The Official 4/5/12 MCAT Thread

[MedPR]

I know there's kind of already a thread, but this is the official one

I'm registered at 1PM (I think the only time offered on 4/5?) and this is a retake for me.

Using a variation of SN2ed's 3 month schedule (109 days) and started studying a few days ago.

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[aspiringdoc624]

I took my first test May 15 2011 i believe. I felt pretty confident after taking it and had my AMCAS application all ready to send in the day i got my scores (mid june). well, I got saw my scores and I swore there was a mistake. i mean i had never gotten below a 10 on any verbal practice, and i end up with a 6 on the real thing?!?! I was ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED after committing my entire spring semester to this test (aka no going out on weekends OR weekdays AT ALL, and rarely hanging out with any of my friends/having fun). I originally told myself I would get back on the horse immediately and try to retake that august. but after a month off from studying and 3 weeks into summer, I was completely out of an academic mindset and didnt want to give up my summer and try to cram in the studying and potentially not do as well as i wanted, so I decided that I would take a year off after i graduated before attending medical school. I started restudying this past January, at the beginning of my final spring semester and obviously took the test on 4/5. I got 10 hours of 1 on 1 tutoring for verbal from princeton review and just hammmered my kaplan science books (from the first time i took the test). bottomline, is while it was not ideal to have to take it twice, I am sure as hell glad i did!! not only was i able to improve my awful weakness by 4 points (verbal), I was able to improve PS by 4 as well, improving my overall score by 7!!

Trust me, I was just as devastated as you were, and tears were definitely shed. I just didnt understand how after all the studying i had done and the sacrifices i had made this could happen to me! but, bust your ass one more time and focus on your weak areas, and i know you'll be able to get the score you want!!

that really does give hope! thanks for sharing. i got 10/6/12 PS/VR/BS when i took it may 2011 (summer b/w junior and senior year in college), and same situation (i was devastated i got a 6). trying to take this summer to go over materials and hopefully take the exam in september or jan '13. also good to know that your pr verbal course helped.

 

[OwlPower22]

I... I don't know. I've just been crying on and off for the last 5hrs. I'm going to pull myself back together though, of course... just, tomorrow. ):

You can do it, Camy! The first time I took my MCAT, I cried on my bf's shoulder (he bought me a drink, so that made me feel much better haha) and my doc mentor inadvertently walked in on me crying in my office. Talk about embarrassing... Anyway, just let it out. You'll feel so much better. Then, strap on your thinking cap and start taking those practice tests! If you're taking the Kaplan program, I recommend going over their workshops and tutorials.

 

[OwlPower22]

Oh and aspiringdoc, have you used the Examkrackers 101 Passages in Verbal? My initial AAMC diagnostic verbal score was dreadful, but I found that doing a lot of passages from this book (and from practice tests) really helped. You're pretty much set on the sciences, so no need to go over those too much.

 

[sahida]

I got a 30Q, PS 14 VR 5 BS 11. I was expecting a much higher score, and as you can see my verbal score really brought me down. I was shocked when I saw the score because I have never scored that low on a VR section, and I thought I did good on VR after I left the exam room. On my practice exams, I averaged around an 8. I was counting on this score to apply to Medical Schools this summer, but now I am not sure if I should retake. I have heard that scoring below a 7 in any section is not a good sign for med schools.

Would it benefit me to do a retake this summer and score a few points higher on verbal?

Should I still apply to medical schools this summer?

 

[aspiringdoc624]

Oh and aspiringdoc, have you used the Examkrackers 101 Passages in Verbal? My initial AAMC diagnostic verbal score was dreadful, but I found that doing a lot of passages from this book (and from practice tests) really helped. You're pretty much set on the sciences, so no need to go over those too much.

I had not used them last time. I plan on starting on doing them as soon as finals get done (around next week). I really struggle with the best way to practice the VR section as well. As in, since I'm not strong in VR, should i do 3 passages per day and time myself, and then gradually go to all 7 passages (you know...the concept of building stamina). do you have any thoughts on that?
thanks for your input!

