I took the MCAT this morning after a scant two weeks of study–I took two weeks of vacation from work (unfortunately, not school) and studied pretty intensely, mostly by taking the AAMC tests available at e-mcat.com and reading old text books and class notes. The AAMC tests were very representative of the material and exercised my critical thinking skills much better than the material from ExamKrackers, but I’m sure everyone has different learning styles so you should definitely do what works for you.
Basically, if you’re dreading the MCAT, don’t… it’s just another test. I found that I was consistently my own worst enemy; if I started to stress about not understanding a question, the next question was harder yet. Learn to cut your losses; difficult questions are just that; make sure you finish the easy ones first, then go back and concentrate on the hard ones. Airforce pilots work hard not to fixate on a ground target, because it’ll get them killed; the same could be said (figuratively) for the very few really difficult MCAT questions. Get the low hanging fruit first.
I think the hardest part will probably be waiting for the next month to get my scores. I’m not too worried; I did the best I could, and if I didn’t do great this time, there’s always a next time.
Good luck to all of you still waiting for your ride on the beast.
Congrats on getting that hurdle out of the way! At least it’s only a month for scores, now . . . Back in the old days it was TWO. 
Back in the old days it was on paper AND only 2 times a year. Not to mention 8 hrs.
And you had to sit in your seat while they counted all the answer sheets and test booklets TWICE after every section before you could have your break.
And we walked to the test both ways in the SNOW.
Uphill. Both ways.
With shoes made from old tires!! 
I’m 36, and it isn’t often that I get called a whippersnapper; thanks, guys!
I’m trying REALLY hard not to do too much handwringing about what I might or might not have gotten. My crappy irresponsible teen years GPA is a huge hurdle, so I’m hoping for something to wow the Admissions Counselors. It’ll be SO hard to do it with just my good looks if my MCAT isn’t up to par… I can hear the laughter already.
Well Congrats on getting through it. I still dont think i am over it yet. I have no idea how to gage how i think i did.
Have you taken the practice tests at e-mcat.com? I understand that they reflect your prospective scores very well…
- Timbo Said:
Not necessarily! I kept getting pretty consistent scores on my practice tests, and on the lower thing I got less points! Also I could never tell how I did and what to expect b/c they grade comparing everybody performance! Multiple times I was sure that I didn't do all that well on a particular section, but it turned out that everybody else didn't do all that good either, and I ended up getting higher score, than in the section I felt really good about!
I know that month sounds like forever now! But there's nothing you can do to speed it up! If you guys try not to think about it, it will pass by faster
Kasia
Basically, the vast majority of people come out of the MCAT thinking they screwed the pooch. Try not to worry about it. Work on your personal statement to distract yourself.
(OK, that was pretty geeky… sorry.)
I hope it’s not considered crass to post scores; I really appreciate the support you’ve all shown, so I’ll share my pride and mild frustration with you. I received a 33M-13VS 10P 10B. My writing sample is obviously disappointing, but I’m not going to stress about it unless I am consistently told that it is keeping me out of med school.
Thanks, all, for keeping me occupied over the long wait.
Great job!! Don’t stress about the writing sample. I had an M on my writing as well and it never got mentioned. If you had a low VR score, THEN they might question the writing sample, but your VR score is excellent.
Glad to hear the good news, Timbo. Looking forward to hearing more 
(more good news, of course. Not more of your MCAT scores. Cause, yknow… ah, fuggedaboutit)
Congrats on a solid performance & surviving your battle with ‘the Beast’! Regarding the essay score - at least back when I was applying (of course, we had to chisel our essay out onto a stone tablet, only the first 25 people were given papyrus to use!), it was the least consequential sub-section. As I understood it, it was essentially employed only if differentiating b/t a set of individuals whose net & sub-section scores were indistiguishable.
- Timbo Said:
Congrats on your score!
Howvever, as the wife of a Naval Officer (former) and daugher of a Marine, I just have to remind you that "real" pilots land on aircraft carriers, lol!!!
firstly congrats on the awesome score. my question is on the practice tests, were you also scoring around 33? what type of practice material did you use (ek or princeton or kaplan, etc)? thanks.
Thanks!
I just used my old text books and the AAMC tests as diagnostics; I was scoring 34-36 (with one 32 on test 7), so thought I was pretty well prepared. My major incorrect assumption was that the old tests covered basically anything and everything they’d ever put on the real MCAT; there were quite a few questions on rotational motion that weren’t represented at all in the practice tests.
Also, be sure to at least read what they’re looking for in the essay section; I think they measure your essay scores by volume, not weight, as mine were short and insightful yet scored miserably.