vs09 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Sorry, forgot to mention, Ontario resident (land of the worst odds..... sigh..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Sorry, forgot to mention, Ontario resident (land of the worst odds..... sigh..) you can apply all over the province. Your grades are better than mine and I supposedly have a fair shot at uoft, mac, queens, dal, and calgary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks for the support, hoping for UofT, UWO, Queen's, McGill, but will apply everywhere, do you think other provinces (aside from Calgary, Alberta, and Dal) will be a waste of time? Do you think American schools will frown on the two MCAT attempts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks for the support, hoping for UofT, UWO, Queen's, McGill, but will apply everywhere, do you think other provinces (aside from Calgary, Alberta, and Dal) will be a waste of time? Do you think American schools will frown on the two MCAT attempts? why apply to the states? If you apply now, it's late in the rolling process anyway. If you don't get in this coming year, then apply to both states and canada next admission cycle early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outlaw Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Manitoba is very plausible with your mcat (operative score of 11.8, I believe someone got in this year with an 11.7). The interviews are based on 73% mcat and the rest on gpa. Look into it if you're interested. Saskatchewan could also be an option. They just changed everything to incorporate the mcat but I don't know a lot about it. From what I understand, American schools won't care a lot about 2 attempts as long as there is significant improvement. I'm not extremely familiar with their process but there's no denying a 36Q is rock solid. If your intentions are to stay in Canada, you should be able to land multiple interviews here with those stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost&Found Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 First time posting results, so excited!Got June 21st 8:00 am results back, 36Q!!! (12 PS, 12 VR, 12 BS) Absolutely shocked and thrilled! 2nd attempt, last year's score was 28R (9,10,9), going into 4th year... Just cancelled my Aug 23rd sitting in Lebanon, New Hampshire last night.... Maybe now might get some interviews this year! Just to add... last year worked off Exam Kracker books, this year used all Princeton Review I'm so facking jealous. Good luck this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted July 25, 2012 Report Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks so much you guys! I'm still in disbelief and extremely excited about the score, more than ever hoped for! I guess all those months of studying last summer and this summer, and staying in on a Sat night when everyone else was partying finally paid off..... Last summer's 28R was hard to swallow and cringed at the thought of having to do it all over again, but in the end so glad to have tried again, definitely recommend tackling "the beast" after 3rd year instead of 2nd year, just somehow it all came together this year.... Soooo glad to never, ever have to write that thing again, yay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medhopeful64 Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 just got mine. got 11/11/10 QFirst time taker, and probably the last. Jumped out of my seat when i saw it! EDIT: More info Test Date: 06/21/2012 Verbal Reasoning (VR): 11 Percentile Range: 83.5 - 95.4 Physical Sciences (PS): 11 Percentile Range: 79.5 - 88.7 Writing Sample (WS): Q Percentile Range: 62.9 - 83.7 Biological Sciences (BS): 10 Percentile Range: 57.7 - 77.0 Total Score: 32Q Percentile Range: 83.8 - 87.7 Just wanna say Congrats!!! Glad the hard work paid off! (and your prayers were answered lol ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trojjanhorse Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Just wanna say Congrats!!! Glad the hard work paid off! (and your prayers were answered lol ) thanks bud. Haven't felt this positive in a long while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacrolimus Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 For everyone who did well on the MCAT, what study material did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Took Prep101 course full-time last summer (after 2nd year), using EK books and their practice materials, plus one year access to all online MCAT tests, (got 28R), then studied alone part-time this summer (for 2 months after 3rd year) while working, using TPR books (got 36Q). EK was excellent for verbal and was very happy this year using TPR for sciences, all last year's studying came back easily, still recommend taking a prep course first, no regrets having tackled MCAT this way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claire_tea Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Took Prep101 course full-time last summer (after 2nd year), using EK books and their practice materials, plus one year access to all online MCAT tests, (got 28R), then studied alone part-time this summer (for 2 months after 3rd year) while working, using TPR books (got 36Q). EK was excellent for verbal and was very happy this year using TPR for sciences, all last year's studying came back easily, still recommend taking a prep course first, no regrets having tackled MCAT this way This makes me so happy! I also took Prep101 last summer (and I got the same score as you, weirdly), and am doing TPR this summer. I really really hope to see just half the jump you did. Congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looktoabove Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Congrats vs09 amazing score! Can I ask what books in particular you found helpful for sciences from tpr? Did you use all the books and all the workbooks as well? Also did you do all the aamc tests? Did you have tests left that you didnt' use up stuyding last year? Thanks alot! Took Prep101 course full-time last summer (after 2nd year), using EK books and their practice materials, plus one year access to all online MCAT tests, (got 28R), then studied alone part-time this summer (for 2 months after 3rd year) while working, using TPR books (got 36Q). EK was excellent for verbal and was very happy this year using TPR for sciences, all last year's studying came back easily, still recommend taking a prep course first, no regrets having tackled MCAT this way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 This makes me so happy! I also took Prep101 last summer (and I got the same score as you, weirdly), and am doing TPR this summer. I really really hope to see just half the jump you did. Congrats Good luck to you! It's hard to have to study all over again, but not as bad or scary as the first time, and the TPR books are great! Hope you have an amazing test! