u/JoeyBeene

https://preview.redd.it/syvaukk355kh1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=4786d7f3c8a88d4b47b7bc944d148a8a2e962630

I definitely get why D is right here but I kind of just read B and thought it was the most correct and moved on. I'm a bit confused on if they're saying facial recognition vs facial features recognition is what makes this incorrect or if they're saying that anything to do with facial recognition, features or not, has nothing to do with empathy (which wouldn't make much sense, but if that's the case I'll need to change my understanding of it).

https://preview.redd.it/ohpn72ee55kh1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=08e8bf39161f6e84116446b7df12db0ada9e186f

This is genuinely so ridiculous, can someone tell me why we can assume the author is implying gender discrimination here??

https://preview.redd.it/n2t6gwbwx4kh1.png?width=974&format=png&auto=webp&s=2983e4d5e6889795aaae7a4483228436b512de8d

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I was between A and B and decided to rule out A pretty quickly because it mentioned gender discrimination, which is a pretty big claim about the author's belief when they didn't say anything to imply that let alone a direct sentence indicating it. Maybe women tend to work lower wage jobs, or some other reason. As long as there is another possibility for the author's view point, we have no right to assume based on our own whims.

https://preview.redd.it/gjve8rofy4kh1.png?width=420&format=png&auto=webp&s=89176c28c75e86439e66be48bf6dbde62f2a45f1

Their answer explanation is this: "presumably with a similar level of education"???? -> "without gender discrimination, which the passage indicates lower the average wages of women"???? like where are they getting this from. This explanation was so strongly worded I had to do a double take into the text to see if I missed the author directly saying something about gender discrimination only to realize they just pulled it out of their butt. Rather, the way you had to determine B was wrong was to run a whole logical puzzle in your mind within like 40 seconds.

What the hell is going on! Can someone tell me if this is representative of the real deal or if these were just made so long ago that they have flaws in them?

I feel like no matter how good my CARS analysis and review is, the fact that it’s so insanely time crunched (~1 min/question) forces you to throw out all analytical skills you learn from your review and practice and rely on instinct. Anyone have any tips on how to overcome this? I’ve done a lot of correcting questions by trying to become efficient at searching the text for direct evidence but you simply just don’t have that freedom with 60 seconds and sometimes less when you spend a little more time reading or answering a trickier question. Genuinely so lost right now. Knowing the main idea doesn’t suffice for some questions and those are the ones I get tripped up on, which is enough in each passage set to get a score like 127 instead of a 130-131

Testing 9/11

Scores:

Unscored: 128/132/128/128 (516)

FL1: 130/129/129/129 (517)

FL2: 131/127/128/128 (514)

FL3: 127/127/130/131 (515)

I'm genuinely so lost about what to do from now on. I got so happy that my C/P scores were finally looking like they were set in stone, especially because I had finally finished content review (my Orgo is really shaky, but that was like one passage on FL3) for it the week before I hit 131. I was also confident that after a week of doing CARS diagnostic practice questions, I would increase my score back to the glory days. I am happy about B/B, though, because I spent the entirety of this past week finishing up (most) of the content review for it. P/S was super unexpected because I barely did anything for it and also have 500 cards left for Pankow.

I've come to a few conclusions as to what could have happened and was wondering if anyone could help me figure out which one is most plausible and what to do to improve next time:

1. FL3's C/P section was a lot more problem-solving-based than FL2, which would explain why a week of grinding Anki out before FL2 worked, but by doing no practice from the section banks, I shot myself in the foot for FL3 (and maybe the other FLs, depending on if this is a trend?)

2. For FL2 I took the test at around 10 AM and reviewed my previous FL's P/S section for about 40 min because I didn't get the chance to do it the week before. For FL3 I took the test around 11:20 AM after reviewing my previous FL's C/P and P/S section for about 2-3 hours. This would explain why I felt overall a lot slower when it came to reading and analysis of the C/P section this morning, I never struggle with time usually but this time I would have to reread things over and over and not be able to figure anything out. The problem with this theory is: 1. The condition difference between FL2 and FL3 pre-test don't seem big enough to warrant a 4-pt decrease in score. 2. I took a shower and went for a long walk to reset before taking both tests and felt genuinely refreshed before each one.

3. FL3 C/P section was just a lot harder than FL2 and I truly improved in the other sections.

I don't think this is "normal test variation" or due to themes of weakness being present in one test or another because the changes are too radical and ongoing for that to be the case (it's not just between two tests, it's now a consistent pattern between all four)

It's also super super demoralizing to see that I'm actually effectively decreasing in score and that my highs in subsections after working so hard on them don't seem to be stable.

