September MCAT Thread

[Alastriss]

r there 7 or 6 paasages in the cbt VR?

 

always 7 for VR, and ithnk the same for PS and BS, ahh guys, here it is, MCAT eve.

[The Law]

wow i went to bed at 11, woke up 12, thought i wrote the mcat and was happy, then i was like..i don't remembre writing BS wtf ahhh and then i was like no wait i didn actually write it.

 

for VR, I am at:

 

aamc 3 - 30/40 (10)

aamc 4 - 35/40 (12)

aamc 5 - To be determined

aamc 6 - 33/40 (11)

aamc 8 - 29/40 (9:mad: )

aamc 9 - 29/40 (9 )

aamc 10 - 28/40 (8 )

 

anyone see the downward trend? haha

one thing i did realize tho, its going to be such a crapshoot because between now and the test, what is going to influence my mark the most is how i handle myself in that 1 hour.

 

We have almost the same marks on verbal. It's so frustrating, I know.

 

 

Good luck to everyone writing tomorrow.

[phantom]

verbal is all about FOCUS. i mean if there is a way to be totally just concentrated on the material and don't let your mind slip you can do better than your practice tests IMO. good luck guys, you've been preparing hard and should do good. Man, why am I going to classes even though its just the first week I still think I should, got another one in an hour and a half

[Alastriss]

verbal is all about FOCUS. i mean if there is a way to be totally just concentrated on the material and don't let your mind slip you can do better than your practice tests IMO. good luck guys, you've been preparing hard and should do good. Man, why am I going to classes even though its just the first week I still think I should, got another one in an hour and a half

 

Yeah phantom, it is all about focus, thats why im feeling that me getting a 10 or not is how i handle myself in that one hour

GAHH CAN'T FREAKING WAIT TO BE DONE

[sisyphus]

So here it goes:

 

Scientific inquiry is rooted in the desire to discover, but there is no discovery so important that in its pursuit a threat to human life can be tolerated.

 

Scientific disovery has increased exponentially in the last decade. The boom of the biotechnology indsutry has resulted in a number of treatments for human diseases such as Tamiflu for treating Influenza. Questions regarding bioethics and moral issues have often been raised in the discovery processes. Is it immoral to clone a human? Are more biological terrorism weapons being produced? Regulations have been placed on the research sector, primarily by the Food and Drugs Adminsitration (FDA). The FDA only approves clinical trials of drugs upon preset regulations and rules. These rules prevents any tests on involuntary patients. It is the patient's decision to accept treatment of unapproved or unsafe drugs, even if it may worsen their condition and threaten their life. Also, the FDA prevents any research with harmful objectives to the humankind. A terrorist will never get federally approval for inventing a drug that kills in seconds upon inhealing. With these regulations in place, humans are saved from the risks of harmful scientific research, in most cases.

 

Although completely threatening scientific research is prohibited, tolerance can be granted for lower-risked researches. A team of scientists has resurrected the 1918 influenza virus from the permafrost ten years ago, a virus has disappeared from the population for over fifty years. The objective was to study the genetic makeup of the virus that resulted in the 1918 Influenza pandemic killing over fifty million worldwide. Much concern has been raised as to the danger of working on an 'already dead' virus was: what if the virus escapes from the laboratory? The National Institute for Allergies and Diseases claims the research was approved a decade ago because the benefits outweights the risks. Because of the imminent expected Influenza pandemic, studying the 1918 virus strain may provide insight on how to fight it. Thus, this research may save the human kind in the end because of the granted tolerance from authority organizations.

 

In a world full of new scientific discoveries everyday, one have to bear in mind the associated risks. The globalisation of scientific research requires strict regulations to prevent the generation of life-threatening drugs or weapons. However, risky research may be tolerated if the benefits outweights the risks and if the objectives are for the good of mankind. Only when a balance between the benefits and risks is achieved can scientific discovery provide greater mechanisms to perpetuate mankind furhter on in its course of evolution.

 

Comments? I think its a 4/6, I got a P last time

[Alastriss]

OK serious question about extraction, for test 8, there is a question about extracting ethylamine from an organic reaction (so i assume organic solvent = nonpolar) and you remove it with aqueous HCl? is it because lonepair on the N accepts the H, becomes positive, and then is not soluble in organic layer?

