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Sept 12.. doomsday?


MedNerd

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Ahh sorry for not being clear

I mean, it seems that a lot of people are using EK and it is helping them get better and better on verbal, and as the word spreads, more people will use them, so on a long enough timescale the raw score needed to get a 10 will increase because EK is helping a lot of people with verbal...get what I mean?

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You make a good point avenir

 

i was reading somewhere that med schools are getting worried with this CBT, that a 10 on one test day =/= 10 on another test day. That would be a nightmare, to have so much at stake in the hands of lady luck. I really liked the idea of a 10 meaning the same thing nomatter where or when.

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You make a good point avenir

 

i was reading somewhere that med schools are getting worried with this CBT, that a 10 on one test day =/= 10 on another test day. That would be a nightmare, to have so much at stake in the hands of lady luck. I really liked the idea of a 10 meaning the same thing nomatter where or when.

 

the more I talk to people who took two MCATs in a row this summer, the more I think that this just might be the case :eek:

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you guys think that EK will make it harder to score better on VR in the long run? It seems to be an evolution of sorts

 

Just my two cents and I think I'm off-topic but I have to get this off my chest! (note: I got 11 on the real thing, but I was consistenly scoring 11-14 on the practice tests near the end of my studying).

 

EK and Kaplan VR strategies are next to useless, you can't learn VR from a book. I think people are looking far too hard for some VR magic bullet while they should be looking at the basics. Read slowly, pay attention, try to be interested (helps a lot) and when answering a question *ask yourself if your answer makes sense*? At least two are totally off and usually the other two are variations of the same answer, but with a different 'intensity' - almost all VR answers (in this context) are temperate answers, they are never absolute. (ie. don't pick: elephants are always large - too forceful, even though we know by instinct that elephants are USUALLY large..get my drift?). Also, another thing I've learned of the MCAT'sformat that helped me boost my score by 1-2 points during practice: Some answers sound right, because we've heard it to be true in the past (from experience) - while the answer may in fact be right outside the MCAT, they are not right on the MCAT itself unless supported in the article. Helped me a lot on the actual MCAT, as there was a Democrat vs Republican passage, and obviously everyone holds a certain level of outside knowledge and bias on this topic. You have to throw it out the window, because a lot of true but mcat-incorrect answers show up.

 

Anyways, I've stated this numerous times over the past summer. VR shouldn't be that hard, I mostly boosted my score from an initial 7 to usually only getting a handful wrong (usually inattention) by reading SLOWLY (ie. I am mentally deficient and must think every word outloud slow). If you understand the passage, the answers are stupid easy. They are almost all obvious answers. There is usually only one difficult VR passage, the one that makes absolutely no sense (one on piano pitch comes to mind), but you should be able to nail the others without a hitch.

 

If you are having trouble with VR, it means that there is something wrong with your reading mechanics - not your logic. The logic part only helps in answering a few pesky questions, understanding the passage itself relates to 90% of the answers.

 

Meh, this VR section annoys me. I don't know why people are not doing better in it - it's not that hard. Just work on your reading. Forget about the 'plan of attack' all these books claim to have.

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I find you have to make a "game plan" for verbal. Do what works for you. I find that I do better when I follow a strict time limit on each passage and read really fast (so that I can spend more time on questions). I go back to the passage to verify, and when I read try to make sense of the passage (do my best not to ignore things I don't understand and to try to understand what is the purpose of the article).

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I'm with Law on this. It seems like VR is very personal and different things work for different people. And if you have problems with it, the best way to figure it out is to come up with your own strategy (whatever works for you, and not what someone says "works for everyone) and then practice practice practice :D AND don't get discouraged...THX is right, it's not meant to be difficult...but a lot of people wind themselves up about it.

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Law, when are you thinking of re-writing?

I got a 9 in PS as well, 30 total, but I'm pretty sure I have to rewrite for a real shot at Queens and UWO. I see you're in 3rd year at UWO, so am I, (don't worry I'm not a stalker) and I'm thinking about possibly January... or May. DEFINATELY not August again, that was a waste of my summer.

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If you are thinking of re-doing the MCAT in January/April because you believe it will be 'easier'.. you should probably rethink this strategy. I do believe some months should be easier than others, but not January/April. I mean, who else but the really hardcore are going to be doing the MCAT during these months? You can probably get a good curved score with a lesser raw score than usual in April because of finals keeping people busy, but unless you are out of school you will be in the same boat as everyone else and at no advantage.

 

In hindsight, I think the easy month is May and to a lesser extent June. From what I've read on SDN, a lot of people use these sittings as a trial run of sorts with the intention (or option) of redoing it in august. August is more difficult than most (IMO) because of all the re-takers and summer-long study folks.. ie. very well prepared.

 

Just my two cents, good luck.

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I wouldn't mind your distribution once I get my score back on Oct. 10. As long as it's over a 30, I'll be happy! :)

 

Well here is my contribution

 

 

PS: 13

BS: 13

WS: Q

VR: 7

 

What a nightmare. Three months of preperation down the drain. I hate VR :mad:

 

 

I don't know what else to do, this was pretty consistant with my practice scores (VR: 7-9). So sad, it was a rollercoaster ride looking at my scores. Can't wait to write again in 08 :(

Good luck to those of you who had success this time around

gf

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Law, when are you thinking of re-writing?

I got a 9 in PS as well, 30 total, but I'm pretty sure I have to rewrite for a real shot at Queens and UWO. I see you're in 3rd year at UWO, so am I, (don't worry I'm not a stalker) and I'm thinking about possibly January... or May. DEFINATELY not August again, that was a waste of my summer.

 

Haha, harry potter fan?

 

I am thinking about rewriting in January. Are you in med sci/health sci? I'm in 3rd year biochem (STALK ME!!!).... actually, I made some really amazing friends @ UWO cause of p101. :)

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