***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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[kronickm]

Just took AAMC 5R (just PS and BS) and did great 13, 13. It was reassuring because a few of the PS passages are on topics I have not even reviewed yet. It is very frustrating though. I score excellent on the AAMC exams, even being able to accurately answer questions on material I haven't reviewed yet, then I take a Berkley or Kaplan exam and do far worse on my raw scores, struggling with material I know well. I really think that many of the Berk and/or Kaplan questions are not representative of actual MCAT stuff. The questions seem to be asking different types of stuff (not different material but different, more difficult, questions regarding the understanding of said material. Anyone else find this?

 

[iA-MD2013]

Just took AAMC 5R (just PS and BS) and did great 13, 13. It was reassuring because a few of the PS passages are on topics I have not even reviewed yet. It is very frustrating though. I score excellent on the AAMC exams, even being able to accurately answer questions on material I haven't reviewed yet, then I take a Berkley or Kaplan exam and do far worse on my raw scores, struggling with material I know well. I really think that many of the Berk and/or Kaplan questions are not representative of actual MCAT stuff. The questions seem to be asking different types of stuff (not different material but different, more difficult, questions regarding the understanding of said material. Anyone else find this?

Yeah, it seems like this is the case. Don't worry too much about your score on kaplan/tpr/tbr tests because they don't seem to be representative. But either way, its great practice.

 

[mterp45]

HOLLLLYYYYY MOOOOLLLYYY ALALALALALAL LA KAKAKAK ZOZOZZO KABAM I just took AAMC 4 and I couldn't believe my eyes I just couldn't.

AAMC 4 PS: 14, V: 13 BS: 14 a mother freaking 41 what?

finally, six months and 26 practice test later ahahahahahahahah. who's next? who next? bring it on baby whoooooo

 

[mterp45]

HOLLLLYYYYY MOOOOLLLYYY ALALALALALAL LA KAKAKAK ZOZOZZO KABAM I just took AAMC 4 and I couldn't believe my eyes I just couldn't.

AAMC 4 PS: 14, V: 13 BS: 14 a mother freaking 41 what?

finally, six months and 26 practice test later ahahahahahahahah. who's next? who next? bring it on baby whoooooo

COMMENTS:

I have never scored so high so I am going to take the liberty to comment on the test.

well, I can't say that it is was the thoughest AAMC practice test I have taken, and especially in comparison to AAMC 8 and AAMC 7 (due to the verbal section) but I am nevertheless, absolutely ecstatic.

PS-- I came so close to getting a 15 but ironically enough for someone with a solid physics background, the only questions I got wrong on the PS were on physics topics.

VR- The verbal in this test wasn't bad, this is the highest I have ever scored on a verbal section. I have been battling with this section for who knows how long. You name a verbal test, and I guarrantee you I have done it whether it's EK, KAPLAN, TPR, GS, or ARCO (some old book I bought off Amazon). I truly believe that my score in this secton will determine my MCAT score on April 19th.

BS- This has become my favorite section by far. I started out not being able to get over 10 after my second or third month of studying, but after investing countless 8 hour days studying to fill in the gaps, and taking the relevant upper level bio classes, my scores on this section have never looked better.

 

[Vihsadas]

HECK YEAH MAN!!! GJ! Keep that momentum rolling. MAKE SURE that you review this test as well! (For what it's worth you beat my AAMC4 score. )

 

[iA-MD2013]

HECK YEAH MAN!!! GJ! Keep that momentum rolling. MAKE SURE that you review this test as well! (For what it's worth you beat my AAMC4 score. )

uhh-ohhh you have competition hahaha

 

[mterp45]

HECK YEAH MAN!!! GJ! Keep that momentum rolling. MAKE SURE that you review this test as well! (For what it's worth you beat my AAMC4 score. )

yeah thanks, but a 41 on a practice test will always be a 41 on a practice test. I will remain humble. keep pluging away, and hopefully I will come close to it on test day next month.

 

[Vihsadas]

yeah thanks, but a 41 on a practice test will always be a 41 on a practice test. I will remain humble. keep pluging away, and hopefully I will come close to it on test day next month.

Yes exactly. That's a good attidue to have, and was the one that I had too. Never get complacent!

 

[ar2388]

just took AAMC 6.. lowest score out of all the AAMc ive taken (er.. 4, 5, and 6 that is ). did anyone else find this one a little challenging?

