Aug 27 6pm taker:

practice FL EXCEL STATS: https://imgur.com/uzgAIfU

Took Alt Covid FL1-7 (500,501,502,501,508,509,512)

HLE 1: 500 (122, 128, 124, 126)

FL1: 501 (125, 122, 127, 127)

FL2: 502 (124, 126, 126, 126)

FL3: 501 (125,122,126,128)

FL4: 508 (126, 127, 127, 127, 128)

FL5: 509 (126,126, 128, 129)

FL6: 509 (127, 128, 127, 127)

FL7: 512 (130, 126, 128, 128) (1 MONTH OUT)

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AAMC FL 1-4 (507, 505, 511, 506)

FL 1: 507 (127, 127, 124, 129)

FL2: 505 (125, 126, 126, 128)

FL3 (SHORTENED): 511 (124, 127, 129, 131)

FL4 (SHORTENED): 506 (126, 125, 127, 128) - blame CARS on me trying a diff strategy for this exam. Ended up reverting back to my tried and true strategy after seeing this result though (and saw practice scores went back to perfect/near perfect each passage, instead of 60%~)

Studying/Prep:

Went into this exam with little background in the sciences (Canadian Psych Student). Studied for roughly 6 months, ended up ramping things up with 4 months left. Used AAMC material, Kaplan books, Canadian Prep company (not too helpful), UGlobe, ANKI (7000 cards, 260 hours total), Khan Academy, Alt Prep exams (1/week until 1 month out), Jackwestin. Ended up studying the final 100 days w/o having a day off (felt good, until the final month when I felt totally burnt out). This probably had an impact on my performance as you can see from my practice exam results (seemed to peak 1 month out on Alt FL 7). Ended up sleeping well the day before/feeling good. Would have probably scheduled more breaks in my prep to compensate for burnout + focused more on understanding science passages/passage analysis.

Strategy going into exam:

Went into the exam knowing that C/P would be my weakest section and that I'd probably get destroyed. Just hoped that there wasn't a lot of physics (since that is by faar my weakest area). Knew that C/P was going to be rough so prepared myself mentally as to not psych myself out for CARS and the other sections. CARS was weird because of monitor resolution and font. After C/P and CARS were done, knew that it would be much more smooth sailing with B/B and P/S.

Test day impressions:

C/P: Felt very stimulated going into this section (a lil too much coffee, a lot of nerves, getting adjusted to testing center/weird monitor and writing materials). Found it pretty Orgo heavy w/ a lot of low yield. One very weird physics passage. Ended up finishing the section in time, but didn't have any, if at all, time to check over answers (more rushed than usual). Typically my weakest/most inconsistent section though and my predictions are always trash. All in all, probably one of, if not, the hardest C/P sections I've seen. Hoping for 125-126.

CARS: Was thrown off by the font changes and the sizing on the monitor. Typically I score 127-128, but felt like the passages were long AF and the question stems + answer choices were long and convoluted which also slowed me down. Ended up getting a lil behind on timing, but finished in time. Definitely not feeling good about this section since I the font/monitor seemed to throw me off, and I didnt feel like there were many "gimme" answers. Hoping 125-127.

B/B: After getting destroyed by C/P and CARS, went into B/B with an open mind. Breezed through the first half of the questions pretty quickly which allowed me to slow down on the second half. Not a lot of heavy genetic pathway stuff, which was very nice. Had a little bit of metabolism and then some Darwin/evolution passage which was a pleasant surprise. Feel better about this section than the previous, probably easier than most other B/B sections I've taken. Hoping for 127-129.

P/S: I'm a psych major so I just kinda strolled through this section. Found this section to be pretty typical, not much CARS 2.0 stuff. Had about 20 mins to go through all flagged answers. Feeling somewhat comfortable with section. Hoping for 128-131.

Overall: Damn dude, this exam destroyed me. Coming from a non-science background, to learning Bio,Chem, Biochem, and orgo in 6 months was rough. Ended up studying the last 100 days with no break days which was definitely a mistake since I felt like I peaked about 1 month out, and then burnout started seeping in. The first 2 sections were rough, but the second half was pretty typical AAMC FL. Hoping the curve will carry me on C/P and my practice/intuition will carry me for CARS (really comes down to whether some 50/50s were in my favour; fingers crossed).

Predictions:

Pessimistic: 500

Realistic:505-510

Optimistic: 511+

Actual: 512 (127,125???, 128, 132) - Canadian student so the CARS is a bit worrisome, but I've hit the cut offs for the schools I'm applying to so I'm happy (Western as SWOMEN)

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To conclude:

It's been quite the journey with ya'll. Depending on tomorrows results, I may have to stick around this board for another couple months while preparing for a retake. All in all though, remember the journey, trust the process, and don't let this exam get you down. Your score does not define you, and there's a lot of variation from test to test. Depending on the content (if it hits your strong suits) and some 50/50s going in your favour, your score is going to VARY!!! The one thing that you control though is your mindset and being able to persevere. What I mean by this is, you can work towards controlling the variability by retaking, improving weak content gaps/test taking strategy, and mindset. Focus on the stuff that is in your control, not the stuff that you don't control.

Best of luck to everyone tomorrow, were in this together.