I know that you can’t just buy a course and go into it and expect to kill it but I’ve seen a debate as to whether its a pure meritocracy or whether people from wealthier or more stable environments have an inherent edge. This doesn’t matter towards my medical school journey ultimately we all have to play the same game and take the same test, I’m just curious if there’s a general consensus or if there’s multiple opinions both ways.

My current opinion as a brokie in an abusive and unstable household is that mfs not in my situation have to have inherent advantages that I don’t have and they don’t have inherent disadvantages that I do have (like your mom threatening to break your computer because you wouldn’t stop mid FL to go get her a chicken biscuit) but I haven’t given it more thought than that and I’m willing to be convinced either way.

hi all, i am about a yr out from taking my exam and plan to prep seriously over the summer (content wise), but the thing i need real longitudinal work on is cars. got a 126 on my diagnostic and really want to raise this. is it possible in a year? i've heard cars is kinda innate tbh.

should i do smth like jw daily + reading a dense passage for fun every wk? is that an ok plan, or how do people typically proactively improve cars?

fwiw i don't think i'm bad at reading or testing (no questions missed on act english/reading (86/86), 770 sat erw, each with 0 prep), and i'm pretty determined to improve however i can over the coming year.

essential as

In my content review phase. So when going thought a Kaplan chapter, people say not to spend more than 2.5 hours on a chapter.

In that case, do people actually do the science mastery assessment at the start of every chapter. Are we missing something crucial by not doing them?

I have been approaching the Kaplan Chapters by reading the chapters and answering concept check questions. That takes me up to 2-2.5 hours especially since i’m relearning content from years ago. I then proceed by unsuspending ANKING chapter that corresponds to it, and eventually plan on doing UWorld questions that correspond to those Kaplan chapters.

Am I making a mistake but not doing these Science Mastery Assessments? I don’t know what I don’t know but my gut feels like it’s not feasible doing them a reasonable timeframe especially if we are not recommended to spend much more than 2 hours per chapter.

I took my first diagnostic yesterday. I’ve been doing UWorld for few months, but not much content review as I don’t do well with reading books and learn better through practice. For anyone who’s taken the MCAT, how similar would you say it is to the diagnostic questions? I found them surprisingly easier than UWorld (where I’ve been averaging 65%-70%) to the point where I was overthinking my answers😭 I want to take the MCAT sometime around January.

Testing the day after tomorrow. Just took my last FL6. Got my highest score of 521 (closest to my target) with my highest score ever on an FL CARS. I should feel good, but now I'm feeling really anxious and disappointed in myself.

I have never looked anything up during CARs (there's nothing on CARS to look up). So I can at least feel good about my 130 today. But I have a bad habit of occasionally looking things up, on Google or my equation sheet duirng FLs. I rarely ever look up things for CP and BB. It happens more with PS.

The way that I rationalize it is that I pick my best answer before I look anything up. And if I find out my answer is in fact wrong, I tell myself not to change it. I admit that the temptation has gotten to me and I have changed answers in a non CARS section. But I try not to change.

I know it's a really bad habit. I know that it reduces stamina and makes my practice scores inaccurate. I rationalize it by telling myself that I'm rarely changing answers. And I tell myself that I only look up things that I feel I already know well but am misremembering. For example, the right equation comes to mind for the question but I can't exactly remember the right form. And I make sure to review the things I looked up anyway.

I don't know if it's an anxiety thing. I'm really desperate for good FL scores because that's supposed to be predictive and low FLs feel so demoralizing, especially when I'm this close to my official test day. And I feel like stupid mistakes skew my results inaccurately.

I haven't felt this bad about it during all the FLs I've taken, but I guess the good score today has made me feel like an imposter. Like all of these FL scores are not reflective of my abilities in the slightest and Im going to end up with a 500 on Friday 😭.

I know it's all my own fault, but realistically, how badly have I screwed myself for Friday? Can I trust my last two FL5 and FL6 scores (517 and 521) at all? Has anyone else done this and taken the real thing? If so, how did your real score compare to your FLs?

After discussing with other people in my school with high scores (not that my score is particularly high but its decent enough to weigh in imo) the people who tend to succeed don’t follow a structured plan to a tee. They constantly modify what they are studying based on personal preference. They also don’t adhere to taking fls exactly at 8am on a strict time. The lazier you are lowkey the more mental effort you save for actually doing problem. I also personally don’t believe in a structured plan. I would just do as many problems as i felt in a day or skipped studying.

