The Official 7/2/2009 MCAT Club

[rprasan1985]

Alright, so you want to take the MCAT. You've found the urge to be a doctor, or you're doing it because you're pre-med, didn't realize what you were signing up for, and feel it's too late to back out now.

You've figured out where you stand, how far you need to go, and decided that the best date to take the MCAT is the 2nd of July 2009 because:

I) You want to fall into the 'early application' bucket, but still want to postpone it as far out as possible (else you'd have registered for June 18th )
II) You want to study your ass off over summer break, but still want to be done in time for the July 4th weekend
III) This is your second/third/fourth... attempt, and you've promised yourself this will be the lastest time everest.

Which of the above is/are true?

A) I only
B) I and II only
C) II and III only
D) I, II and III
E) None of the above, you crazy nerd. Stop wasting your time framing mindless questions and start studying already.

Anyhow, folks, welcome to the Official 7/2/2009 MCAT Club!!! We're all in this together, so let's lick this sucker!

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[DrHillerStyle]

Sorry to hear it. But thanks for sharing: I'm sure you're not the only one who didn't do as well as they'd hoped. That verbal section was awful. I know I got an 11 (which is what 10 wrong?) but considering every practice test I got 2 wrong, I did 5 times worse on this one. Don't be too discouraged, your bio and physical scores were great.

Hey MCATBear, thanks for the pick me up. I appreciate it very much. Haha, it's been what, 45 minutes, and I'm still in shock.

I have a feeling some people close to me may say that it's because I didn't take a prep course (I relied solely on EK material), but honestly, I felt fine going into the test...and right after.

Well, I have three weeks to prep for my 2nd test. I'll take this as a challenge.

Sustacular...Scrubs...let's regroup and tame that beast. I know we can do it! And, I'm sure it'll help on our second go round that we now have a feel for the test. We can just look to Marjan Islam for inspiration!

Celebratory hugs to all those who did well! And a sympathetic pat on the back to those who did not do as well as they would have liked. Feel free to PM me if you guys want to do a mini pity party (just kidding, consider it more like venting).

 

[LostInStudy]

WOW! A LOT of these scores are just absolutely amazing. Very good job guys.

Let me just remind you guys to try to help the rest of us out by posting on the 30+ thread whenever you have time.

Thanks so much and good luck with the rest of the cycle,

-LIS

 

[womp]

Good job guys with your scores...

But I'm surprised this thread isn't as busy reporting scores as some of the previous test day threads...

 

[Segovia]

Congrats to everyone!

It looks like we definitely had a hard VR, and I am sorry to anyone that didn't get the score they wanted. I feel totally lucky about my performance on this section, and chalk it up to chance. I felt like I could have just as easily had a 6 as an 11.

By the way, if you call your family with your "mediocre by SDN" scores, you will realize that you scored much higher than you thought

 

[Damege]

I'm ecstatic!

14 BS
12 PS
11 V
R W

for a total of 37R. This has made my summer! I'm really surprised I did so well on writing since I thought it was horrible. Anyway, time to finally enjoy life!

 

[Marie77]

29 O
V 10
P 10
B 9

Happy that I'm not going to retake (I would have retaken if below 27), but not so happy that I'm so close to 30 and didn't make it. Oh well, hopefully it won't keep me out of the running.

Congrats to everyone for making it through this last month, it has been a long one. Best of luck to all those retaking.

 

[JJMrK]

Congrats to those who got what they wanted. To those who didn't, hang in there.

 

[ChemEdude]

Its over..I have been battling this beast for too long now...the retake is over!!! Here is the breakdown:

12 PS
10 V (I thought I bombed this..the last passage on genetics must have been an experimental)
10 BS(I took orgo my freshman year...I didn't remember anything!)

Overall: 32

Its over!!!
wait...
i gotta get to work on secondaries...this never ends does it...

 

[wanderer]

36N (AAMC avg. =34)

PS 13 (AAMC avg. =13)
VR 11(AAMC avg. =9)
BS 12 (AAMC avg. =12)
I am very pleasantly surprised about VR! My AAMC avg. was 9. Man, was I worried about the VR.

It equaled my best estimation!

Pass the Heineken!

Congrats!

ps. Heineken sucks.

 

[fadingin]

AHHHHH I can't believe they're up:

First time around (7/18/08)
BS: 9
V: 9
PS: 6 (Yeah, I know)
W: Q

24Q

This year:
BS: 10(Low, but I'm pumped because I was a psych major and had no genetics courses whatsoever.)
PS: 11
V: 11 (I definitely thought I'd bombed this section)
W: S!!

