The MCAT Twitter Thread (AKA MCAT-oholics)

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

ridethecliche

Meep Meep Meep
10+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
Messages
8,066
Reaction score
7,649
Alright, so many of us are in the same boat, right?

We all have to take this exam, and lets be honest, it sucks. It's a roadblock and it's annoying. But we HAVE to do it, so we might as well enjoy it.

At the same time, I think having a 'support group' would be helpful. So why not post about MCAT trials/tribulations here?

Did you have an awesome study session? Grasp concept that you were having trouble with? Beast that practice test?

If so, post!

Did you have a crappy study session? Are you failing miserably at figuring out something seemingly simple? Just get frustrated at that practice exam you just took?

If so, post!

MCAT-oholics unite!

Members don't see this ad.
 
So as I'm going through AAMC 5, I realized I got the question about the type of lens needed for myopia correct because I took off my glasses and looked at the shape of the lens during the exam since I forgot what the type of lens was. I feel smart for doing that, but also feel like an idiot for not remembering haha

Samesies except I wear contacts when out most of the time...do you guys think there's an advantage between contacts and glasses?
 
What company are you or the rest of you guys using for preparations.

I started with Kaplan and then moved to TPR. I'm like 50 questions and 5 passages away from finishing the whole TPRH science workbook and it's such a struggle. Someone mentioned it in a post in the 30+ study habits and I agree that Kaplan is good for getting you to a 30 or mid 30's, especially in regards to their content review. But if you want to do better than that additional sources would be more helpful. That said I think Kaplan's practice tests are extremely helpful for identifying weaknesses. We will see how helpful they have been when I take AAMC 4. 7 weeks left till the real deal and it's all I can think about in my downtime. That month waiting for the scores would have been brutal - except diablo 3 will be out by then :D
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Anyone else get irritated by people who ask a question in the Q&A and make it a point to say "I got this right, but..."? Who cares if you got it right? Getting it right and not understanding it doesn't help you at all.
 
I'm glad I started a schedule to do all the Kaplan section test b/c they are definitely more difficult than the FLs. (and perhaps more representative of new AAMC tests).

I got a 13 in BS on my last FL and got a 55.77% on the BS section test. The passages are more based on concepts rather and evaluating new information & orgo is tough. Edit: Apparently corresponds to an 8 :/ . Anyway, have time to review and God is control for my life, so I'm confident if He wills it, it will work out. Anyway, in the words of Jay-Z, "on to the next one"... ;)

About to take PS section test!

Also: note to self, from now on will replace each FL writing prompt with a topic on this list:

https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/preparing/85192/preparing_writingsampleitems.html
 
Last edited:
I am having some much trouble stay up to date on this thread. I haven't posted in a few days, but I have been studying! Going to review some O-chem as that was me weakest part on the last FL. Also going to take another verbal test today....
 
Better to be up to date on your studying than this thread. Just finished Kaplan FL #9, pretty good test I think, felt more similar to aamc 3 than some of the others. Going to take 10 and 11 just as separate science section tests because of what I've heard about them. I was sooo bad this week and still have to finish my last assignment from TPR. Finish that tonight along with regular hw, review fl #9 tomorrow, and then start the final phase of my content review.
 
If you need motivation just look at page 20 of CBT 30+ Habits thread. 15 of the 26 posters on that page had 36 or above. 13 of the 26 posters had 38 or above. Most of those were 40+ with several 39's. Just gotta keep working I guess. Shoot for perfection.
 
Man So in my AAMC 3 score 12/9/12

I was 1 question away from a 13 in BIO and 1 from a 10 in verbal (I ran out of time on verbal, had 30 sec to answer 3 last questions of which I got all 3 wrong :/. I blame this damn asian student couple who were talking in the library! Distracted me soo mcuh!) :/ I thought the o-chem was super easy in it to, which is weird since I thought o-chem would be by far my worse subject of it (since I am in o-chem 1 right now) and havent finished ochem 2. I only got 1 wrong on the o-chem. How would you guys compare o-chem vs o-chem on other aamc's.
 
