The 4/05/08 MCAT Club

[pingouin]

Welcome, all April 5, 2008, MCATers!!!!

This is your official place to stress, vent, hang out, party, cry, yell, or whatever else you need to do in the week before and just after your MCAT.

As a reminder, when your test is done, you are welcome to come here and discuss your experience with it. Discussing general passage topics is OK- ie, "I had PS passages on circuits, thermodynamics, and optics." However, you are NOT allowed post specific questions, passage information, or answer choices from your test. Any posts which contain specific content from the test will be deleted, and a 1-week post hold will be placed on your account. Look here for more information on this.

to each and every one of you!!!!!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Pacman51]

Last April 25Q VR7 PS9 BS9

This Time 30 O 10 10 10

I'm super happy with the improvement. I hope this score is competitive enough to get me in this year.

Congrats to everyone who took the test!!

 

[wizenedone]

Last April 25Q VR7 PS9 BS9

This Time 30 O 10 10 10

I'm super happy with the improvement. I hope this score is competitive enough to get me in this year.

Congrats to everyone who took the test!!

Nice job on raising that VR. How did you do it? Raising it from 7 to 10?

 

[IronMan2009]

Here is a stat I would like to know,

The percentile of people who post the actual score they got in here. If you guys didn't do well and are reading these people post their scores, just remember the being humble about your score is more admirable then people that brag. Keep at it and when you succeed you will know what it means to have failed and it will mean so much more.

"By seeing the seed of failure in every success, we remain humble. By seeing the seed of success in every failure we remain hopeful."

 

[134317]

Here is a stat I would like to know,

The percentile of people who post the actual score they got in here. If you guys didn't do well and are reading these people post their scores, just remember the being humble about your score is more admirable then people that brag. Keep at it and when you succeed you will know what it means to have failed and it will mean so much more.

"By seeing the seed of failure in every success, we remain humble. By seeing the seed of success in every failure we remain hopeful."

what did YOU get? j/k

 

[sm007thie]

36M (VR11, PS14, BS11) for me.

I hope schools don't look at essay scores too seriously or I'm in trouble.

 

[Lawliet2008]

Thanks - I'd like to commit suicide now.

Congrats, though - seriously.

Don't kick yourself too hard. I have a strong feeling that my score (I wrote on the 18th) may not be all that I think it will, but as long as you haven't already taken it 3 times, there's always next time!

 

[JFrusciante]

Last April 25Q VR7 PS9 BS9

This Time 30 O 10 10 10

I'm super happy with the improvement. I hope this score is competitive enough to get me in this year.

Congrats to everyone who took the test!!

Nice! I also got a 10,10,10 but with an N in writing.

Congrats and good luck for those who took the test or are re-taking.

 

[DoctorYanks]

Oh my goodness! The score report scared the crap out of me this morning! 35S!

Good luck everyone!

 

[Penguick]

I've already signed up for a retake on June 13th. My score is fine for State schools, but not good enough to get into my top choices, such as the out of State UCSF...therefore I'm retaking.

What are the chances of me doing like 5-6 pts better on the retake in a month? I did do better on practice exams and did have a bit of a nervous problem. Any good stories for some positive encouragement?

 

[PagingDrP]

lol you'd think they handed out 35+'s for breakfast looking at this forum. I'm praying this is just a self-selecting issue or else I'm screwed with my score

 

[wavedoctor]

32S (9PS 9VR 14BS)

will I be branded "un-balanced"?

 

[kevinmw5]

lol you'd think they handed out 35+'s for breakfast looking at this forum.

LOL very true my friend... I've been thinking the same thing all day.

 

[Nikki2002]

32S (9PS 9VR 14BS)

will I be branded "un-balanced"?

that is a very good solid score. great job on the BS!!!!

 

[bozz]

Last April 25Q VR7 PS9 BS9

This Time 30 O 10 10 10

I'm super happy with the improvement. I hope this score is competitive enough to get me in this year.

