Comparison between AAMC and Other Full Length Exams

[ericd8]

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[smr]

So I took the AAMC Scored and earned 520/130/131/131/128, then took TPR FL #1 and scored 511/128/126/129/128. Based on the score compilation spreadsheet, this score difference seems pretty typical of the exam. It also seems to indicate that TPR FL's (especially in terms of CARS) are not representative of the AAMC exams. Based on my experience with these two exams, I'm motivated to try FL exams from other companies, especially EK and NS, and provide feedback on each.

With this in mind, I was hoping to have a discussion regarding FL exams from the various companies, focusing on highlighting the strengths/weaknesses of each and to a lesser extent relative difficulty and score comparisons. Currently, comparisons between the exams are scattered throughout the forum, and comparisons between the exams are usually inadequate to draw conclusions (I counted 6 threads on the first page alone looking for advice on purchasing FL exams). This thread will ideally become a reference to guide students as they choose what products to buy, at least until AAMC releases more exams!

I'll begin with my impressions of the TPR exam I just finished. TPR seemed to focus more on recollection of discreet facts, even within passage based questions, across all sections. The TPR psychology passages seemed to be less experimental than those on the AAMC FL, and instead used the passages to describe patient cases. The following questions would then test understanding of psychology concepts as they related to the cases, usually requiring recall of definitions rather than analysis of experimental results. Because of this, I finished the section with plenty of time to spare, something that didn't happen on the AAMC exam.. CARS was strange, a couple of the passages were harder to comprehend than anything I saw on the AAMC scored, while others were far more straightforward. The physical sciences portion of the AAMC exam tested physical sciences in a biological context to a greater extent than the TPR exam. Overall the exam seemed harder, but not to a large extent; however, the scores seem to indicate otherwise.

Links to other threads:
Compilation of 2015 MCAT Preliminary Percentiles and Practice Exam Scores
EK, NS, TPR vs AAMC CARS
Thoughts on TPR demo FL
Altius tests

Please contribute your thoughts on these exams and links to other threads addressing this topic. I'll edit those links into this thread.

Hey, yea I think this is a good idea. The spreadsheet provides a lot of information, but I know some of the companies changed their scoring system, so I am not sure if that data is still accurate. Based on what I have seen on the spread sheet, most people score 10+ points higher on the real thing than their Kaplan/TPR exams and 5+ points higher than their NS scores. I think EK exams fall somewhere in the middle. But if you take some of the other company tests, please post your scores. I would personally be interested in knowing how NS and EK exams compare to the official AAMC exams. I know many people seem to make near identical scores on their AAMC Scored and actual MCAT.

 

[Panteleimon]

Haven't taken the real MCAT yet, nor any of the AAMC practice tests. Kaplan tests a lot of memorization/conceptual understanding. These two are different, yet similar. They are both similar in that they are "discreet". They are similar since the concepts link the facts together and are taught before the exam. There is critical thinking in the exam, thinking that is like the conceptual level thinking, but it is novel and occurs at different levels of application. The bulk though is the discreet facts/concepts though. I've taken some of the AAMCs practice problems, and am probably going to shift to that within 2-3 weeks before test day. They seem a lot lighter than the Kaplan questions. We'll see though...