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- Feb 24, 2015
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Hi Everyone! So I just came out of the most recent MCAT (5/13, went in knowing that I would void it) and after looking through some of the comments throughout Reddit (for the past 3-4 MCAT dates) and having the experience of taking the most recent MCAT, I think it's pretty undeniable that the AAMC is quickly re-adjusting their focus once again (I'd acutally say they're balancing it better though).
Obviously when the new 2015 MCAT came out it was all about the Biochem and everyone prepared heavily for this. I assumed the same thing going in. Boy was that wrong. There were also other general assumptions such as less physics, P/S would be a vocab test, etc etc. Again, Reddit threads of the past 3-4 exams would once again suggest that these assumptions are also becoming less and less correct.
The general trend now appears that, to me at least (again from experience and reading about the past couple exams):
Overall, I'd say that this would be expected of the AAMC to begin re-adjusting now that we're 2 years in to the new MCAT and they're looking to balance it again. Obviously anything that was new they wanted to hit you harder with at the beginning, but it's clear that they're scaling back on it now.
Just wanted to give a fair warning to my fellow SDN'ers because y'all work so hard and I don't see many people talking about this here yet. If you had recently taken the test, I really want to know what you think as well!
Also, in case you were wondering, yes the general consensus is that the AAMC FL 1 & 2 did not resemble the actual test itself. Definitely more section bank heavy and no longer just "one or two passages like the section bank".
Obviously when the new 2015 MCAT came out it was all about the Biochem and everyone prepared heavily for this. I assumed the same thing going in. Boy was that wrong. There were also other general assumptions such as less physics, P/S would be a vocab test, etc etc. Again, Reddit threads of the past 3-4 exams would once again suggest that these assumptions are also becoming less and less correct.
The general trend now appears that, to me at least (again from experience and reading about the past couple exams):
- C/P: Expect more physics. Not memorization of formulas, but applying the concepts more and more. Generally speaking, the MCAT i took had an easier C/P section and I breezed through it. But it was certainly physics heavy and the general consensus is that they hit you harder on a lot of the "low yield" topics too (like concepts dealing with orgo!!!).
- CARS: For our exam CARS was actually fun for the first time ever in my life. Seems to be unchanged from the previous exams though.
- B/B: This is where they're really screwing people over if you read in to the past couple of MCATs...... Essentially the test I took had like 3-4 questions testing true principles of biochemistry.... the rest was just CELL TRAFFICKING/REGULATION HELL. I'm talking basic genetics, protein regulation, cell signaling, etc. Honestly, this portion made the Section Banks look like a complete joke... It was pretty damn crazy. Again, I urge you to go on Reddit and see what other people are saying. Knowing your biochem/amino acids are important.... but ultimately the B/B portion is evolving once again. I think I also got only 1 questions about any anatomy/physiology too... and it was about the liver (and a discreet).
- P/S: It seems that its generally being agreed that they're tuning this portion to resemble the CARS section more and more. Knowing your vocab is still important, but I was kind of surprised myself by how careful you needed to actually read in to the passage to answer a lot of their questions. With every practice test I took (TPR, NS, AAMC material), I would have nearly 20-30 minutes extra because honestly you just needed to understand the study broadly and apply your vocab carefully. However, this was definitely not true on the actual exam.
Overall, I'd say that this would be expected of the AAMC to begin re-adjusting now that we're 2 years in to the new MCAT and they're looking to balance it again. Obviously anything that was new they wanted to hit you harder with at the beginning, but it's clear that they're scaling back on it now.
Just wanted to give a fair warning to my fellow SDN'ers because y'all work so hard and I don't see many people talking about this here yet. If you had recently taken the test, I really want to know what you think as well!
Also, in case you were wondering, yes the general consensus is that the AAMC FL 1 & 2 did not resemble the actual test itself. Definitely more section bank heavy and no longer just "one or two passages like the section bank".
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