32S

A tremendous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, time to pop open the champagne - hopefully with my GPA this will lead to some sort of acceptance!!!

Congrats to everyone else, I am on such a high right now.

 

[Mary Jane]

Finally feel like posting something here...

04/18: P10 V09 B10 WQ
07/02: P12 V11 B12 WO

I thought verbal was brutal and seriously thought I would get a worse score this time. Anyway, congrats to everyone who got what they wanted. My best wishes to everyone who plan to retake, I understand what a challenge that is, but a little hope and hard work goes a long way.

 

[sandmeyer]

So i just checked mine .. not sure what to think.

VR: 9
PS: 9
BS: 15
Writ: Q

Very lopsided. Should I worry about the low VR and PS? Phys and Chem are my major strong suits, so my scores sort of baffle me.

Thanks for any opinions.

 

[MCATBear]

So i just checked mine .. not sure what to think.

VR: 9
PS: 9
BS: 15
Writ: Q

Very lopsided. Should I worry about the low VR and PS? Phys and Chem are my major strong suits, so my scores sort of baffle me.

Thanks for any opinions.

My opinion is to take your 33Q and run with it! 15 BS is awesome. What were your practice averages?

 

[siliso]

Thrilled! 38T.
13 PS
13 VR
12 BS

The two AAMC tests I took were 34 and 33, so this was beyond my expectations. Hooray!

 

[sandmeyer]

My opinion is to take your 33Q and run with it! 15 BS is awesome. What were your practice averages?

I didn't actually ever finish a practice test haha - I did a few PS sections through and was getting 11 or 12 if I remember right. Thanks for the reply, I hope I won't have to revisit this test again!

Good luck to everyone.

 

[Damege]

So do we get to see what questions on the test we got wrong? Or are we just stuck with our scores?

 

[Dr Gerrard]

so did any of you come out of the exam knowing you missed a few problems and still did really well?

I took the 7/31 exam. Know I missed at least a few in BS and at least a few in PS. obviously it would be great if this was all i missed, but i am not sure this is the case.

I averaged 13 for PS, with 14 on AAMC 9/10 and a 12 in BS, and am hoping to do that on the real thing.

 

[cm4433]

so did any of you come out of the exam knowing you missed a few problems and still did really well?


I don't know about really well but I walked out of the test feeling really bad. I could count 5 wrong on the PS (my strongest w/ >12 practice avg) and I ended up with a 10 (composite 31R).

My gut feelings have been wrong for the most part on all of my practice tests as well.

 

[Segovia]

AHHHHH I can't believe they're up:

First time around (7/18/08)
BS: 9
V: 9
PS: 6 (Yeah, I know)
W: Q

24Q

This year:
BS: 10(Low, but I'm pumped because I was a psych major and had no genetics courses whatsoever.)
PS: 11
V: 11 (I definitely thought I'd bombed this section)
W: S!!

32S

A tremendous weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, time to pop open the champagne - hopefully with my GPA this will lead to some sort of acceptance!!!

Congrats to everyone else, I am on such a high right now.

Impressive! I was a psych major too, and also got a 10 on BS. Maybe it's just psychological

Awesome VR and huge jump on PS! You'll get some interviews in no time.

 

[jal06c]

ughhh.

PS: 8
VR: 7
BS: 10
Total: 25N

Don't know what I'm going to do. Either:
1) Take a year off and re-group/strengthen my application.
2) Apply just to FL schools and see how it goes.
2) Retake Aug 21 and then apply if my score increases, if not take a year off.

Leaning towards 1 or 2, don't know if I feel confident taking it in a couple weeks.

Congratulations to everyone who did great!!!

 

[Segovia]

So i just checked mine .. not sure what to think.

VR: 9
PS: 9
BS: 15
Writ: Q

Very lopsided. Should I worry about the low VR and PS? Phys and Chem are my major strong suits, so my scores sort of baffle me.

Thanks for any opinions.

I think you should apply.

 

[japatel2]

for all of those people that are taking practice tests and not hitting a 30+ score. my aamc practice tests were 25-28. i hit a 32 ONCE. but on my last practice test before my mcat, i got a 26.

i took the real mcat and got a 30... 10s across the board.

IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!

 

[Segovia]

ughhh.

