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Chances for Australian Medical Schools?
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youll be fine for both schools. id still apply stateside
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I'm applying to sydney for their second round. It said that the second cohort isn't at any disadvantage. I really hope so.
Also, what did you mean by state side? I'm not a US citizen so I won't be applying to Queensland-Ochsner by the way.
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He probably meant U.S. when he said stateside because your stats are good.
I noticed you took the new MCAT. Did you take a prep class for it? I took TPR and have done some of their practice tests. Last one scored 503. Do you think the actual test is comparable to the ones that are out there for practice/score wise.
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If you got a 503 on a practice test, you should likely be fine. All the prep companies pretty much failed to replicate what the new test looks like so take those practice exams just for building endurance...
The AAMC practice test is the most representative but the lack of prep materials that resembles the new format is frustrating. As much as medical schools want to think that the new tests are similar to the previous one and thus, comparing percentiles should be the way to go---I have to strongly disagree. The new test is especially tricky for those who NEED more AAMC practice exams to practice their timing with questions that resemble the real test. I think that was my major issue. If there were 3 more practice exams released from the AAMC, I would've owned it because my main issue was problem with the timing. Even if I wanted to practice my timing, we didn't have the appropriate resources to do so.
Also, don't think you're in good shape if you score like a an 81% on the sample AAMC verbal. That was my score on the verbal section of the sample AAMC, but apparently I bombed the real verbal, twice. First time I got a 125, this time I'll get a 124.
Currently, with only one sample test telling you nothing about where you lie in terms of your percentile, I think it's very unfair for people like me. This round is going to be purely based on people who are naturally good at taking tests, not for those who are capable of practicing and doing equally well.
And if someone is reading this and going, "well, you could've taken the previous test". Um, by the time I took all my premed courses (end of last school year) and wanted to sign up for the old MCAT, all the seats were filled. Yep.
Sorry just had let it out. Also, I would be super grateful if any adcom in the US ends up reading this and takes this into account. We all have different weaknesses as test-takers---for certain types of test takers, the lack of resources/AAMC practice exams was a real problem, and I hope they take this into account this cycle when evaluating applicants.
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Also, to answer your question about prep courses. Don't bother taking prep courses. If you end up taking prep courses 99% of the PRODUCTIVE studying you'll end up doing will be from you studying by yourself. Buy a set of prep books, read them with a grain of salt, go over Khan, do the question packets, and take the sample test.
The question packets are pretty much not like the new test (hah), but will help you more than doing questions for prep companies. I just wished an adcom prepped using the current prep materials and took the new test to actually see how we felt lol.
The question packets are pretty much not like the new test (hah), but will help you more than doing questions for prep companies. I just wished an adcom prepped using the current prep materials and took the new test to actually see how we felt lol.
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Thanks for the info. So your saying the prep company's practice tests are nothing like the real thing? They know the topics to test and have the same number of questions and time for each one though...
I will do the AAMC practice test. Do you recommend the practice question packet as well though? I've mostly been doing TPR questions and tests. And yes your right that there isn't much "official" prep material out there. But i took all the AAMC practice tests for the old MCAT and did much worse on the real thing (thought the official practice ones were easier).
At least everyone is in the same boat right now. So therefore wouldn't percentiles be important because it shows how you compare to everyone else taking the new test?
What other materials did you use then?
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I meant to say that for different types of test takers, the lack of available of resources would affect their test performance differently. For those who were naturally good at timing before they had to prep for the MCAT are at an advantage whereas other people like me who needed to build endurance to get a good sense for the timing during the test is at a disadvantage because of the lack of official exams. Essentially, I'm saying there's a third variable (confounding factor) involved based on what kind of test taker you are, which is the absence of enough official practice tests, in creating those percentiles.
To give you an example, think about how there are liberal arts colleges and larger universities in the United States. Larger universities often use multiple choice exams to assess their students, whereas liberal arts colleges mainly employ free-response answers. Who has more training in doing multiple choice questions at the college level and in turn, better sense of timing when taking those exams? That's just one example of how a student's test taking abilities would vary, in addition to other test-taking abilities that they naturally were born with. Essentially, this new exam isn't good for those who can work towards building endurance and do just as well as those individuals who were already good at timing.
The material they outline in the AAMC is covered for all the test prep companies. However, the style of questions AND the types of passages you will see on the real exam is completely different, even the official question packets don't compensate. I suggest that you go ahead and do the sample test and you'll see what I'm talking about in terms of the style of questions. The new exam is VERY different from the previous one.
The best material you can use out there is Khan and couple that with Kaplan books (but hold those books very loosely).