Taking aamc 5 tomorrow.
Finished phase 2 for physics today. Going to finish phase 2 for GC and orgo this week. Phase 3 over the next month with lotsa practice exams. Good times...

Man So in my AAMC 3 score 12/9/12

I was 1 question away from a 13 in BIO and 1 from a 10 in verbal (I ran out of time on verbal, had 30 sec to answer 3 last questions of which I got all 3 wrong :/. I blame this damn asian student couple who were talking in the library! Distracted me soo mcuh!) :/ I thought the o-chem was super easy in it to, which is weird since I thought o-chem would be by far my worse subject of it (since I am in o-chem 1 right now) and havent finished ochem 2. I only got 1 wrong on the o-chem. How would you guys compare o-chem vs o-chem on other aamc's.

Buy ear plugs...
 
Disclaimer: I've taken the AAMCs before 1 year ago, so I'm not really sure what my scores mean. That said, I don't really recognize any of the passages, the questions still freak me out, and I'm still finishing just in time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Took AAMC 5 today.

13PS/12VR/10BS
35

Holy crap.

I've made a conscious push to improve PS, but the VR came out of nowhere...

I'm bummed that my BS isn't improving (got a 10 on my real exam). I was a little more distracted during this section as well, so I need to work on that.

Ugh, I need to do better at orgo. Not sure why the Bio stuff didn't come together. Guess I need to read through my notes again.

Psyched with the score, but really not sure how to judge it given that I took this a year ago. I got a 31 that time though. I retook aamc4 after a year a month ago (after CR and Phase 1) and got a 30 compared to a 29 last year.

So lets see what happens.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Is anyone else obsessing over the mcat too much? I've taken it down a notch but It's always on my mind. I'll go the gym and 40 minutes will go by and I'll say wow I haven't thought about the mcat at all.. until now. Got a 45 on kaplan #9.. on my second try after reviewing all the answers :)

On a serious note I'm trying to read at least 1 biology/biochemistry article a day so I'll be more comfortable for the real test where the science passages can be just as difficult to get through as verbal. I've had two courses where we basically just read and analyzed journal articles but more practice can't hurt.
 
Umm...yes! This happened in my 2-day break..My blow dryer has 2 voltage settings: 125 V & 250 V. No idea what they are for.

So yesterday when I was blow drying my hair, I started wondering about a hypothetical MCAT passage that asked me what voltage setting I should use to maximize current. And then I started thinking about where I could find a practice passage on hair dryers, b/c there's probably some good physics principles involved. Ridiculous!!! This s*** needs to end soon.

But I actually have to go on MCAT marathon for next four days 'cause I'm way behind.
 
Did not know that platelets do NOT contain nuclei. Edit: Seriously, platelets contain mitochondria, microtobules, granules vesicles..but NO nucleus?!....sigh. At least I know it now.
 
Last edited:
Platelets and red blood cells are similar in that they have no nuclei. They differ in that platelets are typically considered cell fragments and do have mitochondria, whereas erythrocytes are considered cells and have no mitochondria (beneficial so they don't consume the oxygen they are carrying).
 
Signed up for Aug.4th, paid the $250, and I feel like reality has slapped me in the face ... no more slacking, no more going out/calling friends/movies, and I've closed my sportsbook account for the next 3 months ... Why am I feeling nervous and scared already?

Need ... to .... study ... leggo!~
 
Did not realize that aminopeptidase is formed by small intestine, but carboxypeptidase is produced by pancreas.

I mean in AAMC topic list, under the pancreas there is a "transport of enzymes to small intestine" line, so I guess it's fair game to know which enzymes are transported from pancreas to small intestines:

pancreatis amylase and lipase & precursors of caboxypeptidase, chymotrypsin, and trypsin are all produced in pancrease and sent off to work in small intestine.
 
This is slowly morphing into the thread about things I don't know...lol. Well, maybe my practice MCAT loss may be someone else's gain.

Carbon dioxide distinguishes flames. :wow: call me clueless, but I didn't know that.

And it was in an MCAT Kaplan passage. The passage mentioned that a burning splint was put in to a gas-filled tube...and then I had to predict the identity of the gas. It's carbon dioxide--judging from the gas' flame extinguishing capabilities.

