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PotentialDexter

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So it's going to be a sad day with the 9 year anniversary but post in here if you're taking the MCAT on this day!

Strategies? Preparation methods? Retaking/first time?

LET'S GOOOOO
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Bio killed me... I felt like I completely ran out out of energy on the last few passages, and just couldn't concentrate well enough to completely take in the passages. I know if I had them in front of me now I would probably figure them out without much trouble...
 
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PS: As expected. Happy about it

VR: frustrating. Felt more difficult and my timing got thrown out the window.

BS: There was no detail I did not know and I still felt baffled by some of those . . .
 
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I thought the exam was quite reasonable, not the beast that I was expecting it to be. I thought it was very comparable in difficulty to the AAMC practice exams. Easier than the five Berkeley Review CBTs and two PR online MCATs I took. There were a few "curveball" PS questions of which type I had never seen before, but they were manageable. I felt VR wasn't too bad, but I cannot for the life of me ever predict my VR scores (7? 11?). BS was always my weakest section and am just praying for a 10. So glad this is over with!
 
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For real though, I pretty much guessed the last three passages in the VR section....so confusing!!!...but the other two sections are pretty easy..
You guys think the curve will be high for this test?
 
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coyfish said:
PS: As expected. Happy about it

VR: frustrating. Felt more difficult and my timing got thrown out the window.

BS: There was no detail I did not know and I still felt baffled by some of those . . .
Click to expand...

Same here. PS seemed pretty standard, VR was frustrating but it always is. BS i was killing in my practice tests but i was completely baffled by a few entire passages and even some stand alones which are usually cupcakes
 
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Well, this was my first time taking the MCAT, and now I realize that I didn't prepare hard enough... :|

PS: There were some things that even if I had an extra week, I couldn't prepare myself for...

VR: There was one killer passage that I just couldn't figure out, and probably lost all my points from that one.

BS: Not bad, there were a few tough ones, but my best section.

I seem backward from everyone else, but I've been really bad at physics throughout college...
 
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i usually go by the number i have marked to predict my score and i make the self-serving assumption that i can only miss marked questions. my last practice test i scored a 34, my highest and as i was finish taking it i felt like i would score somewhere between at 29-31.

for yesterday's test:
PS: i felt like it was about what i expected, but i know i missed about 3 non-marked questions and marked about 10... hoping for a 11 or 12.
VR: i usually don't finish on time so i'm glad i did yesterday. one of the passages kinda stunned me momentarily. 10-11 would be good.
BS: i agree with everyone that one ochem passage caught me completely off guard! i felt like there was a simple solution or process to figure it out which i did and i'm praying it was correct. as long as i didn't bomb that passage, i again am expecting 10-11.

so provided that some of the questions i missed were experimental i feel like i did as good as i can hope. now just the agonizing 30 day wait... 29 to go.
 
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Gogogirl said:
For real though, I pretty much guessed the last three passages in the VR section....so confusing!!!...but the other two sections are pretty easy..
You guys think the curve will be high for this test?
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you on VR.....I completely guessed the last three.....

I am also surprised you felt it easy on BS.....good for you lol
 
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Fresh off of a 39 on a practice, I felt really good going into it. I emphasized pacing and focus; after two months of studying, content is not the issue.

PS - everything was straightforward; no "wtf" passages. One or two super-easy discrete questions stumped me, but this is supposed to be my section that compensates for verbal :p

VR - seriously, is there ever a way to "feel" how well you perform? It seems so up in the air until you see your score. No timing issues though, paced through it and forced myself to move on past the one or two sticky questions.

BS - this was the hardest for me, again with the discretes. I felt like the orgo was challenging, and every bio passage felt like an experiment. But I like experiments so that's cool. Just... so many genes going on lol.

Congratulations to everyone who finished, and best of luck to those retaking! Study hard!
 
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I don't really remember specifics from the sections.

I know I didn't come out of Phys thinking "that was easy!!!" but I wasn't stumped on any passage in general I think. Maybe I'll score on the lower side since the consensus seems to be that it was easy

Verbal, quite a few crazy passages, but I had plenty of time left over to check and stuff....

Bio I didn't think was so bad.

We'll see.... Upwards and onwards!
 