 

[bozz]

I remember a poster here who had gotten 45s on 2 or 3 of the earlier AAMCs
I forget his name, but the guy aced the SAT and the ACT

but still ended up with a 39 on the real deal (13, 13, 13)... to me, that's still a "perfect" score.. look at the balance!

 

[mdhopefully23]

just took AAMC 6.. lowest score out of all the AAMc ive taken (er.. 4, 5, and 6 that is ). did anyone else find this one a little challenging?

if u've been doing fine so far i wouldn't worry too much. how much lower did u do than usual? if its not too far away from the rest of ur practice test scores then u prob shouldn't worry about it.

 

[ar2388]

if u've been doing fine so far i wouldn't worry too much. how much lower did u do than usual? if its not too far away from the rest of ur practice test scores then u prob shouldn't worry about it.

it wasnt too far off. my best score was AAMC 4, next best AAMc 5 and this one was the lowest.. each one differed by 2-3 points.

 

[mterp45]

I remember a poster here who had gotten 45s on 2 or 3 of the earlier AAMCs
I forget his name, but the guy aced the SAT and the ACT

but still ended up with a 39 on the real deal (13, 13, 13)... to me, that's still a "perfect" score.. look at the balance!

Don't get me wrong, this MCAT stuff is fun. I have spent as much time figuring out how AAMC tested reasoning patterns through structural format and pattern analysis techniques, as I have spent studying the material. It has almost become a game for me. But at the end of the day, my target has always and will always be a 35 and up. I just want to be a doctor, I have no interest in getting a 40 or above. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, who cares, we will all end up MDs or DOs (hopefully).

 

[iA-MD2013]

Don't get me wrong, this MCAT stuff is fun. I have spent as much time figuring out how AAMC tested reasoning patterns through structural format and pattern analysis techniques, as I have spent studying the material. It has almost become a game for me. But at the end of the day, my target has always and will always be a 35 and up. I just want to be a doctor, I have no interest in getting a 40 or above. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, who cares, we will all end up MDs or DOs (hopefully).

What do you mean by this?

 

[mterp45]

What do you mean by this?

Nothing, I mean nothing by it.

 

[Vihsadas]

Don't get me wrong, this MCAT stuff is fun. I have spent as much time figuring out how AAMC tested reasoning patterns through structural format and pattern analysis techniques, as I have spent studying the material. It has almost become a game for me. But at the end of the day, my target has always and will always be a 35 and up. I just want to be a doctor, I have no interest in getting a 40 or above. If it happens, great. If it doesn't, who cares, we will all end up MDs or DOs (hopefully).

Ah, and there it is. Now you understand...

 

[mterp45]

Today, April, 3 2008 is officially my last day studying for this test until test day, and hopefully, for the rest of my life after the 19th. I plan on spending the next two weeks doing absolutely nothing MCAT related. I took AAMC 5, and my scores were PS 15, VR 12 (I hate you verbal), BS 14. I got a 41, but for some reason, I am not nearly as excited as I was the first time I broke the 40 barrier. Nevertheless, I am content enough with my practice scores to end on a good note. Let it be known that I gave this test everything I had for about 7 months, let it be known that I earned every single point increase from a diagnostic of 18, and that such an increase can be managed, let it be know that this test doesn't prove how inteligent you are, and that it has nothing to do with your performance in med school. It is simply an effective wead out tool. let it be known (as I have said plenty times before) that this test, as well as any standardized test, is not meant to be taken, it is meant to be outsmarted. Finally, let it be known that on April 19th, I will outsmart this test and expose it for what it is. My only resentment is that it took me 7 months to figure this test out.

 

[tncekm]

Congrats mterp45, that's an incredible score! You're going to do great.

Just 2 questions:
1) Don't you think 2 weeks off is a bit excessive? I could see half a week or so to rejuvenate, but 2 weeks and I'd feel I'd start to lose my edge, especially in verbal!
2) Just out of curiosity, how long did you continue to do content review after you started scoring fairly well?

 

[mterp45]

Congrats mterp45, that's an incredible score! You're going to do great.

Just 2 questions:
1) Don't you think 2 weeks off is a bit excessive? I could see half a week or so to rejuvenate, but 2 weeks and I'd feel I'd start to lose my edge, especially in verbal!
2) Just out of curiosity, how long did you continue to do content review after you started scoring fairly well?

