!

 

[johnM]

if that's not an inappropriate condition, then i don't know what is!

 

[Raminder26]

Oh yeah, wanna hear mine, check this out... The night before my MCAT I put all my IDs in my car in the driveway so I would not forget. In the morning I was so stressed that I forgot this, and took my fathers vehicle instead and was stuck at the MCAT exam with no ID, they allowed me to start the exam, as long as someone was bringing my ID. Man that was embarassing.

 

[Cambrian]

I had a bladder problem during my April 2001 exam. I have always done well on tests with lots of caffeine. So 30 minutes before arriving at the test site, I had gulped down 2 cans of Red Bulls, 2 cups of coffee, and 1 pill of vivarin. 3/4 of the way through the verbal section, I had the urge to go pee really badly. I was moving and around in my chair like crazy. But I held it. Toward the last two passages, I couldn't concentrate very well. But it did keep me awake and kept me reading really fast. I finished the test in time and the score turned out to be pretty good. But I think that I would have gotten a point higher if my bladder wasn't so full

 

[KDMD]

Although this story cannot compare to many that came before it, I figured I would share anyway...Instead of giving us the full 1 hour time period for lunch, our proctor insisted that we only get 1/2 hour break for our lunch time. To make matters worse, it was the first day of orientation for freshmen on campus (I took the August exam). Coincidentally, the President's convocation let out at the precise time we were free to go to lunch. All of the dining halls were filled with parents, siblings, etc. I had to run to the campus bookstore, grab a bagel in the little deli, and stuff it down my throat as I ran back to the testing room just as the door was closing for the writing section to begin. Our proctor actually said, "You might hate me for it now, but you'll be the first ones in the bar tonight"...I think you guys will agree that I was more concerned during the exam about completely filling in my bubbles than my celebration plans for the evening

I did write to the AAMC explaining my concerns...they wrote back acknowledging my concerns, and noted that if need be, I could include the letter along with my applications to medical school. Luckily, it was not necessary for me to do so. Nevertheless, I was still annoyed by the situation.

 

[Nogpa]

I had mono. I was sick two weeks before and ended up in the ER the day after because my throat was so swollen I couldn't swallow. I was just starting to feel normal when the scores came back. Stupid MCAT.

 

[kd]

Mine was on the first day of August orientation as well. For at least 10 minutes during the verbal section, the university marching band marched straight past our window blaring "Rocky Top" at full volume. I wrote a letter of complaint to AAMC, but just got the same form response "We understand that this posed a distraction...but do feel free to send this letter to med schools if you feel it will explain your scores" blah blah BS. In other words "We aren't going to do a darn thing about it because we are the big bad AAMC and can screw you any way we like." It turned out ok- I still ended up with a 10 on Verbal, but was nonetheless peeved because I know I could have done better.

 

[kutastha]

The needle on my insulin pump came out on the way to the exam, so I had to take the entire test holding in the needle with my left hand while taking the test with my right. Very very distracting.

 

[Procrastinator]

My testing center was near a busy train track, and about 12 or so extremely loud trains went by during the test.

Also, I got a defective booklet for the writing sample. I didnt notice it until about 5 minutes in, and had to get a new one. The worst part is that I think the MCAT graders received only my original answer booklet because I ended up with an "L" (5-8%) on the writing sample.

 

[lamyers1]

kutastha that's pretty good, but hands down, me and Cobragirl win!!!

 

[oldman]

if you see the movie, "getting in" you'll see an example of a horrible MCAT testing experience.

 

[tazman]

Since I didn't live near the test sight, I decided to stay in a hotel the night before the exam. After getting stuck in traffic forever and getting a little lost, I finally found a hotel at around 10 at night. After settling into my room, I quickly found out that the entire hotel was packed with what I assumed was roudy spring breakers. Throughout the entire night, I heard people yelling, glass breaking, and people fighting right outside my door! I was about to get up and say something when I heard someone shouting about going to get their gun because someone stole their weed. I decided to stay put. I eventually got about 1 1/2 hours sleep. Needless to say, I was irritated and exhausted throughout the exam the next day. I dozed off twice during the verbal section! I am positive that my score took a hit because of my drowsiness. I just got accepted anyway, so I can look back and smile about it now.

