The Official August 2015 MCAT Thread

MCAT is Hard? Not with BeMo's 515 Score Guarantee.
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vsantav

vsantav

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Registration opens up sometime today so I thought I'd go ahead and make this thread. Anyone else taking it in August?
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Actual MCAT score: 506 (127: 79%, 125: 58%, 128: 87%, 126: 66%)
AAMC FL (80%, 77%, 76%, 66%)
Old MCAT percentiles: (PS: 89%, VR: 37%, BS: 56%)

I'm happy and disappointed at the same time.
Physics: This was always my strongest section, and felt like I aced it in the real thing and answered most questions with confidence. Honestly, I don't know what happened there.
CARS: This is my weakest section, and I was expecting this score since I've been using English for only ~2 years. I did poorly on my first MCAT, but I did better on the second take. So I'm happy with it.
Biology: I felt like this section was the hardest during the exam, but apparently I did very well and wasn't expecting this score.
Behavioral Science: It's on par with AAMC FL although I did an intensive review in that section after taking the FL, and I felt doing good during the exam.

I wasn't expecting this score at all and it feels like this is someone else's score. I'm disappointed about the physics section because I know I could have done better, but on the other hand, I did better than expected on Biology.

Hopefully, I'll be accepted somewhere.
 
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clathrin413 said:
MCAT score: 513 (130/128/129/126)

AAMC FL: 84.5% (88%, 81%, 86%, 83%)

Honestly, really disappointed. Predictor estimated 515-518, expected 519 based on FL, and I felt great about all the sections except Psych. Didn't expect a 126, and thought I got at least 130 in my other three.

I'm on the border of considering a retake, but I don't think that I will. My sGPA and cGPA are ~4.0, and I have research, volunteering, EC's, etc... still, really thought I would do better. :/ I don't think I'm worried about getting in to a school next cycle, but I think I lost my shot at particular competitive/top tier med schools.

My test center started three hours late due to serious organization issues, so by the time I got to Psych, I was already mentally exhausted. I feel like it affected my scores. Life's not fair, I guess, /shrugs.
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I got 89% on the AAMC FL (88/92/90/86) and got 509 on the actual, so I feel your pain and more lol. At least you got a pretty good score though.
 
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Resilient. said:
I got 89% on the AAMC FL (88/92/90/86) and got 509 on the actual, so I feel your pain and more lol. At least you got a pretty good score though.
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Wow...

Care to comment on what you think went wrong?? Did you feel any different? wow sorry to read this dude
 
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Got a 506.
124/129/127/126

Kind of what I expected. Chem has always been my weakest subject, CARS my strongest.

Wish I had scored one point higher on chem to avoid auto-screens, but it should be competitive for the programs I want. (DO hopeful.)
 
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So here's my profile...
GPA=3.60, GPAs=3.5, very good university
Several clinical experiences, and some research
Excellent recs
MCAT 1 = 26 -->10, 6, 10
MCAT 2 = 507 -->129, 124, 127, 127

...both tests my verbal has been pretty low. I'd like to apply for DO+MD (low-mid tier) next cycle. Should I retake the MCAT?
 
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tequilasunrise said:
So here's my profile...
GPA=3.60, GPAs=3.5, very good university
Several clinical experiences, and some research
Excellent recs
MCAT 1 = 26 -->10, 6, 10
MCAT 2 = 507 -->129, 124, 127, 127

...both tests my verbal has been pretty low. I'd like to apply for DO+MD (low-mid tier) next cycle. Should I retake the MCAT?
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I think so. Yes. 507 can be translated to 29-30 on the old scale and it's average for DO schools, but borderline for MD schools. I'd aim for above 510 for MD schools. Also, 124 is roughly 7 on the old scale; as far as I know, a lot of schools (even some DO schools) demand at least 8 for each section. I'd rather retake it now than regret of not taking it during the application cycle. You still have time to study and improve on the new test.
 
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Btw do you guys know if our scores are based on students taking the exam on the same day at the same test centre, or if the scores are based on all examinees who took it on the same day?
 
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keepingitreal007 said:
Btw do you guys know if our scores are based on students taking the exam on the same day at the same test centre, or if the scores are based on all examinees who took it on the same day?
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It isn't curved against people who took it on your test day. Rather, the test is scaled based on how difficult the questions on that particular exam were. The test is designed to have similar numbers of easy, medium and hard questions, but the program that generates the test has some variability so the test is scaled to account for harder questions. It doesn't have anything to do with specifically how the other people did who took the test the same day. It just means that different numbers of correct answers can correspond to say a 129 depending on which test you took.