When I stopped content reviewing, I can honestly say there wasn't one subject I didn't feel comfortable with, thus I didn't feel a need to review. When I stopped content reviewing I was scoring slightly over 30, but it wasn't until after I spent a tremendous amount of time with a couple of my buddies, studying the actual tests from AAMC that my scores started averaging out at 37s.

 

[mterp45]

To answer your first question, I can honestly say that I could study not study for 2 months and my scores wil not fluctuate, ask yourself why scores from one practice test to another tend to be similar even though different subjects are being tested, ask yourself why people tend to score similar on the AAMC practice tests as they do on the real test, the sooner you realize that content knowledge is tested to an absolute minimum and reasoning to a maximum and how?, the sooner you will hit the 35 and up barrier.

 

[tncekm]

To answer your first question, I can honestly say that I could study not study for 2 months and my scors wil not fluctuate, ask yourself why scores from one practice test to another tend to be similar even though different subjects are being tested, as yourself why people tend to score similar on the AAMC practice tests as they do on the real test, the sooner you realize that content knowledge is tested to an absolute minimum and reasoning to a maximum and how?,

That makes sense. Good info

the sooner you will hit the 35 and up barrier.

Oh man, well that just may be dependent on my verbal

So far:
AAMC 3: PS: 12, BS: 10, VR: 9 (65% on VR)
TPR 3: PS: 12, BS: 10, VR: 7 (65% on VR-- harder scale)
TPR 4: PS: 10, BS: 13, VR: 9 (75% on VR)

I'm pretty sure I can get those PS and BS consistently high; for the PS: 10 I got worked on two passages in TPR 4 where I didn't see a very simple concept in both because of the convoluted questioning, but the BS: 13 I felt was because I just paid closer attention to reading my questions more carefully and realizing that the passages are usually the primary source of info. I don't feel it was luck. So, BS and PS I'm confident I can improve on... VR is just rough. I feel like I'm getting better though, we'll see. I've got almost 8 weeks left. If I can get that verbal to a consistent 10/11 level then its "med school here I come" even on my worst day!

 

[mterp45]

That makes sense. Good info

Oh man, well that just may be dependent on my verbal

So far:
AAMC 3: PS: 12, BS: 10, VR: 9 (65% on VR)
TPR 3: PS: 12, BS: 10, VR: 7 (65% on VR-- harder scale)
TPR 4: PS: 10, BS: 13, VR: 9 (75% on VR)

I'm pretty sure I can get those PS and BS consistently high; for the PS: 10 I got worked on two passages in TPR 4 where I didn't see a very simple concept in both because of the convoluted questioning, but the BS: 13 I felt was because I just paid closer attention to reading my questions more carefully and realizing that the passages are usually the primary source of info. I don't feel it was luck. So, BS and PS I'm confident I can improve on... VR is just rough. I feel like I'm getting better though, we'll see. I've got almost 8 weeks left. If I can get that verbal to a consistent 10/11 level then its "med school here I come" even on my worst day!

yeah you seem to certainly be on your way, a 9 on verbal is perfectly fine just cushion the hit by using the sciences as your buffer, averaging 13s and up on the sciences consistently is very feasible, and it's your ticket on the 35 and up train but am sure you know that already and by the way, verbal is also going to determine my score so I feel your pain.

 

[tncekm]

Just finished PS on TPR 5... thought I was doing pretty good until I realized i was running out of time and had to start guessing! *sigh* I guess we'll see how it goes. TPR requires tons of calculation sometimes.

edit: Just finished: yay! VR: 9, PS: 10 (boo!), BS: 15 = 34

 

[wannabedocta]

Today, April, 3 2008 is officially my last day studying for this test until test day, and hopefully, for the rest of my life after the 19th. I plan on spending the next two weeks doing absolutely nothing MCAT related. I took AAMC 5, and my scores were PS 15, VR 12 (I hate you verbal), BS 14. I got a 41, but for some reason, I am not nearly as excited as I was the first time I broke the 40 barrier. Nevertheless, I am content enough with my practice scores to end on a good note. Let it be known that I gave this test everything I had for about 7 months, let it be known that I earned every single point increase from a diagnostic of 18, and that such an increase can be managed, let it be know that this test doesn't prove how inteligent you are, and that it has nothing to do with your performance in med school. It is simply an effective wead out tool. let it be known (as I have said plenty times before) that this test, as well as any standardized test, is not meant to be taken, it is meant to be outsmarted. Finally, let it be known that on April 19th, I will outsmart this test and expose it for what it is. My only resentment is that it took me 7 months to figure this test out.

wow, just wow!

