*Official MCAT January 2017 Thread*

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Singerpremed

Singerpremed

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2016
Messages
138
Reaction score
61
Hi, I know there are many people who are also studying for the MCAT in January and I would like to connect with you guys and get insights. I'm currently taking a live online Kaplan MCAT course. I go to the University of Florida.
Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Sort by date Sort by votes
Altius Premier Tutor said:
January 19th and 28th Test Takers:

If you can help us improve our full-length exams by giving honest feedback, we will give you two (2) of our full-lengths to attempt between now and either January 2017 exam. We ask that you report your scores on our two exams, and AAMC PT#1 and #2, along with your real MCAT. You can sign up here if you are willing to help: http://bit.ly/2hvish7
Click to expand...
Signed up but didn't receive anything in my inbox or spam. I'm taking the exam on 1/28 and just wanted some extra practice with CARS. Thanks!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thoth said:
Free points?

CARS is my strongest area. I haven't done almost any work for that. I spend a lot of time in my current job reading professional journal articles on various developments in the science and medical world, so I have already developed those skills.
Click to expand...
Not in a mean way, I'm just usually mad at myself because a good score in CARS is all that's keeping me from a great score.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
Gutsy said:
Signed up but didn't receive anything in my inbox or spam. I'm taking the exam on 1/28 and just wanted some extra practice with CARS. Thanks!
Click to expand...
They sent out the first full-length last week to Jan 28th test takers, so you if you didn't receive that email they must have a typo in your address or something. PM me your correct email address and I'll double-check with the office and get you your exam ASAP.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
shield349 said:
Not in a mean way, I'm just usually mad at myself because a good score in CARS is all that's keeping me from a great score.
Click to expand...

Well, I can assure you that it is a valuable skill to have. You will continue to develop it throughout your career as you read more and more studies. It is vitally important to be able to analyze them. The abstract is great, but are their methods sound? Who did they leave out of, or include in, their population? What method of statistical analysis did they do? Does their conclusion match the data? What outcomes did they not address in the results section, and why is that? Evidence-based medicine is the cornerstone of my current practice, as well as that of many other health care professionals.

Physicians love studies. Every time I want them to start changing their practice they always want to know the evidence. You can see why I've got a 95% success rate.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
skyisblu said:
My scores:
AAMC FL1 (practice Exam) : 509 (128,127,127,127) 82 percentile
AAMC (practice Test #1): (C/P: 86% CAR:91% B/B:80% P/S:85%)
AAMC FL #2 : 511 ( 128, 126, 128, 129 ) 86 percentile
NS FL: 509

Looks like I am in the range of 513 for 1/28 Exam. CARS bring me down in FL2.
Click to expand...

CARS brought me down in FL2 as well; only by a point, but still.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thoth said:
Well, I can assure you that it is a valuable skill to have. You will continue to develop it throughout your career as you read more and more studies. It is vitally important to be able to analyze them. The abstract is great, but are their methods sound? Who did they leave out of, or include in, their population? What method of statistical analysis did they do? Does their conclusion match the data? What outcomes did they not address in the results section, and why is that? Evidence-based medicine is the cornerstone of my current practice, as well as that of many other health care professionals.

Physicians love studies. Every time I want them to start changing their practice they always want to know the evidence. You can see why I've got a 95% success rate.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree, its definitely an important skill to acquire, on the other hand its a very slow progress for me getting to that point.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
So what are you guys doing for the next couple days/have done this week? I've been focusing on question packs and practice exams, and supplementing with going back to chapters that I apparently don't get very well - or doing KA stuff with it. I took AAMC1 a month or two ago, AAMC2 on Monday, and gonna do the unscored tomorrow, I think.

How confident are you feeling?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thoth said:
So what are you guys doing for the next couple days/have done this week? I've been focusing on question packs and practice exams, and supplementing with going back to chapters that I apparently don't get very well - or doing KA stuff with it. I took AAMC1 a month or two ago, AAMC2 on Monday, and gonna do the unscored tomorrow, I think.

How confident are you feeling?
Click to expand...
I just finished CARS q pack 2, gonna do some kaplan q bank considering I just completed the last available AAMC material. . . I hope all that practice pays off! As for confidence I feel good about the sciences and I am looking to hit 130+ for PS and BB. CARs is the whammy for me, I just hope that I can keep my act together I have been hitting 126-127 range lately and that is alright with me! In summary I'm just doing chill studying haha :')
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thoth said:
So what are you guys doing for the next couple days/have done this week? I've been focusing on question packs and practice exams, and supplementing with going back to chapters that I apparently don't get very well - or doing KA stuff with it. I took AAMC1 a month or two ago, AAMC2 on Monday, and gonna do the unscored tomorrow, I think.

