Official 5/19/2012 MCAT thread

[hopeful22213]

I figured since it seems there is a thread for all the other recent and upcoming test dates, I'd start one for us 5/19ers.

Two weeks to go, getting close.

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[WorriedDO]

Am I the only one bouncing back and forth? One second I'll thinking I got a 5 on PS, and the next I have faith in my average 9... I feel like im going to have an anxiety attack!

+1. My avg for AAMC 9,10,11 was 8.

 

[premedlady]

I'm starting to get nervous!! Verbal scares me the most, because although it felt straightforward I can see it coming back as a 6 or something. PS I felt rocked me at that time but I don't remember anything about that section besides the first passage, so idk if thats a good thing or bad thing. BS I think was okay, we will see though. Just praying for my average +/- 1.

Ugh, you think the BS was okay?!?! That worries me; I thought the consensus here was that it was MUCH harder than the norm?!?!

 

[reece05]

drink drink drink cry drink some more.

my days until i see my score.

 

[reece05]

drink drink drink cry drink some more.

my days until i see my score.

i didn't mean for that to rhyme.

 

[jadetreeyoga]

drink drink drink cry drink some more.

my days until i see my score.

+1

Add sleeping as part of my overall strategy to avoid reality.

Oh, also, add eating everything in sight as an attempt to self soothe.

 

[ridethecliche]

Don't make me write a poem about waiting for mcat scores.


One of my MD PhD friends (a fellow at my clinic) and I are going to go get bbq and drinks in the afternoon next tues.

I'm nervous. If it sucks, I'll be super disappointed cause he's there lol.

Atleast i'll be tipsy. And full. Oh so very very full...

 

[ajs08029]

I'll be in my lab at work when I get my scores. I'm not sure how I'm going to do any work all day. I'll just be refreshing the page every 5 seconds.

 

[DoctorDude87]

5, thats right, FIVE days. I keep having nightmares, never fantasies, about my score. Why is that?

 

[Ost3oclast]

I cant even think about my score at this point. Think i did disastrous now....ugh!

 

[GorgeousBorges]

I gave the MCAT pretty much everything that I had. I'd been studying for it since early January, and although I was working full time and preparing for a conference in the weeks leading up to the exam, I was about as prepared as I think I could have been. There was only one question on the test that I can remember where knowing content better would have helped me. I didn't run out of time on any section although I finished the test still not totally understanding one of the biological sciences passages, but I'm not sure more studying would have helped that.

Given that I left nothing on the table, and also the fact that I've got a pretty meh GPA that I need to make up for, my expectations are high. If I don't get a 35 or above, I'm in for some serious soul-searching. The scary thing about going all-out is the possibility that your best won't be good enough.

 

[Ost3oclast]

The scary thing about going all-out is the possibility that your best won't be good enough.

Me too. I studied nearly everyday for about 4.5 months. Sometimes 11 hours a day. But if you didnt do as well as you wanted you can always study again. Its a scary thought but it can be done. I know thats what Im going to do if my score comes back ******

 

[PreMedOrDead]

My average P/V/B was 12.5/9/12.7 AAMC (n=6)
But I'm pretty certain BS destroyed me on this test. I would be devastated if I didn't get a 31+ ... (competitive for med as a Caucasian male) and I felt like BS was the main reason I was scoring that high. I guessed on two passages and the discreets were hellish.

I also loved the fact that one of the carbons on a structure had five bonds to it (extra hydrogen). Thanks AAMC, for successfully blowing my mind with a freshman mistake on my standardized exam...

And of course, like everyone else, I'm worried I bombed the VR.

 

[PMB5000]

+1

Add sleeping as part of my overall strategy to avoid reality.

Oh, also, add eating everything in sight as an attempt to self soothe.

Ditto. I think it's called depression.

 

[Machine33]

Ugh, you think the BS was okay?!?! That worries me; I thought the consensus here was that it was MUCH harder than the norm?!?!

I mean, don't get me wrong. It was definitely rough, but I was very calm during that section and every thing made me stop and think. I did feel like I got a good feel for what they were trying to get at. I felt similarly, after, to how I did after aamc 11 & I got an 11 on that one. who knows though... I'm just praying for the best. How everyone feels about bio is how I feel about PS :/ Keep your heads up, guys!

 

[Kmd001]

Am I the only one bouncing back and forth? One second I'll thinking I got a 5 on PS, and the next I have faith in my average 9... I feel like im going to have an anxiety attack!

I keep doing the same thing, just with the test overall.....bouncing from confident-I scored where I was hoping , to ****-I better just schedule a retake now cause I tanked......
Before the test I wasn't all that nervous but waiting for the score is driving me crazy!!!

