I have a pretty good idea, but I just want to know who I’m cheering for in the next couple of months!
I know Dan has his rock-star date next week… who else is coming up?
This is huge. This is scary. But this will be over soon. As I sit here, analyzing my conceptual mistakes from the PS section of AAMC 5, I can’t tell you how good it feels to be on the verge of DONE with the stacks and stacks of MCAT material sitting around my house!
For the next 2 weeks, I am focusing on AAMC tests each night. I’ve taken Test 11, 3, 10, 9, and 5 so far, and my scores are pretty consistent. My plan from here on out? I am pouring through each of those 5 exams, one section at a time. (Going through each question of the PS section of all 5 exams…for example.) I am making notes regarding concepts that show up over and over, as well as anything I consistently missed across those exams. There are some comforting commonalities popping up that will help me knock out a few last minute weaknesses.
I plan to be done with all the PS work by the end of this weekend…then I submerse myself in the 5 tests’ BS sections for the whole week. BS is definitely my weakest, so I want to spend more time there.
I’m very consistent with Verbal–from the beginning, I’ve always scored somewhere between 11-13, no matter what I do there…so I am not spending much time on that section. I just need to nail this other stuff.
I do need to take a moment and give some thought to the written essays–I haven’t even gone there yet.
One month, people. ONE MONTH!! 
(Unless I wimp out in the next 2 weeks and change my date…LOL)
That’s my gameplan to bring it home. How are you guys spending these last precious weeks??? Make them count, and then go in there knowing you have done all you can do!
Best of luck, guys…and hang in there!
June date here, but I’m not far behind you guys!!!
I am a couple weeks after you Carrie. Physics is still killing me. I’m starting to feel the anxiety creep up for sure.
Carrieliz -
a bit of advice on the essays. Read the question thoroughly - a lot of your points come from if you actually answered the question.
Two - outline BRIEFLY on the whiteboard. I used a paragraph outline - what points I wanted to cover, one (or 2 if I could think of them) illustrations for each point, concluding paragraph.
Three - if time is running out, write the topic sentences for your last paragraph - your conclusion - so that at least is a complete sentance. Fill in details as you have time. Don’t start a sentance you don’t have time to finish. I found in practice tests I consistently broke off in the middle of my conclusion so adopted this strategy.
Kate
I’m scheduled for May 24th…quickly approaching! Like you, Carrieliz, I’m comfortable with my verbal reasoning prowess, but upping my efforts in the sciences. This past week (spring break - woohoo!) I did a quick once-over of the ExamKracker physics & chemistry books to get the equations that I need to simply KNOW written on index cards to review when I can. I will be reviewing these daily, and need to go through the o-chem and bio books for the equivalent absolute “must-know’s” (IR spectra ranges, etc.) Then I will start going through the books in depth, taking the remaining 3 AAMCAS tests along the way, until the exam comes. I’m still working full time, and there’s no way around that. We’ll see how it goes.
On a humorous note, my husband made the kids all giggle at the dinner table tonight when he asked me: “Do you remember asking me about some formula in the middle of the night? I can’t remember which night it was, but you woke me up asking me about some physics formula.” Uh, yeah…that was last night: “Is it v equals v naught plus a-t squared, or v equals v naught plus a-t?” His (more asleep than not) answer actually made more sense than anything I’ve gotten in class - “Just look at the units - that’ll tell you what makes sense.” He’s right. I still think some of our professors are paid to keep things confusing to see who can figure it out, instead of paid to help as many as possible make sense of the subject. Glad I’ve got him!
Ya know, it’s strange. With the MCAT being just a few days away I would have thought I’d be extremely nervous by now, but ironically I’m hardly nervous at all. I studied for ~500 hours and took 12 practice test (3 TPR and all 9 AAMC’s and my AAMC scores are always (physical 8-10) (Verbal 8-11 but mostly 10+…test 9 was a strange outlier for me for whatever reason) and bio (8-10). So for a range of 26-29 and an average of 28. Not awesome by any means, but decent enough to give me a shot at a lot of D.O. schools and a few M.D. schools. But, honestly, I couldn’t have done anything differently. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. The fact that some of you guys can score above a 12 in any section baffles me, truly, that’s amazing!
Anyways, I feel good about things, let’s hope that feeling continues thru Thursday. I know you’ll all do well!
Frankly, I’ll just be darn glad to be done with this lovely test!
Dan–I think seeing so much consistency in your scores is giving you the confidence you need. You know what to expect. You’ve done the work. You shouldn’t have any surprises!
You got this…
I am so excited for you, and I can’t wait to be on the flip side too!!! Just to be done…good grief…! That is, in and of itself, a victory.
We’ll both have our scores in time for conference (again, I say it–IF I don’t chicken out and change my date in the next week or two.) That will be a huge weight off!
Get some good rest in the next couple of days, and good luck!
Long time lurker here, finally registred for an account.
I’m scheduled for the 13th of April. My AAMC practice scores have been pretty consistent PS 11, VR 10, BS 10. I just can’t seem to break 10 for BS. Anyone have advice on this?
This final stretch is creating a havoc on my nerves. I’m ramping up my studying but it’s a little difficult when you’re juggling a full time job and a newborn (12 weeks). I’m sure most of you guys/girls are aware of this. My biggest fear is walking into the exam and completely bombing it. I keep telling myself to stop freaking out.
Oh my GOODNESS! First of all, welcome… 2nd of all, congratulations on the new baby! That’s so exciting!
I have a full time job and a 5 year old…but I can’t imagine doing this right now with a newborn. Hats off to you, indeed!! My daughter can change herself, shower by herself, feed herself, etc… Wow. A newborn. Whew!!
I’m with you on the BS section…it’s my weakest area, because I opted not to retake Bio II, and I last saw that material about 12 years ago. I’m scoring about a 10-11, no matter what I do as well. It seems like there’s so much VR in the BS section, that I get a little overwhelmed and distracted (and let’s face it–sometimes I just get bored or tired. Endurance is a huge deal in this game.) Whereas with PS section, even the passage related questions can sometimes be pretty discrete. I think focus is the key…
I wish you the very best of luck! I’m so excited you decided to come on board and get out of the OPM shadows! We look forward to sharing in your victory VERY soon… hang in there!
Thank you! It is and continues to be very exciting. I tell people it’s the single greatest thing that has happened in my life. It take a bit of work to juggle everything (as you probably know) but I have an amazing wife (who also works full time) and he’s a good baby (not fussy at all) so it’s not too bad. I probably wouldn’t recommend it though.
What are you using to study BS? I’ve been using a mixture of Kaplan, BK, EK Audio Osmosis, and I just recently bought ThinkMCAT Biology Audio. I’m debating on buying PR to do some last minute review as it takes my brain repeated attempts to learn anything.
Ideally, I’d love to get a 33, but I’m shooting for a 31. I think I can pull this off but I’m terrified that my score will drop for the actual exam. I’m hoping a bit of dark chocolate will get me through BS at the end.