Aamc 11

[SG3]

Hey guys, I just took AAMC 11 and my score for the PS sectoin dropped by A LOT. I dont know what to do, my exam is in just a few days. Did anyone else think the PS for 11 was harder than the others and that it had a TON of calculations? My score dropped about 2-3 points from what i was getting before in that section. I have heard that 9,10,11 are teh closest things to the real MCAT but idk what to think b/c on 10 and 9 i did fine but on 11 I did a lot worse

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[ridethecliche]

Calm down.

This is the reason I recommend taking 11 before 10 and/or 9.

The test asks questions in a different way and if you see it before you take more tests, you're better able to figure out how to deal with it.

Remember that your AAMC Average is the best predictor of your score.

Figure out where you went wrong in 11 and figure out what you need to do to fix it. My personal opinion is that the question asking style and passages get more convoluted. This makes it imperative to restate the question in your head before working on it. Reading the questions over and over again and feeling flustered wastes time and energy.

You'll do great. Just figure out how you could have been more efficient at getting info out of the questions and passages. They say that the question stems in verbal give away a lot about the answer, the same is now true about PS and BS since they're asking those questions in more round about and application based ways.

 

[SG3]

Okay, thanks man. Yeah it just seemed like it was a lot more calculation heavy. I took it twice to makesure I wasn't just off. The first time I ran out of time b/c the calcs took me so long. The second time I took it (i took it the next day before going over the answers) I would skip any of the REALLY long calculations, and if i had time in the end i'd do them, that way i did not sacrafice any easy Q's. But I only ended up improving by 1 point (4 more Q's right). So it was still my lowest score! Hopefully my mcat is going to be more like 9-10. Really the reason I am scared is because everyone says 11 is the latest so most reflects your score. But hopefully 9 and 10 which i did fine on are similar to it since they're not that old..

 

[ridethecliche]

The calculations are part of it. More importantly, the question asking style is different.

I honestly think I would have done better if I had restated the questions in my head.

Convoluted questions often have easy answers. Just because the language is dense, doesn't mean that the answers are.

 

[akdas988]

Really the reason I am scared is because everyone says 11 is the latest so most reflects your score. But hopefully 9 and 10 which i did fine on are similar to it since they're not that old..

I took AAMC 11 two days before my 4-29-11 Mcat and I bombed it. My PS and BS was down by 1 pt each and verbal went down 2-3 pts. Freaked me out so bad that I went into the test expecting to void. It turned out my PS section was conceptually difficult but had very few calculations. Verbal was much less convoluted, however, BS was very similar. Overall, I didn't have the awful feeling after I finished that I did with AAMC 11. Studying for the Mcat or doing anything difficult in life is a process which includes taking a few step backwards before progressing again.

 

[SG3]

^ You're right man thanks. Yeah the many calculations is waht killed me, and they were worded a lo differently. I appreciate both of your guys' feedback and positive input. Akadas when did you take the exam? Recently? Was yoru real mcat score reflective of AAMC 11 the most? Like was AAMC 11 the best predictor?

 

[inquiry101]

i took aamc 11 one week before my real exam and scored an 8 on PS.

on the real deal, i got a 12 on PS

target your weaknesses and just be calm

 

[SG3]

Inquiry; what were you're avgs for all your prac exams? were they up there around 11ish?

 

[akdas988]

I took AAMC 11 two days before my 4-29-11 Mcat and I bombed it. My PS and BS was down by 1 pt each and verbal went down 2-3 pts. Freaked me out so bad that I went into the test expecting to void. It turned out my PS section was conceptually difficult but had very few calculations. Verbal was much less convoluted, however, BS was very similar. Overall, I didn't have the awful feeling after I finished that I did with AAMC 11. Studying for the Mcat or doing anything difficult in life is a process which includes taking a few step backwards before progressing again.

That wasn't my score breakdown Although I might be okay with a 4 in PS if I could get a 29 out of 15 on VR.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Lol. I took it today and thought, "wtf, PS is usually my strongest. Averaging 11, ended with an 8. I did quite well on bio and verbal though.