 

[oldman]

terrible!

•••quote:•••Originally posted by tazman:
•Since I didn't live near the test sight, I decided to stay in a hotel the night before the exam. After getting stuck in traffic forever and getting a little lost, I finally found a hotel at around 10 at night. After settling into my room, I quickly found out that the entire hotel was packed with what I assumed was roudy spring breakers. Throughout the entire entire night, I heard people yelling, glass breaking, and people fighting right outside my door! I was about to get up and say something when I heard someone shouting about going to get their gun because someone stole their weed. I decided to stay put. I eventually got about 1 1/2 hours sleep. Needless to say, I was irritated and exhausted throughout the exam the next day. I dozed off twice during the verbal section! I am positive that my score took a hit because of my drowsiness. I just got accepted anyway, so I can look back and smile about it now.•••••

 

[spacecadet]

I had terrible proctors at my MCAT last spring. First of all, they let people come in late. One guy walked in while they were handing out the VR booklets, and they let him take the test (this was after 9am!). We all got to wait while they checked him in.

They sat me right by the door, and they did not lock the door or put a sign on it. People (late people, other proctors, lost people) kept opening the door and looking/coming in. It was extremely distracting and I was really ticked.

After the VR, I told them they either needed to lock the d@mn door or move me. They finally locked it, but they left the other door open and I'm sure the guy on the other side had this problem throughout the entire test. Grrr.

 

[Herr Doktor]

Yikes, I did not know that so many people suffer throughout the test. To this day I am convinced that the MCAT is the worst experience in life. But then, I am just starting to apply...

I was so nervous that my immune system gave out the day before the test. I got a really bad testicle infection which left my testicle painful to the touch. I ended up in this tiny lecture hall seat that did not allow me to stretch out my legs. Needless to say, my mind was between my legs for the time of the test and every little shifting of wait caused me to scream inside. How I hated that day. IT must have helped me stay awake though, because my scores turned out all right...

 

[mpp]

I took the Optometry Admissions Test (OAT) a few years ago. A couple of strange things about it. First, I was kind of mad because they assigned me to a test center more than 6 hours away from my home. Then when I arrive, the only other test-taker that day is also from my home town. The proctor could not understand her instructions. She would read sections aloud that were obviously meant for her to read to herself and then not read the sections that were mean to be read aloud. Then she was confused about when you were allowed to leave the testing room. She would not allow us to leave during the breaks. We could only leave the room while the test clock was going. I remember having to pee throughout the break but having to hold it until we started the section, then she let me get up and go to the bathroom. Very odd...

 

[slim_shanie]

I can't compare to any of your stories but I couldn't help myself and had to share my psyched-out experience at the MCAT...

Donning jeans and a heavy coat in April, I went to breakfast at our school's dining hall; it was drizzling outside but it was nothing too bad. But, by the time I had to leave for the testing center, a monsoon of sorts whipped up (in south bend indiana no less). So, even with an umbrella I was soaked at the exam and with no change of clothes. We didn't actually start the exam until 10am... very disorganized. And, needless to say, I was shivering like all hell in a 64 degree room (wouldn't turn the heat on) trying to fill in bubbles the proper way (bubbles, not X's). We also didn't get out of the exam until 6:30pm, more than an hour after the other testing groups had finished. Our proctor was very 'thorough.'

But I took it again and bumped myself up 6 points so I'm a happy Shaner

 

[sorrento]

No major disasters ... but ...

First of all, it was my birthday. That was fun! Then the ID-checkers didn't like the fact that my signature on my driver's license was very different from my present one. (they finally relented when they realized that signature was 10 years old). Then there were no left-handed desks, even though the MCAT registration specifically asks you if you're a leftie.