 

[Machine33]

I keep doing the same thing, just with the test overall.....bouncing from confident-I scored where I was hoping , to ****-I better just schedule a retake now cause I tanked......
Before the test I wasn't all that nervous but waiting for the score is driving me crazy!!!

Lol, right?! Everyone I see a number I think it's some magical sign or something. I will average out my lucky numbers on my fortune and it came out to be my practice average haha I got excited. I think i'm going crazy too friend.

 

[jadetreeyoga]

Ditto. I think it's called depression.

Well, crap. Now I am depressed since I've just received a substantive diagnosis.

On the plus side, I've had an amazing week of shadowing which has just made me all the more certain that I want med school more than anything.

How many more days?

 

[mmckuin]

Well, crap. Now I am depressed since I've just received a substantive diagnosis.

On the plus side, I've had an amazing week of shadowing which has just made me all the more certain that I want med school more than anything.

How many more days?

Sounds inspiring! What was your shadowing experience this week?

 

[jadetreeyoga]

Sounds inspiring! What was your shadowing experience this week?

With a family practitioner. It was really awesome to have someone be interested enough to have me in with each patient, review cases, and be 100% available as a teacher instead of simply being someone who I kind of followed around. (I was grateful for those experiences, too!) The variety of patients was really interesting, and the rural environment really teaches a lot about how vital the social history is to troubleshooting/diagnosing. I was also able to listen in on a couple of pharm. reps' presentations, and I was impressed with their understanding of the science behind the drugs especially when faced with a physician's objections and tough line of questioning. Anyway, it was good, and I'm excited to be invited back next week for lessons on taking patient histories and vital signs. This all really confirms my interest in rural medicine.

 

[Pktgresch]

Cheer up everyone, I have a physics joke. Ok. This is a thought experiment: two Isaac Newtons walk into a bar. Then, one of them turns to the other and says, "did you know that the amount of a magnetic field permeating a given area is proportional to the field strength and area size?" and the other Isaac Newton responds, "I don't know what the flux you are talking about."

Brilliant! Bravo! Encore!

 

[monkeyvokes]

Brilliant! Bravo! Encore!

lol thanks, ok how about this one, an original manuscript of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was recently found and discovered to begin "I just met you, this is crazy, here's my number, call me Ishmael"

 

[excitedtoapply]

One molecule says to another molecule,

"I just lost an electron."
"Are you sure?"
"I am positive!"

 

[Ost3oclast]

One molecule says to another molecule,

"I just lost an electron."
"Are you sure?"
"I am positive!"

Hahaha YES!

 

[monkeyvokes]

Cheer up everyone, I have a physics joke. Ok. This is a thought experiment: two Isaac Newtons walk into a bar. Then, one of them turns to the other and says, "did you know that the amount of a magnetic field permeating a given area is proportional to the field strength and area size?" and the other Isaac Newton responds, "I don't know what the flux you are talking about."

its funny that the magnetic flux for a solenoid is nBA because phi is basketball shaped

 

[ridethecliche]

A mushroom walks into a bar and orders a drink.

Bartender looks him up and down and goes "We don't serve your kind here."

Mushroom says, "Aw, come on man. I'm a fun guy."

 

[SportsDoc89]

"What did you do last weekend?"
"I went efficiency I caught a crappie and two bass"

 

[puppylove89]

How do you make a hormone?


You don't pay her...



Gosh.....Tuesday couldn't come soon enough, this is just cruel

 

[monkeyvokes]

"What did the macaroni say to the tomato? 3 days, 21 hours, 27 minutes, and 7 seconds left until MCAT results post"

 

[Ost3oclast]

"What did the macaroni say to the tomato? 3 days, 21 hours, 27 minutes, and 7 seconds left until MCAT results post"

Couldnt come soon enough! I've got my favorite beer on hand for Tuesday. Hopefully I'll pound one of those down in victory rather than anguish.

 

[excitedtoapply]

Couldnt come soon enough! I've got my favorite beer on hand for Tuesday. Hopefully I'll pound one of those down in victory rather than anguish.

Exactly. I figured either way I would be drinking a bit

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Exactly. I figured either way I would be drinking a bit

**** it.

[YOUTUBE]XNtTEibFvlQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

[shoenberg3]

never had i been so nervous about an outcome....

 

[shaboobly]

never had i been so nervous about an outcome....

im scurred too

 

[Kmd001]

Oh man, my parents (who live in Guam) will be visiting my family and I when the scores are released....let's just pile on the pressure

 

[Kmd001]

never had i been so nervous about an outcome....

I second this

 

[Ost3oclast]

Oh man, my parents (who live in Guam) will be visiting my family and I when the scores are released....let's just pile on the pressure

I'll have family here that day too. It never ends. Plus everybody keeps saying "oh I bet you got like a 35." or "i know you did great dont worry"...it gets so old hearing all of that. I feel like asking them if they have ever bothered sitting for that test. Especially the one we took...