 

[DrTrue]

Hey guys,

I took aamc 11 today (taking the real deal next Thursday), and I also found it to be a bit brutal. Some of the question stems were so verbose (esp in bs) that I barely had time to finish the sections -- spent so much time re-reading them. I did alright but my score dropped by 1 point on each section.

Hearing everyone else's experiences with this test definitely has been comforting.
Going to go over my answers in detail tomorrow morning!

Best of luck everyone!

 

[music2doc]

Hey guys,

I took aamc 11 today (taking the real deal next Thursday), and I also found it to be a bit brutal. Some of the question stems were so verbose (esp in bs) that I barely had time to finish the sections -- spent so much time re-reading them. I did alright but my score dropped by 1 point on each section.

Hearing everyone else's experiences with this test definitely has been comforting.
Going to go over my answers in detail tomorrow morning!

Best of luck everyone!

Just one point? Not bad!

My AAMC 11 dropped an entire 6 points from my top. I still scored plenty well, but it definitely felt more brutal than 7 & 8 (36 and 40 respectively for me vs. a 34 on 11). I agree that w/ the comments on BS. It was definitely brutally written. PS & VR seemed pretty typical to me, though, and it was really only two passages that felt especially difficult and VR-like to me -- #3 (Griscelli Syndrome) & 6 (Ebola).

 

[MDminded]

Hey guys,

I took aamc 11 today (taking the real deal next Thursday), and I also found it to be a bit brutal. Some of the question stems were so verbose (esp in bs) that I barely had time to finish the sections -- spent so much time re-reading them. I did alright but my score dropped by 1 point on each section.

Hearing everyone else's experiences with this test definitely has been comforting.
Going to go over my answers in detail tomorrow morning!

Best of luck everyone!

Not trying to scare you, but read over the 5/20/2011 thread. AAMC 11 is nothing compared to the real thing. Put your game face on, buddy.

 

[flodhi1]

Hey guys, I just took AAMC 11 and my score for the PS sectoin dropped by A LOT. I dont know what to do, my exam is in just a few days. Did anyone else think the PS for 11 was harder than the others and that it had a TON of calculations? My score dropped about 2-3 points from what i was getting before in that section. I have heard that 9,10,11 are teh closest things to the real MCAT but idk what to think b/c on 10 and 9 i did fine but on 11 I did a lot worse

hmm did you think the real deal was similar to 9, 10 and 11?

 

[blackandgold1]

I just took AAMC 11...........oh my god. The PS was soo much more different then the other AAMCs. And for some effing reason, my BS score went down ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[dsoz]

hmm did you think the real deal was similar to 9, 10 and 11?

I thought the real test was MUCH HARDER than AAMC8, 9, 10, and 11 put together. I was averaging ~35 on the practice and got a 31 on the real test in March.



dsoz

 

[flodhi1]

I thought the real test was MUCH HARDER than AAMC8, 9, 10, and 11 put together. I was averaging ~35 on the practice and got a 31 on the real test in March.



dsoz

That's how I felt when I took the real deal. I literally felt like I got chewed and spit out in the trash can. The whole time I was laughing at how big of a joke the AAMC practice exams were seriously.

 

[AZFutureDoc]

Just one point? Not bad!

My AAMC 11 dropped an entire 6 points from my top. I still scored plenty well, but it definitely felt more brutal than 7 & 8 (36 and 40 respectively for me vs. a 34 on 11). I agree that w/ the comments on BS. It was definitely brutally written. PS & VR seemed pretty typical to me, though, and it was really only two passages that felt especially difficult and VR-like to me -- #3 (Griscelli Syndrome) & 6 (Ebola).

The Ebola passage destroyed me. I missed all but one question on there. I've been looking at their explanations for like half an hour, and stuff still doesn't make sense.

1) What in the world is the relevance of the bacterial genes? I mean, I understand that they're not tested on in any way, but what was the point?

2) My biggest issue is a single bar in the graph. What is the significance of the CatL bar in the genotype that is CatL +/+? This threw me off so bad, and because of that, it cost me a lot of time and prevented me from understanding what was going on. Anyone understand what they mean there? Thanks a lot!

