***Official AAMC Practice Exams Discussion Thread***

[Fp02c]

I took the free practice test and I had a few questions. How does it compare to the other tests available? I didnt think it was too bad particularly with verbal and p.s. I ended up with a 10 on verbal and 11 on p.s. Most of my verbal mistakes were downright stupid and I took the p.s without any studying really just to get a feel for it. Somebody told me though that this was the easiest test and I should have gotten at the very least above a 12 on both of those sections to even consider getting above a 10 on the real thing. I am taking the actual mcat may 27th. I changed it from mid april so that I can study more. My biggest strength is P.S. I just finished engineering so im very confortable with those types of questions. My biggest weakness is the biological sciences. I have only taken biology 1 and 2 and by the time the mcat rolls around I would have finished o chem 1 and barely started o chem 2. My strategy for the biology is mainly to use EK with some other sources on any subjects that give me a harder time. Is this a wise idea? I took the biology courses AGES ago and to be honest I dont remember any of the stuff with respect to physiology and body parts. What do you guys recommend with respect to how I should approach studying for this test.

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[bozz]

3 the hardest? I take the 7 yesterday and the PS section was very easy, but the BS was hard.

"
yeah.. I definitely think so ... 3 didn't depend so much on "knowledge" .. it made me feel very uneasy

That being said I got a 15 PS on #7 and a 9 PS on #3.... even though I took 3 earlier, it still makes me uneasy

 

[Vihsadas]

"
yeah.. I definitely think so ... 3 didn't depend so much on "knowledge" .. it made me feel very uneasy

That being said I got a 15 PS on #7 and a 9 PS on #3.... even though I took 3 earlier, it still makes me uneasy

It shouldn't! For what its worth you beat my score on PS on 7

 

[DrJD]

It shouldn't! For what its worth you beat my score on PS on 7

Vihsadas, I noticed on a different thread that you took the AAMC's in order of 10, 7, 8, 9... Just curious, why that order?

Why not do 10 last?

 

[bozz]

lol I'm doing that too

9 is a confidence booster... while 10 isn't

 

[BloodySurgeon]

but aamc 3,4,5 are not great tests. They are shorter and a lot different imo. Why not take the more accurate test last?

 

[dm359002]

I had a question--what is the difference between two mcat tests like 6r and 6 or 3r and 3. What does that "r" mean?

 

[physics junkie]

3 - 33
4 - 35
5 - 34

Haven't finished 6.

 

[mikeyworm]

Does emcat suck for everyone else. Mine seems to freeze everytime I go to a new passage and it messes up my timing real bad. What can I do to fix this?

 

[mterp45]

I just thought I would post this to see if anyone else agrees. well I took Kaplan's Full lentgh number 2 yesterday, and I must say that usually their physical science is harder than the AAMC but the physical science in two was very much like an AAMC. The physical science passages in full length 2 were not as complicated as they usually are, and the question were more contingent upon knowledge than the passage. I felt quite at ease with that PS section as was illustrated by my score of 13. On another note, I think the verbal section had the toughest series of passages that I have ever encountered on any of the practice test I have taken. There was not one easy passage and it was very philosophy heavy. It killed my score. I ended up with a 9 on that verbal section. As for the BIO, I thought it was standard in terms of difficulty level for Kaplan--11 BS--my only complaint is that the BS had very little physiology or orgo which are my strongest subjects in the bio section. But anyways did you guys feel the same way about that test or not?

 

[streetlight]

I just thought I would post this to see if anyone else agrees, well I took Kaplan's FL number 2 yesterday and I must say that usually their physical science is harder than the AAMC but the physical science in two was very much like an AAMC the physical science passages were not as complicated as they usually are, and the question were more contingent upon knowledge than the passage. I felt quite at ease with that one as was illustrated by my score of 13 on that PS with around 81% correct. but on another note, I think the verbal section had the toughest series of passages that I have ever encountered on any of the practice test I have taken, there was not one easy passage and it was very philosophy heavy, and it killed my score since I ended up with a 9 on that verbal section, as for the BIO, it tought it was standard in terms of difficulty level for Kaplan 11 BS m only complaint is that the BS had very little physiology or orgo which are my strongest subjects in the bio scetion. But did you guys feel the same way about that test or not?

wow that was a long sentence. i definitely didn't understand most of it but here's my experience with kaplan vs. AAMC

