Real MCAT more like Kaplan or AAMC???

Bio- definitely Kaplan.. the passages are very similar in difficulty

consensus from other areas on this board is that kaplan verbal is complete crap and not representative, EK 101 verbal passages is much better

I picked AAMC but I need to mention a few things.

1) I picked AAMC because they are the most similar to the questions. The questions are simple and straightforward, unlike kaplan. Also, AAMC is the best predictor of score.

2) It is important in practice to do at least one Kaplan because the passages in the real deal are very complicated, much like Kaplan PS. Now, they may seem extra extra complicated because your in the heat of the test, but you should still recognize that you will need tons of resilience and endurance to stay focused when you're hit with a passage with simple questions but a convoluted passage. Kaplan is good practice in this regard. If you get good at them, it teaches you endurance.

Kaplan is more like practice for the AAMC's.

whateva07 said:

how is kaplan verbal crap?

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Exhibit A:

When referring to questions that ask about specific things mentioned in the passage...kaplan says you should never infer anything. if its not said in the passage explicitly, then it can't be correct. dont use outside knowledge, stick with the passage.

According to the passage, the Romani have migrated to which of the following countries:

I. France

II. Armenia

III. China


I put "II only" b/c the passage says " From there they followed the west...through Armenia...." Pretty straigh forward.

According to Kaplan, the answer is "I and II only" because the phrase "throughout Europe" implies that they migrated through France".... ummmm no it doesnt. do you know how huge Europe is.

ryserr21 said:

Exhibit A:

When referring to questions that ask about specific things mentioned in the passage...kaplan says you should never infer anything. if its not said in the passage explicitly, then it can't be correct. dont use outside knowledge, stick with the passage.

According to the passage, the Romani have migrated to which of the following countries:

I. France

II. Armenia

III. China


I put "II only" b/c the passage says " From there they followed the west...through Armenia...." Pretty straigh forward.

According to Kaplan, the answer is "I and II only" because the phrase "throughout Europe" implies that they migrated through France".... ummmm no it doesnt. do you know how huge Europe is.

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Can't speak for the MCAT because I did absolutely no prep for it, but in med school I used Kaplan for Step I and USMLEWorld for Step II. USMLEWorld is by far a better question bank and a better tool for test prep.

DrDre311 said:

Can't speak for the MCAT because I did absolutely no prep for it, but in med school I used Kaplan for Step I and USMLEWorld for Step II. USMLEWorld is by far a better question bank and a better tool for test prep.

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that doesnt surprise me. havent heard too many good things about kaplan and my experience has been less than stellar.

Definitely AAMC.

I'm curious as to the difficulty level. While the questions may be like the AAMC tests, is the difficulty level of the AAMC on par with the actual MCAT, or is Kaplan?

I've been getting better scores with my AAMC tests

The one I took was def. Kaplan and had a curve more similar to Kaplans than AAMC.

Cp22kjer said:

The one I took was def. Kaplan and had a curve more similar to Kaplans than AAMC.

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I dont konw what to think.

I've never received above an 8 for AAMC physics....i take two kaplan tests and receive a 10 and an 11.

I've never received below an 8 on AAMC verbal...I take two kaplan practice tests and get a 7 and an 8.

I've never received above a 10 for AAMC bio... I take two practice kaplan tests and get an 11 and a 12....


is my studying paying off or is it the more lenient curve? i dont want to get my hopes up too much, although it is a nice boost of confidence. i take my test May 27th

kaplan is more like the read deal by a LONGSHOT. If you go into the real test hoping for something like AAMC 3-10 (especially the earlier ones) you are in for quite a suprise.

Decicco said:

kaplan is more like the read deal by a LONGSHOT. If you go into the real test hoping for something like AAMC 3-10 (especially the earlier ones) you are in for quite a suprise.

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what about the score? how do those compare? thats really all I care about. if i thought the test was way harder than AAMC but got a higher score, i wouldnt really care. If i thought the test was way easier but got 5 points below my average, i'd be pissed.

ryserr21 said:

what about the score? how do those compare? thats really all I care about. if i thought the test was way harder than AAMC but got a higher score, i wouldnt really care. If i thought the test was way easier but got 5 points below my average, i'd be pissed.

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I found the kaplan scoring to be much more similar to the real thing except for in verbal where kaplan is too easy. Of course, I don't know the scale for the real test, but based on how many I thought that I missed, it seemed much more similar to kaplan scoring in both BS and PS.

I am guessing that AAMC has the most votes here because many people who voted haven't taken the kaplan exams (just a guess). I have taken all of the aamcs and many kaplans, and this is my conclusion.

My scores were pretty variable with Kaplan, from 29-36. It usually comes down to the PS for me. Kaplan's PS seems to hit you with convoluted passages that are too long and the questions are sometimes worded very poorly. In addition, there are tons of mistakes on Kaplan's exams and quizzes, so I don't know how anyone could say it's more like the real thing.