Kind of complicated so let me know if I need to clarify
 
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I already posted my score earlier but I thought I'll give more information so it can be added to the predictor sheet to make it more accurate.
Real score: 509
129,124,127,129
Predicted score: 508, narrow: 507-511, broad: 503-515
AAMC FL: 61, 81, 69, 80
Comments: I prepped with Kaplan. Studied for about 3 months, I didn't take it seriously for the first month but then I studied for 10 hours everyday on the month before the test. My diagnostic score on kaplan was 485 so you can imagine that I am very happy with my score. On practice test I always score highest on psychology and biology, I don't know what happened with psychology... Walking out of the test room that day, I thought my highest score would be in biology, and thought that I did ok but not that well in chem/phys, and also thought that I bombed psych compared to practice tests(I was so tired at the end, I felt like I didn't give one piece of milk chocolate about the test anymore)

Overall, I'm very surprised with my chem phys score and disappointed in my biology and cars score. I'm an ESL student so hopefully schools will understand that. My major is biology with minor in chemistry and psych. Funny how I got highest score in my minor and lowest in my major. I don't know what happened with biology. It's usually my highest on practice tests and I felt very confident about it that day. Oh and I always struggles with chem/phys on practice test lol. I got a 123 on tpr test 3 a week before the test, and then got a 127 chem phys 3 days before the test on a kaplan practice section.
 
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zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz said:
Has the Excel predictor been updated or are we still waiting for more scores vs. FL to flow in?

I wrote on 9/12 and use the predictor to calm my nerves :heckyeah:
Click to expand...

I was waiting for some August scores to be posted through the compilation spreadsheet, but there are already some new July scores on there so I'll try to update it by next week.
 
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Just a quick question, as posted before my score was 514 (130/126/128/130) and I was wondering if there's any chance for McMaster or Queens in terms of CARS? I don't really get what their cutoff is and I don't really want to retake the test haha since I did well on the other sections. Also, is this a good score in case I want to apply to US schools? As a Canadian, I'm not sure what the requirements are like there. Thanks :)
 
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I need one of those Canadian schools that only take CARS. :smuggrin: Damn, I'd be happy
 
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keepingitreal007 said:
Just a quick question, as posted before my score was 514 (130/126/128/130) and I was wondering if there's any chance for McMaster or Queens in terms of CARS? I don't really get what their cutoff is and I don't really want to retake the test haha since I did well on the other sections. Also, is this a good score in case I want to apply to US schools? As a Canadian, I'm not sure what the requirements are like there. Thanks :)
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514 is fine for US. CARS is a little low, so might want to look into that, but I think you would be ok. I don't know how the international admissions are though
 
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It's still hard for me to wrap my head around my MCAT score, I got a 495! :shrug:Which I have never scored that low on any of my practice tests. AAMC FL Avg: 68%- Which I know is not great but I'm not sure how 495 happened!

I'm going to start studying for Jan 2016 and just wanted some ideas on prep book. I used EK 9th edition which I think one of the biggest problem with EK books is lack of enough practice passages for every chapter, and I used TPR for Psych- again no practice passages.
I used Khan academy for practice passages after finishing content review which obviously didn't do the job!

I already have old TBR books would those help me at this point?
Any recommendations/help would be much appreciated.
 
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Pardia19 said:
It's still hard for me to wrap my head around my MCAT score, I got a 495! :shrug:Which I have never scored that low on any of my practice tests. AAMC FL Avg: 68%- Which I know is not great but I'm not sure how 495 happened!

I'm going to start studying for Jan 2016 and just wanted some ideas on prep book. I used EK 9th edition which I think one of the biggest problem with EK books is lack of enough practice passages for every chapter, and I used TPR for Psych- again no practice passages.
I used Khan academy for practice passages after finishing content review which obviously didn't do the job!

I already have old TBR books would those help me at this point?
Any recommendations/help would be much appreciated.
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I got the same score as you bro so I'm looking for advice as well, I was thinking about buying NSP+TPR+AAMC+EK for Practice exams, EK Book that has over 1700 questions. More importantly any advice for CARS verbal practice? ( my study material was kaplan with KA for my first take).
 