Congrats to everyone who took the test!!

awesome improvement and nice well-balanced score

 

[Premed Worrier]

I am on here reading about everyone's successes and I am so happy for all of the people that achieved their goals on their MCAT scores. I am thinking, 'wow these guys/gals did good, i hope i can do that well when i take mine'..... then I remind myself that I am applying with most of these people so I HAVE to do that well...so much for me being happy for you guys....

 

[gtdavis10]

34O (14VR 9PS 11BS)

Good job everybody... and good luck with the upcoming cycle.

 

[asakkings]

34O (14VR 9PS 11BS)

Good job everybody... and good luck with the upcoming cycle.

Nice 14 in the verbal very rare, one of my friends that i took the test with got it too.

 

[djherse]

32O (12BS, 11VR, 9PS) now with my 3.39 GPA do I wait till next year and apply or apply to SMP for this fall.....??

 

[PagingDrP]

........

 

[DisabledVet]

24S (7BS, 9VR, 8PS) Too bad the writing doesn't count for anything. Anyone have any tips for studying for the BS? I've only taken Bio 1 and Cell Bio so far, read the MCAT EK bio cover to cover, didn't seem to help.

 

[Pacman51]

Nice job on raising that VR. How did you do it? Raising it from 7 to 10?

Verbal is different for everyone, but I did four things diffferently this time around. 1) I found a strategy that works best for me 2) I timed myself everytime I practiced verbal. I would give myself 8 minutes for every passage, whether I was taking a full length section(7 passages in 56 minutes instead of 60), or just a couple passages. 3) I took the last two weeks of my studying very lightly, I guess I tapered off this time instead of studying up to the last few days. 4) I really worked on going over my tests and trying to identify the types of problems I was missing ( Comprehension, Evaluation, Incorporation, Etc.).

The strategy I used was very similair the kaplan strategy. I would take a little extra time on the opening paragraph in order to get a better understanding on what the passage was going to be about. Then I would write a sentence in my own words about the passage idea/subject. Then with the following paragraphs, I would determine how they related to the main subject. I would jot down a couple words indicating if it was an supporting paragraph, counter example, specific example, interesting evidence, etc.
This method helped me stay focused and also aided in my recall of where specific details were in the passage. Most importantly I would make sure I could read the passage and jot down my notes in 4 minutes leaving 4 minutes to answer the questions. I would mark my guesses and usually I would be able to go over them again because I would finish in 56 minutes or less ( on the simulation exams).

Finally I used the EK 101 verbal book, and AAMC tests. I would take the entire AAMC tests (PS, VR, WR, BS) on saturday morning not just verbal.

I hope this helps, and thank you to everyone on SDN with their feedback and help. Congrats to everyone again and good luck.

 

[Dickman]

Pretty good scores all around, but I'm interested to know not just scores, but number of attempts. Especially the score on the "first time round".

 

[asakkings]

i scored 28 first time around 34 this time 6 improvment seems amazing to me right now

 

[VYTillIDie]

I first took the MCAT in August 2005. I got a 33O. 11VR 12PS 10BS . I applied for Fall 2007 matriculation, and got waitlisted at one school. My GPA is 3.25. I retook the April 5 MCAT after/while retaking some courses for which I earned a C. My goal in taking the April MCAT was to get another solid score, and hopefully do better, to convince adcoms to swing more in the direction of my MCAT than my substandard GPA.

Thoughts on the April 5 MCAT:
Verbal Reasoning was hard as hell for me. I left the last 4 blank because I ran out of time all of the sudden, and I flat out guessed on the ~3 questions that preceded those. I really had no idea how I did on this section...I really thought something like a 5 was a possibility.

Physical Sciences was easy, I thought. I don't remember being completely stumped on any questions, but of course had some questions whittled down to only 2 and had to pick one. I finished with about 5 minutes left.