PS: the PS is way harder for kaplan with really long passages and are not as knowledge based as they are integrative (passage + a little bit of knowledge). but then again the curve is a lot more generous for kaplan's tests. for example, i received a 13 on an AAMC and a 13 on a kaplan test for the PS section. on the AAMC one, I finished on time and found it pretty easy - got 3 questions wrong (mostly from careless mistakes). on the kaplan one, I struggled for time with the long passages - got 12 questions wrong (mostly from being pressed for time and not thinking too long about things). so the curves definitely compensate

VR: i find the difficulty to be about the same, except, once again, the kaplan curve to be more forgiving. 4 wrong on AAMC landed me with a 12. 8 wrong on kaplan gave me a 14.

BS: I find the difficulty to be nearly the same, with kaplan having a little less orgo emphasis. the passages for kaplan were pretty long too. the kaplan curve is WAY more generous for BS - i got nearly 16 questions wrong on a test and they still curved it to a 12!!!

overall kaplan is a bit harder and the passages are longer, but the curve may overcompensate

 

[mterp45]

wow that was a long sentence. i definitely didn't understand most of it but here's my experience with kaplan vs. AAMC

PS: the PS is way harder for kaplan with really long passages and are not as knowledge based as they are integrative (passage + a little bit of knowledge). but then again the curve is a lot more generous for kaplan's tests. for example, i received a 13 on an AAMC and a 13 on a kaplan test for the PS section. on the AAMC one, I finished on time and found it pretty easy - got 3 questions wrong (mostly from careless mistakes). on the kaplan one, I struggled for time with the long passages - got 12 questions wrong (mostly from being pressed for time and not thinking too long about things). so the curves definitely compensate

VR: i find the difficulty to be about the same, except, once again, the kaplan curve to be more forgiving. 4 wrong on AAMC landed me with a 12. 8 wrong on kaplan gave me a 14.

BS: I find the difficulty to be nearly the same, with kaplan having a little less orgo emphasis. the passages for kaplan were pretty long too. the kaplan curve is WAY more generous for BS - i got nearly 16 questions wrong on a test and they still curved it to a 12!!!

overall kaplan is a bit harder and the passages are longer, but the curve may overcompensate

I edited my post as to make it more comprehendable. I don't think you understood it since your reply was out of scope, but maybe you can try again?

 

[mikeyworm]

I edited my post as to make it more comprehendable. I don't think you understood it since your reply was out of scope, but maybe you can try again?

the fact that you used out of scope in your response made me chuckle in my kaplan induced delirium. then again that may just be faulty use of detail or some distortion

 

[Goguryo]

so i was taking aamc's free practice online and was going through the tutorial and noticed that the features of highlight and note taking were kind of a pain to use. does anyone have any hints about using these features, because i know that on a written test, i love to underline and take notes, so i'm sure it would help to learn how to on the cbt better.

thanks!

 

[bodonid]

Those features were utterly useless for me. I ended up just writing on scratch paper.
Does anyone actually use the underline/strikeout/highlight/whatever features?

 

[olemissbabydoc]

didn't make much use of the features. I didn't want to rely on them in case something wasn't the same on my real test. I think I highlighted a bit in the verbal, but otherwise - scratch paper is a safe alternative

 

[Goguryo]

thanks sounds great

 

[Cp22kjer]

I am just amazed that some of you thought 3 was a breeze on the CBT. BS, PS seemed fair but the VR just rocked me. I had 4 minutes left and 2 passages to go..... I agree with the above poster claiming that #3 was more spatial thinking as it seemed little knowledge could be applied to the questions and it was more about deducing the correct answer from the given info.

This was my 2nd test taken with about 1 week of prep but I feel so overwhelmed at this point. I cannot decide whether to put more time into understanding the mechanics to answer these random - use-what-you-have questions or to continue focus on building my knowledge base.

 

[DrJD]

I thought AAMC 8 was really, really hard...

Anyone else feel that way?

 

[ngstratton]

It would be interesting to compare where people are in their studies to their scores on the specific practice exams. I think that most people take the earlier exams i.e. 3, 4, 5 before they have finished going over all of the material covered on the mcat.

I personally scored 31 and 32s on the earlier exams but recently scored 34s on 8, 9, and 10. I still think that the lower numbered exams are easier, I just hadn't studied all of the material

 

[bozz]

I thought AAMC 8 was really, really hard...

