AAMC 3 performance vs your actual MCAT...

[DrJD]

Pretty sure that almost everyone who takes the MCAT at least takes the AAMC 3 practice test since it is free! So I am curious how all of you did on that test and how that score compared to your actual score!!

If you want to be more in depth it would be helpful to know: when in your studying you took AAMC 3, and how much studying you did between AAMC 3 and the actual test so that we have something to base the score difference on.

Thanks for the posts!

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[dd128]

That test was pretty on par, score wise, with what I got on the real one. I would be careful though, as the material was extremely different.

 

[Vihsadas]

AAMC 3 and 4 are quite a bit easier than the real exam. I don't think they are a good correlate. I did much worse on 3 and 4 than my actual MCAT, but that's because I was still learning to take the exam.

The later tests are generally a better indicator of real MCAT diificulty:
7,8,9,10.

Be warned though...some of real MCATs being administered have verbal sections MUCH harder than any of the official practice exams; both harder and longer

 

[immunoglobulins]

the practice tests were muuuch easier than the real one for me...

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Took it before pretty mcuh all my studying, scored a 29, 10, 9, 10

Studied for about two months, hardly any on verbal. 11Vr 10Ps 10BS-31

 

[Jonari]

Do you guys taking #3 at the very end or what? The PS portion had a lot of wavelength, frequency, amplitude based questions. I guess that is something that I will have to look over again.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I think most ppl take it at the very beginning because it is least like the real MCAT, and plus its free, so you can use it as a sort of Diagnostic tool. You are definitely gonna have some questions on Waves on the real MCAT, so definitely learn that.

 

[Team Zissou]

diagnostic:22
aamc 3: 30
real thing (which i thought was much harder): 32

 

[Vihsadas]

definitely take 3 at the beginning.

take 7,8,9,10 at the end (In whatever order)

 

[bigserve99]

definitely take 3 at the beginning.

take 7,8,9,10 at the end (In whatever order)

Vihsadas,

Is 7 indicative of how the MCAT's are these days? I just ask because it seemed pretty detail oriented, and yet all I've been hearing is about how the MCAT is all about concepts these days.

The Kaplan ones seem more concept oriented than 7 did. Of course, I haven't taken 8,9,or 10 yet.

 

[littlealex]

It is pretty predictive as my scores came out very similar to it. However, it felt completely different from the real test. The material covered, the types of questions, etc.

 

[Begaster]

I did a bit worse on the VR in the real test than on #3, but the other two sections were dead on.

#3 --> 13/14/11 (Phys/VR/Bio)

Real test --> 13/12/11 (Phys/VR/Bio)

That being said, the real test was leagues more difficult. They must have given a generous curve or removed a section, because I was not prepared for what I got on the day of the test. Felt like a kick in the gut after doing the generally simple practices.

 

[nVictus]

i think i got a 27 on aamc 3.... a 31 on aamc4. 30 on the real thing. the real thing was on par with the practice test now that i think about it. after i took it, though, i thought it was way harder than anything ive taken up until that point.

the fact that it's the most important test of your undergrad career.... tends to warp perceptions

 

[RapplixGmed]

I haven't taken my mcats yet but I've been taking all the practice tests I could get my hands on. Here are my results:

Date Test PS VR BS
5/27/2007 AAMC Practice 3R 13 11 13 37
5/30/2007 Barron's Model Exam A 13 10 13 36
6/17/2007 Barron's Model Exam B 13 10 9 32
7/1/2007 Barron's Model Exam C 11 11 11 33
7/8/2007 Barron's Model Exam D 13 11 9 33
7/9/2007 AAMC Practice 3CBT 13 12 12 37
7/22/2007 Kaplan New Mcat T1 14 13 12 39
8/12/2007 Princeton Practice T1 11 11 10 32
8/27/2007 Princeton Practice T2 13 11 13 37
9/2/2007 Kaplan New Mcat T2 15 11 14 40
9/9/2007 Kaplan Online T1 14 12 11 37
9/17/2007 Kaplan Online T2 15 12 14 41
9/23/2007 Kaplan Online T3 14 13 15 42
10/7/2007 Kaplan Online T4 15 12 15 42
10/14/2007 Kaplan Online T5 14 13 15 42
11/14/2007 AAMC Practice 4CBT 14 13 14 41
11/23/2007 Kaplan Online T6 14 13 15 42

I'm also wondering why AAMC tests are scaled much more sharply than the Kaplan versions. The Barron tests were crap but I took them anyways. The PR tests were HARD and the AAMC and Kaplans are jokes in comparison. My VR from Exam Crackers 101 is always 2-3 points lower than the scores I get in Kaplan or AAMC. From my experience, even though difficulty is different, the Kaplan and AAMC tests give pretty much the same score. Whether this score is representative of the real deal... I'll have to wait a few months to find out.