 

[EnergyDrink]

The Ebola passage destroyed me. I missed all but one question on there. I've been looking at their explanations for like half an hour, and stuff still doesn't make sense.

1) What in the world is the relevance of the bacterial genes? I mean, I understand that they're not tested on in any way, but what was the point?

2) My biggest issue is a single bar in the graph. What is the significance of the CatL bar in the genotype that is CatL +/+? This threw me off so bad, and because of that, it cost me a lot of time and prevented me from understanding what was going on. Anyone understand what they mean there? Thanks a lot!

:cry:
1) It's a vector control, its not the plasmid/the act of insertion that causes the trend.

2) It's another vector control. It's not the introduction of a random protease, specifically CatB.

 

[DrTroll]

calm down, AAMC 11 has the hardest PS. I scored 11 in its PS, but end up with a 14 on the real thing, so don't panic!

 

[premedk]

"calm down, AAMC 11 has the hardest PS. I scored 11 in its PS, but end up with a 14 on the real thing, so don't panic!"

"I thought the real test was MUCH HARDER than AAMC8, 9, 10, and 11 put together. I was averaging ~35 on the practice and got a 31 on the real test in March."



I hate the mcat.

 

[ATPase8]

physics was more calculation involved but everyone keeps saying thats the direction the MCATs taking, so at least you saw it now instead of the test

on another note, verbal whoah. I was looking up pics of a Pareiasaur, no way that thing was the ancestor of a turtle

 

[DrTroll]

"I thought the real test was MUCH HARDER than AAMC8, 9, 10, and 11 put together. I was averaging ~35 on the practice and got a 31 on the real test in March."



I hate the mcat.

sorry to hear that, man. It might be the questions in your real test didn't fit your style.

 

[raltima07]

calm down, AAMC 11 has the hardest PS. I scored 11 in its PS, but end up with a 14 on the real thing, so don't panic!

What a beast

 

[salim271]

This thread's summary: PS on AAMC is so hard! ...but don't worry, the real MCAT is even harder!

^You guys are scaring the crap out of me, PS is my weakest area...

 

[LLB2MD]

This thread's summary: PS on AAMC is so hard! ...but don't worry, the real MCAT is even harder!

^You guys are scaring the crap out of me, PS is my weakest area...

PS is my weakest area at the moment as well. As far as the current test being calculation-heavy, I think it really just depends on the PS sections/questions you get. A friend who did the MCAT in May said that the PS section was not particularly calculation heavy, but the main difference from most of the practice tests was the way they asked questions. He said that they mixed up topics a lot within a particular passage, but if you are prepared then it is manageable.

Also, from what I've seen on this board, every administration of the test seems to vary in terms of the "killer section". Thus you will see people crying over PS section in one, while in another the PS will be easier than expected, but BS was unbelievably hard. So hopefully we will both have one of those less than insane PS sections!

Bottom line: Be prepared. Do AAMC 11. Target weaknesses. Do not freak out.

 

[raltima07]

This thread's summary: PS on AAMC is so hard! ...but don't worry, the real MCAT is even harder!

^You guys are scaring the crap out of me, PS is my weakest area...

PS was my weakest as well....and the MCAT (5/26) had a killer PS. Sigh, just be ready!

 

[music2doc]

PS was my weakest as well....and the MCAT (5/26) had a killer PS. Sigh, just be ready!

5/26's PS was ridiculous. I never had anything less than a 13 on PS on my practice tests (minus a 12 on my diagnostic). I had a few 14s on the AAMC PSs.... I'd be happy with an 11, to be honest. I mean, a 13-14 would be GREAT but I sort of expect a 10-11. That PS was just plain ridiculous!

So be ready. The AAMC practice PSes are a joke. The Kaplan ones approach the difficulty of the intermediate stuff, but honestly, I always triage my sections on a scale of A-C (A=easy, B=moderate/manageable, C=umm... seriously WTF?!) and a typical AAMC or Kaplan practice test PS section has (in my opinion) 3-4 As, 2-3 Bs, and 0-1 C. The 5/26 MCAT was, for me, 1 C, 5 Bs, 1 A. For comparison, the BS was, IIRC, 4 As, 3 Bs.

