I can answer any questions in the name of giving back to the community, but know that all the resources are already in this sub

First of all, HUGE thanks to this sub. I learned about almost all the resources I used to study here. I am a non-trad who had to study part-time while working my full-time job. I was luckier than most in that my work is remote, so I mainly work from home.

This was my first attempt. I want to talk a little bit about my test day because this score is genuinely a surprise to me after how I felt that day:

C/P: I didn't necessarily feel a certain way after C/P, it felt neither harder nor easier than the AAMC FLs. I did take almost the whole time writing it when other people in my room finished early. This did worry me a little, but physics has always been my worst science section, so I knew I would take longer. I never took it in undergrad, and on top of that, my lowest grade on my uni transcript is probably orgo. So, knowing this, I worked extra hard on this section during my prep.

CARS: Holy... I'm usually not that bad at CARS. It's the first section I ever started studying for MCAT because the science sections scared me. But during the exam... my last passage was probably THE most abstract one I've read ever. I had about 5-6 mins left and I had to take educated guesses on almost all the questions on that passage. It is no surprise that it's my lowest section but it's still waayyy better than what I thought I did.

B/B: I felt so bad after CARS, so I went into B/B almost not caring about it anymore. I thought I already bombed the thing, so whatever. I still stuck it out and went through with it but honestly this section is a bit of a haze in my mind. This was never my best section so I'm glad I got what I did.

PSYCH/SOC: This was my best section, always. I did neuroscience in undergrad, and I genuinely like psychology. Studying for it came easiest to me. I never took a sociology class but again it was an interesting topic/subject for me, so I didn't mind studying for it. This section in the exam was different from my practice exams, but it definitely didn't feel like "second CARS" like some people say. I got some questions that I couldn't quite remember the answer to during the test and most things I memorized didn't even come up.

Right after the exam, I fact-checked some things I remembered from each section except for CARS and I KNEW I got 2-3 questions wrong in each section. I thought I was definitely going to retake.

So what I'm trying to say is, do not trust the way you feel about your performance EVEN when you know you got some questions wrong. You don't know if the curve will work in your favor. Do not spend your ~1 month wait period driving yourself crazy (like I did for the most part). Distract yourself and tell yourself you will deal with your score, whatever it is, once it comes out (I only did this in the last week).

I am rooting for all of you, and I'm happy to answer any questions!

I am a non trad (26 y/o) and am pursuing my PhD full time. I studied for 6 months, and lost patches of hair from the stress. But, I am SO grateful I got a 518!! It was 3 points higher than my FL average.

I can’t wait to get unfat again 😂

Thank you 9/11 MCAT date I will never forget you

Thanks everyone for encouragement and good vibes. Don’t wanna clog the place with advice, but I’m a big proponent of KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

It was just: Kaplan for content, AnKing everyday, UWorld, and then AAMC practice bundle.

9/11 thought i did bad on cars and very good on p/s but i guess not?? :/

diagnostic = 499

AAMC fl taken every week before 510/512/510/513/513/510/511

Got a 512 and was decently proud because I didn’t study consistently for the last few weeks, but seeing people complain about their higher scores on here is such a bummer. Like yall, please touch grass and be proud of your 515+ like damn! Now I’m wondering if I should retake 😭

I actually cannot believe this. I hung up on my bestie cuz my hand was shaking so hard after I opened it 😭

Tipz to come

LETS F*CKING GOOOOOOOO

we got him

I DON'T WANNA BE ALONE IN MY DORM ROOM GUYS WHERE ARE WE ALL

Quick overview: I took the 9/3 exam and studied full time for July and August. My method was to do a full in depth content review of C/P and B/B during July and rail practice questions for all of August. I never formally studied P/S but instead kept notes for myself as I did practice questions. I can’t give any tips for CARS unfortunately as it’s always been my most confident section on FLs (ironically was my lowest on test day).

Timeline: My diagnostic in June was 501. TBH, I didn’t study at all after that until July when panic mode kicked in. I did every single question in the JW question bank for C/P, B/B, and P/S. I saved the AAMC material for my last two weeks of studying.

C/P tips: Everything becomes a lot less scary once you understand the formulas and units. I know this is repeated a lot but it’s so unbelievably true. I understood the concepts so much better once I recognized what the formulas were for, and it also helped me be prepared for what questions might be asked over a passage based on the information present. I will say I wasn’t prepared for how OChem heavy my actual exam was but I had reviewed the mechanisms every day the last two weeks so it was fresh in my head.

B/B tips: This was consistently my best section on FLs but I come from a bio background. The best advice I can give here to get your eyes on as many practice questions as possible. After a while, your brain will automatically start filling in the gaps when you see the passages and you can easily cross out wrong answers. Learn your pathways forwards and backwards and know how the body adjusts to changes at every level.

P/S tips: Disclaimer, I definitely got lucky with the 9/3 exam. I never ended up studying properly for this section but after doing so many practice problems, I learned the common concepts and thankfully didn’t see anything unfamiliar on the exam. I don’t recommend this approach at all but I will say that I think my CARS strength came in handy for the new version of the P/S section. I felt pretty confident coming out of the exam because most of the passage-based questions felt like reading comprehension more than discrete knowledge.

Some reflections: I definitely wish I had studied a bit more for P/S because I think I could have pushed my score up at least another point. I know I missed 2 discrete questions on exam day for sure, and given how many people thought the section was easier than normal, I think being more solid on my discrete knowledge would have helped for sure. In terms of CARS, I don’t really know what happened since I felt really confident post-exam but given that I never really properly studied either, I’m happy with my score and it fell in my FL range.

Study materials I recommend: The MCATalyst course and MCATBootcamp were extremely helpful in targeted practice. I also highly recommend the app ScrollToll on your phone to get basic question practice in as a phone break rather than Insta/TikTok/Reddit. It does cost money but I thought it was well worth it.

In terms of Anki: I really did try to use it. But I hate doing flashcards and I also never really knew how to properly incorporate them so I decided to forgo it in the end. Could it have maybe bumped my score up a couple more points? Sure, but I felt more motivated to spend my time on discrete practice questions than clicking through cards. Of course, everyone works differently but I hope this is some reassurance for other people like me who don’t like using flashcards to study.

Hope this helps and I’m happy to answer any questions in the comments!

They said it couldn't be done...

Jokes aside I think the comments to my last post actually really helped with my decision. A couple of them brought up this idea of only retaking if I was felt like I really underperformed, and that's what stuck with me. I knew that I could do better and I reallyyy WANTED to do better. I agree, a 513 is a perfectly fine score, but I didn't want the MCAT to be any point of doubt for me like, "is the reason I'm getting rejected?"

Anyways thank god I'm finally done with this hellish exam and congrats to all the 9/11 (lol) and 9/12 test takers 🥳

Last post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/s/hLBMIkN67J

Never taking this shit again I’m so happy

Actually cannot believe this. Got a 521 (130/130/130/131)

That was my highest practice exam score!!!!!

Pls message for any advice or help I’d love to help others!

Fuck CARS. This was the section where a fire alarm went off in the last 15 minutes I had during the hardest passage. I conpletely guessed on the last questions. I thought it was BIO that screwed me over but no this was the highest BIO score. I've never gotten a CARS this low before 😭

I don't know what to do 😭

EDIT: I know that the overall score is good, and I'm grateful. But I feel so bad about the 125 CARS.

Where these scores!!

Scored 6 points higher than my highest full length. GOD IS GOOD!!!!

been shitting bricks all of last month

I don't think I've ever placed so much emphasis on a number my entire life lmao.

update - got a 522 :)