 

[Decicco]

AAMC 3 - 34
real thing - 26

AAMC 3 is too easy

 

[ChubbyChaser]

I haven't taken my mcats yet but I've been taking all the practice tests I could get my hands on. Here are my results:

Date Test PS VR BS
5/27/2007 AAMC Practice 3R 13 11 13 37
5/30/2007 Barron's Model Exam A 13 10 13 36
6/17/2007 Barron's Model Exam B 13 10 9 32
7/1/2007 Barron's Model Exam C 11 11 11 33
7/8/2007 Barron's Model Exam D 13 11 9 33
7/9/2007 AAMC Practice 3CBT 13 12 12 37
7/22/2007 Kaplan New Mcat T1 14 13 12 39
8/12/2007 Princeton Practice T1 11 11 10 32
8/27/2007 Princeton Practice T2 13 11 13 37
9/2/2007 Kaplan New Mcat T2 15 11 14 40
9/9/2007 Kaplan Online T1 14 12 11 37
9/17/2007 Kaplan Online T2 15 12 14 41
9/23/2007 Kaplan Online T3 14 13 15 42
10/7/2007 Kaplan Online T4 15 12 15 42
10/14/2007 Kaplan Online T5 14 13 15 42
11/14/2007 AAMC Practice 4CBT 14 13 14 41
11/23/2007 Kaplan Online T6 14 13 15 42

I'm also wondering why AAMC tests are scaled much more sharply than the Kaplan versions. The Barron tests were crap but I took them anyways. The PR tests were HARD and the AAMC and Kaplans are jokes in comparison. My VR from Exam Crackers 101 is always 2-3 points lower than the scores I get in Kaplan or AAMC. From my experience, even though difficulty is different, the Kaplan and AAMC tests give pretty much the same score. Whether this score is representative of the real deal... I'll have to wait a few months to find out.

Because the questions were much harder!! They adjust the curves accordingly, thats why you seem to be fairly consistent from Kaplan to AAMC

 

[Vihsadas]

Vihsadas,

Is 7 indicative of how the MCAT's are these days? I just ask because it seemed pretty detail oriented, and yet all I've been hearing is about how the MCAT is all about concepts these days.

The Kaplan ones seem more concept oriented than 7 did. Of course, I haven't taken 8,9,or 10 yet.

You know, I wish I could answer that for you. The MCAT I took was just weird. It was more different than the practice tests than I thought it would be. That being said, it was similar enough where the practice that I did definitely helped me. There were most definitely a few questions that I would not have expected...a few that required knowledge from my upper level bio courses that was not covered on the MCAT prep. I dunno. I guess you could say my MCAT was 'concept oriented'. But let me say this, even if the exam is 'concept' oriented, if you don't know the details you're not going to do well. It was a pretty integrative exam...

 

[bigserve99]

You know, I wish I could answer that for you. The MCAT I took was just weird. It was more different than the practice tests than I thought it would be. That being said, it was similar enough where the practice that I did definitely helped me. There were most definitely a few questions that I would not have expected...a few that required knowledge from my upper level bio courses that was not covered on the MCAT prep. I dunno. I guess you could say my MCAT was 'concept oriented'. But let me say this, even if the exam is 'concept' oriented, if you don't know the details you're not going to do well. It was a pretty integrative exam...

The part about the details just scared me straight.......I'll be memorizing hardcore from now on. So I'm guessing these are major curve breakers huh? I'm starting to wish the test was still 77 questions/section or whatever......it gives a much more comprehensive pool of questions to do well in I would think.

Thanks.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

The part about the details just scared me straight.......I'll be memorizing hardcore from now on. So I'm guessing these are major curve breakers huh? I'm starting to wish the test was still 77 questions/section or whatever......it gives a much more comprehensive pool of questions to do well in I would think.

Thanks.

Yeah I wish it was too, less fluctuation I think

 

[Vihsadas]

The part about the details just scared me straight.......I'll be memorizing hardcore from now on. So I'm guessing these are major curve breakers huh? I'm starting to wish the test was still 77 questions/section or whatever......it gives a much more comprehensive pool of questions to do well in I would think.

Thanks.

Well that's the thing. It's a comprehensive exam. You'll need to know the details, but you'll also need to know how the concept relate to the details.

 

[littlealex]

AAMC3 - 34
CBT in May - 36