countdown...

[Guest DHP62]

4 weeks and counting...

 

oh my!

 

:\

[Guest TimmyMax]

When's the magical day?

[Guest Tanya23]

August 17th!! I wish I could remember my organic chem. Could someone out there answer a question?: Are our raw scores are adjusted so that "8" is average performance for each test admistration? The MCAT site doesn't say. Thanks guys.

[Guest V]

I don't think they are. Rather I think they are adjusted to get a neat bell curve .... some weird statistics thingy that I no very little about.

 

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey Tanya23,

 

I think you're spot on in that the raw scores are supposed to be scaled so that the average score is 8 in each of the numerical sections. They don't actually touch your raw scores nor do they let you see what your raw score actually was in the score report sent out in October. So, for the August 2002 MCAT they'll only report your scaled, i.e., 1-15, scores for each of the numerical sections. (By the way, they do supply the resultant scales for each of the numerical sections with the score reports sent out in October, so you can see the delineation of the percentiles.)

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest DHP62]

I missed week 3 - oops!

 

So too continue

2 weeks and counting...

 

Anyone else getting kind of nervous/anxious?

 

:\

 

btw...anyone else write Kaplan mock 4 today? Did you find it...err...challenging?!

 

I'm braindead...off to sleep.

 

Study hard eveyone, it'll all be over soon! well, at least this step of the way

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey DHP62,

 

Nope, didn't write the Kaplan yesterday, but did tackle AMCAS V. Actually, it was my second time seeing its VR section but the first for the sciences. Ah, how could I have so easily forgotten that 10-question, Picasso-as-a-child passage!

 

Cheers, and some reciprocal good luck to you,

Kirsteen

[Guest DHP62]

Hey Kirsteen,

 

I recently did AAMC V. Got smoked on that Picasso passage!! Woa!!

 

I found the physics definitely do-able. But the bio...that was a different story (so I thought).

 

Here's hoping for a Picasso-esque-free Aug 17th

[Guest medicator007]

Kirsteen and DHP62,

 

I remember getting absolutely murdered by that Picasso as a young lad passage and getting totally flustered b/c it was only a week or so before the MCAT. I just ended up telling myself to relax and that it was just ONE tough passage.... in the end i guess i was right....

 

Medicator

[Guest dfenst]

Even though it was a tough passage, you gotta admit it's one of the more interesting ones out there. It's certainly more interesting than the Neanderthal one. Do I really care if I am a decendant of some huge Neanderthal? Sure don't, but reading some of Pablo's quotes were semi-interesting.

 

Nonetheless, here's hoping for a Pablo-free Aug 17.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey dfenst,

 

I especially chortled at his retort re: the Gertrude Stein painting: "Don't worry, it will." What a cheeky bum, that Spanish guy. To boot, it sounds like George Lucas may have discovered a few Yoda-esque script lines among the quips o' Picasso.

 

Does anyone else find that one of the more bizarre aspects of writing Verbal Reasoning sections is that they chuck in some really conversation-provoking passages? Yeh, it can be a scary bit of a section to tackle for marks, but on the other hand, I don't know how many times I've nipped out with pals, and during dinner chats, some VR content has needled its way into the conversation. Some of the passages--Picasso aside--can be really interesting, and put forth some wild ideas. Perhaps the AAMC may profit from releasing some "Readers Digest" of VR passages of sort.

 

Cheers and good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest DHP62]

Well...this is it...my last posting under the countdown

 

One week left...

7 days

 

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

And have fun Saturday night

 

btw - how is everyone approaching the next week?

[Guest aneliz]

I would suggest that you guys all relax this week. Some studying is okay but going ape for the next seven days won't do you any good. There is likely little that you can change at this point! Don't drive yourselves nuts trying! Keep up with current events this week (read a couple newspapers) and, if you feel like it, do some focused studying on particular weak spots that you have identified (example: NMR spectra or something). Don't do anything crazy like doing non-stop practice tests. I would suggest that you forget the practice tests entirely this week. Most of all, take Fri off and have some fun, relax and you will all be fine! Remember, half of doing well on the MCAT is being awake and alert and keeping yourself from freaking out on exam day. Panic studying all week will not help! Good luck everybody. You've all worked hard and everything will be just fine. Keeping telling yourself that and it will!

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi aneliz,

 

I'd so like to agree with you, and certainly, your suggestion was my plan up until that AAMC 6 verbal section yesterday--gawd. Any suggestions in incorporating a recovery strategy?!!