While oxygen and hydrogen supports combustion. I knew about oxygen, but didn't know that hydrogen supported combustion. good to know?

Edit: It helps me to publicly write out knowledge that I should have known. So sorry, if anyone feels I'm "clogging the thread"

Question asked about deflection neutrons felt by magnetic field and electric field. In retrospect, of course, it zero b/c the charge is 0. But I must have got confused for a second. This is why it's so important for me to personally write out the relevant equations.
 
Last edited:
This is slowly morphing into the thread about things I don't know...lol. Well, maybe my practice MCAT loss may be someone else's gain.

Carbon dioxide distinguishes flames. :wow: call me clueless, but I didn't know that.

And it was in an MCAT Kaplan passage. The passage mentioned that a burning splint was put in to a gas-filled tube...and then I had to predict the identity of the gas. It's carbon dioxide--judging from the gas' flame extinguishing capabilities.

While oxygen and hydrogen supports combustion. I knew about oxygen, but didn't know that hydrogen supported combustion. good to know?

You never heard of the hindenburg? :p
 
Alright, talking about concepts that you don't know is fine, but please don't talk about test questions/passages on here.

It skews results for people that haven't taken the test yet.

Fine to talk about topics etc, but if you're giving away information like that it makes the tests not totally diagnostic if you know what I mean.
 
Need to stop worrying about the test and just keep preparing. I should have a better idea of where I'm at after aamc 4, but that isn't gonna stop me from worrying in the meantime.
 
Need to stop worrying about the test and just keep preparing. I should have a better idea of where I'm at after aamc 4, but that isn't gonna stop me from worrying in the meantime.

No stress!

They're just a few timed practice passages!
 
Yeah, no worries! I've never talked (and will make sure not to :)) about fl questions. There are not from the Kaplan full lengths or the AAMC full lengths, just practice questions like topical or section tests..
 
Yeah, no worries! I've never talked (and will make sure not to :)) about fl questions. There are not from the Kaplan full lengths or the AAMC full lengths, just practice questions like topical or section tests..

It was just a warning in general. Not directed at you :)
 
FINALLY I AM FREE FROM THE TPR SCIENCE WORKBOOK!!! ~1000 discretes + 285 passages. That thing rode me hard and put me away wet, but it's finished now. It was actually sort of my second time going through it but it was official this time. Now to make my study guide and finish Kaplan online materials!
 
FINALLY I AM FREE FROM THE TPR SCIENCE WORKBOOK!!! ~1000 discretes + 285 passages. That thing rode me hard and put me away wet, but it's finished now. It was actually sort of my second time going through it but it was official this time. Now to make my study guide and finish Kaplan online materials!

When are you taking the test?
 
When are you taking the test?

May 31st, I've been prepping for a while, need to make up for my lazy, low gpa. When is yours?

I just thought up of a deal for myself. If I hit my target score on any of the AAMC's and keep my average no more than 3 points below my target, I will treat myself to diablo 3 when it comes out, instead of waiting until after my MCAT. I don't know about anyone else here but I have been dying waiting for this game to come out, so that is some much needed extra motivation for these final weeks.
 
TBR Chemistry chapter 2 is too long.... I can't power through it at all. I just get so bored and distracted....
 
FINALLY I AM FREE FROM THE TPR SCIENCE WORKBOOK!!! ~1000 discretes + 285 passages. That thing rode me hard and put me away wet, but it's finished now. It was actually sort of my second time going through it but it was official this time. Now to make my study guide and finish Kaplan online materials!

Congrats!!! :thumbup: Major achievement, for real.

Meanwhile, on my end, I need to remember that adding parallel resistors decreases total effective resistance. B/c trying to derive this simple truth took me so long on the last section test--not cool.

Once again, adding PARALLEL resistors DECREASES total effective resistance. It's actually easy to remember, when I consider that it's has the opposite effect of adding resistors in series. Why is this important? Well, it could lead to a increase in the current output from the battery.
 
Congrats!!! :thumbup: Major achievement, for real.