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Congrats vs09 amazing score! Can I ask what books in particular you found helpful for sciences from tpr? Did you use all the books and all the workbooks as well? Also did you do all the aamc tests? Did you have tests left that you didnt' use up stuyding last year? Thanks alot! Bought the entire set of TPR (Physics, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Verbal Reasoning - was worth the $300ish it cost) and yes, still had online access to MCAT tests from last year's course (the one year expiry wasn't up yet). Really, really, recommend doing actual MCAT tests when you've studied enough material that you feel you have a reasonable chance at tackling a test, even if you have to pay AAMC for online access to old MCAT tests. Nothing compares to simulating an actual test: write a sample test at approx the same time of day as your booked test (eg. 8am or 2pm) and plan to write for the full 5 hours, have absolute silence in the house (turn off the phones), only take a 5-10min washroom break in-between each section, and small drink of water/snack, etc. Do enough MCAT tests to get a feel for how you are improving, but don't do them all in a row, give yourself several days or a week in-between practice tests because it's very draining, and just do sample questions and passages from the practice books in-between. Also, you can try to focus on a different subject every few days to a week, say, go from Chem to Bio to Orgo, etc. Don't tackle too many subjects at once. The one real plus of the Prep101 course last year is that they included free assessment of writing samples, you were able to submit a writing sample each week and receive feedback, which was very valuable. Really did not have to stress much about the writing sample this year, just brushed up on possible prompts and tried to compile a list of real-life examples to draw upon. Hope this information helps a bit, by no means an expert! Best of luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacrolimus Posted August 1, 2012 Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 Took Prep101 course full-time last summer (after 2nd year), using EK books and their practice materials, plus one year access to all online MCAT tests, (got 28R), then studied alone part-time this summer (for 2 months after 3rd year) while working, using TPR books (got 36Q). EK was excellent for verbal and was very happy this year using TPR for sciences, all last year's studying came back easily, still recommend taking a prep course first, no regrets having tackled MCAT this way Bought the entire set of TPR (Physics, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Verbal Reasoning - was worth the $300ish it cost) and yes, still had online access to MCAT tests from last year's course (the one year expiry wasn't up yet). Really, really, recommend doing actual MCAT tests when you've studied enough material that you feel you have a reasonable chance at tackling a test, even if you have to pay AAMC for online access to old MCAT tests. Nothing compares to simulating an actual test: write a sample test at approx the same time of day as your booked test (eg. 8am or 2pm) and plan to write for the full 5 hours, have absolute silence in the house (turn off the phones), only take a 5-10min washroom break in-between each section, and small drink of water/snack, etc. Do enough MCAT tests to get a feel for how you are improving, but don't do them all in a row, give yourself several days or a week in-between practice tests because it's very draining, and just do sample questions and passages from the practice books in-between. Also, you can try to focus on a different subject every few days to a week, say, go from Chem to Bio to Orgo, etc. Don't tackle too many subjects at once. The one real plus of the Prep101 course last year is that they included free assessment of writing samples, you were able to submit a writing sample each week and receive feedback, which was very valuable. Really did not have to stress much about the writing sample this year, just brushed up on possible prompts and tried to compile a list of real-life examples to draw upon. Hope this information helps a bit, by no means an expert! Best of luck to you! $1700 for prep is quite expensive! I think I'll try tackling the exam on my own. If you don't mind me asking, what is your background in university? (i.e. faculty, degree) I was thinking of buying EK books before, but now I think I'll try and get TPR books, if they are available online somewhere. My biggest weakness will be Verbal and Physics. Hopefully, TPR (and EK for Verbal) will be able to address that issue. What would you recommend for EK Verbal? The Verbal book or the 101 passages? Do the books come with practice questions? Also, how many AAMC practice exams would you recommend? 3? 4? more? Thanks a lot. Your response is very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Science degree - Biology - Health Science Took 2 sems each of Chem, Orgo, Physics, Calc, Psych, 1 sem of Biochem, Stats, and lots and lots of Bio (including 2 sems Physiology) Verbal 101 Passages was a really good resource Get your hands on as many practice tests as you can afford, you will sometimes hit on passages you are comfortable with and some which you will hate, so the more you practice, the more comfortable you will be when it comes to the actual test. Best of luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost&Found Posted August 2, 2012 Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 Hey vs09, How many weeks of practice did you do? Do you think 3 weeks is enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cis_man Posted August 4, 2012 Report Share Posted August 4, 2012 just got mine. got 11/11/10 QFirst time taker, and probably the last. Jumped out of my seat when i saw it! EDIT: More info Test Date: 06/21/2012 Verbal Reasoning (VR): 11 Percentile Range: 83.5 - 95.4 Physical Sciences (PS): 11 Percentile Range: 79.5 - 88.7 Writing Sample (WS): Q Percentile Range: 62.9 - 83.7 Biological Sciences (BS): 10 Percentile Range: 57.7 - 77.0 Total Score: 32Q Percentile Range: 83.8 - 87.7 Congrats on your score. Any tips on how you tackled verbal to get an 11? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vs09 Posted August 5, 2012 Report Share Posted August 5, 2012 Hey vs09, How many weeks of practice did you do? Do you think 3 weeks is enough? Mentioned above, studied for one full summer for 1st test, and 6 weeks part-time for re-test (12PS, 12VR, 12BS, Q) Time spent studying depends on: -first time test, or repeat test? -took all prereq science courses, or have to study some subjects from scratch? - studying full-time, or part-time outside work? Take these factors into consideration when deciding if 3 weeks is enough, personally I think you would benefit from 3 months steady as opposed to 3 weeks crammed, but you never know, best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chenoa Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 I received a few replies from PM 101ers re: my Sept 1st mcat date which was scheduled in Detroit, MI. I have cancelled my seat, and decided to post here to make it fair. I'm thinking a prep course and a few solid months of studying is what I need. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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