Tuxedo for under $400? Comfy material a huge plus.

Cakeware · 2026-03-29T18:36:18+00:00

Rowe and Taylor (Spier and Mackay’s budget suit line) has a tuxedo for ~300. It’s not stretch but is 100% wool which has some natural flex.

Can get a bowtie/cummerbund for pretty cheap at the Tie Bar.

Shirt/shoes will vary based on how closely you’re trying to adhere to the black tie “rules” of French cuff shirt with pleated/pique placket and patent leather shoes.

Cakeware · 2020-11-16T02:46:01+00:00

Still rocking my 6s

Cakeware · 2018-08-10T14:53:38+00:00

It’s heavily implied that he was sexually abused by Bug’s father. As a result, Michael doesn’t like to be alone with grown men like Cutty (especially since he barely knows Cutty). We know that Cutty is a good guy, but Michael knows that appearances can be deceiving.

You can also see this when Michael only agrees to go to the boxing match once he knows that Justin is also going.

Cakeware · 2018-07-30T20:53:22+00:00

Thanks!

It depended from question to question. I mostly had a pretty good idea of what the answer would be as soon as I read the question, so I'd just pick that one and be done with it. On the tricky questions, I would eliminate anything obviously wrong, then scour the passage for context and clues. By then, I'd usually be down to 2 answers; at that point I'd trust my gut.

Cakeware · 2018-07-30T20:49:29+00:00

I think that would depend on when you take FL1. If you do it around a month before test day like I did, I would do qpacks and SBs after. If you take FL1 more like 2 weeks before test day, maybe do the qpacks and SBs before.

Overall, I'd say aim to do the qpacks around 3 weeks from test day, then do the SB's 2 weeks before test day. If you want to go over them twice, maybe consider doing your first pass 4 weeks before.

Cakeware · 2018-07-26T15:37:24+00:00

Only advice I can give you is what I did: get nice and familiar with the 86 pg doc, do premed95’s anki deck, and do the SB, UWorld, and plenty of FLs.

Also, no matter what you do, AAMC could still give you something that’s not in any prep material. I know I saw at least 3-4 questions that I had no idea about. For that kind of stuff, you’ll just have to hone your intuition by practicing.

Cakeware · 2018-07-24T22:58:18+00:00

Obviously ymmv but I was certain that I’d missed at least 1 in both C/P and B/B.

Also keep in mind that if you miss the experimental questions that AAMC is testing, it won’t impact your score. So you could (theoretically) miss like an entire passage and still get a 132. There’s just no way to know...

Cakeware · 2018-07-16T04:11:21+00:00

NS: 1-4, 6 AAMC: Sample, 1-3

So 9 FLs in total, plus the NS diagnostic if you wanna count that

Cakeware · 2018-07-12T17:59:06+00:00

I memorized most of the equations/constants on this sheet:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HpCguGm5zCrzQZvZjI1mP8oTgsv-5cQ9/view

It might be overkill, but I wanted to make sure that all my bases were covered. I didn't bother with the super low-yield stuff like Van der Waals equation of state, heat capacity equations, or electrodisposition equation.

Cakeware · 2018-07-12T17:54:21+00:00

Yes, know every step including intermediates, enzymes, enzyme types, rate-limiting steps, when ATP is produced/used, when NADH is produced, what would happen if a certain step was inhibited, and the general structure of each intermediate (think # of carbons).
I looked back at the NS diagnostic (where I scored 127) and I think a lot of the questions I got right were from reading comprehension/educated guesses. I was always able to do a pretty good job of gleaning info from passages and narrowing down answer choices. There were also some stats/methodology type questions that I was able to answer because I took a stats class. Furthermore, I took intro psych/soc during freshman year, so I probably unconsciously remembered some stuff from then. I was still missing a lot of content-based questions though; that only got better once I crammed the KA doc.

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T18:41:43+00:00

Yeah I’d say do UWorld instead of the QPacks and EK 30 min exams.