Anyone else feel that way?

same here.. i thought it was the hardest aamc I've taken... bs was insane

 

[ckdancer98]

I agree, I just took AAMC 8 and I got PS 10 VR 11 and BS 9 when normally BS is my strongest. Should I be worried about my progress? This is the order of my tests.

AAMC 7 PS10 VR10 BS10 = 30
AAMC 9 PS11 VR11 BS12 = 34
AAMC 8 PS10 VR11 BS9 = 30

My Kaplan Full Length Tests (1-4) have been in the 32-33 range with 11-12s on Science Sections.so I was really disappointed with AAMC 8 just now. Which other tests are better indicators of what I should expect to get on Saturday's MCAT?

 

[ngstratton]

I want to take one more AAMC practice exam tomorrow. I've already taken 3, 6, 7, 8, 9. Should I take 4, 5, or 10 for a confidence boost? I've heard that 4 and 10 are similar in their difficulty.

 

[nycfella]

I want to take one more AAMC practice exam tomorrow. I've already taken 3, 6, 7, 8, 9. Should I take 4, 5, or 10 for a confidence boost? I've heard that 4 and 10 are similar in their difficulty.

Take 4.

 

[njinga413]

hey guys!, so i m going to take one last test today..before the real one...any suggestions which one i shud? aamc 8, 9 or 10?

 

[xiaoyi666]

why take one? take 2. 9 and 10, the "latest" ones.

 

[darkguy2k]

Are they free? If so, whats the link? Thanks.

 

[unsung]

Anyone with experience with the more recent MCATs have an opinion? I have all of the AAMC tests available, but want to start practicing on the least realistic/representative ones, and save the best ones for further along

 

[DiverDoc]

AAMC 7-10. Also the PS section of AAMC 4 seemed a lot like my real mcat, lots of stoic.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

Definitely 7-10.

 

[ahmedqman]

7-10, especially verbal as those verbal sections tend to stress you out a lot more .

It's not that bad, if I report under a 30 it's not because it was difficult, it was because I underperformed.

 

[Penguick]

I was wondering whether the practice tests provided on the AAMC website, the ones that are now computerized, are these the same tests that have been on there before the MCATs were computer-based? For example...is test four that is CB actually the paper 4r and so forth? Thanks.

 

[RoadRunner17]

Yes. They are the same ones but 1/3 of the original exams have essentially been removed to make it meet the CBT guidelines.

 

[biocmp]

Wow, you guys have some amazing scores. It's been nearly 4 years since I had gen chem and physics 1, so I did completely terrible on the PS. I took the AAMC #3 test today to get a feel for where I am at, because I am just beginning my studying.

I scored PS-7, VR-10, BS-9

What is the average increase in score for those who diligently stuck to the examkrackers plan? I'm worried, because I really want to break the 30. In my defense, i am currently taking physics 2 ( 4 years after physics 1) and we haven't touched lenses yet. And i recall next to nothing about general chemistry.

Anyway, I hope that someone can at least give encouraging words.

 

[jones2109]

well i just took a little of the PS section yesterday of aamc 3R..i dont understand why I am doing so horrible..i am on week 8 of EK home study and its like I read the passages and I cant identify what concept they are speaking of..im getting like 2-3/6 questions correct on each passage...

does everyone just primarily use process of elimination or do they flat out get the right answer each time?

really confused here

 

[Cp22kjer]

Wow, you guys have some amazing scores. It's been nearly 4 years since I had gen chem and physics 1, so I did completely terrible on the PS. I took the AAMC #3 test today to get a feel for where I am at, because I am just beginning my studying.

I scored PS-7, VR-10, BS-9

What is the average increase in score for those who diligently stuck to the examkrackers plan? I'm worried, because I really want to break the 30. In my defense, i am currently taking physics 2 ( 4 years after physics 1) and we haven't touched lenses yet. And i recall next to nothing about general chemistry.

Anyway, I hope that someone can at least give encouraging words.

If you're just starting to study, and really have no knowledge base of Gen C hem and still can get a 7 then you'll be fine. As far as I'm concerned PS appears to be the section drawing most from knowledge. Which can be improved with time. A starting score of a 26 is stellar if you ask me, it will only go up...good luck!