The only ones that I found that really come close to the real thing were the TBR Physics/Chemistry material. There were several that were almost identical to TBR stuff on my exam. That said, our most difficult passage was unlike anything I've seen in the test prep materials. All I can say is... know your mechanics and know them well... in terms of physiology.

 

[tomba27]

I definitely thought the PS portion of 10 and 11 stepped it up a notch and my PS score suffered a tiny bit. However, I thought the Bio section was pretty similar, if not slightly easier, compared to the other exams.

One interesting thing to note. All of the aamc practice tests are graded using the same scale system, which is not the case for the real deal. Basically, the harder test are probably slightly underscored. At least that is my theory!

Oh and another note SG3. Even if the real thing is 10x harder than the practice test, we are all in the same boat and the scale will even her out.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

I also just took AAMC 11. MCAT is in 2 days, and I am now considering voiding and scrounging for a 7/6 test seat

Breakdown: 10/11/11

.......what to do?!

 

[music2doc]

I also just took AAMC 11. MCAT is in 2 days, and I am now considering voiding and scrounging for a 7/6 test seat

Breakdown: 10/11/11

.......what to do?!

You're probably fine as long as your other scores have generally been 30+. I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep truckin and good luck!

 

[epsilonprodigy]

Feeling a little better, I was TERRIFIED to take this test, as all I kept hearing was that it was awful and harder than many people's real MCATs. As a result, I made lots of silly mistakes. Just have to keep calm for Thursday.

 

[salim271]

So be ready. The AAMC practice PSes are a joke. The Kaplan ones approach the difficulty of the intermediate stuff, but honestly, I always triage my sections on a scale of A-C (A=easy, B=moderate/manageable, C=umm... seriously WTF?!) and a typical AAMC or Kaplan practice test PS section has (in my opinion) 3-4 As, 2-3 Bs, and 0-1 C. The 5/26 MCAT was, for me, 1 C, 5 Bs, 1 A. For comparison, the BS was, IIRC, 4 As, 3 Bs.

The only ones that I found that really come close to the real thing were the TBR Physics/Chemistry material. There were several that were almost identical to TBR stuff on my exam. That said, our most difficult passage was unlike anything I've seen in the test prep materials. All I can say is... know your mechanics and know them well... in terms of physiology.

When you say B and C.... do you mean like a high level of math questions and dense reading and thinking? And by TBR material, it was similar to the practice passages?

 

[music2doc]

When you say B and C.... do you mean like a high level of math questions and dense reading and thinking? And by TBR material, it was similar to the practice passages?

B and C meaning tougher passage topics, more dense, etc. Those were simply the annotations I made during the test. I always go through and rate each passage on an A-C scale. (I use A-C because I write 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 across my paper and adding a letter after each number keeps it easy to read quickly.)

Basically, an A would be something I am confident I know well and can do quickly/effortlessly -- e.g., anything conceptual, all of Physics I & Chem I, most of Chem II (minus things calc-heavy stuff like equilibrium), thermo, etc. B would be tougher stuff (e.g., the rest of Physics II and Chem II) incl. relatively calculation-heavy stuff and moderately unfamiliar topics (but based upon easier concepts). C passages are the crazy "WTF?!?" out of left field type passages that are completely new (i.e., totally unfamiliar) AND apply concepts from the toughest areas of science. I think the Ebola passage on AAMC 11 was the only "C" passage on BS for me, for instance, and looking back, it was probably more like a "B" (but I'd heard that it was a killer passage so I sorta psyched myself out on it until I actually started doing it, then I realized it really wasn't that tough, just wordy).

 

[salim271]

B and C meaning tougher passage topics, more dense, etc. Those were simply the annotations I made during the test. I always go through and rate each passage on an A-C scale. (I use A-C because I write 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 across my paper and adding a letter after each number keeps it easy to read quickly.)