Meanwhile, on my end, I need to remember that adding parallel resistors decreases total effective resistance. B/c trying to derive this simple truth took me so long on the last section test--not cool.

Once again, adding PARALLEL resistors DECREASES total effective resistance. It's actually easy to remember, when I consider that it's has the opposite effect of adding resistors in series. Why is this important? Well, it could lead to a increase in the current output from the battery.

also, a less known one. Adding voltage in series increases voltage. Adding voltage sources in parallel does not change the voltage :p
 
FINALLY I AM FREE FROM THE TPR SCIENCE WORKBOOK!!! ~1000 discretes + 285 passages. That thing rode me hard and put me away wet, but it's finished now. It was actually sort of my second time going through it but it was official this time. Now to make my study guide and finish Kaplan online materials!

I'm going to be doing the TPR bio passages in addition to my TBR Bio. That is about 85 passages worth :/ Should I skip any? I'm pretty much doing this to get more accustomed to VR like Bio passages.
 
Thanks Jude it feels really good.

I'm going to be doing the TPR bio passages in addition to my TBR Bio. That is about 85 passages worth :/ Should I skip any? I'm pretty much doing this to get more accustomed to VR like Bio passages.

I think the "advanced passages" that accompany the end of each section are the most realistic. Most of the passages are filled with pseudo discretes really designed to ingrain the knowledge they want you to know. But the advanced passages while still sometimes containing pseudo-discrete questions do require passage analysis. There are only a few per section, sometimes only 1, so those are definitely the ones you should look at.
 
Thanks Jude it feels really good.



I think the "advanced passages" that accompany the end of each section are the most realistic. Most of the passages are filled with pseudo discretes really designed to ingrain the knowledge they want you to know. But the advanced passages while still sometimes containing pseudo-discrete questions do require passage analysis. There are only a few per section, sometimes only 1, so those are definitely the ones you should look at.

In your opinion should I do it all? I'm also taking the May 31st MCAT. I'm kind of running out of time. Initially I started early so that I could do SN2 4 month schedule+ all TBR FL's + TPR Science Workbook for Ochem+Bio+ EK1001 All of them+ all AAMC.

I think I can do AAMC 3-11 for sure, and TBR 1-5. Right now I have been reading the TPR Biology Book to get a better grasp on physiology. I'll be on chapter 8 soon. I already finished entire EK1001 Bio and phase 1/2 of TBR Bio. I think I'm going to cut out the final 1/3 of all EK for physics and chem (I find the EK to be worded poorly and do terrible on them).

I'm just wondering if doing all the TPR workbook passages for Bio will be worth it or not. I'm also going to watch all the chad's videos on ochem (I did good on TBR O-chem but seriously memorized like no reactions).

I scored a 12 on AAMC -3 BIO (1 from 13) and a 11 on TBR Bio 1 (1 from 12). I'm really aiming for a 13+
 
How are you doing on PS? I think TPR is good for gen chem and physics as well. Finishing all of the bio and ochem might be a stretch at this point, but you should work on them and see how it's going. Some days I could do 30 passages and a lot of discretes but then a few days later I couldn't do more than 10.

Doing all the passages was worth it, but I spread them out over a long period, giving myself ample time to review. So I'd say just get started and keep working. Taking all the AAMCs is the #1 priority, followed by any other FL's you have, followed by passages and content review. I'm aiming really high too, but you can do too much content review, FLs are more important, especially this close to test date. I've taken 10 FLs so far, 1 AAMC initially to gauge where I was at and 9 Kaplan. At this point the test is so routine it doesn't phase me at all. In fact I enjoy my test days more than my study days.

I'm not sure how many TBR tests there are but you should try and do as many as possible in addition to the AAMCs, using the TPR workbook as additional practice in areas that you mess up on FLs.
 
How are you doing on PS? I think TPR is good for gen chem and physics as well. Finishing all of the bio and ochem might be a stretch at this point, but you should work on them and see how it's going. Some days I could do 30 passages and a lot of discretes but then a few days later I couldn't do more than 10.