The kicker was the first break. That day there was also some teaching exam at the same site, so at the break I headed to the bathroom only to find about 30 people in line for 2 stalls. I stood there stupidly hoping the line would somehow miraculously disappear until there were about two minutes left, and then I was like, "I'm really sorry, but can I cut?!" I felt like a major MCAT brat. Fortunately the teachers had a longer break so they didn't care.

 

[buglady]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by sorrento:
•No major disasters ... but ...

First of all, it was my birthday. That was fun! Then the ID-checkers didn't like the fact that my signature on my driver's license was very different from my present one. (they finally relented when they realized that signature was 10 years old). Then there were no left-handed desks, even though the MCAT registration specifically asks you if you're a leftie.

The kicker was the first break. That day there was also some teaching exam at the same site, so at the break I headed to the bathroom only to find about 30 people in line for 2 stalls. I stood there stupidly hoping the line would somehow miraculously disappear until there were about two minutes left, and then I was like, "I'm really sorry, but can I cut?!" I felt like a major MCAT brat. Fortunately the teachers had a longer break so they didn't care.•••••Dude, did you take it at American River COllege? They didn't have enough left handed desks in our room either....

Among other things that went wrong:
--work release kids making noises outside, while picking up their trash
--noisy classroom next door (and I was sitting in the back of the room, where I heard everything), where, apparently, the teacher was a COMEDIAN, because the people wouldn't stop their obnoxious laughing.
--cell phone ringing during the bio section
--people having random stuff they weren't supossed to have like: noisy timers, white out (why would you need white out, anyway??), etc.

I complained, also, about it being inappropiate testing conditions, but they gave me the same form letter of, "we verified these conditions with your proctor, blah blah...etc....you can use this letter at your interviews to explain any score discrepancies.."

Whatever. I'm hoping this time I take it, things won't bother me as much and it's bad weather so there aren't so many people outside being annoying...

 

[Mimicat]

Okay, okay - no major disasters, but I was 37.5 weeks pregnant when I wrote the MCAT (and I had given birth to my other two children and 38 weeks and 39 weeks). Luckily, I made it through the very long day (difficult to sit for that long when you are that pregnant <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" /> ) without going into labour, but had to pee alot :wink: :wink: :wink: . Luckily, the proctor took pity on me and sat me right next to the door which was near the bathroom, so I was the first one out each time we got a break.

 

[commymommy]

Msax35

hehehe..I can sooo relate. I sat the GRE Bio at about the same time in my pregnancy.....it's definately an interesting experience!

Good Luck!!!!

Kris

 

[sternrower]

So I go to the test center in the morning, following the directions that the AAMC sent me. I get to the building and there are about 15 other kids waiting to take the test, so I know I'm in the right place.

8 comes and goes, no proctor.
8:15, "They probably just tell us to come early, it probably starts at 8:30"
8:30, still no one.
Finally around 8:45 we call the test center and find out that they sent out the WRONG directions. We got directions to the REAL test center where the test had already started. Luckily, the 50 or so other kids were still in the middle of VR so we could start in a different room. Everyone was freakin out.
Later that night, my dad calls me and says that I recieved a notice in the mail THAT DAY (delievered around the time I was taking the writing sample) that I was sent the wrong directions. Good try AAMC. It didn't make my day any easier.

 

[Handy388]

dumped 3 days before MCAT because she wants to extend her horizon by trying out one night stands, no kidding.

 

[deuce924]

Did you seriously just resurrect a 6 year old thread?

Anyway I think anyone who took the January 2007 CBT MCAT had a pretty bad experience. I would flip if the questions didn't match the passage. I would contribute the problem to stress and think i wasn't reading something right rather than think it was an actual MCAT problem. Lucky I waited until April.

 

[Jolie South]

I had both of my pencils break at the beginning of the VR section. Seriously, it was horrible. I was using the Kaplan "passage map" method, so the pencils were necessary to creating the passage map.