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Vihsadas said:
Important:
The AAMC actively searches SDN threads for people who disclose information from their MCAT exams.
While SDN's strict TRUSTe certified privacy policy is to not disclose the identity of its members, AAMC may subpoena such information and if so, SDN must comply.
If you are caught doing so, the AAMC reserves the right to report this activity to all schools to which you've applied, void your MCAT score, and revoke your eligibility to sit for future MCAT exams.
If this occurs, you will never be able to attend a US Medical School.
Consequently, please realize that we maintain an extremely strict policy for the good of everyone.
Click to expand...

i don't know how serious aamc really is about browsing these forums and ruining the dreams of many ambitious premeds but don't risk it guys! don't discuss specifics. i know i wish i could like i do with my classmates after every exam...
 
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Hey guys new member. Took the exam yesterday. Had to stay at a hotel the night before to avoid a 2 hour drive before the exam. terrible idea....coulnt sleep the whole nite cause i notice i wasnt falling sleep and freaked out that i wouldnt :scared:. i Ended up sleeping from 830am to 1145am thank god i got something.

anyways test not too bad, was able to damage control pretty well with the lack of sleep but who knows with my sleep deprived condition.

Physical: pretty much what i expected, though one passage had a couple curve balls and didnt have enough time to figure out 2 of the last stand alones and i know they were gimmies.
Verbal: Pretty boring, didnt seem as straightforward as many of the AAMCs, but i focused more on timing than getting bent over a couple so finished with 2 minutes to spare
Biological: I though it was pretty simple, Ive taken 2 quarters of UD Genetics last year and a quarter of Biochemistry so it was easier to understand, thank god. And the organic chemistry was pretty straight forward but a couple were wtf? should do fine got a 15 out of 15 on ochem on my last AAMC

Overall im scared cause i was sleep deprived and i expect almost anything but i was still functional but just not as sharp as i should have been. little pissed off i let that happen to myself. I got a 34 on 1 of the AAMCs last week. but here are my ranges i feel:

P: 9-11
V:7-10
B:10-13

Max: 34
Min: 26
 
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When did they start incorporating the crazy passages in the MCAT to make it more difficult? I realize there is a curve but the AAMC's were easier. There is no way anyone who did well on them can deny that. Seems unfair lol.

Having read other exam threads the trend is there are always harder sections and randomly harder passages thrown in. That wasn't the case in any of the AAMC 3-10 exams. There was never a passage in PS or BS that was even near the difficulty of that "one."
 
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Hi guys! :hello: Nice to meet you.

I took yesterday's MCAT too and found it to be particularly BRUTAL compared to the last one I took (I believe it was 6/17) and tp the practice FL AAMCs I've taken (3 and 7-10).

Last time I scored 8P / 12V / 9B. I was hoping to improve my sciences to have a better "balance" and of course to raise my overall score. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I didn't improve on phys at all and am positive my bio score went down. Ironically, I think my verbal may have gone up.

My thoughts on the sections:

PHYSICAL SCIENCES -- I thought it was pretty hard and ran out of time so had to make some wild guesses. Not a good feeling about this section but it's a bit of a blur so don't really know how it went.

VERBAL -- One word: Weird! Thought the passages themselves were quite a bit harder than usual but the questions seemed easy to me. Maybe I'm misjuding it but I'm expecting an improved score here.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES -- This was the brutal part for me. I found about three of the passages to be completely impossible and had to randomly guess on way too many questions. I was running short on time and it made me so flustered that I just couldn't concentrate on the passages at all. I think if I could go back and do it again, untimed, I might be able to figure them out but I honestly had no idea what was going on. So discouraging!

Good luck to everyone with your scores! :luck:



Edited to add my score guesses like above:

P: 8
V: 13
B: 7
 
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it seems like a lot of retakers say 9/11 test was particularly challenging. how appropriate given the date. hopefully we get curved like a mo!
 
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arggg if it only wasnt for the idiot next to me who skipped one of the sections and started typing and shaking the whole table while i was still on verbal!! grrr!!!
 
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he skipped one of the sections? how do you know that and why would he? sucks that he was such a distraction though.
 
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Hello everyone.

i am happy to see i am not alone. i took the mcat the first time this past saturday and i was dumbfounded. i took the kaplan prep course and was averaging about 34 on the exams...this exam was sooo hard...and it wasnt remotely similar in any way shape form to the ones of kaplan or the aamc.

i think i got like a 7 on it...total.

ps: the physics was tough. the types of problems that i were told always show up on the exams, werent even there. G chem was tough too.

bs: this was haarrrrddddd. maybe even harder than the PS. I know bio...yet this stumped me...big time. ochem..again..same as physics...the types of problems that we were told usually will show up...didnt.

verbal: this wasnt bad...my highest score usually is verbal...one or two passages were hard though...gotta admit that.

i bombed that thing... i know it. gonna take it again.
 