I think a very important part is knowing HOW to take the test. From my first 3 practice tests it appears that many questions can be answered by "reading through the lines" of passages and though knowledge base helps it is definitely not as important as I first thought. Being able to deduce specific information will be essential.........something I apparently am not good at.

I hope that once I can adjust to the underlying mechanics; that the test will be more approachable and thus easier to score higher on.

 

[biocmp]

thanks cp, I appreciate that response. I am going to keep this thread updated with how I score on the rest of the AAMC exams. Good luck studying.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

I took AAMC8 today and got a 9/13/10. the thirteen was a shock but great surprise, and I know my sciences are a bit lacking but after reading other reports on this test it looks like everyone found it quite challenging. here's hoping things only go up!

 

[AbujaMan]

I was just wondering if there is a way to see the curve for the aamc practice tests. im taking the test through kaplan and at the score report it just gives the percent correct, percentile and scaled score out of 15. is there any way to see the spread (ie how many right for a 10, 11, 12 and so on?) so i can have an idea of how the curve went? thanks

 

[metalgearHMN]

Hey, I was thinking of buying AAMC Practice MCAT crap this year, just to take it and mess around with. Will the tests I buy next year be different? I don't want to buy them this year if they're the same, I'd rather just wait until I really should be taking them.

 

[fireflygirl]

Hey, I was thinking of buying AAMC Practice MCAT crap this year, just to take it and mess around with. Will the tests I buy next year be different? I don't want to buy them this year if they're the same, I'd rather just wait until I really should be taking them.

They release a new test every year to add to their collection but the tests before that don't change. So I would wait until you are ready to study for the MCAT and then buy them all together. I would also suggest not buying any of the really early tests. When I took it a year ago, they started at Test #3 and then went up to Test #9. I think Test #3-5 are really not valid since they are so old. I think the last few tests are more indicative of what the real test is like and even then, I am not sure all of them are as hard as the real exam. However, you might just want practice in taking a computerized exam so then perhaps the earlier tests might be good physical practice rather than test practice.

 

[Phoenix.]

Moving to the MCAT Discussion Forum.

 

[holycow]

hi, i was just wondering how everyone scored on aamc 3. I heard it was the easiest test, and i got a 23. I am not sure what to think of it.

 

[MossPoh]

hi, i was just wondering how everyone scored on aamc 3. I heard it was the easiest test, and i got a 23. I am not sure what to think of it.

I got a 27, which I was a little disappointed with but I was in a loud cafe, so I let it slide. Keep in mind that "easy" is subjective. Any test that is heavy on organic tends to screw me. Stuff that is heavier on physiology is more my bag. Verbal is about the only section I score consistently on. I've been casually studying (not serious) since october and my science scores really haven't changed much. Maybe a point or 2.

 

[Jorje286]

Hi everyone,

Did anyone do practise exam #8 on the AAMC website? I did the verbal and the PS section and I found them much more easier than I expected. I just want to know if this is the level I should expect or maybe it happened that this one was easier than the usual ones.

 

[Ebete]

I got the same ...24 here! Maybe the rest will be better, I got so discouraged I started crazy studying since last month!

 

[LittleRocker]

I've taken all the sections individually at various times. I got 11 on verbal, 11 PS, and 10 BS (with no organic at all). I retook the verbal a good 6 months later and got a 12. I also retook BS after having half a semester of organic 1 and got 11. I guess my score ranges from 32-34 depending how you look at it.

 

[holycow]

little rocker, that's great! a 32 is a great score..so is a 27. Ebete, i am sure your scores will get higher especially since you have been studying. When are you planning on taking your next test?I haven't started studying yet (well, since my last mcat that is), so i am hoping it will increase significantly.

 

[xrevision]

I don't know about #3 being the easiest. I think on either test 7 or 8 I scored 39, which was my highest test score.

 

[olemissbabydoc]

Hi everyone,

Did anyone do practise exam #8 on the AAMC website? I did the verbal and the PS section and I found them much more easier than I expected. I just want to know if this is the level I should expect or maybe it happened that this one was easier than the usual ones.

8 is a pretty good indicator. However, it seems as though the AAMC practice tests always seem a bit easier than the real thing (probably due to test day jitters). Your score should be fairly accurate, if you keep working hard! Good luck!

 

[armymt]

what is the difference between the AAMC MCAT Practice test 3R and test 3?