 

[aspiringdoc624]

I got a 30Q, PS 14 VR 5 BS 11. I was expecting a much higher score, and as you can see my verbal score really brought me down. I was shocked when I saw the score because I have never scored that low on a VR section, and I thought I did good on VR after I left the exam room. On my practice exams, I averaged around an 8. I was counting on this score to apply to Medical Schools this summer, but now I am not sure if I should retake. I have heard that scoring below a 7 in any section is not a good sign for med schools.

Would it benefit me to do a retake this summer and score a few points higher on verbal?

Should I still apply to medical schools this summer?

Sahida, i think it depends on what kind of schools you have in mind. If you plan on submitting your apps to some of the US News "top" schools, i think said or unsaid they want at least a 10. I could be wrong, but that's what I was told by some med admissions interviewers. i tried applications with my first round scores last year, 10/6/12 ps, vr,bs ; didn't get any interviews (but then again i had applied to some very select schools). so i am planning on retaking it end of this year or next year and reapplying. i'm sure different people have different experiences, but that was mine.

 

[eggs13]

I got a 30Q, PS 14 VR 5 BS 11. I was expecting a much higher score, and as you can see my verbal score really brought me down. I was shocked when I saw the score because I have never scored that low on a VR section, and I thought I did good on VR after I left the exam room. On my practice exams, I averaged around an 8. I was counting on this score to apply to Medical Schools this summer, but now I am not sure if I should retake. I have heard that scoring below a 7 in any section is not a good sign for med schools.

Would it benefit me to do a retake this summer and score a few points higher on verbal?

Should I still apply to medical schools this summer?

I had heard that below an 8 on any one section will almost always get you screened out of MD schools (of course there are exceptions), but because of this and my initial 6 in verbal I only applied to one DO school with my 28 (10/6/12) and i got an interview and currently am on the waitlist. Obviously now with a 35 my options have opened quite a bit and should be relatively competitive at a lot of MD schools given my GPA (3.73, bio major, chem minor). I think with your score you def still have a shot at DO schools but I would definitely consider retaking it and trying to get that verbal up to around at least an 8 (if not better!!, you can do it!!) to give yourself a better shot at MD schools (if thats what you want)

 

[ddb]

I went up from 31 to 34, gained two points in Biology by studying O-chem. That was definitely my weak point so I focused on that for about a month, specifically learning all the second semester concepts and functional groups, which seemed to be where I got tripped up on the last test.
I got an extra point in Verbal too (11 to 12) but I think that was just from reading harder (not faster, just closer) and not backing down. PS stayed exactly the same (10) on both tests, even though I studied a lot of that too. I couldn't point to any specific weak topics for PS, it is just not a strong subject for me. I guess I am just a 10PS.
So personally, I think if you have a very clear weak point then you can change your score by focusing in on it. If there is no specific weak point then maybe it will be hard to increase. But I could be wrong.

 

[OwlPower22]

I got a 30Q, PS 14 VR 5 BS 11. I was expecting a much higher score, and as you can see my verbal score really brought me down. I was shocked when I saw the score because I have never scored that low on a VR section, and I thought I did good on VR after I left the exam room. On my practice exams, I averaged around an 8. I was counting on this score to apply to Medical Schools this summer, but now I am not sure if I should retake. I have heard that scoring below a 7 in any section is not a good sign for med schools.

Would it benefit me to do a retake this summer and score a few points higher on verbal?

Should I still apply to medical schools this summer?

I'd say definitely get some tutoring in verbal if you can afford it. Paying the extra money is worth it. If not, I suggest doing a crap ton of practice problems. Getting a 5 on VR sends a red flag. Good job on PS, however!

 

[OwlPower22]

I had not used them last time. I plan on starting on doing them as soon as finals get done (around next week). I really struggle with the best way to practice the VR section as well. As in, since I'm not strong in VR, should i do 3 passages per day and time myself, and then gradually go to all 7 passages (you know...the concept of building stamina). do you have any thoughts on that?
thanks for your input!