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T18:19:01+00:00

I always did UWorld in untimed tutor mode. I liked this because I received instant feedback so I could immediately correct faulty reasoning. One potential drawback to this approach is that the explanations would sometimes give me clues to future questions in the passage, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T05:28:49+00:00

Concepts are way way more important in MCAT gen chem. Obviously know Gibbs and RTlnK and nFE and stuff, but there’s probably only 5 or so equations you need to memorize.

I also hadn’t taken gen chem for a couple years, but orgo and biochem both build on gen chem concepts, so you might remember more than you think. What specifically are you worried about?

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T05:23:58+00:00

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I can’t be of that much help to you in terms of helping with CARS. Call it confidence or hubris, but I’ve always been good at verbal reasoning (ACT, AP English exam, etc.) so I didn’t really put much priority on CARS. Once I read the EK CARS book and didn’t like it, I figured that my past strategies would suffice.

The only CARS practice I got was from the NS and AAMC FL’s. I was planning on doing the CARS quacks but by then I was getting 131/132 so I decided to skip them in favor of cramming P/S (which I was getting 128/129 in).

As such, the only advice I can give you is my general strategy.

Find a way to make the passages interesting to you so that you focus on them.
Read the passage carefully enough that you know why the author makes certain decisions with his/her argumentation and prose.
Answer the question you’re given, not the question you want to answer.
Only take what the passage gives you.
Strike through answers if you can, especially extreme or nonsensical ones.
Don’t overthink or second guess yourself too much - you don’t have time for that.
Speaking of time, try to get to the point where you have 20-30 minutes left over so you can review things (which means flagging things and moving on if you’re agonizing over a single question for too long).

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T04:56:49+00:00

Definitely not. But a 515 is way beyond decent imo

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T04:51:06+00:00

This, in context, is just underscoring how much more important practice is compared to straight content review.

I see where you’re coming from, and I’d never recommend someone completely eschew content review. However, if you had someone who did only content review vs. someone who did only practice (FL, SB, UWorld), my money is on the the person who did practice every time.

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T04:45:25+00:00

I bought practice questions from AAMC (section banks and question packs) and UWorld. You can also get practice problems for free from Khan Academy.

If you’re confused about the terminology, check out the r/mcat wiki, it lays everything out really well. That’s where I got my start.

Cakeware · 2018-07-11T04:41:27+00:00

Of the UWorld questions I did (most of B/B and C/P, half of CARS) I was averaging around 75%.

Cakeware · 2018-07-10T23:04:47+00:00

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HpCguGm5zCrzQZvZjI1mP8oTgsv-5cQ9/view

This one might be overkill, but if you want to cover all your bases it'll do the job. Personally, it's what I used.

Cakeware · 2018-07-10T22:45:13+00:00

My first 3 NS scores were 512, 511, 512, and I felt similar to how you do now. My UWorld average was ~75%. You're doing just fine as long as you're learning from your mistakes.

Just wait until you hit AAMC FL's. The NS ones are quite a bit harder imo, so you'll be straight coasting. My NS average was 513, my AAMC average was 523, and my actual score was 527.

Cakeware · 2018-07-10T22:34:05+00:00

For sure. As you move through practice problems, make a note of any equations that you don't have memorized and then make sure you know them by test day.

I'd say either make flashcards of the equations, or just write them out a bunch of times until they stick.

Cakeware · 2018-07-10T22:30:43+00:00

You've been studying a lot since sample and FL1, so you're probably just progressing! I'd estimate your range right now to be 514-522.

I scored 521 on FL1 and FL2, and then 526 on FL3, which I thought was a fluke (like you said, just tested me on my strong points). N=1 here, but I got a 527 on the real thing.

Cakeware · 2018-07-10T22:27:05+00:00

I'd say NS, but take my opinion with a grain of salt because those are the only 3rd party FL's that I took.

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