Biological Sciences...i felt comfortable

I got ANOTHER 33O. 10VR 10PS 13BS. I guess I'm satisfied, but we'll see what happens this application cycle?

 

[139871]

I'm pretty disappointed considering how much time and money I have invested in this exam. I am currently signed up for May 27th since the material is pretty fresh still. Any advice on what I should do in these three weeks ahead?

 

[BearForm]

first and thank God only time
VR: 12
PS: 12 - 35O
BS: 11



I'm so stoked, my highest on my practice tests were 33. And my weakness were VR and PS.

 

[Vulcan]

first and thank God only time
VR: 12
PS: 12 - 35O
BS: 11



I'm so stoked, my highest on my practice tests were 33. And my weakness were VR and PS.

haha same with me bear...and look we got the same composite sans the WS ^_^

 

[faeriequeen]

Many people kept telling me that MCAT scores are always put up late, so I was surprised when I logged in to THX this morning!

10P
11V
11B
Writing: S

I was hoping for straight 11's, but I'll take the 32S.

 

[pinkipod]

Woohoo!! At least no more agonizing~

38R

PS-14
BS-13
VR-11

I thought I totally bombed my second writing sample!
I'm freakin happiest with my writing, LOL!

 

[ar2388]

haha awesome job guys.

just to respond to DIckman, this was my first attempt at taking the exam after taking a kaplan class which began in january. got a 37Q (14 PS, 11V, 12 BS)

 

[utahjazz]

Congrats to everyone who got the score they wanted!!!!! There are a lot of awesome scores in this thread.

And to the people who didn't do as well as they had hoped- Don't give up!!!! You can still take it again and apply this cycle.

 

[supertrooper66]

dannng you guys did really well, congrats!

i wasn't so lucky haha. i'll be retaking july 10th! someone said they're retaking in TWO weeks? jesus man, i'm not that confident enough. gonna give myself a few more months to study cuz i only got one good month to study for this first one...

8 PS, 10 VR, 8 BS, R writing

the BS i was really shocked about...grr usually got 10s on the practices. i didn't study any bio or ochem whatsoever since i thought a bio major would be good enough. apparently i need to review the very basics! 8 is still embarassing tho...man lol. VR, I consistently got 10s on all the VR practices so that i was comfortable with. PS, whenever i ran out of time on practices I got 8 and when i finished a lil early i'd get 10s. i ran out of time on the real one so the 8 was expected.
the R in writing is hilarious b/c i didn't practice for that whatsoever and R is like 90 percentile! it's funny b/c i didn't FINISH either essay. i ran out of time on my intro on the first one and on the conclusion on the 2nd one. weird. how about you be nice to me on the science scores and give me like a J writing lol.

anyways, i'll be back in july. i have the next 2 months to basically just study this time. i'm only taking 2 easy summer classes so it'll be cake. i was taking 21 hours this semester while studying for this beast so, altho i started studying 2 months before, i only got at most a good month of studying in. i knew i had lots to improve on but was just hoping it'd workout anyway because i ranged like 26-31 on the practices. i think i just had some bad luck...bet you anything i was like 1 question away on each of the 8s from 9s blah. i already feel i can get a 30 as of now to be honest, so this time i'm shooting for a much higher range...like 35 minimum. having that goal will hopefully leave error for still getting a 30 haha. i'll be back mcat, son of a bitch

 

[139871]

dannng you guys did really well, congrats!

i wasn't so lucky haha. i'll be retaking july 10th! someone said they're retaking in TWO weeks? jesus man, i'm not that confident enough. gonna give myself a few more months to study cuz i only got one good month to study for this first one...