It depends on when you're retaking the exam. I only had a month to study for my retake so I was strapped for time. This equated to doing at least 7 passages per day and/or doing one practice test per day. Do not attempt to do two practice AAMC's or Kaplans a day - you will fry your brain and not learn much from your mistakes. If you only have a month (or two) like I did, I suggest at least 7 passages a day and don't slack. I know it's a lot, but that's the only way you'll improve.

 

[Left2right]

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3p6v2u/

Basically that explains it.

Hahah. I know exactly what you're saying.

 

[Left2right]

Would y'all say the AAMC's were representative of what you encountered on the MCAT? In terms of question difficulty.

To me, the actual mcat seemed harder. Part of it was because there are gonna be topics on there that you are really not familiar with. You might not have encountered this "lack of familiarity with passages" on the aamc practice tests because I feel that the major test prep companies introduce to you some of the topics used on the aamc practice tests. Therefore, there's a chance that when you take the aamc practice tests, you'll be already familiar with the passage topic. Hence, when you do get surprised during the actual mcat, you might not handle it very well.

 

[OwlPower22]

Not sure if anyone saw this SDN article on how to prepare for the verbal. I wish I read it before I took my MCAT. -__-
http://studentdoctor.net/2012/04/a-comprehensive-approach-to-preparing-for-the-mcat-verbal/

 

[kes1320]

I got a 27Q....after seeing everybody else's scores on here I pretty much feel like I bombed it :x haha all of you did amazing GOOD JOB

 

[MedPR]

Would y'all say the AAMC's were representative of what you encountered on the MCAT? In terms of question difficulty.

I felt it was easier, yet I scored 1 point below my AAMC average.

 

[BurntFlower]

Thank you so much guys, really I've been a wreck, haha. I definitely know it's not the end of the world, and as I said I will pull myself back. It's just been such a dang stressful process (and I just got out of midterm week so I don't think my brain is reacting well to things) and my family and friends had so much hope in me (perhaps too much--why did I tell them about this again?), I've never let them down like this before. I haven't actually told anyone outside of the internet yet. Let myself down too.... But I can and will take it again, and go from there. It's just hard to think about how that works out for whether or not I'll be applying this year... a lot to rethink. So while I'm at it, if there are any retakers who would like to inform me about how this step all works, I'd love a PM!

PS. I'm a girl, bro (;
PPS. Is it funny that the biggest smack in the face wasn't that I failed BS but that a 5hr test called me a terrible writer when it's been one of my hobbies for the last 5 years? Son of a... XD

YOU GOT THIS! Don't give up, we're getting into medical school next year and we're going to become doctors.

 

[Dman27]

should I go for a third try? I've now bombed it twice, I have no clue how.... yet I get all the score I want on real simulated practice exams... I just don't get it

 

[dgsilvervid]

should I go for a third try? I've now bombed it twice, I have no clue how.... yet I get all the score I want on real simulated practice exams... I just don't get it

Don't give up. If you are there on the practice exams that is the majority of the battle, you have to get over the test anxiety. A lot of a people get held back from test anxiety on the mcat. Also I have friends that have done a lot of GPA damage during undergrad, it was like someone flipped a switch, they got one bad grade on a standardized test and from there on out they couldn't take them without doing poorly and they knew the stuff. If you got the scores on the practice you have to figure out a strategy to stay calm cool and collected during test day. Keep it up you will get your score.

 

[Dman27]

Don't give up. If you are there on the practice exams that is the majority of the battle, you have to get over the test anxiety. A lot of a people get held back from test anxiety on the mcat. Also I have friends that have done a lot of GPA damage during undergrad, it was like someone flipped a switch, they got one bad grade on a standardized test and from there on out they couldn't take them without doing poorly and they knew the stuff. If you got the scores on the practice you have to figure out a strategy to stay calm cool and collected during test day. Keep it up you will get your score.

