Anyway, so I took the April MCATs cuz they say it's better that you do..yada yada..apply early..yada yada wutever. Paid my $1300+ to get the "confidence" that I needed to bust my ass on the test. Like most Kaplan students know, the weekly lessons are a pain to go to since you have to trudge urself all the way to DRL...especially if you live in the high rises and don't really feel like taking the 15 min, going to some dingy freezing engineering room, and listen to a 3 hr lecture on shiet u really don't give a shiet about. They tried to make it interesting, I give ya that...with young instructors making ha ha with you so that you'd understand the material more. Hhaha..I had a dude who reminded me of Adam Sandler or some other comedian...he just had that whiteboy corky attitude that makes you want to cringe and laugh at his jokes at the same time. Best line ever: "Calcitonin....Bon-In....<long pause w/ smirk>.....Parathyroid..bone-out...ok that doesn't really work" Highly effective neumonic indeed.
After a while, I pledged that as long as I'm not going to the weekly lessons, I'd have to bitchdrag myself all the way downtown to take the gazillion practice exams available. And I did just that (thanks to Tiff Choi for the advice)...taking the subway every evening down to City Hall area so I could lock myself in Kaplan's test center and cram as much info as possible in. It wans't that bad..just sometimes the temperature was annoying...or the other students there were annoying...or loud spanish speakers outside....or too quiet...or feeling claustrophobic...or it was dark by the time i left...or i could only do like 2 test max every time i was there...or..u get the idea 
But mark my words, those tests intimidated me so much that the real thing seemed so much easier! 
Frequently, after I left the center during the weekends, Chi would meet up with me and we'd head back to campus as she listens to my grumbling about my practice scores.
Finding the testing center was an adventure in itself. Assuming everyone would pick Temple U as the place for D-Day and the lines would be incredibly long, not to mention the competitive pressure strong...I chose to take mine in the middle of oh-friggin-nowhere-bumblefck Jersey. This was like trailer county next to decrepit factories and apartments---my ideal place for a medical exam. After taking the R7 train out to da ghetto, Chi and I walked around and had to ask many locals where this Lincoln Tech was or really existed. A nice lady actually raced thru her forest to show us the right direction to walk. Also met some 55 yrd white dude who kept telling us how "chinkified" he was...with eating only authentic chinese food...getting acupuncture and buying jade; go fig. Thanks to Chi for her sick (sick, not sixth) sense of direction, we found our way back to the railroad and out of the boonies to head back to Philly.
Test day (8 am...Erik drove) had all of us lined up next to a garage full of broken down cars and trucks. Some dude suggested we each choose a car to be our place of examination...pffff. Pencils were sharpened. Doors were closed. Minor fidgeting. Longass wait for form fillouts. Then it began.
The tests flowed like honey...well-paced and no rush. We got out of there around 4:30..much earlier to my delight. But as soon as everyone left in their cars and cabs..i was the only one who walked alone thru the same rainy ghetto route to wait for the train to come pick me up. It was almost...a tearful emotional walk...not of anguish, but of relief.
That very same night was Mr. Ms. Penn Asia 2003. I broke on stage and yelled from the audience, half drunk. Congrats to James Chen and Jess Park for winning. Chinatown dinner afterwards...tradition upheld ever since I was a frosh. God I feel old....sigh.
not really hardcore... more like hard-to-believe-we're-graduating-Penn-like-this.
smell