 

[wannabedocta]

just took AAMC 6.. lowest score out of all the AAMc ive taken (er.. 4, 5, and 6 that is ). did anyone else find this one a little challenging?

Geez, I just took this exam and found it a bit demoralizing The bio section was extremely hard in terms of subject matter and I had a hard time finishing verbal. 11P 8V 10B .Ughhh, to reschedule or not to reschedule??? I have a few more hours to decide

 

[iA-MD2013]

Geez, I just took this exam and found it a bit demoralizing The bio section was extremely hard in terms of subject matter and I had a hard time finishing verbal. 11P 8V 10B .Ughhh, to reschedule or not to reschedule??? I have a few more hours to decide

when are you scheduled for?

 

[wannabedocta]

19th of April freaking out!! but I think i'm just gonna take it so I can get my life back

 

[kronickm]

Just took AAMC 9 and found it kind of easy, although Verbal was a bit on the difficult side, scored great 13, 11, 14 despite not being able to read the last verbal passage (went right to questions and was annoyed as this is the first time it has happened to me). Planning on taking 10 exactly how I am taking the real one, 8am, bringing exactly what I am planning on bringing to the real one and so on. Last practice before the big dog on 4/18. Ruf.

 

[GeorgianCMV]

I am sort of bummed. I just took AAMC 9 and scored a 29--10PS, 9V, 10BS. Verbal was no surprise because that is always my weak area, and I was actually sort of happy with a 9. Physical I'm fine with a 10. But Bio???? As a Bio major in college whose best subject was ochem, I SHOULD be getting 13's and 14's. Wtf? I don't know what my problem is. There were a few careless errors, but the rest of my mistakes were because of simply being perplexed with the questions.

When you guys are talking about studying the actual AAMC testing methods, how are you doing that? What are you focusing on about the tests?

 

[SgtDoc]

I saw this a few months back and thought I would revive the discussion- for those of you who have taken multiple AAMC practice tests, how would you rank them in difficulty? Which do you think are the most representative of the real thing? Which are the least?

Thanks!

 

[SgtDoc]

C'mon, anyone?

 

[tncekm]

There were a few posts on this, and everyone had different opinions.

I think you can check the 30+ MCAT CBT sticky.

 

[RSAgator]

the opinions will differ because most people take them in different order/with different amounts of studying under their belt.

ex: aamc was my diagnostic, I scored a 31. Since then I've scored a 36 (AAMC 6), 2 35's (AAMC 4,5) and a 30 (AAMC 7) in that order. I'd say 4, 5, and 6 were approximately equal difficulty but I was under the impression from posts that 4 was a harder test than some others. If I were to make a sweeping statement I'd place 3-6 on the same difficulty level and 7 slightly above (I thought the verbal was MUCH harder and I made careless mistakes in PS/BS that I don't normally make). If you can take them all, take 3-6 as your first ones and 7-10 closer to the test date. If you can only take a few then take 7-10, maybe throwing in one of the previous ones as well.

 

[SgtDoc]

the opinions will differ because most people take them in different order/with different amounts of studying under their belt.

ex: aamc was my diagnostic, I scored a 31. Since then I've scored a 36 (AAMC 6), 2 35's (AAMC 4,5) and a 30 (AAMC 7) in that order. I'd say 4, 5, and 6 were approximately equal difficulty but I was under the impression from posts that 4 was a harder test than some others. If I were to make a sweeping statement I'd place 3-6 on the same difficulty level and 7 slightly above (I thought the verbal was MUCH harder and I made careless mistakes in PS/BS that I don't normally make). If you can take them all, take 3-6 as your first ones and 7-10 closer to the test date. If you can only take a few then take 7-10, maybe throwing in one of the previous ones as well.

Great, thank you for the advice. I probably will take them all, and I will be sure to save 7-10 for the end.

 

[kronickm]

I can tell you that for AAMC 4, the scaled scores corespond to the lowest raw scores of any AAMC tests by a few questions which would signify a harder test. Other than that, I found them all relatively similar in difficulty.