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focusshots said:
I got the same score as you bro so I'm looking for advice as well, I was thinking about buying NSP+TPR+AAMC+EK for Practice exams, EK Book that has over 1700 questions. More importantly any advice for CARS verbal practice? ( my study material was kaplan with KA for my first take).
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I was thinking to start with The berkley review books.
For Psych, I used EK + TPR+ Khan academy and I still don't think there were good enough for the test. Maybe TBR would do...
For CARS I can't make any comments, I did all the AAMC passages from old tests + question packs and improved a lot ( 30% to 60%) but didn't do well on the actual thing at all. :unsure:
 
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To the people who received high verbal scores what was your strategy? like did you take notes? read straight through and do questions? look over questions first then read? Also how much time did you give each passage and questions? Thanks in advanced
 
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focusshots said:
To the people who received high verbal scores what was your strategy? like did you take notes? read straight through and do questions? look over questions first then read? Also how much time did you give each passage and questions? Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

I don't know if ~90th is what you consider high but....

Coffee. Read the whole passage. Do questions. Refer back to passage as needed. Take your time (you definitely have enough if you're not bulls***ting around). If you don't know something, take a best guess, and imagine the question as one of the guys that gets left behind and tells you "You go on, I'll be fine! (I probably won't be, but go on anyway)" and move on to the next question asap to keep up with time.
 
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StudyLater said:
I don't know if ~90th is what you consider high but....

Coffee. Read the whole passage. Do questions. Refer back to passage as needed. Take your time (you definitely have enough if you're not bulls***ting around). If you don't know something, take a best guess, and imagine the question as one of the guys that gets left behind and tells you "You go on, I'll be fine! (I probably won't be, but go on anyway)" and move on to the next question asap to keep up with time.
Click to expand...

Agreed, and while you're reading try your best to get a feel for the main idea and the author's general stance/frame of mind (I believe this is pretty much ExamKrackers' strategy for CARS)
 
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I only scored 127 which is kinda weak compared to my fellow SDNers but I just sorta "read actively". Basically do whatever u have to, so you're engaged in the passage. I highlighted cause it was quick and easy and did not require me to look down on paper to write a "main idea" or w/e nonsense Kaplan preaches.

Also I never scored higher than 123 on Kaplan full lengths so... yeah that score came outta nowhere :whoa::luck:
 
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focusshots said:
To the people who received high verbal scores what was your strategy? like did you take notes? read straight through and do questions? look over questions first then read? Also how much time did you give each passage and questions? Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

I got a 131 in CARS but I don't know how much help I can be because I never really had to work on my CARS score and I read really fast. Something I did find helpful though was to highlight transition words or any parts that disagreed with the main idea of the passage.
 
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focusshots said:
To the people who received high verbal scores what was your strategy? like did you take notes? read straight through and do questions? look over questions first then read? Also how much time did you give each passage and questions? Thanks in advanced
Click to expand...

CARS is a weird one because it's hard to prep for. Very person specific and what works for one person might not work for another. I tried taking notes but it was useless for me - I ended up on the exam just reading through each passage, keeping track of all the primary ideas in my head, and then answering questions. My brain has good position sense within text so I could generally remember where within the passage each bit of information was. If your brain doesn't work this way you might try highlighting the keywords in each piece of information. It's generally good to spend an average of 10 minutes per passage on average (90 minutes on section with 9 total passages).
 
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jimmypod said:
Yes! Is that something that should normally be anonymous? I guess it gets rather easy to find out who I am given that information haha
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Yes, I actually happen to have some mutual friends with you. If you would like to preserve some anonymity, I would suggest removing the link to your website.
 
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At what time were the Aug 21/22 test scores released? I remember that the Aug 5/6 had their scores up by the morning of the score release date.
 
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Hey all,
Late to this thread, but I ended up with an unbalanced score:
C/P = 132 (100%)
CARS = 123 (33%)
B/BC = 131 (98%)
P/S = 132 (100%)
Total = 518 (97%)
AAMC FL: CP 93/ CARS 87/ BBC 85/ PS 88
Last 4 TPR tests were at 510-515, though CARS was 124-126; I honestly don't get what went wrong with CARS, which I worked hardest on apart from psych
So is this going to keep me out of US MD schools? Will I need to retake? GPA is 3.7/3.7 from top 30, with extensive volunteering and research (already 1500+ hrs; will start soon at NIH) and at least 4 solid LORs. Part of me really wants to pursue an MD/PhD in biomedical engineering or biochemistry; would I stand much of a chance for that? At the NIH, I'm going to be working in an MRI lab, if that matters.
 