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IamSuperDoctor said:
because I started the test before him and he was on writing before i finished verbal.
Click to expand...

i guess depending on where you test not everyone might be doing mcat that day. some people might be taking another test.

there was one person at my test site who was on my exact schedule though... i wonder if every time she saw me in the bathroom if i looked a little more shocked and dead inside:oops:
 
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I really am going to be curious as to what everyone's scores will be. I'm starting to regret having voided my test.
 
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psychkub said:
I really am going to be curious as to what everyone's scores will be. I'm starting to regret having voided my test.
Click to expand...

When you voided on Saturday, did the program ask to confirm that you selected to void the exam. I thought whatever choice you pick, it would ask you to confirm.

However, after I picked I wanted to have my exam graded and hit next; I didn't get any screens indicating what my choice was. Then I started to get nervous, thinking what if I accidentally voided.
 
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Srin123 said:
When you voided on Saturday, did the program ask to confirm that you selected to void the exam. I thought whatever choice you pick, it would ask you to confirm.

However, after I picked I wanted to have my exam graded and hit next; I didn't get any screens indicating what my choice was. Then I started to get nervous, thinking what if I accidentally voided.
Click to expand...

cool i now remember the 7 passages...i think i somehow thought they (the two "hard" passages) were the same one :laugh:


after you select to have it grade. i think there was a screen telling you aamc has the right invalidate your score or something :confused:
 
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richmond604 said:
cool i now remember the 7 passages...i think i somehow thought they (the two "hard" passages) were the same one :laugh:


after you select to have it grade. i think there was a screen telling you aamc has the right invalidate your score or something :confused:
Click to expand...

Cool, I remember reading that about their right. Thanks, I feel better now. :)
 
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Well I will chime in.


I was scoring in the 30's on my test leading up to this, so I hope I score around there if I don't I wont be surprized.


Overall I was very relaxed while taking the test..almost too relaxed I suppose. Taking numerous amounts of practice tests can do that to you.. any who.


Physical Science- Very simple.. last passage tricked me up.. I know I missed at least one it...otherwise easy, like someone said the curve should be high



Verbal- My focus was.. not 100%. This section is the reason why I will retake



Biological Science- The orgo was ok... but not easy. The passages took alot of time...mostly reading comprehension so it was easy to get messed up on them if you ran out of time.



prediction

28-33
 
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FrkyBgStok said:
i was probably the only person there to use every single minute on every single section. are scores released yet? it feels like it has been a month. i need to find something to do.
Click to expand...

omg same! im finished school and dont go back to work for 2.5 weeks!! I thought it would be a nice break but im itching to do something AHH. I think I might take a road trip! I just can't sit around here anymore. I just keep thinking about my score. How can it only have been 2 days??? Man I need to get a life... hehehe
 
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i was probably the only person there to use every single minute on every single section
Click to expand...

I doubt that since I ran out of time on BS and PS and finished with about 15 seconds to spare on Verbal.
 
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I'm really hoping one particular bio passage was the experimental, or at least some of questions from it. Other than that, this test felt a lot easier than the one I took in July. I don't know if it's because the July one was my first and so I was much more nervous, or if my preparations were more suited to this test date.

Hoping for the best! Good luck to everyone! See you in about 30 days!
 
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I'm really hoping one particular bio passage was the experimental, or at least some of questions from it.
Click to expand...
Do you guys think that an "experimental" passage or set of questions would not be counted in the actual score?
 
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LingoLaine said:
Do you guys think that an "experimental" passage or set of questions would not be counted in the actual score?
Click to expand...

Of course not... The reason they're experimental is so that their difficulty can be guaged, which means they can't know how to adjust the scores for the experimental questions.

MCAT is scored like the SAT - pre-set curves taking into account the difficulty of each question based off experimental data.
 
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Do most people walk out of that test feeling like they did terrible??? I studied my !@# off and I felt like the test was much harder than the AAMC tests..Its all kinda vague when I try to break it down and make a prediction...Does anyone else feel like that? Do people genuinely do better than they think?
 
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You are not the only one. I was pretty depressed upon walking out but I know I was ready and scoring over my goal on the practice exams. If I had trouble than so did most others. There will be a curve so just hang in there and have faith.