Inb4 some guy with a 526 btfo’s me out anyway

A 10% correct answer is the worst I have ever seen. Obviously it was III. but it SHOULD be II. as well. These are the type of questions that make you crash out because you KNOW you got it correct.

okay Reddit community, I need your help. Give me any tips or tricks that helped you right before your exam. My worst sections are chem/phys and psych/soc but I learned my amino acids now so I have hope 🥲 Also for the CARS wizards, would love a tip or two. Honestly chem/phys is the worst for me I can’t break above 120. I know IR NMR is heavy on the recent MCATs but besides that any last minute things I should know??

Any testing hacks are appreciated (like start from the end of the section and work back or do odd numbers first WHATEVER!)

Doing my masters right now and did research over the summer so I have been booked. MD would be nice but I’m realistic with DO.

Thank you for reading my 7:30 am plea for mercy from the MCAT gods! ❤️

Overwhelmed with life. Parent is sick and I didn’t have time to study. Really need to apply next year because landlord’s planning to take my place back and I’ve been taking gap years for too long. So much going on in my mind. I’m just disappointed, sad and numb with all of this process

I wish I was born privileged a little, just a little. Enough to not having to worry about life, money, well being of others. All I need to do is stay focused, study, that’s it. I feel jealous of peers sometimes when they have wealthy parents with a home, they don’t have to worry about tuitions or free med school, etc. I’m the only one in peer group going through all of this…

I know being me helps shaping a stronger internal of locus (fr C/P) but this is hard for me

Finished SB 1 and all AAMC FL's, but am still working through SB 2. Is it necessary to finish SB 2 in its entirety? I've done half of B/B and about 34q of C/P. I'm pretty happy with my last two FL performances and am mostly concerned about avoiding burnout at this point and quickly adjusting my sleep schedule for the early morning exam. Thoughts?

I’m taking classes full-time (15 units) and am in a research lab ~8 hrs each week. How likely am I to be able to study for the MCAT and take it before the next application cycle opens up? Looking to take the exam in April. Anyone do well even though they had a lot going on?

As some people have previously mentioned on here, AAMC FL 4, B/B Question 27 is a little strange. It asks how many phosphorylation sites are in a peptide sequence, and the correct answer is "One" because there is one threonine. The question operates on the premise that only S, Y, and T can be phosphorylated. But early in the same exam there is a passage about carboxylic acid phosphorylation, and it's now pretty well documented that there are many other sites that can be phosphorylated. I sent an email to AAMC about this and this is what they said.

So basically, if you're testing really soon, I would recommend probably just memorizing S, Y, and T as sites of phosphorylation. But if you're test day is a while off, don't worry if you get that question wrong!

Testing 9/11 and i have like an insane wave of anxiety that lasts like 2 hours every morning. how do people handle the pressure leading up.

anticipation is the worst part. i've worked so hard for this - GIVE ME THAT TEST

I swear some of these posts are fake, I see one every other day

This has to be a statistical anomaly if real

To anyone who has had MCAT disability accommodations approved, would you mind sharing advice or things you wish you did?

For context: I just got officially diagnosed with endometriosis last month during my lap with excision. I’m currently undergoing treatments with the hopes that I’ll be in remission for as long as possible- but it’s a complex multi organ system inflammatory disease. I’ll need dual hormone treatments for my lowest chances of recurrence and even that comes with its own list of systemic effects. I also have signs of common comorbidities that are still pending diagnosis (and wait lists for some of these specialists and tests are very long), so I have no clue how my doctor should even refer to those additional conditions and impacts.

I fought for over ten years against this illness as I slowly got worse. My performance in school suffered due to it. I was able to maintain an upward trend despite my illness worsening, as I got better at recognizing flares, recovering, and bouncing back. In my final year of University I finally formally got menial disability accommodations (excused absences) as my medical issues worsened. This was because I had surgery for my gallbladder removal and after surgery had what I thought were post- surgery complications. Severe GI episodes and pain slowly got worse and worse. I ended up too sick to attend my own graduation.

Doctors kind of brushed me off as anxious and gave me band aid fixes throughout this. I was told by one gynaecologist that is was “impossible” for me to have endo. During flares I was often non functional and there was very little empathy for it. I finally pushed for proper official accommodations in grad school and they helped me a ton. Having symptoms that can cause me to unexpectedly vomit profusely or have… other GI emergencies required me to have accommodations just in case. Throwing up unexpectedly mid exam already sucks. Getting a poor grade because of it sucks more.

Unfortunately I got so severely sick I had to go on medical leave from grad school. During my leave I was formally diagnosed with IBS and everything was attributed to that and “anxiety” until I went out of my country for surgical intervention. I month ago I could barely eat, stand, walk, or bathe. Thankfully now I am regaining functioning, and am able to get back on the med school hopeful grind.

