MCAT, caffeine, etc.
Aug. 14th, 2004 08:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indecisionwinsSo I took the MCAT today, and I think it actually went pretty well. I'll have to wait until I get my scores back, but I think even the writing sample, which I was pretty worried about, ended up going OK.
For that part at least, I think caffeine must be the secret... Because the only practice test where I thought my writing sample was even decent was the one where I had chai before I started AND some coffee after lunch, and that was what I did today. Even on practice tests when I had coffee right before the writing sample, which is right after lunch, but not in the morning, it didn't help, but I guess having caffeine twice does the trick--and I almost didn't get the coffee after lunch today, but I was glad I did. (By the way, the coffee bar at Wash. U. had this really great coffee thing called a Mayan Mocha that I wish we had at Swat. It was cappucino with chocolate and space, and it was REALLY good. Of course, the chai from Kohlberg is better than the chai ANYPLACE else, so I guess I can't complain. (And that's including Starbucks, where I tried the chai a couple times this summer, Oregon chai powder, which apparently is the brand that originally brought chai to the US, and the chai at Panera/St. Louis Bread Co., which I tried once and it was OK, but still not as good as Kohlberg.) I think I'm going to buy some of the brand that they use when I get back to school, but I have to buy it online, because I haven't seen it in stores. According to the Daily Gazette story last year, the mix they use for Kohlberg chai is Chai Amore East Indian spice flavor, if you're looking for it also. I can't believe they don't use this mix anyplace else, even at big chains like Starbucks or Panera that are known for being the best at that kind of stuff...)
But anyway, yeah. Caffeine is good for the MCAT writing sample (and it doesn't hurt for the rest of the test either). And it makes sense, considering how fast you have to go on there... They give you a statement, and you have a half hour to explain what the statement means, give a specific counterexample of a situation where the statement isn't true, and then discuss how to balance whether what the statement suggests is right or not. The statement is basically like a debate statement--something like "Politicians should vote according to their beliefs, without worrying about whether their constituents agree with those beliefs." (That's one from the MCAT Web site--I'd put what my prompts were, but since this is a public post and I think my journal is Google searchable, that seems like a bad idea, since if by some random chance the AAMC found out, that would be bad...) So that's a 3 paragraph essay, about 1.5 pages handwritten, in a half hour. For me at least, except for today when I was caffeinated, it was REALLY hard to get something coherent in that amount of time. And on most of the practice ones, I felt so rushed that my handwriting was completely illegible, and I had to go a little bit past time to finish the conclusion, which I couldn't have done on the real thing. But I think the one on the actual test was better than any of the practice ones I did (and finished on time, and hopefully legible), so I was pretty happy about that...
And I think the rest of the test went pretty well, too. I did really well on the last 2 practice tests I took, and I probably didn't do much lower than that here, so that's good. (Edit: It's bothering me now that the practice test where where I had the double dose of caffeine, which was the one where I did better on the writing sample, was also the one where I got lower scores on the science sections, which are more important than the writing sample. But hopefully that doesn't mean anything about today, since that was also the first test that I took straight through, and I've studied a lot since then...) There were a few annoying things, like how the physical sciences had like 8 fluid dynamics questions, which was something I really would have rather not seen, since I really didn't remember ANY of that from physics 3, and even though I made sure to study it before the test, I didn't actually remember much of it yesterday, the day before the test. But I did at least skim through that stuff in the book last night, and I was really glad I did, even though I would have wanted to be a little more comfortable with it... And there were a few annoying questions on the verbal, and a few things that I wished I had studied better on the bio. But still, even with those complaints--I'm pretty sure I'll end up with at least a decent score and hopefully a really good score, so that's good. Now I just have to figure out exactly what I want to do with that score... ;) (ie. whether I definitely want an MD/PhD, and what kind of research I actually like, and where I want to go, and all of that fun stuff... University of Chicago still sounds really good, though, and I may even apply there early decision, but I'll have to look into that more.). Well, I guess I have a little bit of time for that, although I'm a little bit worried that I won't get a good chance to do figure that out next year. But hopefully spring semester, either I'll get into the seminar that I want or I'll figure out some kind of research project to do (probably off campus) to see if I really like clinical research. But that's enough rambling on that for now...I can think about that later...
Either way, woo hoo! It's over, and as far as I know I didn't screw anything up badly so hopefully I'll have a pretty good score, so I'm happy. Or at least, I was before--now, I think the caffeine's wearing off, so I'm a little bit too tired to really feel happy. But I'm planning on getting some sleep tonight...
For that part at least, I think caffeine must be the secret... Because the only practice test where I thought my writing sample was even decent was the one where I had chai before I started AND some coffee after lunch, and that was what I did today. Even on practice tests when I had coffee right before the writing sample, which is right after lunch, but not in the morning, it didn't help, but I guess having caffeine twice does the trick--and I almost didn't get the coffee after lunch today, but I was glad I did. (By the way, the coffee bar at Wash. U. had this really great coffee thing called a Mayan Mocha that I wish we had at Swat. It was cappucino with chocolate and space, and it was REALLY good. Of course, the chai from Kohlberg is better than the chai ANYPLACE else, so I guess I can't complain. (And that's including Starbucks, where I tried the chai a couple times this summer, Oregon chai powder, which apparently is the brand that originally brought chai to the US, and the chai at Panera/St. Louis Bread Co., which I tried once and it was OK, but still not as good as Kohlberg.) I think I'm going to buy some of the brand that they use when I get back to school, but I have to buy it online, because I haven't seen it in stores. According to the Daily Gazette story last year, the mix they use for Kohlberg chai is Chai Amore East Indian spice flavor, if you're looking for it also. I can't believe they don't use this mix anyplace else, even at big chains like Starbucks or Panera that are known for being the best at that kind of stuff...)