I tried to raise my hand, so that they would bring me more pencils, but no one ever saw me. I had to make due with the broken ones. I shoved the lead back in and held it together while I wrote. It might well be the reason I got a 9 on VR.

 

[Maxprime]

My MCAT was decent (for the new system) - some girl lost her exam and was freaking out hardcore. But I did my best to pretend like that could never happen to me. Their 30 year old CRT's had about a 40Hz refresh rate, so EVERYONE had migraines by the end of the exam.

One of the worst I've ever had was an actuarial exam. Our room reservation got screwed up so they put us in a banquet hall in a hotel - but they only booked 1/2 of the hall. We were divided by one of those fake walls - on the other side was a women's leadership conference. I say women's leadership b/c we heard every word that every speaker said, pausing every 10 seconds for applause (it was like the freaking state of the union). It was 6 hours of constant distraction on a math exam - drove us all nuts.

 

[cpa2md]

Three days before the MCAT, I developed a pesky little cough that got steadily worse. The day before, I decided it was time for antibiotics, but it was too late. That night I spiked a temp, and by the day of the MCAT, I had full-blown severe bronchitis. The proctors were nice enough to let me keep a pile of LifeSavers (unwrapped) on my desk, and I sucked those down during the test to keep me from coughing my head off. Midway through the writing section I finally admitted to myself that I was sick as a dog, and did better after that, but not great. Nothing like trying to take the most important test of your life with a temp of 103.

I was sick for 3 1/2 weeks (the doctor was going to put me in the hospital, but I had finals), and had the cough for 5 1/2 months. It's been almost 2 years, and I still have lingering effects (including not getting into med school last year!), but have been accepted for this year!

 

[Monarch Kong]

Pfft. That's nothing.

Once, I took the real MCAT test three times.

 

[seraph524]

My MCAT exam blew up while I was taking it.

 

[PanicAttack]

I woke up at 7:45 (luckily I lived about a mile away from the test site) and had to be there at 8:00.

I took the "old MCAT" so we had an hour lunch break:
During the lunch break I went to Wendy's and sat outside of the student union. My school had these notorious squirrels that wouldn't leave you alone. They weren't afraid of anybody because people always gave them food.

Anyway...
3 squirrels cornered me while I was eating. One jumped on my leg underneath the table while another one jumped on the table and went for the food. I had a minor freakout but had to laugh about it.

 

[Aidan]

My MCAT exam blew up while I was taking it.

What a horrible ordeal. We are all very moved by your triumph to carry on.

 

[mmcnam]

test center's AC was down and the room was over 100 degrees. i asked the testing people to do something about it and they didn't seem interested. i passed out during verbal and no one noticed. i woke up half way through the section and left the exam in tears without completing it. i took it again two weeks later, but the aamc only agreed to refund half of my money.

 

[Pantelich]

I must extend to you my lulz on your first sentence.

Did you seriously just resurrect a 6 year old thread?

Anyway I think anyone who took the January 2007 CBT MCAT had a pretty bad experience. I would flip if the questions didn't match the passage. I would contribute the problem to stress and think i wasn't reading something right rather than think it was an actual MCAT problem. Lucky I waited until April.

 

[theWestVillage]

hm on the day of our exam the test center's computers crashed so we couldn't check in...for 6 hours they made us wait while we were all stressing and staring at each other. They wouldn't even let us review during that time

 

[Jolie South]

Three days before the MCAT, I developed a pesky little cough that got steadily worse. The day before, I decided it was time for antibiotics, but it was too late. That night I spiked a temp, and by the day of the MCAT, I had full-blown severe bronchitis. The proctors were nice enough to let me keep a pile of LifeSavers (unwrapped) on my desk, and I sucked those down during the test to keep me from coughing my head off. Midway through the writing section I finally admitted to myself that I was sick as a dog, and did better after that, but not great. Nothing like trying to take the most important test of your life with a temp of 103.