Thanks I needed something to try and calm me down a little, it's been the week from hell for me and this made it much more worse.

I was scoring mid 30's on the practice exams, timed in the library. And on the real one I wound up with a score that the Caribbean schools wouldn't even consider!

Do you have any advice on how to lower test anxiety, and how to take it just like it's another practice exam?

 

[dgsilvervid]

Thanks I needed something to try and calm me down a little, it's been the week from hell for me and this made it much more worse.

I was scoring mid 30's on the practice exams, timed in the library. And on the real one I wound up with a score that the Caribbean schools wouldn't even consider!

Do you have any advice on how to lower test anxiety, and how to take it just like it's another practice exam?

I don't really have any sure fire things to tell you to do. I wish I was getting 35s on practice btw, you should be really thankful for that. Honestly getting that kind of score you should have nothing to worry about. I still haven't checked my score from 4/5 I never scored that high on the practice exams. I agree with you last week was a week from hell. I had a cumulative organic 2 final, anatomy final and cumulative biochem final, along with organic lab final. Final exam week sucks. Id say in some way you have to work on your confidence, you have to be able to narrow it down pick an answer and forget about it. Again you are getting 35s, you have every reason to be confident. I can relate to your stress at test time. I never had an issue with timing or stress when taking full lengths under timed conditions until the real deal. On the real deal I ran short on everything, didn't leave any blank but def had to blind guess on some which is an awful feeling. That was on 4/5 PS. So I think no matter what there is a degree of unconscious worry of (omg I have to chose the right answer, I can't simply click done and review this when it's over.. I have to pick the right answer) that's what set me back. I was way more stressed by the real deal than the practices. I always felt neutral when finishing a FL aamc, when I walked out of 4/5 I felt bad. I think the solution to your test anxiety is gonna be a personal one, it's gonna be whatever you can do to relax during / before text day. On my practice days I would look at memes on breaks on the real deal I just paced frantically, did a little deep breathing. The answer lies in your scores you have already obtained, you have every reason to be confident you need to simply be calm and trust in your knowledge.

 

[Dman27]

I don't really have any sure fire things to tell you to do. I wish I was getting 35s on practice btw, you should be really thankful for that. Honestly getting that kind of score you should have nothing to worry about. I still haven't checked my score from 4/5 I never scored that high on the practice exams. I agree with you last week was a week from hell. I had a cumulative organic 2 final, anatomy final and cumulative biochem final, along with organic lab final. Final exam week sucks. Id say in some way you have to work on your confidence, you have to be able to narrow it down pick an answer and forget about it. Again you are getting 35s, you have every reason to be confident. I can relate to your stress at test time. I never had an issue with timing or stress when taking full lengths under timed conditions until the real deal. On the real deal I ran short on everything, didn't leave any blank but def had to blind guess on some which is an awful feeling. That was on 4/5 PS. So I think no matter what there is a degree of unconscious worry of (omg I have to chose the right answer, I can't simply click done and review this when it's over.. I have to pick the right answer) that's what set me back. I was way more stressed by the real deal than the practices. I always felt neutral when finishing a FL aamc, when I walked out of 4/5 I felt bad. I think the solution to your test anxiety is gonna be a personal one, it's gonna be whatever you can do to relax during / before text day. On my practice days I would look at memes on breaks on the real deal I just paced frantically, did a little deep breathing. The answer lies in your scores you have already obtained, you have every reason to be confident you need to simply be calm and trust in your knowledge.

Thanks, yeah it's just pretty bumming knowing I can get scores that blow my mind on a practice (because I'd be thrilled with a 30) and then not to even score a 25 on the real thing. The math in the PS was getting to me I think, and all my basic strategies go out the window. Maybe I just have to buy more practice exams and get at it.... If not I'll take the GRE as a safety , grab a masters and keep trying. Thank you! And good luck with the very long journey that awaits us.