PS: 8
VR: 7
BS: 10
Total: 25N

Don't know what I'm going to do. Either:
1) Take a year off and re-group/strengthen my application.
2) Apply just to FL schools and see how it goes.
2) Retake Aug 21 and then apply if my score increases, if not take a year off.

Leaning towards 1 or 2, don't know if I feel confident taking it in a couple weeks.

Congratulations to everyone who did great!!!

Well, at least you know what the test is like now. Unless you are going D.O., I would suggest option 1. An August MCAT would mean a completed AMCAS in September and a rush for secondaries. Maybe University of Miami though? Not too familiar with FL school stats. If you have tremendous EC's and other bells and whistles you could have a shot, but it would be difficult. Good Luck

 

[bruination]

VR: 9
PS: 12
BS: 10 ( I'm a biology major too. Pretty embarrassing. I think the 3X o-chem did me in)
Writ: O (I slapped my head after I realized what I submitted for that second prompt on art but this was as I hit the submit button and wanting to get through BS and out the door)

31O. Probably not going to hack it for CA schools?

 

[Segovia]

for all of those people that are taking practice tests and not hitting a 30+ score. my aamc practice tests were 25-28. i hit a 32 ONCE. but on my last practice test before my mcat, i got a 26.

i took the real mcat and got a 30... 10s across the board.

IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!

Congrats!

 

[NeuroSciSurg]

ugh. 29 (9, 10, 10) S... I really would have been happy with a 30...

So, apply? "safety" schools?

2 + yrs of full time research (2 pubs forthcoming - human stem cells)
4 + yrs of full time patient care - including OR scrub
great LOR's from two PI's, and 2 surgeons (2+ years each of FT work)
great E.C.'s

edit to add: last (4/06 paper) was a 24S.. 6 in PS (i know! ugh!)

 

[bruination]

NeuroSciSurg where's your state residency?

 

[Segovia]

VR: 9
PS: 12
BS: 10 ( I'm a biology major too. Pretty embarrassing. I think the 3X o-chem did me in)
Writ: O (I slapped my head after I realized what I submitted for that second prompt on art but this was as I hit the submit button and wanting to get through BS and out the door)

31O. Probably not going to hack it for CA schools?

Maybe UCI, UC-Davis, USC, & Loma are still within reach, but I am not sure. I got a 34, but my GPA is pretty low and I am still applying to pretty much every California school. However, I am also a white male, so that isn't going to help much either. How is your GPA?

I also got a 10 BS

 

[NeuroSciSurg]

NeuroSciSurg where's your state residency?

lucky spot to be in: CAN be either Oregon or NY... (leaning towards OR, even though more state schools in NY)

 

[bruination]

Maybe UCI, UC-Davis, USC, & Loma are still within reach, but I am not sure. I got a 34, but my GPA is pretty low and I am still applying to pretty much every California school. However, I am also a white male, so that isn't going to help much either. How is your GPA?

I also got a 10 BS

Around 3.8 for both cum and science. I would trade a tenth for another point or 2 on my MCAT

 

[DocHomer]

PS: 13
VR: 10
BS: 9
Total: 32

I wish my BS score was a 10 or above, but I'll take it. I'm glad this is over!

Good luck to everyone for this application season...

 

[bruination]

lucky spot to be in: CAN be either Oregon or NY... (leaning towards OR, even though more state schools in NY)

Go for NY and their bonanza of med schools. At least its not CA where there's no such thing as safety schools (if such a thing even exists?)

 

[bruination]

Good luck to you too and everyone else DocHomer!

 

[NeuroSciSurg]

Go for NY and their bonanza of med schools. At least its not CA where there's no such thing as safety schools (if such a thing even exists?)

Yeah, i'm from CA, so I guess since my parents are there I could go Cali, but no thanks! I wasn't much of a fan anyhow!

But, OHSU is a great school too.... grrr.... so hard to decide. so apply? Is that the moral of the story?

 

[tmntdonjuan]

Hey MCATBear, thanks for the pick me up. I appreciate it very much. Haha, it's been what, 45 minutes, and I'm still in shock.

I have a feeling some people close to me may say that it's because I didn't take a prep course (I relied solely on EK material), but honestly, I felt fine going into the test...and right after.

Well, I have three weeks to prep for my 2nd test. I'll take this as a challenge.

Sustacular...Scrubs...let's regroup and tame that beast. I know we can do it! And, I'm sure it'll help on our second go round that we now have a feel for the test. We can just look to Marjan Islam for inspiration!