Has anyone experienced something similar and broken out of this? I really want to break 520+ by my test date and was so happy when I hit my 517 on FL1 thinking that if I just increase a point or two each test I'd hit it easy. I think I might focus on pure practice from here on out with the SBs but I still haven't finished B/B content review nor P/S content review which definitely resulted in quite a few incorrects on both today.

Please help!

Hello all, I'm testing 9/11 and now (officially?) a month out.

FL1 Split: 130/129/129/129 (517)

FL2 Split: 131/127/128/128 (514)

I'm super overwhelmed right now because there's so much to do and not a lot of time to do it, and I feel like my commitment to work is completely screwing up my ability to study for this exam. I'll come home and be so exhausted that I don't want to do anything, or only have a couple of hours to get stuff done before going to sleep, which is not enough to complete all my priorities.

Currently, I'm working on refreshing on content because although I learned it all, I was not able to keep up with flashcards while doing my practice month (UWorld) and ultimately forgot a lot of it. For my last FL, a lot of my B/B mistakes were super dumb content gaps that would have been easily solved by not abandoning my responsibilities, so I've decided that needs to be solved ASAP.

That being said, I also have all of the AAMC materials to get through, which I've heard is such a huge part of exam prep that will singlehandedly boost your score by a bunch.

I have also heard that you need to thoroughly review your FL exams and SBs, Qpacks, etc.

That leaves me with 3 priorities that need to get done within a month:

1. Finish catching up on all content review (Bio Chapters 1-4 and 6-9, Biochem 9-12), including finishing Pankow (450 cards left).

2. Finish all SBs, CARS Qpacks, QBanks.

3. Review all questions from FLs as well as the practice materials I do.

With only about 4 hours maximum a day to dedicate to all this, I really wanted to hear some feedback on what I should focus on the most in the coming weeks. I've found that having all these priorities and not knowing which one to focus on has led to me being super inefficient with my time because I'll end up hopping back and forth between each one, ultimately leading to none of them really getting done.

For the content review, I'm not learning it from scratch. I usually just set a YT video at 2x speed (35 min) and then do the corresponding Anki (1hr) and then set the FSRS to 80% so it doesn't eat too much of my time to actually keep up with the cards this time. In the past weeks, I've been able to get about 2-3 chapters w/ their Anki done per day, as well as been pretty successful in keeping up with the stacking reviews this time around. So, I estimate that about one week should be enough to fully catch up on all B/B content review because C/P has been pretty much finished for me so far as reflected by my pretty decent score on the last FL.

Any advice?

Thanks!

https://preview.redd.it/8xadt8q511ih1.png?width=503&format=png&auto=webp&s=e3c2ed927c94244036c6e4d86d6c28ed6b0bd9c5

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I selected B here because the phrase "It seems like proof of proper intent", to me at least, is indicative of an opinion that the author holds about the motives behind the souvenir hunting. I wouldn't say: "It seems like Johnny wants to go to the store to prove he is independent" if I wasn't proposing my belief about something. No one would say that a statement like that serves to explain how Johnny is justifying something to himself, especially because I would imagine that this search for proof of proper intent and taking things seriously would be more "performative" in the sense that it proves to other souvenir hunters your dedication (and therefore is a source of motivation) rather than something proving something personally (you already know you are dedicated, you don't need to get a souvenir to enforce that?) like C implies.

Can someone help explain the reasoning behind C to me?

Testing 9/11, starting AAMC materials next week. I might not have enough time to get through both the CARS Diagnostic and both CARS QPacks and was wondering which one to prioritize and what the differences between them are.

Thanks for any help.

https://preview.redd.it/zidclqay1meh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=771f9e1c671505683795c27858f9df9dd0883abe

https://preview.redd.it/d4slifaz1meh1.png?width=680&format=png&auto=webp&s=4e942a3fb510e1869518d167d383e16ab564424a

I understand that OH is a bad leaving group and therefore probably would not be very likely to participate in a condensation reaction based on the explanation provided by UEarth, but I have two questions from this:

1. Isn't this roughly the same reaction as what happens in peptide bond formation, which happens all the time? Does peptide bond formation just happen with enzymes to facilitate the condensation reaction over the neutralization reaction, or how exactly does this work if the latter is much more prevalent?

2. A quick Google Search as well as what I remember from my flashcards say that Neutralization reactions are specifically when an Acid and Base react -> H and OH are removed to produce water and leave an ionic salt behind:
   Ex. HCl + NaOH -> H2O + NaCl (salt)

https://preview.redd.it/a3pi9ttt2meh1.png?width=520&format=png&auto=webp&s=86f14e785be3d11fdec83d8998e8285e09e773e8

This does not appear to happen at all here, so I'm a bit confused on which definition to memorize.

Thanks for any help?