 

[disorder]

AAMC3: 35
AAMC7: 31
AAMC10: 32
AAMC9: 37
AAMC6: 35

I think I am just gonna take the stupid test and hope for the upper half of my average. I just want this OVER with.

 

[presto530]

Oh yes the AAMC exams. I might as well post my scores starting with the first one I took all the way to the one I took 3 days before my real MCAT (4/5/08)

AAMC 6: 10/6/10= 26
AAMC 5: 9/8/10= 27
(took a few days off from MCAT cuz of burnout)
AAMC 4: 12/9/13=34
AAMC 7: 11/8/12=31
AAMC 8: 10/10/10=30
AAMC 9: 12/6/12= 30 (bombed verbal lol)
AAMC 10: 12/9/13=34 Good to end on high note?

I took AAMC 10 on Wed. before my Sat. exam. I seems like a few passages on AAMC 10 I had seen before on other exams. Such as the BS passage about the helicobacter stomach pathogen and ulcers, and a few others that I can't remember right now.

 

[wannabedocta]

Does anyone know the link to the homepage of the actual mcat exam? I know there are some slight differences in the format between the actual administered exam and the AAMC practice cbts. I stumbled across it on SDN but I can't seem to relocate it.

 

[SDN2013]

you mean aamc.org? go there and on the right side click on MCAT

 

[wannabedocta]

I meant the homepage screen with the directions and rules for the actual MCAT exam, not the CBT exams.

 

[tncekm]

The home of the MCAT is at http://www.aamc.org, just like GloryField said. They just also happen to supply the AAMC practice tests 3-10.

 

[Live4Life]

Did anyone else find the verbal section on AAMC 6 quite hard? I've consistently been scoring 10 or 11 on verbal practice tests but somehow I managed to score a 7 on AAMC 6 and I'm feeling a little demoralized.

 

[hypnix]

Man, going over some old exams, I realized or rather can't believe I made some of these silly mistakes. I know that I know these concepts that I am being tested on, but for some reason while taking the test, I got confused or something. At this point, I'm hoping that when I take the real thing, instead of panicking, I'll be on top of my game

 

[tncekm]

Man, going over some old exams, I realized or rather can't believe I made some of these silly mistakes. I know that I know these concepts that I am being tested on, but for some reason while taking the test, I got confused or something. At this point, I'm hoping that when I take the real thing, instead of panicking, I'll be on top of my game

Silly mistakes, like constantly associating high [H+] with high pH? That's the one that I do ALL THE TIME. So, it makes me lose out on some of the EASIEST questions when I just run right through them. I made myself sit down the other day and write high [H+] is low pH like 20x even though I know it to be true in the first place.

 

[Doc Henry]

Silly mistakes, like constantly associating high [H+] with high pH? That's the one that I do ALL THE TIME. So, it makes me lose out on some of the EASIEST questions when I just run right through them. I made myself sit down the other day and write high [H+] is low pH like 20x even though I know it to be true in the first place.

oh, I hate that! I think I've finally stopped missing those stupid points. Recently I missed the easiest points on periodic table questions about atomic number, atomic mass, protons, neutrons, etc...I constantly mess up what A means and what Z means....ugh, talk about easy points!

 

[tncekm]

oh, I hate that! I think I've finally stopped missing those stupid points. Recently I missed the easiest points on periodic table questions about atomic number, atomic mass, protons, neutrons, etc...I constantly mess up what A means and what Z means....ugh, talk about easy points!

Yeah, I just missed a question like that, too. I used the wrong atomic mass when doing some stoichiometry. I had to use gold (Au) and instead I used silver (Ag). So stupid.

 

[wannabedocta]

Just finished AAMC 9:
12 P 9 V 13 B. C'mon verbal!!!!!

 

[Doc Henry]

Just finished AAMC 9:
12 P 9 V 13 B. C'mon verbal!!!!!

Way to go on the sciences though!!!

 

[wannabedocta]

Way to go on the sciences though!!!

Yea, I just realized I should have gotten a 14 on the bio section since I mismarked an answer. Well, the whole reason i'm retaking the MCAT is to redeem my verbal score. I recieved a 7 on the real test last time, partly because of anxiety and mostly due to inadequate preparation. I'm hoping to get alteast a 10 on the real thing

 

[doomknight]

i got owned by AAMC7, I thought it was supposed to be ezy
PS: 10, VR: 11, BS: 11