Basically, an A would be something I am confident I know well and can do quickly/effortlessly -- e.g., anything conceptual, all of Physics I & Chem I, most of Chem II (minus things calc-heavy stuff like equilibrium), thermo, etc. B would be tougher stuff (e.g., the rest of Physics II and Chem II) incl. relatively calculation-heavy stuff and moderately unfamiliar topics (but based upon easier concepts). C passages are the crazy "WTF?!?" out of left field type passages that are completely new (i.e., totally unfamiliar) AND apply concepts from the toughest areas of science. I think the Ebola passage on AAMC 11 was the only "C" passage on BS for me, for instance, and looking back, it was probably more like a "B" (but I'd heard that it was a killer passage so I sorta psyched myself out on it until I actually started doing it, then I realized it really wasn't that tough, just wordy).

Ah okay so its more of a personal thing, but unfamiliarity of topics comes into play... thats kind of disturbing when you're using exam krackers :/ they decide you dont need to know a lot of stuff, and only introduce it briefly... sigh, if I had only gotten BR books two months ago I could have tried to stick out SN2ed's schedule, even though the practice passages are marked up from previous use damn secondhand books.

I have some old BR exams (2002) that are unmarked, and I have a lot of them, do you think its a good idea to try and speed up my time per passage and the whole test overall by giving myself harsher time limits? I've heard over and over that people on MCAT get screwed because of timing, even when they were well in the range of the practice times they're barely getting to the end when they take the actual test. I think it would help me think faster, so when I start doing AAMC exams about mid july all the way to my test day, I will be a speed demon.

 

[epsilonprodigy]

*sigh* I checked "made an easy question more difficult" an inordinate amount of times while reviewing that exam.

Strangely, I was more nervous about taking this one than I am the actual exam- the way people talk about AAMC 11, I expected to sit down to an exam that was composed of string theory details and the Riemann hypothesis... in Greek

It actually wasn't that bad- I talked myself out of some correct answers and just generally over-dramatized the whole thing. Would have gotten a 34 if it wasn't for such silly mistakes.

Edit: OK, now I know my eyes are tired... but I just looked at my score report again... apparently I got a 33? NOT complaining, but I SWEAR I had a 32 when I finished. WTF? LOL. Clearly the AAMC fears my wrath, and has corrected their ways.

 

[tman5890]

Yikes, gotta remember to do aamc 11 before 9 and 10 so I don't get psyched out.

 

[spikeinitup]

Soooo took the AAMC 11 as well and ended up with a really disproportioned score, unlike any of my other practise exams. 14BS 9PS and 7VR. I usually get around a 9 in verbal but this time I tried a different strategy outlined in the verbal reasoning sticky, of which I'm definitely NOT going to try again. What I don't understand is why my BS skyrocketed. I usually score around 11-12 on BS and 11 on PS. Anybody else get a disproportioned score such as mine???

 

[music2doc]

*sigh* I checked "made an easy question more difficult" an inordinate amount of times while reviewing that exam.

Strangely, I was more nervous about taking this one than I am the actual exam- the way people talk about AAMC 11, I expected to sit down to an exam that was composed of string theory details and the Riemann hypothesis... in Greek

It actually wasn't that bad- I talked myself out of some correct answers and just generally over-dramatized the whole thing. Would have gotten a 34 if it wasn't for such silly mistakes.

Edit: OK, now I know my eyes are tired... but I just looked at my score report again... apparently I got a 33? NOT complaining, but I SWEAR I had a 32 when I finished. WTF? LOL. Clearly the AAMC fears my wrath, and has corrected their ways.

It's possible you had a 32 but changed an answer or two while reviewing. I had scores go down b/c I did this and at first freaked out...then realized what was happening. The AAMC exams let you change your answers after finishing each test and will then recalculate your score using the new answers.

 

[raltima07]

One interesting thing to note. All of the aamc practice tests are graded using the same scale system, which is not the case for the real deal. Basically, the harder test are probably slightly underscored. At least that is my theory!

All of the aamc practice are NOT graded using the same scale system. If you go check, each has a different scale. Maybe check your facts next time.