Princeton Review tests = ?

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scottyT

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I seem to be noticing a trend developing.

4/07/08 AAMC 3r: 11p, 10v, 9b
4/17/08 PR free test: 9p, 8v, 8b
5/05/08 AAMC 5: 11p, 10v, 11b
5/10/08 PR 1: 7p, 7v, 7b

Anyone else have comments about odd PR scores? I'm glad I only spent $15 on a book with some free tests and not $1700 on the full course. The questions just don't seem true to form to me. Also, the last PR I took marked me wrong on 4 verbal problems that I really got right! The scoring was screwed up at the end.

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Princeton Review's tests are so hard they make you cry. I wouldn't put too much weight on the PR CBTs. I took the course and their idea is to make questions hard so it'll seem easier on the real thing
 
Yeah, it is a bit harder IMHO. They just present the material in a much more difficult manner, and then ask you to do quite a few calculations.

To the OP: I'm not sure that the tests you get with the book are the same tests you get with the class (materials are much better than the class, I stopped going to the class). But, after doing some prep I've come to appreciate the TPR exams. They really make you think in a good way, even if they can be very challenging.
 
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Ok....need some opinions to feel a bit better...

I gave the free princeton review test a while ago...

i score 10B, 10P but a 6 on verbal!! :eek:

I was actually not confident on the sciences as i hardly have had any practice and was more comfortable with the verbal section as Ive been getting 10s on Ek 101....But now it seems to have completely flipped...I'm hoping to improve on the science scores a bit in the next two weeks (taking the MCAT on the 3rd of September) through revision but the verbal score has me bamboozled...

What about the rest of the people who've taken the PR test(the free one they offer...)


Please ....need some solace...or will go :scared:
 
Ok....need some opinions to feel a bit better...

I gave the free princeton review test a while ago...

i score 10B, 10P but a 6 on verbal!! :eek:

I was actually not confident on the sciences as i hardly have had any practice and was more comfortable with the verbal section as Ive been getting 10s on Ek 101....But now it seems to have completely flipped...I'm hoping to improve on the science scores a bit in the next two weeks (taking the MCAT on the 3rd of September) through revision but the verbal score has me bamboozled...

What about the rest of the people who've taken the PR test(the free one they offer...)


Please ....need some solace...or will go :scared:
What is wrong with you people? TPR clearly makes their exams harder. They aren't supposed to be an accurate score predictor, just a resource to learn from. Study hard, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.

Fine, here's some solace: A 6 on TPR verbal translates to a 15 on the real thing. Feel better?
 
For those of you freaking out about TPR tests this has been my score breakdown:

AAMC 3: 36
AAMC 4: 39
AAMC 5: 38
TPR 4830 (test 4 in cracking the MCAT CBT): 22 (although some of their answers are mismarked and I only picked through a few of them yet)

So take your TPR scores with a grain of salt. I scored 30s on tests 1-3 associated with the cracking the CBT book, 4 was noticeably harder (I found myself laughing at it during the test), and all are way harder than the AAMC exams which are the best score predictor out there.
 
What is wrong with you people? TPR clearly makes their exams harder. They aren't supposed to be an accurate score predictor, just a resource to learn from. Study hard, cross your fingers, and hope for the best.

Fine, here's some solace: A 6 on TPR verbal translates to a 15 on the real thing. Feel better?


Hahaa :D Ok...yeah...I feel better now :p
 
For those of you freaking out about TPR tests this has been my score breakdown:

AAMC 3: 36
AAMC 4: 39
AAMC 5: 38
TPR 4830 (test 4 in cracking the MCAT CBT): 22 (although some of their answers are mismarked and I only picked through a few of them yet)

I took Kaplan, and their tests were way harder than the AAMCs also. But I just wanted to warn you not to get too excited about your scores on AAMC 3-5. I've taken all of them by now, as well as 2 real MCATs, and, sad to say, the first few AAMCs (3 through 6, I'd say) are MUCH easier than the other AAMCs and the real test.

It seems the real MCAT has been getting much harder in recent years, especially the PS section, so you can't get a fair estimate of your likely score from the early AAMC tests. I'd say that AAMCs 7 through 9 are most like the real test; 10 seemed much too easy to me. But, if I had to guess, I'd say a real PS section is in between the later AAMC tests and Kaplan's (which have very hard, calculation-intensive PS problems, similar to what you say TPR tests are like).
 
I took Kaplan, and their tests were way harder than the AAMCs also. But I just wanted to warn you not to get too excited about your scores on AAMC 3-5. I've taken all of them by now, as well as 2 real MCATs, and, sad to say, the first few AAMCs (3 through 6, I'd say) are MUCH easier than the other AAMCs and the real test.

It seems the real MCAT has been getting much harder in recent years, especially the PS section, so you can't get a fair estimate of your likely score from the early AAMC tests. I'd say that AAMCs 7 through 9 are most like the real test; 10 seemed much too easy to me. But, if I had to guess, I'd say a real PS section is in between the later AAMC tests and Kaplan's (which have very hard, calculation-intensive PS problems, similar to what you say TPR tests are like).

I don't know why people say things like this. I've seen plenty of threads breaking down everyones AAMC scores test by test and I have yet to see ANYONE go from scoring 36+ on the early exams to 33s or lower on the later ones. I haven't seen anyone take the later ones either and score 36s then go back and destroy the earlier ones to score 40+. Generally I see increasing score trends from start to finish due to refining testing technique, or a flat score distribution leading me to believe they are not mind-numbingly harder or anything. The template for moving from raw score to scaled score on e-mcat.com seems to indicate that there isn't really a change either with the mean score for a 10 in each section never deviating by more than a couple questions. People need to remember that the MCAT is testing the basic sciences here. These principles have been pretty much set in stone since the late 1950s with much of the work being done by 1900, and are not changing in the however many years since AAMC 3 was administered.

I know everyone thinks the real thing is harder than their practice exams, but most everyone ends up scoring around their average. Of course you are going to walk out of a (very difficult) test with so much riding on it thinking "Oh my god, I did so bad, I'm never going to be the worlds greatest (insert specialty of interest here)." You're especially going to think this if you're one of the neurotic pre-med crowd that populates SDN (this is in no way meant as a slam directed at anyone).

As for the TPR exams compared to kaplan/AAMC/etc; calculation intensive does not describe the TPR PS passages (at least those in the cracking the CBT book). They are inane detail, very difficult passage presentation intensive.
 
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