I took AAMC 3 yesterday and was very relaxed. I wasn't worrying about whether or not this was another one of Kaplan's mistakes, I was just reading the passages and highlighting information (another thing that you CAN'T do on a Kaplan exam, in addition to strikeout). I wound up getting a 37 (11/13/13).

Kaplan's verbal is not bad at all. I think their bio is probably pretty close to what you can expect on the real thing. I just think they take it too far with the physical sciences, sometimes. Overall though, I was dissatisfied with Kaplan.





I'm going to take AAMC 7 tomorrow, but will probably buy one more AAMC before the test - does anyone have a good suggestion as to which one I should get? I want what, in your opinion, is most representative of the real exam (I'm taking it next week).

I took Kaplan FL's 1-8. I got dissatisfied with them due to the fact that 1) they are way too convoluted and not as straightforward as the real MCAT and AAMC practice tests, and 2) their VR sections suck.

Certainly I will not say that AAMC3 is what you will see on the real thing; something more like AAMC's 9 and 10 are more reflective of what you will see.

Perhaps Kaplan prepares you better for the "panic" of seeing something difficult, which you will most certainly see on the real test just because of test anxiety. I will give you that much.

It think you have to keep a few things in mind with any practice tests. First off, all of the test-prep companies try their best to emulate what is on the actual exam, but they are not the same writers as AAMC. So while all of them strive to mimic the actual test, none of them can claim to provide the exact experience. Very close, but not exact. On the other hand, AAMC reuses questions as well as passages. With this in mind, questions show up on their practice tests for one of a few reasons: 1) They are old questions/passages that many test-takers have already seen. 2) The questions were too easy or too hard, ie almost everyone gets them right or wrong. 3) The questions were not a good "fit" with actual performance in med school. You all have probably read most of the studies that are published about correlation between MCAT performance and board scores, etc. If a given question/passage is a poor fit, then it gets tossed. All of these questions most likely end up on the practice tests. Are any of the practice MCAT's retired full-length tests? It seems much more likely that they are pieced together from many different tests, but I don't know for certain.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that practice tests are just practice. It is highly unlikely that you will see the same material on your actual MCAT, but practice tests provide you with great opportunity to hone your critical reasoning ability, etc.

Just my $0.02.

whats the best way to get access to the kaplan tests if i can't afford any of the kaplan courses?

ask a friend to use their resources, im sure they won't mind.

RoadRunner17 said:

I took Kaplan FL's 1-8. I got dissatisfied with them due to the fact that 1) they are way too convoluted and not as straightforward as the real MCAT and AAMC practice tests, and 2) their VR sections suck.

Certainly I will not say that AAMC3 is what you will see on the real thing; something more like AAMC's 9 and 10 are more reflective of what you will see.

Perhaps Kaplan prepares you better for the "panic" of seeing something difficult, which you will most certainly see on the real test just because of test anxiety. I will give you that much.

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haha, I took Kaplan 1-11 and I must say I was a fan. I definetly agree with your statement about Kaplan preparing you for the "panic". When I saw crazy looking passages and diagrams, it didn't phase me one bit. I had been there and done that.

mterp45 said:

haha, I took Kaplan 1-11 and I must say I was a fan. I definetly agree with your statement about Kaplan preparing you for the "panic". When I saw crazy looking passages and diagrams, it didn't phase me one bit. I had been there and done that.

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so do u plan on making a long *ss post like Vihisidas netime soon on how u destryoed the sciences? im sure every1 would appreciate...or at least what ur scores were on all 260,000,30234,340234 practice tests u took

What up doc said:

so do u plan on making a long *ss post like Vihisidas netime soon on how u destryoed the sciences? im sure every1 would appreciate...or at least what ur scores were on all 260,000,30234,340234 practice tests u took

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am typing it up as we "speak" boss.

whateva07 said:

wow your mcat score is amazing. what does it take to get 15s on the sciences?? I'm about 10-12 on physics and bio 8-11 (8 on aamc 11 on kaplans)...how do I make that jump???

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patience mayne...hes typing it up as we "speak"

What up doc said:

patience mayne...hes typing it up as we "speak"

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It has been done boss, as we were "speaking".

anybody know about the correlation between Princeton Review tests and the real MCATs?

I don't really know to be honest.

Kaplan Diagnostic: 14PS, 10VB, 11BS
Kaplan FL 1:13PS, 8VB, 13BS
Kaplan FL 2: 14PS, 11VB, 15BS
Kaplan FL 3: 14PS, 12VB, 15BS

AAMC: Haven't done them yet

Not gonna lie, I find Kaplan physics and bio sections a total joke. Typically I finish both sections with at least 25 minutes left. Well I guess it's because I have a a fairly strong science background. Typically I can skip 1 out of every four passages because I already know the stuff from highschool AP courses/first year courses.