8 PS, 10 VR, 8 BS, R writing

the BS i was really shocked about...grr usually got 10s on the practices. i didn't study any bio or ochem whatsoever since i thought a bio major would be good enough. apparently i need to review the very basics! 8 is still embarassing tho...man lol. VR, I consistently got 10s on all the VR practices so that i was comfortable with. PS, whenever i ran out of time on practices I got 8 and when i finished a lil early i'd get 10s. i ran out of time on the real one so the 8 was expected.
the R in writing is hilarious b/c i didn't practice for that whatsoever and R is like 90 percentile! it's funny b/c i didn't FINISH either essay. i ran out of time on my intro on the first one and on the conclusion on the 2nd one. weird. how about you be nice to me on the science scores and give me like a J writing lol.

anyways, i'll be back in july. i have the next 2 months to basically just study this time. i'm only taking 2 easy summer classes so it'll be cake. i was taking 21 hours this semester while studying for this beast so, altho i started studying 2 months before, i only got at most a good month of studying in. i knew i had lots to improve on but was just hoping it'd workout anyway because i ranged like 26-31 on the practices. i think i just had some bad luck...bet you anything i was like 1 question away on each of the 8s from 9s blah. i already feel i can get a 30 as of now to be honest, so this time i'm shooting for a much higher range...like 35 minimum. having that goal will hopefully leave error for still getting a 30 haha. i'll be back mcat, son of a bitch

Yup that's me, I will be taking it in three weeks mostly because I will be out of the country for the summer. I think I know the sciences well enough so a few days of review should get me back to my old level. I'll be working diligently on the verbal section to make sure that that score increases. Good luck to everyone retaking this cycle

 

[kierkegaard]

I know generally one doesn't retake with a good score, but I got an 11ps 12vr 13bs Sws and hadn't scored below a 12 in physical sciences on any AAMC practice test and I took them all. My last 5 tests bio ranged from 13-15 and verbal from 11-13... would anyone recommend retaking just to raise the ps score? Its just hard to think I'll come away scoring a few points below my average when I know I could do better...

 

[iA-MD2013]

I know generally one doesn't retake with a good score, but I got an 11ps 12vr 13bs Sws and hadn't scored below a 12 in physical sciences on any AAMC practice test and I took them all. My last 5 tests bio ranged from 13-15 and verbal from 11-13... would anyone recommend retaking just to raise the ps score? Its just hard to think I'll come away scoring a few points below my average when I know I could do better...

NO NO NO! A very well balanced 36! I don't think it's worth it to retake. First of all, it's a great score. Second of all, you may end up doing even worse. I understand that it's hard to score lower than your average, but things happen. Take the score and run with it.
Congrats on the 36, btw.

 

[JA Prufrock]

I know generally one doesn't retake with a good score, but I got an 11ps 12vr 13bs Sws and hadn't scored below a 12 in physical sciences on any AAMC practice test and I took them all. My last 5 tests bio ranged from 13-15 and verbal from 11-13... would anyone recommend retaking just to raise the ps score? Its just hard to think I'll come away scoring a few points below my average when I know I could do better...

not only is it likely you'll score lower than 36 your second time around, but even if you do score higher, adcoms will probably just roll their eyes.

 

[iA-MD2013]

not only is it likely you'll score lower than 36 your second time around, but even if you do score higher, adcoms will probably just roll their eyes.

ohh yeah, i forgot about that part. DON'T DO IT!

 

[wizenedone]

not only is it likely you'll score lower than 36 your second time around, but even if you do score higher, adcoms will probably just roll their eyes.

ohh yeah, i forgot about that part. DON'T DO IT!

On that note, what do you guys think should be a cutoff for not retaking? OR in other words, at what score (retaking) would the adcoms NOT roll their eyes?

 

[JFrusciante]

Here was my breakdown:

10P 9B 7V - 26Q

I'm pretty disappointed considering how much time and money I have invested in this exam. I am currently signed up for May 27th since the material is pretty fresh still. Any advice on what I should do in these three weeks ahead?

You're really close to a great score; just work hard over the next couple weeks and I'm sure you can get the score you want.

