u/Future_Doctor_

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I took AAMC FL2 today and am feeling pretty devastated about my score. I heard everyone say that Kaplan/UWorld deflates your score and that simply wasn't my experience. My Kaplan FL 1 was 508 (126/128/127/127) and UWorld FL1 was 501 (125/128/123/125).

I scored a 128 on both UWorld and Kaplan CARS FLs, but a 125 on AAMC. Everything I read seemed to suggest that UWorld and Kaplan CARS are harder than AAMC.

Has anyone else experienced a score drop from UWorld and Kaplan CARS to AAMC? Am I just a crazy outlier that saw a 5 point drop from Kaplan to AAMC?

I started UWorld recently and I’m struggling a little bit. For context, I have severe ADHD and that makes reading dense things challenging for me sometimes. All of my content review was done through Khan Academy and Anki as that works better for me.

I’m missing a LOT of the biochem questions. I feel like I’m just reading some of the explanations and going “yeah, ok”, then proceeding to get more questions wrong in that general topic realm.

Anki works very well for me, so I’ve been taking the topics of the explanations of those questions that I’m missing and turning those into more Anki cards. Am I doing the process right? How do I know if I’m getting what I should be out of UWorld?

I wanted to share my experience with requesting MCAT accommodations for anyone else who may be going through the process.

Whether you see this post today (6/9/26) or 5 years from now, please do not hesitate to message me if you have any questions. You do not need to ask my permission. I want to help you if I can!

Accommodations I requested:

• Standard testing time + 50%
• Separate testing room
• Stop-the-clock breaks

Accommodations I was approved for:

• Standard testing time + 50%
• Separate testing room
• Up to 30 min of stop-the-clock break time per testing day
• Testing over 2 days
• Permission to stand and stretch/light movement in the testing room

My diagnoses:

• ADHD inattentive type, moderate (dx 08/2020, age 15)
• Autism spectrum disorder, level 1 (dx 07/2025, age 19)
• Generalized anxiety disorder (dx 02/2016, age 10)
• Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (dx 03/2019, age 13)
• Persistent Depressive Disorder (dx 08/2020, age 15)

Documentation Submitted:

• Previous neuropsychological testing (08/2020)
• Current neuropsychological testing (07/2025)
• High school transcript
• College transcript
• Personal statement
• One of my high school 504 plans showing that I received separate testing room and 1.5x starting in my sophomore year of HS (10/2020)
• Letter from college disability office stating current accommodations (1.5x extended testing time, separate testing room, flexible deadlines, flexible attendance, copy of PowerPoints)
• Letter from ACT stating accommodations received (1.5x extended testing time)
• Letter from College Board stating accommodations received (1.5x extended testing time, separate testing room)
• AP US History Exam score
• Note from Kindergarten teacher endorsing attention issues

Current psychological assessment:
I literally printed out the AAMC guidelines for evaluators and brought them to my evaluator so she could use those to write the assessment report to AAMC’s standards. HIGHLY recommend doing this.

Tests performed:

• Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-V)
• Woodcock Johnson Test of Achievement
• Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA-2)
• Ruff 2 & 7 Test of Selective Attention
• Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder- 7 (GAD-7)
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist
• Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2)
• Autism Diagnostic Observation System (ADOS)
• Minnesota Multiphastic Personality Inventory
• Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale

Supportive findings from tests that I think substantially helped my case:

• 12th percentile working memory
• 13th percentile reading recall
• Self reported Inattentive ADHD symptoms were “very much elevated” (highest category)
• Visual response control quotient of “extremely impaired” in the IVA-2 test
• Visual prudence “extremely impaired” in IVA-2
• Visual vigilance “moderately impaired in IVA-2
• Visual focus “slightly impaired” in IVA-2
• Visual comprehension “extremely impaired” in IVA-2
• Sustained visual attention quotient “extremely impaired” in IVA-2
• Restricted/Repetitive behaviors “severe” (helped endorse need for separate room)
• Adaptive behavior composite in 6th percentile

Examiner’s recommended accommodations:

• 50% extended testing time
• Distraction free testing environment
• Use of noise cancelling headphones
• Visual instructions
• Lengthy tests over multiple days
• Structured breaks for movement

Personal statement:
It was like 2700 words and probably didn’t need to be, but I have an extensive history and diagnoses along with some inconsistencies that I felt needed to be thoroughly explained (late diagnoses, 1 accommodation requested that had never been received previously, etc).

• Explained when I was diagnosed with my disabilities and what led to the diagnosis (symptoms)
• Listed the accommodations I was requesting and why I felt I needed them (tying in my objective psychological testing evidence, history of needing accommodations, anecdotal stories of what I am like without accommodations, etc.)
• Provided reasoning for delayed ADHD diagnosis and autism diagnosis (listed that I was screened for ADHD at age 10 due to attentional issues and because I was not disruptive, I wasn’t diagnosed)
• Elaborated on why I had never received stop-the-clock accommodations before and why I was requesting them now (notice decline in performance around 1.5 hours of testing time and course exams do not exceed 1h55m testing time, but the MCAT testing is longer. Explained that I notice when I take breaks on things to refocus and review stuff that was completed just prior to the breaks, there are many errors that are not representative of my knowledge)

I received my decision on day 60 exactly at 6pm ET. I actually ended up calling AAMC around 4pm on decision day because I hadn’t heard anything and was anxious. They told me that a decision would populate by midnight because a lot of their offices are remote and work nontraditional hours.

I had a panic attack around day 50 because I realized I forgot to submit my ACT scores, PSAT score, and 1 letter from my doctor which led me to worry I would get an “incomplete” and have to start this process over again. I did not. :)

All and all, I feel very relieved. I saw a lot of people who talked about not getting approved and worried that that would end up being me despite having a profile that I felt was pretty rock solid. If you’re in a similar boat, hopefully you will have the same luck I did!

Again, please comment or message me if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them!

This might be a stupid question, but basically, I have been down with a super severe ear infection since Friday and haven’t gotten any MCAT prep done. It has been so bad that I’ve had 3 trips to the doctor, have an ear canal that is swollen shut, and have needed 24/7 alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol to stay comfortable.

I also have bad anxiety and have been so stressed out that I’m getting far behind already, but I also know that this is completely out of my control. Thus, my question to everyone is how do you readjust and not freak out when you get behind on your schedule?

I am extremely afraid of getting bugs in my apartment specifically like to a point that it’s kind of crazy. I just found a singular ant in my bed and spent 20 minutes shaking out sheets and inspecting every single surface around my bed for ants.

I have always had a fear of bugs, but I think it’s magnified now that I’m renting and in charge of my own place for the first time. My best friend also had a massive roach infestation ~2 years ago. I’m always checking for signs of roaches. Is anyone else horribly afraid of bugs? How do you cope?