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No Sleep


PastaInhaler

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How many of you had little to no sleep the night before the MCAT, and how did it affect you on game day?

 

2006 - Wrote on 2 1/2 hrs of sleep. Initially the physical sciences seemed really hard but the questions were actually really easy. I still walked away with 31R.

 

July 30, 2009 - Slept about 2 hrs. I was frustrated that I didn't get much sleep and was worried that I wouldn't last the day. I had a chocolate bar prior to the exam and things didn't go very well. I think the pressure and frustration built up to a breaking point. I ended up voiding my exam early into VR. (See my thread on choking)

 

Aug 14, 2009 - Didn't sleep at all. Realizing that I wouldn't, I went for a run at 6AM and went about business as usual. I accepted the fact that I didn't sleep early in the morning and didn't let that get into my head for my 2PM writing. After the VR, I had half a can of Red Bull and felt a nice buzz, almost like being tipsy. I had the other half can afterward WS. I felt very confident writing this day, and am now waiting for results.

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i slept but i kept on waking up throughout the night... it wasnt mcat related tho. my dad, i think due to exhaustion, almost fainted... it turned out to be not that big a deal but at the time, it was pretty serious, so i was scared about him that night more about my mcat... still waiting for my result... no idea how it affected my performance

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My sister and I wrote it on the same day in a nearby town. She was having massive panic attack (stayed in same hotel room), and kept me up all night, or at least until 3AM (I was "in bed" by 10:30PM, was intending to get 7ish hours of sleep). And then I woke up at 6AM.

 

So... 3 hours of sleep? :(

 

I downed about 2 cups of bold, black coffee before the exam. My heart was racing super fast, but I don't know if that is because I had no sleep or simply because I was 'nervous'.

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Maybe the caffeine from the 2 cups of bold, black coffee that you took before the exam had something to do with it.

 

Oh, lol, perhaps. But I already normally drink a lot of coffee; I have high tolerance to caffeine. Lol, not sure how to describe it, but I guess it's similar to how some people drink a lot of alcohol regularly and then need to drink lots in order to 'feel tipsy' or 'get drunk'...

 

*EDIT: I find out my MCAT scores next month; we'll see if sleep has an effect.

 

The first time I wrote it in July, I actually got about 9 hours of sleep before the exam, which on the contrary, made me feel quite lethargic/tired during the exam; I usually average about 6 hours of sleep. I remember I wasn't actually "awake" until WS, and I strongly believe my scores are an indicator of that:

 

PS-9 VR-8 WS-R BS-12 ... an upward trend... -_- *And then, there's always the thought of whether I just suck at PS and VR. But I was averaging ~12 on practice AAMCs... VR.. no comment, lol.

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i slept but i kept on waking up throughout the night... it wasnt mcat related tho. my dad, i think due to exhaustion, almost fainted... it turned out to be not that big a deal but at the time, it was pretty serious, so i was scared about him that night more about my mcat... still waiting for my result... no idea how it affected my performance

 

i got my score... 33Q a little bit lower than practice... i was ranging from 34 to 36. so i guess it didnt affect me too much.

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