How confident are you feeling?
Click to expand...

I'm redoing the C/P SBs today, and the B/B SBs tomorrow (for a refresher on tackling experimental passages). I will probably also reread my notes on biochem and some from organic chemistry (I have done almost no dedicated review to these as I took these classes in college). On Friday, I will read through the KA notes on P/S and review and look over my list of questions that I got wrong on AAMC 1/2 and the SBs. I might review some organ systems if I have time. I will try to take a look at the flashcards, as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Also, I hit my goal score on AAMC 1 and 2, so I'm just looking to replicate my success on Saturday! I think that the one thing that will help me most is being calm and focused on the details: too often when I fly through questions, I read some questions incorrectly and then choose the wrong answer. I have already accepted that there will most likely be questions that ask about details that, not matter how long I've studied, I may not have come across. That's okay as long as I can eliminate some answer choices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
good luck to everyone! did anyone else not get a call from the testing center? I've heard that they call you to confirm or whatever but I haven't gotten one.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
good luck to everyone! did anyone else not get a call from the testing center? I've heard that they call you to confirm or whatever but I haven't gotten one.
Click to expand...

Nor have I. I've gotten a couple emails from AAMC in the last week or two, though.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
good luck to everyone! did anyone else not get a call from the testing center? I've heard that they call you to confirm or whatever but I haven't gotten one.
Click to expand...

I went to my testing center today to make sure I knew how to get there and one of the proctors was nice enough to answer my questions. I also got a text (LOL, welcome to the new technological age, I guess) from the center telling me to 1) get there at 7:05 (!) and 2) call if I had any questions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
okay, that's good! thanks guys. a text, really! I also just drove by my center but didn't think to go inside and ask. i have confirmation emails so it should be good. planning on getting there super early as well!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
okay, that's good! thanks guys. a text, really! I also just drove by my center but didn't think to go inside and ask. i have confirmation emails so it should be good. planning on getting there super early as well!
Click to expand...

Yeah, the proctor said that there were 28 people taking the MCAT tomorrow at our center (full house), and that it would take a while to get fingerprinted and ID'd. Apparently, they can't officially start the exam until 7:30 AM. It seems like a nice enough place and they provide noise canceling headphones. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with myself on the breaks because I used to go to the bathroom and relax my mind on Reddit / watching cute animal videos on Facebook, but clearly I won't have access to my phone until after the exam haha. I have my lunch and snacks packed and ready to go, along with a big water bottle. Otherwise, I guess I'm just happy to be getting this over with (while simultaneously still very nervous)!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I feel like B/B was the hardest I have seen from all the AMCC Practice Exams I took . Does other Agrees..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
skyisblu said:
I feel like B/B was the hardest I have seen from all the AMCC Practice Exams I took . Does other Agrees..
Click to expand...
I agree completely with both of you! The Bio section blew my mind I am dumbfounded. . . that is my second best section next to the CP section and it left me feeling powerless. What can you do tho. . .? Well as it stands now bio is 3 for 3 as the hardest section.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
I agree completely with both of you! The Bio section blew my mind I am dumbfounded. . . that is my second best section next to the CP section and it left me feeling powerless. What can you do tho. . .? Well as it stands now bio is 3 for 3 as the hardest section.
Click to expand...
Make that 4 for 4.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
5words said:
Even cars? so was it research based? or much like the FLs pratice test?
Click to expand...
CARS was pretty similar to AAMC FL 2 I honestly kind of enjoyed some of the passages! Psych had words that I had not seen before but it was doable. Chem was a little on the hard side but comparable. IDK if we can release anything content related . . .
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
CARS was pretty similar to AAMC FL 2 I honestly kind of enjoyed some of the passages! Psych had words that I had not seen before but it was doable. Chem was a little on the hard side but comparable. IDK if we can release anything content related . . .
Click to expand...

Spot on. CP was difficult.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
C/P was awful. I can't believe how much ochem there was, and soooooo many calculations. That hurt my soul. B/B had some intense pathways and was dense as hell. So glad I supplemented with KA for P/S because I felt incredibly prepared for that. CARS was long but pretty readable and straightforward and even mildly interesting to me. Now the long month wait begins...


