The Official 8/24/2010 MCAT club!

[lovedocta07]

Just getting this started, this is my retake so im ready to destroy this test once and for all!!

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[blueberry91]

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[mzblue]

You're going to retake a 34T? WOW! that's rich.

34T - PS 10 VR 10 14 BS.

Not sure how I feel about this right now...I might retake. I'm obviously happy with BS and writing, which might compensate for lower scores in PS and VR...? I'm satisfied with PS since I thought it was way harder than any practice exams I took but VR is confusing me, I thought I would do much better. Sigh.

 

[Handinhand]

It seems like they were VERY stingy curving a ridiculously hard PS. I thought I did poorly, but not as bad as I actually did.

 

[dreams4life]

..

 

[nr6unhH]

6 verbal
11 physical science
10 biological science
Q writing

People tell me I should retake..... I've been getting 25~29 on practice tests having 6~8 on verbal all the time.. mostly 6 or 7..
studied whole summer for this exam. (3 months)


I should retake, right?

how does january sound?

 

[yaydoc]

dreams4life:
Cheer up. There are many here who had English as their second language. It is possible to improve your score. Your overall score is not that bad. Most of us struggle with verbal. You have a good ws score so maybe it might help you. To the verbal beast you need confidence. First of all, you should have the confidence that it is possible to improve your vs. Is this your first time taking the Mcat?

Hi! Thanks for writing back. Yea, this was my first time taking the MCAT, was kindda hoping it would be the last. I usually had a minimum of 7 and max of 10 on AAMC practice Verbal reasoning. So this was pretty surprising, I think I might retake in April, but I need some hardcore practice..any advice? what to read or how often? should I read novels or long stories or whatever close to MCAT verbal style? I really appreciate your kind and encouraging words

 

[ping3pong]

10 PS 10 VR 12 BS O
annoyed at the ps. I was averaging 12-15 on aamc. oh well. i'll take a 32. especially the verbal. i was ecstatic about that

 

[OhKay]

I am looking for some serious advice here. This was my retake. First time 5/21 score was P7 V8 B10. This time around it was a 28 P9 V8 B11. I have a 3.73 GPA. I have completed most of my secondaries and am wondering if it is worth it to submit my amcas to more schools this late in the game. Also does it really take 6 weeks from now for schools to receive out scores?

 

[bonoz]

6 verbal
11 physical science
10 biological science
Q writing

People tell me I should retake..... I've been getting 25~29 on practice tests having 6~8 on verbal all the time.. mostly 6 or 7..
studied whole summer for this exam. (3 months)


I should retake, right?

how does january sound?

That's the exact same score I got on my first MCAT. Except your writing is better than mine. Don't despair. If it's your first retake, all you have to do is 1) maintain your sciences and 2) improve your verbal by at least a few points.

If you have already applied this cycle, that's fine. But start studying for a retake.

1) Get yourself EK 101 and practice the **** out of that. Do as many verbal practices as you can. Read as if you were part of the story. And try to finish each passage (with questions) in 6.5 minutes. That helps a lot. Also, do not reread anything. Just force yourself to read on and never look back. This helps you maintain your pace. Your brain will do its job of keeping things in track.

2) As you are doing that, keep doing light review of yours sciences. It is always important to work on your weaknesses. Think of your most feared and hated MCAT topic. Study the **** out of that. Study every part of it and more until that topic becomes your best friend. Then practice that topic using review questions and full lengths.

3) Take full-lengths. Do lots of practices. And as you're doing them, always do a good post-game analysis. Make a list of your strengths and your weaknesses. Now work on improving on those weaknesses and MAINTAINING your strengths. It is easy to get complacent with things you are good at. So make sure you don't let that happen to yourself.

This is what I would suggest. Don't let this get you down. You already have the sciences in the bag. Just make sure you can get your verbal up without letting the sciences go down.

Hope this helps.

 

[bonoz]

I am looking for some serious advice here. This was my retake. First time 5/21 score was P7 V8 B10. This time around it was a 28 P9 V8 B11. I have a 3.73 GPA. I have completed most of my secondaries and am wondering if it is worth it to submit my amcas to more schools this late in the game. Also does it really take 6 weeks from now for schools to receive out scores?

I would say that the most important thing here is that your score went up by three points and none of your section scores went down. People get in with a 28. I would say you should apply to schools who would look favourably to your score. But keep studying for the MCAT if you have to retake it in the future. Just very light studying would do. Just keep the information fresh. A slight shuffle through notecards every other day is not a bad thing.

 

[Turkelton]

P8 V9 B10 - 27P , Finally done with this monster!! (SMP and a 27 should hopefully get the job done).

It took me 3 MCAT's to get the score I wanted.

I would like to say that both Kaplan and TPR's advice for verbal reasoning are complete garbage. There really is no time to be writing out maps for passages, or trying to do really well on 6 passages and then completely guessing on the last passage, both of these approachs destroyed my verbal score in previous MCAT attempts. I wish that I had practiced the exam krackers verbal approach since the beginning.

For the people retaking scores higher than 30, I find your approach to being accepted to medical school quite funny to read about, and I wish you the best on your pursuit of perfection from an unforgiving test.