 

[JA Prufrock]

On that note, what do you guys think should be a cutoff for not retaking? OR in other words, at what score (retaking) would the adcoms NOT roll their eyes?

it's hard to say, it has a lot to do with balance. I mean if you get two 15's and a 6...you'll still need to retake. When you're hovering around the 10's you're in that area where retake is unnecessary. Though it also depends on other factors such as whether or not you need gpa compensation and what schools you are shooting for. That's just the way I see it.

 

[imcanadaian]

35S!!!! (11V, 12PS, 12BS)

Was getting 13-14's for PS and BS on my practice tests...but I guess we always score better on practice tests! Super surprised about the writing score though haha, but I'm happy!!!

My GPA isn't super stellar, but from a tough, competitive school (was hoping for a "super" MCAT..but this score is solid right?), think I'll be good for the top med programs?

 

[JTubule1386]

Hey guys, I got a 31N.
P: 9
V: 10
B: 12
The first time I took it I got a 24Q. I guess my writing went down because I didn't practice it as much. I'm made about that though, because I kinda froze. I could usually write circles around questions. Do you guys think my writing score will hinder me. Also, I didn't get to finish my Physical science section, do you think I should retake.

 

[139871]

Hey guys, I got a 31N.
P: 9
V: 10
B: 12
The first time I took it I got a 24Q. I guess my writing went down because I didn't practice it as much. I'm made about that though, because I kinda froze. I could usually write circles around questions. Do you guys think my writing score will hinder me. Also, I didn't get to finish my Physical science section, do you think I should retake.

No way! Awesome score man, keep it and run

 

[Vulcan]

35S!!!! (11V, 12PS, 12BS)

Was getting 13-14's for PS and BS on my practice tests...but I guess we always score better on practice tests! Super surprised about the writing score though haha, but I'm happy!!!

My GPA isn't super stellar, but from a tough, competitive school (was hoping for a "super" MCAT..but this score is solid right?), think I'll be good for the top med programs?

We're in the same boat...same number score and i also have a so-so GPA...im hoping that a 35P along with 300+ hours of ER time will get me in somewhere good

 

[kierkegaard]

what do you guys think the order of importance the med schools give each mcat section? i heard from someone it was V-P-B-W...

 

[tncekm]

what do you guys think the order of importance the med schools give each mcat section? i heard from someone it was V-P-B-W...

Considering the greatest correlation between USMLE success and MCAT scores is in the BS section, I'd hope it would be there.

But, overall, I really don't think they put too much emphasis on any particular order of scores. E.g. if you got an 10/12/14, I don't think they'd care which order it was in.

 

[mterp45]

what do you guys think the order of importance the med schools give each mcat section? i heard from someone it was V-P-B-W...

the deans of admissions at Hopkins & UMD told me that verbal is the section they care about the most and said that it had the biggest correlation on future medically related standardized tests. The guys at yale didn't really express a strong preference but I would assume it's probably because they expect every section score to be above an 11.

 

[tncekm]

the deans of admissions at Hopkins & UMD told me that verbal is the section they care about the most and said that it had the biggest correlation on future medically related standardized tests. The guys at yale didn't really express a strong preference but I would assume it's probably because they expect every section score to be above an 11.

I heard the bio score was the most closely correlated to standardized medical tests, and that verbal had the lowest correlation.

 

[mterp45]

I heard the bio score was the most closely correlated to standardized medical tests, and that verbal had the lowest correlation.

well, I hope you are right. I am 100% convinced that the verbal will be my lowest score. I was simply telling you what I was personally told after talking with deans of admissions from those particular schools.

 

[tncekm]

Me, too. I believe it was Vishadas who had it in his sig with the exact correlations. If i remember correctly bio was around 0.7 and verbal was around 0.5. Maybe he was wrong, maybe the deans were wrong... who knows. (Even deans are subject to misinformation--they're job is primarily to look at #'s and admit, not necessarily investigate the significance of those numbers).