DarkForest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 I got quite a lot out of the premed forums and I'm looking to give back. And also to procrastinate. AMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 14, 2017 Report Share Posted March 14, 2017 Wow. How? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkForest Posted March 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 I studied really hard for a couple months and had a lot of caffeine on exam day. And while studying. There's an element of luck with respect to what comes up on the exam too, and lot of good educated guessing.Specifically, I used Kaplan course and materials. I'm sure the other books and programs are usable too, as people do succeed with them. I actually wouldn't recommend the in-person course though, it wasn't very useful. I don't think I used their strategies for anything really, just the content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunAndMoon Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 No 528 no care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimethoprim Posted March 15, 2017 Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 What's your favorite colour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkForest Posted March 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 No 528 no care I will repost with my updated score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkForest Posted March 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2017 What's your favorite colour? Soylent Green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veromedico Posted March 16, 2017 Report Share Posted March 16, 2017 I will repost with my updated score. do you mind sharing your success story, and most importantly the advice you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkForest Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 do you mind sharing your success story, and most importantly the advice you have? For sure. What I did and I feel was key to my success is going through practice exams and, most importantly, reviewing those practice exams in fine detail. Just writing them is good practice for the length and feel of the test, but its not enough. As I went through each practice exam I flagged any question that I was not 100% certain of the answer. I then went back and reviewed every question that I got wrong, then reviewed every flagged question. For each of these, I watched Kaplan's online videos on the topic or reviewed the textbook material on the topic until I understood the correct answer and how to solve each question. I would typically spend 1 day writing an exam and 2 or 3 reviewing it and the related material. I only completed and reviewed 4 FL exams, 5 if you count the benchmark one which I did at the start of my Kaplan course with no preparation. I scored a 497 on that first one. I don't think my practice scores ever exceeded a 515 but Kaplan is notorious for giving harder exams and/or understating your score. I also wrote the AAMC practice exam close to my exam date. I spent about a month a half of dedicated time covering textbook material, something like 8-12 hours a day, then a few weeks of dedicated time on those practice exams, 8-12hrs a day, leading up to my exam date. I exercised and played video games on breaks, and hung out with friends very seldom. There were also days where I got little done, and a few days I took off entirely. I mostly had to write off my summer, but it was worth it in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jul059 Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 For sure. What I did and I feel was key to my success is going through practice exams and, most importantly, reviewing those practice exams in fine detail. Just writing them is good practice for the length and feel of the test, but its not enough. As I went through each practice exam I flagged any question that I was not 100% certain of the answer. I then went back and reviewed every question that I got wrong, then reviewed every flagged question. For each of these, I watched Kaplan's online videos on the topic or reviewed the textbook material on the topic until I understood the correct answer and how to solve each question. I would typically spend 1 day writing an exam and 2 or 3 reviewing it and the related material. I only completed and reviewed 4 FL exams, 5 if you count the benchmark one which I did at the start of my Kaplan course with no preparation. I scored a 497 on that first one. I don't think my practice scores ever exceeded a 515 but Kaplan is notorious for giving harder exams and/or understating your score. I also wrote the AAMC practice exam close to my exam date. I spent about a month a half of dedicated time covering textbook material, something like 8-12 hours a day, then a few weeks of dedicated time on those practice exams, 8-12hrs a day, leading up to my exam date. I exercised and played video games on breaks, and hung out with friends very seldom. There were also days where I got little done, and a few days I took off entirely. I mostly had to write off my summer, but it was worth it in the end. Which FLs did you like the most? I heard that NextStep are pretty good in terms of the content and the interface (identical to AAMC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamGreatDrJay Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Wow, Congratulations! Score goals indeed. My question is a little bit off. When choosing schools to apply to on the AMCAS website, There are only US medical schools and no Canadian Schools at all. As a Canadian not interested in going to US schools, where do I choose the schools to apply to on the AMCAS application portal? Is there any other place where Canadian schools are listed? How do I choose the school(s) where my MCAT score will be released? Please those that have completed their and have had their scores released, lend a helping advice. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyAndHopeful Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Wow, Congratulations! Score goals indeed. My question is a little bit off. When choosing schools to apply to on the AMCAS website, There are only US medical schools and no Canadian Schools at all. As a Canadian not interested in going to US schools, where do I choose the schools to apply to on the AMCAS application portal? Is there any other place where Canadian schools are listed? How do I choose the school(s) where my MCAT score will be released? Please those that have completed their and have had their scores released, lend a helping advice. Thank you. Are you in Ontario? If so, the OMSAS application (for all Ontario schools) opens in July. I believe for all schools outside of Ontario, you apply to them individually (check the websites for each school). With releasing MCAT scores, you can choose to release them to the schools in Canada that you apply to through the score release system. You don't need to do anything on AMCAS, as that is the portal for applying to American schools. This thread explains how to release the scores pretty well: http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/86170-how-do-you-release-mcat-scores/. I hope that helps, and good luck with your applications! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahsarah Posted July 30, 2017 Report Share Posted July 30, 2017 what classes do you recommend taking before writing the MCAT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy55555 Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 how many of the Kaplan FLs did u take ? Did you do AAMC unscored, FL1 and FL2 ? FLs from other companies ? Would u be willing to share your aamc FLs scores ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captrex_501stlegion Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 hey I was wondering what did you use for practice problems? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yybonn Posted December 25, 2017 Report Share Posted December 25, 2017 I have a similar score to OP's. I would strongly recommend doing all the AAMC FLs available. I did slightly better on my actual exam than both FL1 and FL2, but many exam writers have found their score to be around the average of their FL1 and FL2. I found Princeton's CARS workbook and EK 101 Verbal Passages (not the newer CARS version) quite helpful, and EK's 1001 questions for the science sections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clever_smart_boy_like_me Posted June 5, 2018 Report Share Posted June 5, 2018 On 12/24/2017 at 5:11 PM, yybonn said: I have a similar score to OP's. I would strongly recommend doing all the AAMC FLs available. I did slightly better on my actual exam than both FL1 and FL2, but many exam writers have found their score to be around the average of their FL1 and FL2. I found Princeton's CARS workbook and EK 101 Verbal Passages (not the newer CARS version) quite helpful, and EK's 1001 questions for the science sections. The 1001 science Qs, is that for 2015 version? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yybonn Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 On 6/5/2018 at 11:04 AM, clever_smart_boy_like_me said: The 1001 science Qs, is that for 2015 version? I used the pre-2015 version Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clever_smart_boy_like_me Posted June 7, 2018 Report Share Posted June 7, 2018 Oh cool ! I have a pdf of this I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymouspanda Posted June 23, 2018 Report Share Posted June 23, 2018 Hey DarkForest, what was your CARS score and maybe your score breakdown? Any tips for improving CARS specifically or strategies that may help? Anyone else who has some wisdom to shed, please do! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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