Doing all the passages was worth it, but I spread them out over a long period, giving myself ample time to review. So I'd say just get started and keep working. Taking all the AAMCs is the #1 priority, followed by any other FL's you have, followed by passages and content review. I'm aiming really high too, but you can do too much content review, FLs are more important, especially this close to test date. I've taken 10 FLs so far, 1 AAMC initially to gauge where I was at and 9 Kaplan. At this point the test is so routine it doesn't phase me at all. In fact I enjoy my test days more than my study days.

I'm not sure how many TBR tests there are but you should try and do as many as possible in addition to the AAMCs, using the TPR workbook as additional practice in areas that you mess up on FLs.

Yeah my plan is to finish reading TPR in a couple more days. Did you do TBR passages as well? I think if anything I'll skip out on o-chem passages, and try to do Bio whenever I can. Man I took too many break days :/. Plus I have finals coming up so that automatically takes out like 7 days worth of studying ;/
 
Congrats!!! :thumbup: Major achievement, for real.

Meanwhile, on my end, I need to remember that adding parallel resistors decreases total effective resistance. B/c trying to derive this simple truth took me so long on the last section test--not cool.

Once again, adding PARALLEL resistors DECREASES total effective resistance. It's actually easy to remember, when I consider that it's has the opposite effect of adding resistors in series. Why is this important? Well, it could lead to a increase in the current output from the battery.

If you use a water analogy it's easy to remember CONCEPTUALLY so you don't have to memorize it. Think about it this way, if a river is flowing, and you split it into 5 more rivers, even if those rivers have some resistance, it is outweighed by the fact that there are more paths to travel.

By the same token, for series, if you dump more rocks into ONE river you will eventually build a Dam, i.e. increasing resistance. Hope that helps
 
Didn't do any TBR, though I kinda wish I did in the winter when I didn't do much. Been sort of taking it easy for about 2 weeks now, gonna kick it into high gear next week. Less than 6 weeks left and counting!
 
I don't know---I did my AAMC 3 and got a 10/12/8... A 12 in VR is 4/40 wrong and I didn't spend even a day on VR strategy. Now before you start scowling at me, I spent the last 4 months from 8 to 11 essentially everyday reviewing physics, orgo, bio and chem and I'm STILL at scores many of you would laugh at... especially as this is supposedly the "easiest AAMC" 3.

I guess my point is that we all have our own strength and weakness. And that's ok. Over the past few days, I've had less anxiety about this test than ever before. I'll do my best, and let God do the rest.

On to the next one...
 
I don't know---I did my AAMC 3 and got a 10/12/8... A 12 in VR is 4/40 wrong and I didn't spend even a day on VR strategy. Now before you start scowling at me, I spent the last 4 months from 8 to 11 essentially everyday reviewing physics, orgo, bio and chem and I'm STILL at scores many of you would laugh at... especially as this is supposedly the "easiest AAMC" 3.

I guess my point is that we all have our own strength and weakness. And that's ok. Over the past few days, I've had less anxiety about this test than ever before. I'll do my best, and let God do the rest.

On to the next one...

WHat books do you use. I really recommend TBR.

On the bright note, when reviewing my TBR-1 exam, I saw they marked 1 verbal wrong which I circled correctly, giving me a raw score of 32/40 for verbal. Their scale says, 29-34= 11-12 (Which is a crazy good curve :p A 32 on AAMC would be a 10-11. People say TBR1 verbal was super easy, but I thought the passages were extremely hard, it was just the questions were pretty straight forward, thats the highest I've scored in verbal as well :]

So I'm assuming a 32 is a 12 which increases my score from 11/11/11 to 11/12/11, WOOT!

I think I'm going to take AAMC 4 today.

AAMC3: 12/9/12 33
TBR-1 11/12/11 34

Hopefully I can score a 36+ today! :]
 
TBR verbal is usually 1-2 pts higher than AAMC. I stopped doing it after a bit because I didn't think it was worth it for anything more than pacing.
 