I was sick for 3 1/2 weeks (the doctor was going to put me in the hospital, but I had finals), and had the cough for 5 1/2 months. It's been almost 2 years, and I still have lingering effects (including not getting into med school last year!), but have been accepted for this year!

that's rough, dude.

i got some viral thing one summer and seriously couldn't sleep for weeks. i had night sweats and i would wake up coughing so hard that i couldn't breathe. the cough lasted for like 2-3 months. it was a serious PITA. just breathing would make my throat itch enough to cough.

i can't imagine 5+ months.

 

[monkeyman12]

i took the mcat with a herniated disc in my back, and no pain meds.

 

[Kingfish]

I took the old paper test. The thing is already 8 hours long. Well, some dingus comes in without an id, without anything saying he has registered, but says he was told he could come that day and take the MCAT. He delayed EVERYONE by an hour. To top it off, our proctor was 105 years old, so when he went to read through the tests (they are required to flip through the pages to make sure no one has notes in their exam booklets) it took 30 minutes in between sections. I was in the room at 8am and didn't get out until 7:30 that night.

 

[moe_4eva]

I've got two stories, actually.

My first MCAT was the paper-based version. I'd been scoring decently on all of my practice MCATs, with my highest scores being in biology and PS. Well, I get in there, start going through the test, and with 3 minutes left get to the end where I have one more space to bubble in a question, but no more questions...damn. I mis-bubbled somewhere along the way and scored a 7 on my PS (11's in the other two).

Fast forward a year. I studied my ass off to retake the test. It was the first year of the computer based version, and everywhere in the state was full for the test dates I wanted, so I drove 7 hours to take the test with my girlfriend. That night, she gets sicker than I have ever seen her in my life (and we've been together 6 years). She spends the entire night in the bathroom of our hotel, and leaves me running around getting her medicine, drinks, holding her hair, etc. up until 3-4 am. I got two hours of sleep before I had to go take the test. I really didn't do that great on that MCAT either, as you can imagine, although I did better on my PS, so I guess that's what's important.

I really didn't expect to get in after all that...but it worked out for the better.

 

[hollaATCHAdoc]

Two nights before my exam I was sick and only got two hours of sleep. The night of my exam I took an ambien at 10pm, but could not fall asleep. I started to wig out when I looked at the clock and it said 4:00am. I took a full Unisom at that point.... I woke up at 6:30am, hung over from two very strong sleeping pills and only 2 hrs of sleep from the night before. I took the morning test too.... I was half asleep.

 

[XerxesOfPersia]

I took the CBT back in June '07 and the power went out in the whole testing center in the middle of my writing section and whatever section others happened to be on. I think it was because the A/C was blasting and the fuse just overloaded. Luckily everything was saved somehow and we got to continue once everything re-booted after about 10 minutes.

The extra break was nice, but I was going to throw the computer out the window if we were forced to take the stupid test again.

 

[paradocs we are]

I took the last paper test (Aug 2005!). Now you must know that I don't typically wear a watch. I haven't worn one in 5 years but the night before the MCAT I bought a cheap 10dollar analog watch. It didn't fit my wrist but it did its job: it told time.

And the story: after our proctor is done reading all the instructions, he looks around and says, "okay..no watches are allowed." Write a test that is highly dependent on timing yourself without timing yourself?? And even worse: the room was silent and no one was willing to speak up. Are people serious?? Am I really the only brave one in this room or am I really the only one who finds this ridiculous? Okay here goes nothing. I raise up my hand and begin to argue with the proctor.

Me: Why are we not allowed to have a watch?
Proctor: It clearly says they are not allowed in the instructions.
Me: Can you please read that part of the instructions out loud again?
Proctor: ......no digital watches.....
Me: Yes, we are aware that digital watches or anything that beeps are not allowed.
Proctor: Hence, no watches.
Me: *I was going to scream at this point* No, we are allowed ANALOG watches.
Proctor: Oh right. It says analog wristwatches are allowed.
Me: *breathes sigh of relief*

I place my analog watch on my desk and all the reassurance of the world landed upon me then. Until...