Celebratory hugs to all those who did well! And a sympathetic pat on the back to those who did not do as well as they would have liked. Feel free to PM me if you guys want to do a mini pity party (just kidding, consider it more like venting).

Hey Dr. Hiller I'm in the same boat as you. I got 11 BS 10 PS and 7 VR. The problem for me is I took it a year ago and got the same score (10 BS 10 PS 8 VR). I'm not going to re-take since I'm not in the right state of mind nor do I have the time currently. Good luck with the studying. I'm a Ducks fan too. I can't wait for the season to start now that we have Koivu. Personally though, I think Giguere is going to be the starter this year.

 

[bruination]

Yeah, i'm from CA, so I guess since my parents are there I could go Cali, but no thanks! I wasn't much of a fan anyhow!

But, OHSU is a great school too.... grrr.... so hard to decide. so apply? Is that the moral of the story?

Is your GPA decent?

It just seems so frustrating being from CA because its like you have to work that much harder than other people in the nation to try to stay in state

 

[Qcumber4life]

Hope everyone is happy. I guess i am.....

12 PS
11 VR
12 BS
M!!!!!!!!!! lol wtf

35M

Somehow i managed to get into the 95th percentile in the multiple choice section and 10-35 percentile in the writing section. Hope this doesn't automatically disqualify me from mid to top tier schools!

 

[bruination]

Maybe UCI, UC-Davis, USC, & Loma are still within reach, but I am not sure. I got a 34, but my GPA is pretty low and I am still applying to pretty much every California school. However, I am also a white male, so that isn't going to help much either. How is your GPA?

I also got a 10 BS

USC is out of the picture (my schedule next year is tight as is to graduate so I can't fit in 3 more nonscience class to fulfill their course requirements. Maybe if I take some classes the summer after I graduate at my CC but that's more money that I don't have) and I don't think I can ever survive in the religious atmosphere at Loma Linda

 

[Omni]

Hey everyone! Congrats to those who did well/better than they expected. As for everyone else, please don't lose hope!
Also, will you guys just take a few seconds and just visit the threads that I've included in my signature. I'm just collecting data, so just please take a look at it.

 

[NeuroSciSurg]

Is your GPA decent?

It just seems so frustrating being from CA because its like you have to work that much harder than other people in the nation to try to stay in state

GPA is fine; 3.5 (won't hurt really). shows dramatic improvement - my fresh. yr was a joke

 

[bruination]

So do we get to see what questions on the test we got wrong? Or are we just stuck with our scores?

You never get to see the exam. You don't even get to know how many questions you missed. Your scaled score and percentiles are all you get

 

[bruination]

GPA is fine; 3.5 (won't hurt really). shows dramatic improvement - my fresh. yr was a joke

Sounds good. I would apply and as a NY resident

 

[Scrubs920]

ughhh.

PS: 8
VR: 7
BS: 10
Total: 25N

Don't know what I'm going to do. Either:
1) Take a year off and re-group/strengthen my application.
2) Apply just to FL schools and see how it goes.
2) Retake Aug 21 and then apply if my score increases, if not take a year off.

Leaning towards 1 or 2, don't know if I feel confident taking it in a couple weeks.

Congratulations to everyone who did great!!!

I'm in the same boat; however I'm leaning towards choice #3. I know taking off a year would not benefit me. I already studied for the past year (since last June) for 40 hours a week. This past year during winter vacation my family went Florida and I stayed behind in the library studying for this stupid test. I put in all my best and I concluded that taking off another year to study is pointless. On test day I didn't perform well because the night before the exam I was throwing up out of nervousness and only got 20 minutes of sleep. You should defiantly retake it; you should determine when to take the exam based on how well you know the material. If you know it very well, don't delay taking this exam. The longer you drag it out the more you forget and now the material should be fresh.

 

[rprasan1985]

Ok, here goes:

Test # PS VR BS Total
(in order taken)
AAMC 3: 8 11 9; 28
AAMC 4: 11 12 11; 34
AAMC 5: 12 11 12; 35
AAMC 6: 11 11 12; 34
AAMC 7: 13 10 13; 36
AAMC 8: 14 10 15; 39
AAMC 9: 12 11 14; 37
AAMC 10: 12 10 13; 35

AVERAGE: 11.5; 10.75; 12.5; 34.75

Test Scores (7/2/09):

PS 12
VR 9
BS 12
Writing Q
Total 33Q

Not happy, not too sad...