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
H_Scheck said:
CARS was pretty similar to AAMC FL 2 I honestly kind of enjoyed some of the passages! Psych had words that I had not seen before but it was doable. Chem was a little on the hard side but comparable. IDK if we can release anything content related . . .
Click to expand...
And no you can't ..
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I feel pretty good about it! C/S was kind of hard but mostly one passage. I feel great about the rest. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
You are all now diagnosed with PMS (post mcat syndrome) welcome to the worst month ever haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
Miami_Postbac said:
CP was hard, CARS I felt was harder than most, Bio was...absurd, p/s was the hardest p/s test I've taken

But I feel great about my performance: there's literally nothing that surprised me content wise, my mental prep was great, I slept like a baby last night, my focus was good, and timing was only a noteable factor on CP. I'm sure I made mistakes but what's left is IQ driven.



Nah - the upper end of CP was awful. The majority of the questions were fair, and there were some real slow-pitch questions too.

Agree about some of the passages being genuinely interesting though.



Seems the difficulty curve is going up relative to practice exams. Doesn't change your position all that much unless you're relying heavily on natural ability (helps) or anki.
Click to expand...

I keep hearing that Bio was absurd!! What made it so bad in your opinion and what would you have done differently in terms of studying for it
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
thank god its over.
I thought it was tough, but okay. definitely some wtf passages and my timing wasn't great, but I expected that I wouldn't feel great about the exam afterward, so I'm really just over it. see ya'll come February for the score release!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
sparkleberry27 said:
thank god its over.
I thought it was tough, but okay. definitely some wtf passages and my timing wasn't great, but I expected that I wouldn't feel great about the exam afterward, so I'm really just over it. see ya'll come February for the score release!
Click to expand...

The thought of even seeing my score turns my stomach :vomit:
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
My take: C/P felt hardest but thats normal, CARS normal, B/B no surprises felt good, P/S a couple random things you've never heard of before but mostly easy
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Upvote 0 Downvote
I got a 519 on both scored FLs but wow am I nervous about my score for this one. I felt pretty good leaving the test center but now I'm starting to worry that I may have tanked down to a 509.
Overall impressions:
C/P: Normally my best section but I'm really dissatisfied with how many questions I marked. Very calculation heavy and emphasized some nasty low-yield topics. I'm very glad I have somewhat of a background in spectroscopy and kinetics.
CARS: I don't get everyone's hate for this section. I enjoyed reading the passages and found the questions very similar to the practice FLs. Not at all like EK's CARS, thank goodness. Or I may have gotten rused, we'll see.
B/B: This section better be curved to hell and back. The signaling passages were poorly written imo and that certainly didn't help with answering questions. Lots of head scratchers, lots of questions I got incorrect. Pretty disappointed in my performance here.
P/S: It was easy? Almost too easy. There were several lowball questions and only a few terms I didn't recognize. Probably not much of a curve here.

February 28 pls come now
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you want to be overconfident on test day, take AAMC FL 2 because I nailed that ****. bio/biochem was WAY harder on the real thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
twist2 said:
If you want to be overconfident on test day, take AAMC FL 2 because I nailed that ****. bio/biochem was WAY harder on the real thing.
Click to expand...

100% agree, people are saying the section bank passages were similar difficulty. I thought the BB section on the real thing was 100x harder than the SB passages, although a couple passages werent that bad. And the discrete questions were pretty easy too


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
The worst part is probably definitely the waiting. I think I probably felt equally as bad during and after taking FL 1 and 2 as I did after the real thing, but I had instant relief when seeing what my scores were. Definitely not the case here! At this point I'm definitely just hoping that I score within 2 points of my FL 1 and 2 scores.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

agentfaithmd
AAMC MCAT Official Prep Complete Bundle Worth It?
Replies
0
Views
376
agentfaithmd
agentfaithmd
T
Study partner for January 2023 MCAT in PA
Replies
0
Views
681
tabush
T
N
Any Non-Traditional Applicants Writing the MCAT this January?
Replies
2
Views
851
omogedoctor
O
A
Study Group Phoenix
Replies
2
Views
426
jhmmd
jhmmd
NoahBerden
  • Question
Can I take the MCAT in January for the 2021-2022 cycle?
Replies
5
Views
3K
Dral
Dral
Top