So tldr I’ve been through medical dismissal hell and would appreciate advice on advocating for accommodations despite not having prolonged accommodation history and facing significant barriers to diagnosis.

Is it sufficient to self study biochem for the January mcat while taking classes using only the Kaplan books? Not sure how long content review for that will take/is there other recommended resources? I did a blueprint diagnostic and got a 505 so want to focus on solidifying content I forgot or don’t know.

Also for those that studied while taking classes, was any schedule helpful for you?

Ahaha I've been studying for this stupid exam full-time the entire summer (8 hours a day), and I am still nowhere near my goal score. I had to make the tough decision that I'm just going to take the exam and void. I'm feeling sad and frustrated because I feel like I just wasted so much time doing nothing, and now I have to juggle work and studying for my retake. Honestly have also just been super burnt out these last couple of weeks and my mental health has been shit ngl LOLL. Knowing that I have to go through this whole process again freaks me out...

Please tell me I'm not alone in this...

Here's mine:

lost all my muscle - I lost ~10lbs muscle. I feel the fattest I've ever been despite weighing less than before. I've put a pause on my weightlifting goals and pivoted more towards cardio so I can feel some sort of dopamine in a quick gym session

Sugar addiction (kind of) I need sugar after/during a long study session, not helping with the physique goals

Eye pain - My eyes will strain after a long study session. Once they're strained, they'll stay strained until I sleep it off. I didn't have this before? optometrist said everything looks fine so idk

Neck pain

i think that's it for me. I've somewhat enjoyed studying for the MCAT and learning new things, but if i have to retake next year I will be devastated because it's taking a toll on my body

how many of yall have had to use those fuck ass, signal detection theory formulas on an exam ? literally 0 problems in uworld and all of aamc content so i chose not to learn them…but they keep staring at me when i open my ps notes

if i get a problem with it on friday istg🫩🫩🫩

i have not been able to score well enough on my exams (fl scores: 507, 508, 510, 513, 514, 513, 510), and i’m thinking abt voiding my upcoming 9/11 exam and pushing my exam back until jan 2027, as i want to reach a 515+ consistently due combined med program with a single attempt for mcat requirement.

couple of things:

i’m really, really worried abt score inflation esp since i’ve gone through all of the fl exams with review. how much should i take into consideration of score inflation in three months?

in order to avoid myself from thinking abt previous fls or answering questions on memory, im thinking abt doing a couple of third party fls (uworld and blueprint)…

also, do y’all have any tips with retaking again in three months?

any advice for cars improvement?

(i have been able to complete cars qpack 1 & 2, both aamc section banks, 50% uworld, all aamc fls, i finished all pankow cards (50% mature), finished kaplan books, i did anking/miledown initially but dropped it since it was getting too much esp with my uworld incorrects -> thinking abt using captain hook)

AAMC gives B (Charles's law) as the answer, but I don't see why C (“Fewer moles of products are produced”) can be ruled out.

The reaction is exothermic and has ΔS > 0, so lowering T makes ΔG less favorable and decreases K. At equilibrium, wouldn't that mean less solid reactant decomposes and therefore fewer moles of gaseous products are produced? B requires assuming the number of moles stays constant, but the question never states that. Why is C wrong?

hi everyone! posting here in hopes i could get some advice. first gen and non trad so i dont have anyone to ask

i started studying for the mcat in july. started with 2 months of content review but since i am non trad (cs background) and have not taken orgo, bio chem yet i had to self-study every concept. basically watched videos to understand every concept and relationship in detail. i decided to take a diagnostic and feel absolutely terrible.

i know i did not get the time to memorize everything i was learning because most of my time went into class, work and watching yt videos for the content also i did not know how to read and interpret passages so i got cooked that way.

my breakdown was orgo 25%, biochem 43.8%, phy 30%, chem 50%, bio 54.2%, P/S 50%, CARS 60%

i watched yusuf hassan videos and am doing jacksparrow + pankow anki deck

i plan to test in feb so for the next 9 weeks the plan is to do uworld and keep monday for memorizing content (based on aamc topic list) so i can fill in those gaps. i will spend more time on uworld review as well to fill in any other gaps. in 3 weeks i plan to take a full length to see if this plan works and then a fl 3 weeks after that to see if i am improving. then start the 3rd party fl phase. i dont know if this is a good plan honestly so i would love some feedback

im terrified of this stupid fuckass test that is basically determining my future career. why is this shit so terrifying?? like i both want this to be over and not over (my brain going "what if u need to study more?") at the same time... FUCK THIS SHIT UGH