After starting UEarth, I've noticed that the vast majority of cards in Captain Hook will probably never ever come up because if they are ever mentioned, they are either explained in the passage or not central to understanding the purpose of the question (ex. a graph might ask which treatment group had a greater TLC, but it won't ask what TLC is?)

Is this a correct assumption to make, and can I just go about suspending a bunch of these cards to perhaps lighten the load or have you guys seen stuff like this come up where you would need to know definitions and distinctions?

For anyone who has matured CH, what percentage of the deck would you say is reasonable to suspend/ignore?

Thanks for any help!

https://preview.redd.it/2cq2vm9kxleh1.png?width=516&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc7c1bdced7ea28cb86df296f37ca70423810ab8

https://preview.redd.it/yhypqa1mxleh1.png?width=520&format=png&auto=webp&s=79892c6086a3d72864fee4e518bc2b56d066d7cd

https://preview.redd.it/bj59yvzmxleh1.png?width=518&format=png&auto=webp&s=b4666e28b36b590fee2706f767fa646bf4ba600a

These are the resources I have left:

1500 non-CARS UEarth left

All of AAMC material

450 P/S flashcards unlearned

1200 Captain Hook v2 flashcards to learn

760 Captain Hook v2 Reviews

500 P/S reviews

I have not done any CARS practice at all besides a few JW at the very beginning of my studying and quickly dropped it after scoring a 129 on CARS for my diagnostic. Was wondering if I should start AAMC CARS now or 6 weeks out, as well as the original question.

Planning to take my first FL on 8/1 and start AAMC SBs, QBs, etc, on 8/7. BP HL diagnostic was 507, and UEarth average is around 80% untimed, untutored (take maximum 1.5x depending on the block but usually don't go too much over the 1x time)

Right now I'm prioritizing doing as many UEarth (ascending units, i.e doing Unit 1 of each subject first then moving on to the Unit 2s, etc.) with proper review (usually 60-120 Qs a day) as I can and have dropped from 300 cards a day to roughly 10 a day on Anki because I'm relying on the practice questions as my main source of learning/review/content review.

I was kind of just planning on Ctrl-F-ing my "Content Gap" classifications as well as writing down pathways and equations multiple times before any FLs and the real deal to keep things fresh and make sure my non-usage of flashcards won't be too detrimental.

Just want to know if I should change anything now before the exam that I might be blundering because I'm getting a bit nervous considering the insane backload of content it feels like I'm not all too fresh on at the moment.

Thanks for any help!

These are the resources I have left:

1500 non-CARS UEarth left

All of AAMC material

450 P/S flashcards unlearned

1200 Captain Hook v2 flashcards to learn

760 Captain Hook v2 Reviews

500 P/S reviews

I have not done any CARS practice at all besides a few JW at the very beginning of my studying and quickly dropped it after scoring a 129 on CARS for my diagnostic. Was wondering if I should start AAMC CARS now or 6 weeks out, as well as the original question.

Planning to take my first FL on 8/1 and start AAMC SBs, QBs, etc, on 8/7. BP HL diagnostic was 507, and UEarth average is around 80% untimed, untutored (take maximum 1.5x depending on the block but usually don't go too much over the 1x time)

Right now I'm prioritizing doing as many UEarth (ascending units, i.e doing Unit 1 of each subject first then moving on to the Unit 2s, etc.) with proper review (usually 60-120 Qs a day) as I can and have dropped from 300 cards a day to roughly 10 a day on Anki because I'm relying on the practice questions as my main source of learning/review/content review.

I was kind of just planning on Ctrl-F-ing my "Content Gap" classifications as well as writing down pathways and equations multiple times before any FLs and the real deal to keep things fresh and make sure my non-usage of flashcards won't be too detrimental.

Just want to know if I should change anything now before the exam that I might be blundering because I'm getting a bit nervous considering the insane backload of content it feels like I'm not all too fresh on at the moment.

Thanks for any help!

https://preview.redd.it/ih6ub633zgeh1.png?width=612&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8cd614b1b632be26551c3051468c1df9b87cc4b

https://preview.redd.it/tiic62axzgeh1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=08580e2106a8b0d92b8349468ba5f146812f668d

I understand why C is the correct answer now, but I assumed that ketoses form hemiketals and ketals and aldoses form hemiacetals and acetals. When I checked the answer explanation, UEarth says that Hemiketals are actually just a type of Hemiacetals and therefore fall under that category.

Is it maybe saying that because ketoses can tautomerize into aldoses, they can exist as hemiacetals as well, or is it really saying that hemiketals, which by definition are attached to an R1 and R2 group along with the OR and OH, are the same as hemiacetals, which are by definition attached to an R1 and H along with the OR and OH?

Any clarification or help would be much appreciated!