 

[USCTrojan11]

P8 V9 B10 - 27P , Finally done with this monster!! (SMP and a 27 should hopefully get the job done).

It took me 3 MCAT's to get the score I wanted.

I would like to say that both Kaplan and TPR's advice for verbal reasoning are complete garbage. There really is no time to be writing out maps for passages, or trying to do really well on 6 passages and then completely guessing on the last passage, both of these approachs destroyed my verbal score in previous MCAT attempts. I wish that I had practiced the exam krackers verbal approach since the beginning.

For the people retaking scores higher than 30, I find your approach to being accepted to medical school quite funny to read about, and I wish you the best on your pursuit of perfection from an unforgiving test.

Why is it funny to retake a 30?

 

[disciplinedONE]

29Q
10 9 10.. currently in 3rd year.. Canadian looking at any Canadian or American admissions.. is this a definite rewrite? thanks in advance.

 

[OrangeRoost]

Was going to post yesterday, but I got my scores at about the same time I went to see Ron Jeremy debate porn at my university....
24P (ps 8, v 7, bs 9)
Oh well, can't win them all.

 

[Mithril]

29Q
10 9 10.. currently in 3rd year.. Canadian looking at any Canadian or American admissions.. is this a definite rewrite? thanks in advance.

For Canada, your best bet with that score is with in-province schools. You're going to need to be absolutely stellar in the other parts of your application if you want a shot at out-of-province schools.

I've been lurking this thread and I'm surprised at the amount of low scores. It must've been one hell of a hard exam.

 

[Snuke]

10/12/12 S

Happy with the VR and pleased with the BS (thought it could be higher but eh) and a bit relieved with the PS. That was a killer! The curves were very strict with the BS and the VR because I was in the 98th percentile for VR and mid 90s for BS. Not quite sure where the S came from, not that it matters too much.

 

[wannabedoc3]

First score 8/21/09: 7PS, 9V, 9B;N
Re-take 8/24/10: 8PS, 9V, 8B; O

I am completely devastated by my score. For my first MCAT I did not prepare correctly and somewhat expected the score I received. However, for my retake I felt much better prepared. I had averaged 29 on my aamc practice tests (for mcat #2) with my last four tests being 30+. I knew that my performance was not great, but I decided to have it graded anyway. My nerves got the better of me and I could not think clearly and was not working at my practiced pace. I feel like I am capable of scoring mid 30's but I am scared of taking the MCAT again (for fear I will do the same or worse). WHAT SHOULD I DO??

I need advice!

My cGPA is 3.5 and my EC's aren't astounding (a month of shadowing, 8 months Biochemistry research work, just earned CNA and will begin working soon, and have started volunteering at local hospital).
My question is should I even bother applying this cycle? Or would I be better served waiting until next year and spend time working on re-taking classes (to improve grades) and gain more medical experience?

 

[Tennis1986]

9/07/07 V9 PS:11 B:10 W:O
8/24/10 V:8 PS:9 B:10 W:Q
Will going down 3 years later hurt me? I spent a year in South America working in a medical center and orphanage and have been working as an EMT the and taking grad courses...What are my chances?
MY GPAS
Fresh Science2.83
Soph Science 3.00
Jr. Science 3.20
Senior Science 3.32
Grad: 3.54
Sci Cum:3.19
Total Cum 3.18

 

[Pons Asinorum]

9/07/07 V9 PS:11 B:10 W:O
8/24/10 V:8 PS:9 B:10 W:Q
Will going down 3 years later hurt me? I spent a year in South America working in a medical center and orphanage and have been working as an EMT the and taking grad courses...What are my chances?
MY GPAS
Fresh Science2.83
Soph Science 3.00
Jr. Science 3.20
Senior Science 3.32
Grad: 3.54
Sci Cum:3.19
Total Cum 3.18

Unfortunately not very good for allopathic programs.

 

[Whale]

9/07/07 V9 PS:11 B:10 W:O
8/24/10 V:8 PS:9 B:10 W:Q
Will going down 3 years later hurt me? I spent a year in South America working in a medical center and orphanage and have been working as an EMT the and taking grad courses...What are my chances?
MY GPAS
Fresh Science2.83
Soph Science 3.00
Jr. Science 3.20
Senior Science 3.32
Grad: 3.54
Sci Cum:3.19
Total Cum 3.18

AMCAS separates undergrad and grad cumulative GPA by science and grad. Because of your GPA, even with a good MCAT score it may be an uphill battle for you to get in to an MD program. academics are the first cut before an interview, you may not make it past the first cut.

That said, you have demonstrated very well your altruism with your service, so you should have a shot somewhere at a DO. Apply broadly to both MD and DO and see what happen. You have given too much to not try to the very end. Good luck!

 

[osu1990]

PS 11 VR 9 BS 11 ---- 31Q

I am debating whether or not I should retake the test. This was my first time taking it, but I took a Kaplan test and studied all summer. I have a 3.8 GPA, am a TA, heavily involved in my research lab, a hospital volunteer, and in a few clubs on campus. Do my chances look ok for applying in 2011? I want to make sure that I am not shutting myself out of getting into med school by not retaking the test.

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!