This is my second lowest score among all my AAMCs (only my first AAMC FL was lower).

Happy with PS and BS. Not sure what happened in VR. My lowest ever VR. Ever.

I'm just on the borderline. Decent score, but may not be good enough for my needs...

Sigh.

 

[rprasan1985]

Honestly, I'm hoping this is all a dream and I will wake up tomorrow to see no score.

That VR is bugging me now.

 

[ragnarokice]

Honestly, I'm hoping this is all a dream and I will wake up tomorrow to see no score.

That VR is bugging me now.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I was hoping I didn't do as poorly on the VR section as I thought I did...but no luck

32N (13 PS / 8 VR / 11 BS)

My avg AAMC score was ~34-35. I was debating whether or not to retake, take a year off and just apply next cycle but I'm thinking now of just going with this score. I'm not sure I want to ever take that test again. I know that my chances of getting into the schools that I originally wanted to attend are much lower now though...if only I had gotten that 35... =/

 

[rotatedline]

I figured the scores wouldn't be up until tomorrow, decided to check this thread anyways at around 12:30. Needless to say I immediately started shaking when I saw that scores were up. Anyways the breakdown:

AAMC Averages:
PS- 8-9
VR- 12
BS- 9-11

Actual (7/2--29R
PS: 8
VR: 12
BS: 9
W: R

Most people might be pretty unhappy with a 29R, but I'm applying DO (+ my MD alma mater), so I think I'm set now. PS was always a wasteland for me, I knew I had to pull it up with VR and BS--but I really thought I could do better in BS, I'm a little disappointed about that. However, this particular BS section did test some of my weaker areas. Whatever, it's done, I'm fairly content, and there will not be a round 2. Congratulations to everyone who did as well as they had hoped and good luck to everyone who has to step back up to the plate.

 

[Segovia]

Ok, here goes:

Test # PS VR BS Total
(in order taken)
AAMC 3: 8 11 9; 28
AAMC 4: 11 12 11; 34
AAMC 5: 12 11 12; 35
AAMC 6: 11 11 12; 34
AAMC 7: 13 10 13; 36
AAMC 8: 14 10 15; 39
AAMC 9: 12 11 14; 37
AAMC 10: 12 10 13; 35

AVERAGE: 11.5; 10.75; 12.5; 34.75

Test Scores (7/2/09):

PS 12
VR 9
BS 12
Writing Q
Total 33Q

Not happy, not too sad...

This is my second lowest score among all my AAMCs (only my first AAMC FL was lower).

Happy with PS and BS. Not sure what happened in VR. My lowest ever VR. Ever.

I'm just on the borderline. Decent score, but may not be good enough for my needs...

Sigh.

What schools are you applying to?

 

[silverlion]

3/28/09: 27Q (PS 9/ VR 8/ BS 10)

7/02/09: 33M!! (PS 13/ VR 8/ BS 12)

Okay, so the drop in WRITING shouldn't be a big deal, but my VR score is still an 8 . But I don't care, I'm done with this test! I've spent some $3000 studying for it, went through some 15 books and the entire Kaplan online work and live course, and took about 35 practice tests. I AM DONE!!!

Hey Marjan....I remember reading your posts for a while and I'm really happy for you....good score...dont worry so much about the drop on the writing...you had a Q earlier and the schools will see that and it shouldn't be a huge deal....

I took it on july 2nd too and got a 34Q ( PS12/ VR 11/ BS 11) as opposed to what I had last year ( 28S PS7/ VR 9/BS 12)

I'm so happy right now....I've been following this thread but just didnt write anything thus far....but I cant believe how happy I am right now... Congrats to all of the people who did well....and to all of those who arent happy with what they got: Dont worry too much...I took this test after preparing all over again and tried to keep a positive attitude....if you persist and have the right attitude you'll do better next time...dont let anyone get you down....Improving on your score isnt that hard and dont take any negativity in that comes from looking at stats on how retakers do...You'll all do fine if you really want this to work....

 

[silverlion]

Hope everyone is happy. I guess i am.....

12 PS
11 VR
12 BS
M!!!!!!!!!! lol wtf

35M

Somehow i managed to get into the 95th percentile in the multiple choice section and 10-35 percentile in the writing section. Hope this doesn't automatically disqualify me from mid to top tier schools!

LOL....You'll be ok man....Dont worry about the M....Congrats on the awesome score