[phantom]

yeah im pretty sure you got it. ethylamine is basic and when you add the HCL you protonate the amine, and this charged specie will be soluble in the aqueous layer

[vip_138]

just got 12/10/12 on aamc #10 so i'm feeling pretty pumped, as long as i can save face on VR and nail a 10 i'll be happy.

 

 

The best of luck to all of you

[Alastriss]

Nice work VIP, i am gonig to do a little bit of VR prep and PS review and im calling it a night

 

Sisyphus i sent u the CBTs u wanted, and yeah id say its 4/6 too!

[Guest begaster]

Good luck, guys. Come tell us how it was. But lie. Say it was easy.

 

Nine more days for me.

[Jixe]

Good Luck!!!!

[Alastriss]

Good luck guys, hopefully one day we'll laugh at this, when we're already in med.

[avenir001]

it just wouldn't be the same w/o avenir wishing her fellow bros good luck!!

 

that said, i envy those who are all done and going/gone to bed...i'm still reviewing ps, and will try to do a verbal and ws at some point tonite

[eng_dude786]

avenir..are you at UWO?

[Tan008]

GOOD LUCK GUYS you're almost free!!

[eng_dude786]

could someone give me their feedback:

 

A nation's ability to survive is often dependent upon its military strength.

 

Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above statement means. Describe a specific situation in which a nation's ability to survive might not depend on its military strength. Discuss what you think determines when a nation's ability to survive is dependent upon its military strength.

 

 

A nation is defined as individual people adhering to a set of standards. Either an individual or a group of individuals sets these standards fourth on moralistic and fair grounds. Often times a nation would face fierce obstacles that it needs to overcome in order to survive. From the past it can be seen that survival and stability often depends upon a nation's military strength. As an example it was the military of the Persian Empire that allowed the nation to withstand internal revolts by a certain groups internal to the empire. The idea of having the greatest military might and its direct correlation to survival is also embodied in the video games that teens regularly play. The main trick to winning and surviving is to build a large massive army that will be able to defend the nation the gamer is controlling. In present day, it is obvious that a nation needs military strength to fight off terrorism not only within its own borders but globally. It is clear that in order to survive, military strength is necessary.

 

 

However, there are other scenarios where a nation's survival may not be dependent upon its military strength. Take for example a wide spread infection of a virus that is spreading across the nation at a great rate. No amount of number of soldiers in the military can sustain the nation if there is no known cure to the viral infection. Furthermore in reference to the biblical texts, examples crop up where the military strength of a nation was of no help to the nation surviving. The incident of the Pharaoh’s army and Mosses is one such example. The military strength of the Pharaoh did not result in his nation's survival as they were drowned. Additionally in times of peace where there are no enemies of a nation, military strength places little role in a nation's ability to survive. If a nation has great number of soldiers but the rest of the nation is not meeting its basic needs, such as having enough food to eat, then the nation's survival is at risk.

 

 

In conclusion, the determining factor of whether a nation will survive through its military strength depends on the type of conflict faced. If another extremist nation is set to attack, then the military strength determines the nation's survival. However, if the obstacle faced by the nation is of a non-military nature, such as wide spread virus, then military strength is not the determining factor of the nation's survival. What would render a nation’s survival would be adequate actions taken against the wide spread infections.

[avenir001]

avenir..are you at UWO?

 

no, i'm at ubc

ur essay looks great...i especially like the persian empire example

i'd say 5 or 6 for sure

[ducky]

so I went to sleep at 10pm and didn;t fall asleep until 3am, why I don;t know, gonna grab myself a small starbucks and off I go, hopefully lack of sleep won't kick my ass. I'm so pissed.

[avenir001]

i was able to sleep 4 hrs, but i'm still sleepy...i'm doing some last-minute verbalio since i haven't done it in a few days...finding it hard to focus tho...and they better not start the test before 12pm cuz i have to study for ws

[Orchid]

i was able to sleep 4 hrs, but i'm still sleepy...i'm doing some last-minute verbalio since i haven't done it in a few days...finding it hard to focus tho...and they better not start the test before 12pm cuz i have to study for ws

 

if ppl register earlier on, they are allowed to come back as early as 11:30 to begin the test.

 

(if it is a THOMSON PROMETRIC centre... don't know if its the same for TRIOS).

[Jixe]

if ppl register earlier on, they are allowed to come back as early as 11:30 to begin the test.

 

(if it is a THOMSON PROMETRIC centre... don't know if its the same for TRIOS).

 

Is that useful though? Do we need anything on us besides ID when registering?