Proctor: Wristwatches! You must wear your watch on your wrist. Not allowed to rest your watches on the table.

I gave up. I wrote the entire darn test with my left hand up in the air with a dangling watch.

 

[beachblonde]

At the last paper/pencil test, a friend of mine took it in manhattan. That was when they used to rent out hotel ballrooms and fill them with kids taking the test. Well, there were 400 people in this ballroom, and of course the proctors had to go through each booklet individually (to make sure nobody had torn out any pages) before passing out the new ones. From start to finish, the exam took 13 hours. 13!!!! It took us 9 and I kind of wanted to die. I'm lucky that I don't have any personal horror stories, though.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I took the old paper test.

Neither of them are very bad in that they affected my performance, but they're memorable.

First was during the first section. I got through my initial pass through and was going back through for hard questions, rechecking, etc. As I'm doing this, I'm very aware that the guy behind me is not behaving normally. I really couldn't look around or look behind without being suspicious but I hear a lot of noise, him scuffing his feet around on the ground, a LOT of moving his papers, desk creeking. I wonder what the deal is, but continue on. The thing is, the guy just keeps making noise, starts sighing and coughing abruptly, very odd.

So at this point I'm sure others are noticing, and sure enough one of the proctors come up to the guy and has a word with him. At first I think it's going to be a "please keep it down" quick talk, but the proctor is having a conversation with the guy in a low voice. TI can't hear a word they're saying (and I'm focusing on my test) but they're having a conversation for a while and I start wondering what the deal is. Finally, the noisy guy behind me hands over his papers to the proctor. When the session is finished, he gets up heads out the door, never comes back.

Apparently he voided his test, but to this day I have no idea why. I dunno if he had a panic attack or they asked him to leave becasue of his erratic behavior. Very odd.

The second is more mundane. I'd done the whole routine of practicing taking the test prior to the MCAT to build up endurance and stamina, but I didn't anticipate how painful the chairs they gave us at our testing center were. I got such an awful back cramp I had to go lay on the floor to relax my back out. It was so bad that I came home and immediately got in the tub. I was seriously considering skipping the after test celebrations at one point it was so bad. And this is coming from someone who three later took Step 1 without a hitch.

 

[beachblonde]

The second is more mundane. I'd done the whole routine of practicing taking the test prior to the MCAT to build up endurance and stamina, but I didn't anticipate how painful the chairs they gave us at our testing center were. I got such an awful back cramp I had to go lay on the floor to relax my back out. It was so bad that I came home and immediately got in the tub. I was seriously considering skipping the after test celebrations at one point it was so bad. And this is coming from someone who three later took Step 1 without a hitch.

I had the same issue when I took the MCAT. The chairs they had us in were these horrible old things that were essentially two planks of wood strapped together. My back hurt for days afterwards. Miserable.

 

[bioteach]

The second is more mundane. I'd done the whole routine of practicing taking the test prior to the MCAT to build up endurance and stamina, but I didn't anticipate how painful the chairs they gave us at our testing center were. I got such an awful back cramp I had to go lay on the floor to relax my back out. It was so bad that I came home and immediately got in the tub. I was seriously considering skipping the after test celebrations at one point it was so bad. And this is coming from someone who three later took Step 1 without a hitch.

I took the CBT MCAT and about halfway through my back hurt so bad I couldn't sit straight in my chair. My lower back completely locked up, I guess. I couldn't even think straight during the last section I just wanted to be done and out of there and in a hot bath. I wiggled around trying to get comfortable so long that everyone in the room probably thought I was having a panic attack like the guy mentioned above. I had to go home and lay in bed the rest of the day and I was sore for almost a week after. Really strange, it had to have been a combination of bad chair and extreme stress because I'm usually quite good at sitting down.

 

[j12]

I just got done reading the "How much do you have to fill in the bubbles" thread -- funniest thing I've seen on SDN. (Souljah gets my vote for funniest post.) Now I'm wondering what everyone's experiences with the MCAT have been.

Can you give us a link to that thread?