Oh gosh well AAMC 4 today, as soon as I finished the BS section I quit the internet so I didn't peek at my score. Gonna review it tomorrow and we'll see. PS felt like a dumbed down version of Kaplan, Verbal was more straightforward (for the most part), BS was actually slightly different. Kind of easy but kind of not. Also a discrete question about some really random bio.. better not show up on the real deal. Not sure how harsh the curve is, but I'll find out tomorrow when I review!


Edit to take out question detail ;o
 
Last edited:
Oh gosh well AAMC 4 today, as soon as I finished the BS section I quit the internet so I didn't peek at my score. Gonna review it tomorrow and we'll see. PS felt like a dumbed down version of Kaplan, Verbal was more straightforward (for the most part), BS was actually slightly different. Kind of easy but kind of not. Also a discrete question about some really random bio.. better not show up on the real deal. Not sure how harsh the curve is, but I'll find out tomorrow when I review!


Edit to take out question detail ;o


I took AAMC 4 today as well. 12/12/11 35

Dude, I thought the verbal was horrendously hard, felt like I didn't understand anything and was guessing at everything. Got a 12! Highest percent I've ever gotten as well! I was also 1 away from a 13 in physics, and 1 away from a 12 in Bio. I felt the Bio was tough :/

Hahaha Moving on Up!!

FL1-33
FL2-34
FL3-35

:] I was hoping for higher

but after the end of the test I thought I did worse.

Going to review tomorrow, and spend the rest of today and tomorrow studying for my o-chem lab final :/
 
Last edited:
TBR verbal is usually 1-2 pts higher than AAMC. I stopped doing it after a bit because I didn't think it was worth it for anything more than pacing.

Yeah, there passaged seemed to be detail / find the detail heavy rather than questions revolving around opinion etc. I thought the passages were harder to read though
 
I took AAMC 4 today as well. 12/12/11 35

Dude, I thought the verbal was horrendously hard, felt like I didn't understand anything and was guessing at everything. Got a 12! Highest percent I've ever gotten as well! I was also 1 away from a 13 in physics, and 1 away from a 12 in Bio. I felt the Bio was tough :/

Hahaha Moving on Up!!

FL1-33
FL2-34
FL3-35

:] I was hoping for higher

but after the end of the test I thought I did worse.

Going to review tomorrow, and spend the rest of today and tomorrow studying for my o-chem lab final :/

Nice job! Keep on moving up! Yeah I feel like because I thought PS and VR were easier I'll probably do worse on them and do better on BS because I thought it was harder. There were just several questions overall where I was unsure on what exactly they wanted, mostly a few in VR and a few ochem q's in bio. I'll post tomorrow, I don't like looking at my score right after because I'm not gonna review till the next day anyways. So if I don't score well I'll just be PO'd until I can review my errors, which won't be till the next day.
 
Nice job! Keep on moving up! Yeah I feel like because I thought PS and VR were easier I'll probably do worse on them and do better on BS because I thought it was harder. There were just several questions overall where I was unsure on what exactly they wanted, mostly a few in VR and a few ochem q's in bio. I'll post tomorrow, I don't like looking at my score right after because I'm not gonna review till the next day anyways. So if I don't score well I'll just be PO'd until I can review my errors, which won't be till the next day.

Yeah I feel you. I'm sure you did great! Do you have any trouble recalling older topics?
I have a lot of trouble remembering things like boyancy/ reading phase diagrams, etc that were a while ago. I mean I kind of remember them, BUT I wish I remembered Everything I've studied so far to the same ability that I had when I was reading the chapters and then doing the passages right after.

I did make some dumb Biology mistakes as well, Stupid me... Totally went over the fact that -COOH has a Carbonyl... because I didn't see a C=O in a molecule :p

I want to stop making dumb mistakes!!!!!! I'm also scared that my sciences composite didn't go up, my overall Score did, but I am pretty skeptical about it because of my 12 in verbal. I feel like that was just luck and I'm just hoping for a 10 on the real thing. I think I'm going to need to do TPR science workbook for Bio for sure. That + TBR Bio should atleast make me feel like I did everything I could. I would of then completed the entire TBR+1001 Bio+ 30 min Exam+ TPR WB Bio. Haha that would be great!
 
Top