Practice MCAT Nightmare

So while I'm waiting for my chicken to defrost, I decided to pour myself a big (and I mean BIG) glass of wine, and vent about my practice MCAT this afternoon.

I have to preface with a few things first...
1) Today was the first time I even looked at an MCAT test, more than 2 pages worth.
2) It was cold in there
3) It was a practice test so unfortunately I psyched myself into not really taking it seriously. :(

Lets consider preface #1. I didnt know what to expect. Yes, I've heard people say oh, there's a lot of physics, orgo, and well, you might need to know genetics.. blah blah.. Well obviously. I just never knew to what degree. I performed the worst on the Physics Section. Justifiably so, because lets remember, I havent taken a physics class in a few years and I'm taking Physics II in the spring so essentially, I know nothing. Nothing.

The biological science section kicked my ass as well. There were a lot of passage based questions (which I didnt like), graphs which I didnt understand, and abbreviations that baffled me. (not to mention formulas that completely stressed me out.)

I did alright on the verbal section - as I should, because well, thats my strong point.

Preface #2) That says it all. I simply cant perform in a room that is subzero... At least next time, I'll know to bring a sweater.
Preface#3) I need to focus more, pretend that it's the real thing.

BUT I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself over my mcat performance today. Yes, I scored much lower than the minimum I was hoping for but I took this test with ZERO studying. Totally a dry run. Since I got such a terrible score, I'm only motivated to work that much harder. There is no other option, I'm not bailing on this one.

On the upside, I dont think I should even go near the MCAT (the real thing) until the end of spring. I'm not ready - plus I need to do really well in my classes this semester. Time for redemption....
I can study in the meantime though. I can do plenty of verbal, and some bio as well. Man, I've never felt so determined over anything else before. Woooo what a rush.



:)

First Week!!

I've made it through the first week! So far so good i think.. but I wont get my hopes up because I know it will get harder from here. I mean - I really really know. I've taken Orgo II, calc, and genetics before and they arent easy. Come to think of it, I'm really glad that I postponed taking Physics II till next semester. It'd be a nightmare to juggle all of those classes together.

Waking up for my 7AM calc class hasnt been that bad, by the way. I make sure I go to bed early enough so I can wake up without a problem. I just have to let my body get used to it... Last night though, I went to bed a little too late - about 11PM - and I was pretty tired in class. I went to bed that late because my roommate wanted to cook dinner together. By the time we got prepped and all, it was about 8:!5... we ate at around 9:15. WAY too late. In any case...

I'm looking forward to starting genetics lab next week. We were told that they have designed a whole new game plan for this lab. Apparently we will have a project that we will be responsible for for the entire semester instead of little projects each week like we did before. Cant wait!

I also can't wait for this practice MCAT that I"m taking tomorrow. I'm nervous and I dont know why. Hehe.. This test isnt going to count obviously, but I guess I'm just nervous and anxious about how well (or how poorly) I will do. The upside though, is that I have accumulated a whole bunch of practice exams. I bought an MCAT workbook (completely unused) with 2 full length tests from this girl who never ended up taking it. I saw an ad that she posted in the chemistry department, so I texted her that moment and we met up to make the exchange the next day. 12 bucks, not bad. I also have a few practice tests from my friend. AND I have one online that I can take. I'm MCAT stocked, aren't I? :P

Day Two

Tuesdays are my "light days" - I only have genetics lecture and lab. Since we are still in the first week of school, we dont start labs until next week. So technically I only had genetics lecture today. This is the second time I'm taking it and let me just emphasize that I feel 10 times better about it than I did the first time around. Because:

A) The prof uses web-based learning, meaning that the lectures she puts on the overhead, we can access online after class.

B) She gives extra credit for quizzes and attendance. Thats "money in the bag." <--- her line, not mine.

C) Unlike my last prof, she is motivated to teach the class in a way where we can conceptualize it and think about it critically, not just memorize this and that.

D) And finally, I can understand her accent!!

Aside from that one class this afternoon, I had calculus tutoring in the morning. In addition to being tutored by this guy, I'm going to go to the math lab when I have time. I cant tomorrow because Wednesday is my big day. In fact, what on earth am I still doing up!!? I have to wake up at 5am! I wont get home until 6:30 or so!

I'm taking care of my parents doggy for the week (perfect timing for the added responsibility, huh), which means I have to speed home after neuro lab tomorrow evening to take care of her so she doesn't shit in the house. I dont think I'll have all that much time to study each subject tomorrow so I'll go all out for Calc.

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled on campus for AMSA fliers. It'd be really nice if I could join the pre-med society. I heard they offer a lot of great opportunities.

. . yawn..

Anyways, I still havent heard back from that lady about shadowing. The last email I received from her was her asking me to confirm the dates when I wanted to come in. Oh! I didnt mention! I connected with an OLD friend and ironically, he is now a neuro resident at the same hospital in which I do my research. Maybe, just maybe, if we catch up enough, I can ask him if he knows anyone that I might be able to talk to about shadowing once or twice a week (presuming that the other opportunity doesnt pan out...)

Okay, lights out for me. More to come soon.

First Day of School

I was off to an early early (well relatively, since it's been a while since I've had to wake up early) start on my first day. Woke up at 6am and managed to squeeze in a little bit of a pep jog. I had to wait about 20 min or so though because it was still very dark :(

First class, Calc I (again). I found out toward the end of class that we in fact, start at 7am on Mondays, not 8am. My schedule says 8am, by the way. The prof explained that there were two sections that were combined, hence the time confusion.

I had Organic next. This is the beast of them all. I'm a bit worried because it's been about three years since I took Orgo I and knowing that info is quite crucial to doing well in Orgo II. I'm going to have to do a lot of relearning. Hey, whatever it takes, right?

The last class of the day was Comparative Zoology. Now, I've explained how I wound up in that class... first choice microbio, but I couldnt take it because I didnt have the necessary pre-reqs etc etc etc.... I'm not sure how I feel about porifera, but it is what it is. The prof is really nice though, so thats a huge plus. What really impressed me, however, was the fact that we had our class in one of the new snazzy computer rooms. So, each of us had our own desk with a computer. I thought it was great because I was able to keep the lecture notes on my screen as a reference.

Campus was chaos. Pure chaos. But then again, every campus is on the first day of school. Thankfully, I was able to navigate and weave my way through people with ease. I havent lost my touch. :)

They had a zillion booths set up in the student union area. Fraternities, sororities, roller hockey club, campus church group - you name it. My eyes zoomed in on the Kaplan Test Prep booth. I walked up to the guy and explained to him that I was interested in taking the MCAT and I wanted more info. A few minutes of convo later, I had signed up for the practice MCAT this saturday. It's going to be a dry run - no prep whatsoever. i"m not expecting to score a 38 or anything, I'm just hoping that with the basic knowledge I have at this point (and the knowledge that I actually remember,) I can land somewhere in the low 20's.

We shall see.

:/

Don't mind me. Just a few last minute jitters. No one really understands how important this semester is so I'm taking it out on my laptop and foam squeezy ball.

Ommmmmmm.......