[Guest begaster]

could someone give me their feedback:

 

A nation's ability to survive is often dependent upon its military strength.

 

Write a unified essay in which you perform the following tasks. Explain what you think the above statement means. Describe a specific situation in which a nation's ability to survive might not depend on its military strength. Discuss what you think determines when a nation's ability to survive is dependent upon its military strength.

 

 

A nation is defined as individual people adhering to a set of standards. Either an individual or a group of individuals sets these standards fourth on moralistic and fair grounds. Often times a nation would face fierce obstacles that it needs to overcome in order to survive. From the past it can be seen that survival and stability often depends upon a nation's military strength. As an example it was the military of the Persian Empire that allowed the nation to withstand internal revolts by a certain groups internal to the empire. The idea of having the greatest military might and its direct correlation to survival is also embodied in the video games that teens regularly play. The main trick to winning and surviving is to build a large massive army that will be able to defend the nation the gamer is controlling. In present day, it is obvious that a nation needs military strength to fight off terrorism not only within its own borders but globally. It is clear that in order to survive, military strength is necessary.

 

 

However, there are other scenarios where a nation's survival may not be dependent upon its military strength. Take for example a wide spread infection of a virus that is spreading across the nation at a great rate. No amount of number of soldiers in the military can sustain the nation if there is no known cure to the viral infection. Furthermore in reference to the biblical texts, examples crop up where the military strength of a nation was of no help to the nation surviving. The incident of the Pharaoh’s army and Mosses is one such example. The military strength of the Pharaoh did not result in his nation's survival as they were drowned. Additionally in times of peace where there are no enemies of a nation, military strength places little role in a nation's ability to survive. If a nation has great number of soldiers but the rest of the nation is not meeting its basic needs, such as having enough food to eat, then the nation's survival is at risk.

 

 

In conclusion, the determining factor of whether a nation will survive through its military strength depends on the type of conflict faced. If another extremist nation is set to attack, then the military strength determines the nation's survival. However, if the obstacle faced by the nation is of a non-military nature, such as wide spread virus, then military strength is not the determining factor of the nation's survival. What would render a nation’s survival would be adequate actions taken against the wide spread infections.

 

 

Elaborate on the example in your thesis, and pick better examples for your anti-thesis. As it stands right now, you have a hypothetical (read: worthless) example, and a Biblical example that, well, let's just say you probably shouldn't invoke the Bible at all in your essay.

[Jixe]

So how'd it go guys?

[Alastriss]

PS - typical, cept I got a lof of weaknesses as passages which made it rougher but it was aite really, some wtf questions about aerosol and sol and i guessed at that.

 

VR - not too bad, 2 passages that were pretty hard, but other than that I think it was ok

 

WS - one was good, the other was like wtf, it was financial security should be first priority and i used linguistic logic to disprove that if you are wealthy then financial security is not a priority by the definition of the word etc etc etc

 

BS - ahh yes, WTF WTF WTF. There was a passage about mass spec, which i hardly studied, nomenclature about lactones, and a passage that had NMR data that looked like MSDOS hacker mumbojumbo which left me going WTF WTF WTF, I definetely felt that this section had some passages that made it WTF WTF WTF, probably the worst.

[ducky]

PS - typical, cept I got a lof of weaknesses as passages which made it rougher but it was aite really, some wtf questions about aerosol and sol and i guessed at that.

 

VR - not too bad, 2 passages that were pretty hard, but other than that I think it was ok

 

WS - one was good, the other was like wtf, it was financial security should be first priority and i used linguistic logic to disprove that if you are wealthy then financial security is not a priority by the definition of the word etc etc etc

 

BS - ahh yes, WTF WTF WTF. There was a passage about mass spec, which i hardly studied, nomenclature about lactones, and a passage that had NMR data that looked like MSDOS hacker mumbojumbo which left me going WTF WTF WTF, I definetely felt that this section had some passages that made it WTF WTF WTF, probably the worst.

 

I dont remember an aerosol passage....though I can't remember most of those q's anyways. I found PS pretty easy, VR was strange, very boring passages, WS I bull****ted the financial security one, it was a toughie, and BS was exactly like you said. What was with the second last passage with the crazy freakin orgo??? I guessed half of those (was running out of time...kicking myself, always finish BS early, so I made myself take my time and I Had 20 mins left for the last two passages and last free standing questions)

 

Overall opinion - could go either way, I have no clue how I did.