I just wonder when they administered the AAMC practice exams 3-10. Those are all much more basic lol. Lucky whoever got those.
 
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yeah its weird how you can be so confident and then leave feeling horrible...but if it were easy it wouldnt be so much fun haha...yeah praying for the curve because that bio was not fun at all.
 
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shiite7 said:
I thought the exam was quite reasonable, not the beast that I was expecting it to be. I thought it was very comparable in difficulty to the AAMC practice exams. Easier than the five Berkeley Review CBTs and two PR online MCATs I took. There were a few "curveball" PS questions of which type I had never seen before, but they were manageable. I felt VR wasn't too bad, but I cannot for the life of me ever predict my VR scores (7? 11?). BS was always my weakest section and am just praying for a 10. So glad this is over with!
Click to expand...

you thought this test was comparable to the aamc exams?..I felt like this mcat had me guessing the whole way through..
 
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doctronious said:
you thought this test was comparable to the aamc exams?..I felt like this mcat had me guessing the whole way through..
Click to expand...

I took all of the AAMC practice tests (#3-10), and thought it was maybe pretty similar to #8 or #9. When I took the real thing, I did have less time left over in each section (e.g. I only had about 8 minutes maybe leftover in PS on the real thing, whereas I usually had 14+ minutes on AAMC practice tests), so I thought that there were probably more calculations involved, but I did not feel it was on the whole SIGNIFICANTLY harder than the AAMC tests. If you're into statistics, I would say the p-value of the real MCAT being harder than AAMC #3-10 would be p = 0.11...in other words, there was some difference in difficulty, but it wasn't statistically significant, :corny:

I did prepare a sh**-ton for this test, so maybe that's also why I wasn't shocked by the real thing. I ended up taking 20 FL's and thought taking the 5 BR CBTs and two PR online MCATs makes you get used to having a MCAT where all of the questions are medium/hard difficulty. (e.g. you will never take a BR CBT where there is a question asking what the pH of 0.10M HCl is)

I honestly thought the Verbal Section was virtually identical to all of the AAMC practice tests. Nothing out of the ordinary, same mix of social sciences and philosophy, etc. Same type questions.

I did, however, find the BS section to be maybe somewhat out of left field, but again, not like "WTF, that was unreal!!?!"
 
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Srin123 said:
When you voided on Saturday, did the program ask to confirm that you selected to void the exam. I thought whatever choice you pick, it would ask you to confirm.

However, after I picked I wanted to have my exam graded and hit next; I didn't get any screens indicating what my choice was. Then I started to get nervous, thinking what if I accidentally voided.
Click to expand...


It did not ask me to confirm, which I thought was odd, but I am certain I clicked on the void selection.
 
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Hi Everyone,
I also took the MCAT on sep,11, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who came out of the testing center confused, and not remembering ANYTHING!!! I have no idea how I did, could be a 3, could be an 11 on each section!!!Especially Verbal! Planning to retake if it's necessary!
 
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imee20ir said:
Hi Everyone,
I also took the MCAT on sep,11, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who came out of the testing center confused, and not remembering ANYTHING!!! I have no idea how I did, could be a 3, could be an 11 on each section!!!Especially Verbal! Planning to retake if it's necessary!
Click to expand...

yeah It was very tough...Im sure I will have to take it again as well..Verbal reasoning is the one thing I know I didnt do bad on
 
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I had my first score nightmare! a 5 on PS!! although, it was countered by the fact that I got a 34 overall haha

I wonder how many more times this is going to recur in my dreams... urgh. why cant they tell us FASTER?? I wish...
 
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I had that exact dream the night after my exam!!! It was so scary but mathematically impossible haha. Hopefully scores will come soon. I can't stand waiting.
 
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ive kind of phased out of MCAT mode lol. When the scoretimes roll around though ill probably have a heart attack. So much time now that im not studying i don't know what to do with myself lol. Hopefully I do well but the thought of retaking isn't devastating. It isn't like you have to study all over.
 
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coyfish said:
ive kind of phased out of MCAT mode lol. When the scoretimes roll around though ill probably have a heart attack. So much time now that im not studying i don't know what to do with myself lol. Hopefully I do well but the thought of retaking isn't devastating. It isn't like you have to study all over.
Click to expand...

QFT. I've found that I've hardly used SDN the past couple days and that I haven't thought anything about the MCAT for weeks. Only two more weeks or so and then our scores are released! Just like coyfish said, hopefully the score is good and I can forget about studying for the MCAT ever again.
 
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