<p>I took it today.
It was pretty bad. I did every single previous multiple choice exam and free response as practice, but this year’s test felt different and a lot harder. Free response was relatively easy until the last few problems… Lab was okay but I didn’t finish one of the lab problems My goggles were on really tight but I didn’t want to waste any time fixing them so I had a bad headache after XD.</p>
<p>On the multiple choice tests my scores were ranging from 45-58. I think I could make a 50 at best on this year’s multiple choice. My free response scores on previous exams ranged from 74 to 92, I think I got like a 70 on this one. Just to give you lucky people taking it soon an idea of difficulty :P</p>
<p>However, the test felt less trickier. But more knowledge-based.</p>
<p>I thought the MC was a bit easier than in practice (I took 2006 through 2011) but FR was much, much harder. I won’t comment on difficulty of the labs since I always bomb them.</p>
<p>To those who haven’t taken it yet: Good luck! And for the love of all things holy, know your orgo.</p>
<p>@jma: how much did you prepare for this test, and if you took previous years’ exams, how well did you score on those? And, you’d recommend studying o-chem in particular :P?</p>
<p>I’m taking it tomorrow, and I’m pretty darn scared…qq.</p>
<p>Hey people, stop discussing and stop overreacting.
If it was different/harder from previous years, chances are everyone is at the same disadvantage. Just prepare like you normally do and it will be fine.</p>
<p>Sophia7x, is the 44.7 for the top 150 based on the total score? Like all the sections combined? I took it yesterday and I thought the multiple choice and the lab were easier than last year’s, but the free response was harder.</p>
<p>I have done the MC and FR from 1999 to 2011 like 3 teams each (I’ve been studying like crazy) plus I have my brother taking OChem right now tutoring me, do you think that will be enough? My practice FR’s are usually 90% + and the MC is around 55-56, is this good enough or will I be screwed over?</p>
<p>Well I’m hoping I just don’t screw up on the lab haha. Like I’m taking AP Chem right now, and I get good grades on our labs, but that’s not under pressure and I’m not expected to make up a procedure. But if I can get like a 50-75 ish on the lab, then my FR or MC could potentially bring up my overall and get me in, right?</p>
<p>I believe that’s right. Coordinators/teachers/campers are called on the 4th. You have to confirm you’re going and they have to mail the papers before they post the list on the 15th.</p>
<p>Dang that test sucked. For those of you who have done it before, what information do you receive back about your performance? Like, do you get your actual scores or do they just tell you honors, high honors, etc…? And I heard they don’t even grade your labs/fr if you don’t make a certain MC score- is this true?</p>
<p>I believe the coordinators receive a score report that lists your performance on the test as either Outstanding, Above Average, Average, or Below Average. </p>
<p>Personally, I thought the test was not too bad. I’m pretty sure I got a 45-48 on MC, (haha perfect on organic/biochem section). The FR was hard, but I believe a score of around 50-80% is top 150? </p>
<p>I’m almost certain that if your MC choice score is below a certain threshold, they dont grade your other stuff because of time, etc.</p>
<p>@HarveyMudd
I believe getting above the cutoff on MC (45 should do it) automatically guarantees top 150 because, as you said, they don’t grade the other people’s FR.
With that said, an 80% on this year’s FR will probably get at least top 50.</p>
<p>I took the exam today on Long Island. MC wasn’t that bad. I got at least one wrong, but I can’t find much else that’s wrong. I will think about the questions later and maybe one or two errors will pop up.</p>
<p>On FRQ’s, I did ok except for the second-to-last question. I did the last question first and it was fine, but I didn’t leave enough space for the 7th one. I wrote a note telling the grader to turn the page to see #7. I did #7 fast because there wasn’t much time left. My answers for #7 are a bit lower in quality than the rest of my answers, and could have been improved if I had time. Do you think they’ll take off points for breaking the sequence? It says on the front of the exam that you must write the answers sequentially.</p>
<p>On the lab, I answered the first question in such a way that it can be interpreted as the right answer (I meant something else when I wrote it). Whatever the case, my answer was very close in the thought process to the right answer.</p>
<p>On the second question, I think I did all right. I don’t know…</p>
<p>85-90 is pretty good. Good luck on making it to top 20! Last year, the highest free response score was 95. No 100’s out of 900-1000 people?
The dumb thing about the free response is that every part (a,b,c etc) is like worth 3-5 percentage points so even just getting 4 wrong could drop you to an 84.</p>
<p>Scratch that, now that I think about it I probably got closer to an 80-85 zone, but still prolly a 57ish on MC, and average on the lab. Camp or probably not?</p>
My goggles were on really tight but I didn’t want to waste any time fixing them so I had a bad headache after XD.</p>