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basophilic said:
Hey all,
Late to this thread, but I ended up with an unbalanced score:
C/P = 132 (100%)
CARS = 123 (33%)
B/BC = 131 (98%)
P/S = 132 (100%)
Total = 518 (97%)
AAMC FL: CP 93/ CARS 87/ BBC 85/ PS 88
Last 4 TPR tests were at 510-515, though CARS was 124-126; I honestly don't get what went wrong with CARS, which I worked hardest on apart from psych
So is this going to keep me out of US MD schools? Will I need to retake? GPA is 3.7/3.7 from top 30, with extensive volunteering and research (already 1500+ hrs; will start soon at NIH) and at least 4 solid LORs. Part of me really wants to pursue an MD/PhD in biomedical engineering or biochemistry; would I stand much of a chance for that? At the NIH, I'm going to be working in an MRI lab, if that matters.
Click to expand...
The CARS score is def low, I'd recommend that you email a few admissions officers. They'll tell you much better advice than anyone.

Is your NIH thing part of the recent grads program? I've been thinking about applying to it also.
 
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basophilic said:
Hey all,
Late to this thread, but I ended up with an unbalanced score:
C/P = 132 (100%)
CARS = 123 (33%)
B/BC = 131 (98%)
P/S = 132 (100%)
Total = 518 (97%)
AAMC FL: CP 93/ CARS 87/ BBC 85/ PS 88
Last 4 TPR tests were at 510-515, though CARS was 124-126; I honestly don't get what went wrong with CARS, which I worked hardest on apart from psych
So is this going to keep me out of US MD schools? Will I need to retake? GPA is 3.7/3.7 from top 30, with extensive volunteering and research (already 1500+ hrs; will start soon at NIH) and at least 4 solid LORs. Part of me really wants to pursue an MD/PhD in biomedical engineering or biochemistry; would I stand much of a chance for that? At the NIH, I'm going to be working in an MRI lab, if that matters.
Click to expand...

Posts like this keep me from sleeping at night...
 
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TPR FL average: ~500ish
AAMC FL: overall 75%
Real Deal: 129/129/128/128 - 514(91%) (was shooting for a 508-510)
Don't be discouraged by mediocre practice test scores fellow test takers! Always stay grounded and remember that as long as you practice enough, you'll be okay come test day. Good luck!
 
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I got 93rd %-ile on CARS and I never once used highlighting in my practice or on the real thing. Time consuming and low yield, in my opinion. I found that the ExamKrackers CARS manual essentially told me what I already knew, which was to read the article to really feel out the author's point. To get into his or her shoes and answer the questions as if I really were the author. Along with that, I maintained an almost scathing skepticism of the author's point, never really taking any of it to heart and reading as if I weren't particularly impressed. This helps distance one's emotions and background knowledge from the text, because this is the one section where you have to really, totally rely on what's given, both inferred and overt.
 
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It's judgmental of me to think so, but ... I can't help but imagine that people who score 98-100th percentile on the hard sciences but bomb CARS are the 4.0 automatons Goro talks about. It's like they start to short out when asked to understand other humans.
 
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First time poster but I followed you guys so close for so long I'd be a jerk not to finally contribute!

Kaplan FL: Bombed the Diagnostic (489ish) and was about to rethink things, but averaged 505 pretty consistently on the FL's.
AAMC FL: Don't remember exactly but took it a week before and was like a 78%ish total.
Actual MCAT: 126/130/127/129 total 512 (87%)

Of course wasn't loving my science scores but Chem/Phys was pretty expected from all my practice tests (had a non-traditional major and crammed all my sciences in over the last two years when I figured out I wanted to be a Doc). Did better on Bio/BC on the practice test but felt like I got tested on my weaknesses here (literally never heard of some of the techniques they asked about, lol).

Definitely wanted a little higher score to make up for meh GPA stats (cGPA 3.66 sGPA 3.52) but I'm applying broadly to low-mid MD and a lot of DO programs so I'll take a 512!

As far the people asking about CARS- I used the Kaplan outline method and it worked well for me. Never went back to my outline or anything but I felt like writing a couple words about each paragraph helped me remember it better. Not an avid reader or anything but really enjoy philosophy and politics so I think that helped. I would definitely not read the questions first. I think this test is designed to trip you up if you do that.

Do schools really like a good CARS score or am I just having some wishful thinking? lol

Good luck to everyone in the application process!!! :)
 
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