So I have come to terms with the fact that there is absolutely no way I have time to finish all my news/learn cards or keep up with reviews of all my Anki cards (besides Pankow, that one I keep up with and plan to finish soon) and finish UEARTH practice at the same time. So, I've decided to just try to finish the Qbank and review my incorrects and flagged instead.

I wanted to ask if it's possible that after doing the whole Qbank, the AAMC section banks, and the FLs and reviewing them thoroughly, I'd still have SIGNIFICANT content gaps that would prevent me from achieving a 520+? Currently, I'm doing UEARTH untimed, untutored, unit by unit and topic by topic (E.g, One day I'll do 5 GCHEM Unit 1 Untimed 20Q blocks for a total of 100Q and continue on like this for a month until all questions are done) and I find that this helps me soldify the content a lot better and identify patterns in the content I'm weak at rather than doing blocks of randomized units where there is no pattern to get in terms of content.

I've seen many people achieve high scores without needing Anki and wanted to know if that is representative or if I should sacrifice finishing UEARTH to put more time into the cards?

Thanks for any help!

In this question, you had to determine whether the pictured sugar was alpha-D or alpha-L, and I was able to determine it was alpha pretty easily but I selected the L version because I thought the stereochemistry of the highest numbered chiral carbon was S. UEarth says it is R but I don't see it. Can anyone clarify/help?

https://preview.redd.it/co71rd2bzaah1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=47444c55ced18bbc0b798a4dd30feb2e4f78c66e

TLDR at the end :) 

Context: Currently about 2.5 months out (test 9/11) and 1.5 months in

I was supposed to finish content review last week but started my clinical job (~30hr/week, although I’m really happy I got the job!) and quite honestly did nothing because I would be so exhausted and demotivated to study by the time I came home. 

This means I’m now about a week behind which doesn’t sound all that bad - but I’m also behind on about 900 new/learn cards from Captain Hook v2 that I didn’t do after previous content review, as well as 1,200 new/learn Pankow cards that I have procrastinated learning the whole content review period as well.

I’ve tried giving myself plenty of days of pure breaks, not even doing anki, to get back in my old flow, but nothing is working. 

I hate reading the Kaplan books and doing Anki soooo much that I don’t want to do anything MCAT related except start Uearth questions. So, this weekend I tried doing about 50 of them untimed and realized that my flaking on anki was causing massive issues - it was as if I had never learned any content in the first place.

What I decided on doing this week to rectify my situation was reading the last few chapters of content review with no notes (once I finish the unfinished chapter readings, I’ll just do backed up new cards from previous chapters + Uearth), doing the new anki cards for them, doing corresponding Uearth + review, then finish due anki reviews and about 100 new Pankow cards. However, I realized that even though it seems that this is what I have to do to catch up, I know there’s no way I’ll pull it off. (Probably would take 6 hours+)

The saddest part is I know that my job is really not even all that time consuming, some people work 40hr/week in extremely taxing jobs - when I get home I have plenty of time to do my catchup plan and prime myself for an excellent score on the MCAT, but I now figure that because I wasn’t able to do it last week because of all the post-work naps and fatigue, that this idea is no longer realistic. 

All this is extremely demotivating because before, I was easily doing 3 hours straight of studying with no breaks and no distractions and sometimes even more. Now I can’t even sit down for 15 minutes.

I know it’s only been one week at my job and I need to give time to get used to it maybe, but I can’t afford another potentially wasted week to trial out another strategy to solve these problems I’m having which is why I’m reaching out here - I really would appreciate anyone who’s been in a similar position sharing any advice or experiences that’s worked for them, as well as any advice on what to do with the 2000 new anki cards I need to learn along with the concurrent build up of reviews. Thank you guys. 

TLDR: Recently started work and was too fatigued to do any work that week. Currently a week behind on content review as a result along with 2,000 new/learn cards and hundreds of reviews. Lost all motivation despite trying breaks. Can’t just “lock in” in the library for 8 hours like I used to and need some advice on how to catch up on such a massive learning debt with my current schedule/situation. 

During the upcoming school year, I'm planning to work a few jobs and need to plan my schedule. I was wondering if anyone who took this class after the switch in format (last semester I think?) knows if the Wednesday lecture is actually mandatory or synchronous in any way? I asked someone who took this class a bit ago, and they said this was not part of their schedule when they took the class. I also emailed and sent a follow-up to the Radiology Division of Human Anatomy asking this same question a few months ago, but never got a response.

I was also wondering if anyone knows which of the Friday exam durations is correct, because I have heard 1 hour from most sources, but on the schedule it says 2 hours from 8-10am.

Would appreciate any help or insight on this, thank you!

ANTR350 Schedule, Fall 2026