 

[Kmd001]

I'll have family here that day too. It never ends. Plus everybody keeps saying "oh I bet you got like a 35." or "i know you did great dont worry"...it gets so old hearing all of that. I feel like asking them if they have ever bothered sitting for that test. Especially the one we took...

Exactly, I want to tell them to stop saying I did great lol, heck even we have no real idea what we got

 

[Ost3oclast]

I think the external pressure (from family, friends etc) is what makes the build up of this score so rough. Obviously we psych ourselves out too but just that little extra pressure pushes us over the edge (atleast for me). I've got doctors texting me asking what I got, family and friends who won't leave me alone and i'm pretty sure I have people actually rooting against me scoring well just to add on top......ugh. Oh well. Three days.

 

[mmckuin]

I think the external pressure (from family, friends etc) is what makes the build up of this score so rough. Obviously we psych ourselves out too but just that little extra pressure pushes us over the edge (atleast for me). I've got doctors texting me asking what I got, family and friends who won't leave me alone and i'm pretty sure I have people actually rooting against me scoring well just to add on top......ugh. Oh well. Three days.

Feels like the song Under Pressure - Queen

 

[PreMedOrDead]

AAMC MCAT Purgatory:

2 days, 22 hours and 23 minutes and counting... (clicky!)

 

[ORCON]

Finally decided to join and commiserate with my fellow 5/19ers. Just add me to the list of people who thought PS was meh, Verbal was straightforward, BS was treachery, and who cannot begin to predict what I'll get in less than 3 days.

 

[Ost3oclast]

You guys have any mcat dreams lately?

 

[Pktgresch]

Wait I thought it was 30 days from the test that scores are released which would make that this Monday. Is it a month or 30 days? Im going to look on AAMC website but Ill post here anyway.

 

[Ost3oclast]

Wait I thought it was 30 days from the test that scores are released which would make that this Monday. Is it a month or 30 days? Im going to look on AAMC website but Ill post here anyway.

Website says tuesday.....

 

[Pktgresch]

Website says tuesday.....

Yes, yes youre right. I just looked and saw that too. Damnit..

 

[ORCON]

You guys have any mcat dreams lately?

Not lately. But the days following the test I had recurring dreams where the MCAT was scored in public and I was the laughing stock of the crowd as I missed question after question.

 

[PMB5000]

I think the external pressure (from family, friends etc) is what makes the build up of this score so rough. Obviously we psych ourselves out too but just that little extra pressure pushes us over the edge (atleast for me). I've got doctors texting me asking what I got, family and friends who won't leave me alone and i'm pretty sure I have people actually rooting against me scoring well just to add on top......ugh. Oh well. Three days.

I know what you mean.

My non-premed friends start off my asking, "so....(raises eyebrow)....how'd it go?" Thinking the MCAT is like the GRE and we get our scores right away. They hesitate because they think I bombed it since I never bring it up in conversation.

Also, I found it difficult to finish AMCAS knowing that I got a 3-3-3 on the exam.

 

[premedlady]

So, I actually called AAMC and asked them how they "curve" this wonderful test. The guy I spoke with told me that there is NO curve at all. They base their grading on some "complicated formula," where the harder questions are worth more than easier ones. He gave me the example where a hard question would be worth 1 point; whereas, an easier one would be 0.25 points. He also told me that we are not compared to our fellow examinees that took the exam on the same day ( I was really shocked when he said that, as I had always heard that we were).

Honestly, I was disappointed when he said that there is no curve, as I was hoping the curve would help us all on that treacherous BS section

 

[UTman7777]

Good luck to everyone

 

[shoenberg3]

So, I actually called AAMC and asked them how they "curve" this wonderful test. The guy I spoke with told me that there is NO curve at all. They base their grading on some "complicated formula," where the harder questions are worth more than easier ones. He gave me the example where a hard question would be worth 1 point; whereas, an easier one would be 0.25 points. He also told me that we are not compared to our fellow examinees that took the exam on the same day ( I was really shocked when he said that, as I had always heard that we were).

Honestly, I was disappointed when he said that there is no curve, as I was hoping the curve would help us all on that treacherous BS section

If this were true, then I feel even more worried about that BS section -- and feel that it's unfair for us.

Seems like they rate the difficulty of a question based on past test-taker's performance on it. But, it seemed like we had A LOT of difficult ones during the 5/19 adminstration (and perhaps also a really difficult experimental passage). If the test was otherwise normal with some difficult ones thrown in, I may had the extra time/mental capacity to solve these difficult ones. The test being packed with difficult questions, though, I was running short on time and my brain was starting to turn into mush...