But anyway, yeah. Caffeine is good for the MCAT writing sample (and it doesn't hurt for the rest of the test either). And it makes sense, considering how fast you have to go on there... They give you a statement, and you have a half hour to explain what the statement means, give a specific counterexample of a situation where the statement isn't true, and then discuss how to balance whether what the statement suggests is right or not. The statement is basically like a debate statement--something like "Politicians should vote according to their beliefs, without worrying about whether their constituents agree with those beliefs." (That's one from the MCAT Web site--I'd put what my prompts were, but since this is a public post and I think my journal is Google searchable, that seems like a bad idea, since if by some random chance the AAMC found out, that would be bad...) So that's a 3 paragraph essay, about 1.5 pages handwritten, in a half hour. For me at least, except for today when I was caffeinated, it was REALLY hard to get something coherent in that amount of time. And on most of the practice ones, I felt so rushed that my handwriting was completely illegible, and I had to go a little bit past time to finish the conclusion, which I couldn't have done on the real thing. But I think the one on the actual test was better than any of the practice ones I did (and finished on time, and hopefully legible), so I was pretty happy about that...
And I think the rest of the test went pretty well, too. I did really well on the last 2 practice tests I took, and I probably didn't do much lower than that here, so that's good. (Edit: It's bothering me now that the practice test where where I had the double dose of caffeine, which was the one where I did better on the writing sample, was also the one where I got lower scores on the science sections, which are more important than the writing sample. But hopefully that doesn't mean anything about today, since that was also the first test that I took straight through, and I've studied a lot since then...) There were a few annoying things, like how the physical sciences had like 8 fluid dynamics questions, which was something I really would have rather not seen, since I really didn't remember ANY of that from physics 3, and even though I made sure to study it before the test, I didn't actually remember much of it yesterday, the day before the test. But I did at least skim through that stuff in the book last night, and I was really glad I did, even though I would have wanted to be a little more comfortable with it... And there were a few annoying questions on the verbal, and a few things that I wished I had studied better on the bio. But still, even with those complaints--I'm pretty sure I'll end up with at least a decent score and hopefully a really good score, so that's good. Now I just have to figure out exactly what I want to do with that score... ;) (ie. whether I definitely want an MD/PhD, and what kind of research I actually like, and where I want to go, and all of that fun stuff... University of Chicago still sounds really good, though, and I may even apply there early decision, but I'll have to look into that more.). Well, I guess I have a little bit of time for that, although I'm a little bit worried that I won't get a good chance to do figure that out next year. But hopefully spring semester, either I'll get into the seminar that I want or I'll figure out some kind of research project to do (probably off campus) to see if I really like clinical research. But that's enough rambling on that for now...I can think about that later...
Either way, woo hoo! It's over, and as far as I know I didn't screw anything up badly so hopefully I'll have a pretty good score, so I'm happy. Or at least, I was before--now, I think the caffeine's wearing off, so I'm a little bit too tired to really feel happy. But I'm planning on getting some sleep tonight...
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 09:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 10:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 10:34 pm (UTC)If you think you need caffeine to do everything that you need to do, that's fine. It's just not a choice I've made.
It's true that finding motivation can sometimes be difficult. In fact, I consider motivation to be THE biggest hurdle in accomplishing most things. So I make motivation a priority. Maybe you've noticed that I try to be enthusiastic and motivated about things. It's partly because that's what I need to do to get things done. Maybe my life would be easier if I started using caffeine, but I think I would get addicted, and addiction is just one thing I don't want to deal with. I already have an internet addiction, and it's about all I can handle.
Congratulations on getting through the MCAT. There was a sign saying "please be quiet, respect their suffering" and my roommate
no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-14 11:06 pm (UTC)And yeah...that is really great that you can get yourself motivated enough to do everything you want to do without needing caffeine. I'm not sure that you can really get addicted to it (well OK, maybe you can, but I'm not sure how easy it is...maybe Sayaka would be the one to ask on that...), but I guess it makes sense not to start with it if you don't have to.
I guess it's just because I end up being pretty sleep deprived during the school year, and at times, that's the only way to really get my brain going, since actually, even more than just having to get stuff done, I also really don't LIKE the sort of "out of it" feeling that I get from being too sleep deprived. Most of the time, I manage to limit myself to only having caffeine when I have stuff to do (or at least not having anything more caffeinated than the cappuccino from the machine in Tarble, which barely counts), even though there are times when I probably would feel better, at least temporarily, having something caffeinated. I know the better solution would be to get more sleep, but, mmm, I really think that senior class shirt from last year is accurate: "Friends. Sleep. Academics. Pick two." And I guess I usually leave out sleep...although "friends" sometimes would involve sitting on AIM late at night when I shouldn't, but ah well. So yeah, I guess that's another part of my reasoning for needing caffeine. And hopefully this is coherent, since I really should get to sleep now, I think.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 11:28 am (UTC)