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hi Kirsteen,

 

Perhaps you can draw some comfort/solace from my story. After blowing the VR section on my first attempt (damned time constraint!), I studied all summer for my second run at the cup. After a summer of decent VR scoring on practice exams, I totally got destroyed to the tune of a 6 the Wednesday before the big day. I feared that my summer of studying was going to go for naught, but on game day I bore down and scored a 10.

The morale of the story is that all bets are off once the magical day comes. Once you step inside that squared circle...um, I mean exam room, it's completely up to you and it won't matter that you scored 3s or 15s on every practice exam to date. It's one day for all the marbles and anything can happen! So grab your favorite pen, think happy thoughts and dive in!

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi Timmy,

 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Man, what a deflator those last minute results can be. In all honestly, I gasped when I read my result on my computer screen as I haven't scored a 7 this year, nor on either of my last MCATs. I'm cringing at the thought of trying another full-length section this week, but I think it's best to dive right back in tomorrow to the tune of, if you fall off that VR horse, well get right back on it again.

 

A serious cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Richardo Xavier]

well, here I am, took practice MCAT II yesterday and made a 28, then took practice MCAT III today and made a *gasps in horror* a 24

 

Verbal = 9, Bio = 8, Physical Sciences = 7

 

if I had gotten one or two more right I could have gotten 3 points higher but man what a deflater.

 

I think I will take one more practice MCAT this week and bone up on physics a tiny bit ( just review the questions, I missed all the math stuff ) The one practice test I have left is the one from my kaplan book I bought a year ago in Barnes and Noble. All I can say is good luck to all of you and I'm gonna say a lil prayer before I take mine I'm gonna need EVERY bit of help I can get!

 

-Richie

 

[Guest Richardo Xavier]

Kirsteen,

 

Don't get down about the score. On exam day, everyone's on a level playing field. Approach the test with a smile in hand and a spring in your step. Yeah, we are all scrambling to take practice tests and such but in reality, don't lose sight that the MCAT isn't about what you know but about how you use what you know. You can't think clearly during the test if you're all stressed out and depressed over a practice exam. Point is just relax a little before the exam, don't think about MCAT just do something fun for yourself. Show up at 7:45AM, walk in, sit down, say a lil prayer, take a deep breath and drop kick that MCAT like Jackie Chan

 

 

*ties his headband around his forehead and takes a stance*

 

-Richie

[Guest aneliz]

Also, remember that your real scaled score is determined exclusively by comparing your raw score to the raw scores of other examinees that had the SAME version of the MCAT that you did. If the version you get is a killer, then you won't need as high a raw score to come out with a very decent scaled score! The stress factor on exam day also I think means that a lower raw score = higher scaled score. (ie you no one scores as high as they do in practice, therefore you don't need to score that high to get a great scaled score). On the practice exams, the score conversions are only an estimate! So, don't panic!

 

Kirsteen, if you want to 'get back on the VR horse', go for it. (If it will make you feel more confident - confidence is everything!)....but don't spend all week doing it. Do it once, feel better, then relax for the rest of the week!

 

Don't worry, you will be fine!

 

When I did practice tests last year, I usually scored somewhere between 10-12 on VR. On the real thing, I was scrambling to the bitter end- to the point where I was colouring in a random answer choice as they were screaming 'put your pencils down....'. I thought that I had bombed VR miserably and would likely be lucky to get an 8.... when I got my scores back and saw VR 13-15, I almost fell over.... So, don't worry 'cause it won't change anything... Good luck!

[Guest Kirsteen]

aneliz (and Richardo, et al.), you rock. Thanks for sharing your insights--they are fabulously appreciated!

 

Kirsteen

[Guest bad hombre]

Guys, good luck to everyone, i think i'm catching a cold with t-4 days. crap. any advice?

[Guest ioncannon97]

do some seriuos resting man. you wanna be 100% on saturday

[Guest Kirsteen]

Drink a couple of glasses of high quality OJ each day!

 

Cheers, and get well soon,

Kirsteen

[Guest rosie7172]

Hey Hombre-

 

Just to maybe put you at ease, last year I wrote the verbal and physical sciences sections (my two hardest sections) with a massive migraine and literally felt like I couldn't see the paper in front of my face. Turns out, I was able to pull myself together and did fine. I agree with everyone else... try to relax, drink the fluids and stuff, and trust your brain and body to come through for you in the crunch.

 

Best of luck to you and everyone else!

[Guest dfenst]

Just keep telling yourself you can do it. Confidence is the number one thing to have on test day. Doing well is part preparation and part test management. As Rosie7172 said, trust that your brain is prepared for the test, and repeatedly tell yourself that you will do well on the test.

 

Good luck