Rank AAMC test difficulty.

[MEG@COOL]

My guess is from hardest to easiest is. 534876

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[Nikki2002]

i thought 7 was the hardest, 3 the easiest

 

[Ugly Boy]

7 is the easiest

 

[NapeSpikes]

Hardest to easiest 4, 5, 6, 8, 7, 3

 

[jebus]

I don't know about hardest and easiest but 7 & 8 were definitely the most accurate. They just "felt" more like the real MCAT. The BS passages in 7 & 8 weren't nearly as dry - they felt as much like a reading comprehension exercise as a Biology question - they definitely have a different writing style than 3R-6R.
My real score mirrored # 7 exactly, for what it's worth.

 

[SensesFail]

Hardest to Easiest: 8, 4R, 5R, 6R, 7, 3R

 

[Mr. Tee]

Hm....so 7 and 8 are most like the real thing, but relatively easy? This bodes well

 

[Anastasis]

Did you get a good score on those, Teerawit? That's awesome!

 

[Will Ferrell]

Hardest ----> Easiest

4, 8, 7, 5, 6,3

AAMC 4's verbal's curve was bonkers.

 

[Mr. Tee]

Did you get a good score on those, Teerawit? That's awesome!

I haven't taken 7 and 8 yet b/c I'm saving them for the very end right before the real MCAT. But I did well enough on 3R and 4R so my score will hopefully be somewhere in that area

 

[Mr. Tee]

Can anyone rank the difficulty of the VR sections alone? just to get an idea...

 

[HunterGatherer]

hardest -----> easiest
4, 7, 6, 5, 3

I think the AAMC verbal exams are pretty consistent. The "easier" exams have a stiffer curve and "easier to read passages have more difficult questions.

Verbal on AAMC 7 was tough. music scale, high road/low road, and roman civ passage. Still managed a 10. AAMC 4 has a tough curve but you should still be able to get your average scaled MCAT score on the AAMC exams. This made me shoot for 48 raw on my verbal exams.

 

[NapeSpikes]

Can anyone rank the difficulty of the VR sections alone? just to get an idea...

I remember 4 being tough, with 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 being about the same. I'm referring to scaled scores--I don't know how they translate percentage-wise.

 

[jebus]

I remember 4 being tough, with 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 being about the same. I'm referring to scaled scores--I don't know how they translate percentage-wise.

See, I have difficulty with these sorts of questions. I'm a decent test taker, so for me the hardest tests are the ones where you need some astronomical raw score to get a good scaled score. The easier the questions, the worse I do relative to other test takers.
However, when a lower raw score is necessary for a higher scaled score (let's say 60/77 for an 11 instead of 65/77 for an 11) I will do better because my test taking skills carry me further than my knowledge of the material when compared to other test takers.
Simply put, a more demanding curve ("a harder test", so to speak) makes for an easier test for me. So, to the person who asked about the hardest VR section, it really does depend on you.

 

[Mr. Tee]

So, to the person who asked about the hardest VR section, it really does depend on you.

I'm not concerned with the scaled scores per se, but rather the content of the VR questions. Like which AAMC exam had the hardest passages and/or questions, etc. I know that AAMC 4 had a stiff curve, but the questions were also kinda hard.

Were the questions on the real MCAT harder/easier than AAMC 4 VR, et al.? Do you think AAMC 7 and 8's VR questions were as difficult as those on recent MCATs? Are they representative of recent MCATs? Are 7 and 8's questions harder than 3R? and so on..

 

[Mr. Tee]

P.S.

Sorry for so many questions....but as you know VR is the bane for most pre-meds..and since the MCAT is coming up soon I thought this could help everyone relieve some stress

 

[NapeSpikes]

I'm not concerned with the scaled scores per se, but rather the content of the VR questions...

In that case, the aamc VR sections are all pretty much the same. VR is such a crapshoot though, because if you bomb one passage and just don't get it, you could go down 2-3 points in scaled score, no joke. So like desired/jebus said, it all kind of depends.

 

[alex_shimp]

I just did a 4R and compared to 3R from last week I went down 4 points on the VR section (11 to 7) and stayed the same in bio (10) and PS (11)

So I am a bit dissapointed...

 

[jebus]

Don't get too discouraged, alex. These tests are hard. They are designed to make you answer questions wrong.
For the questions you got wrong, make sure you read the answer keys. Understand how the AAMC fooled you into getting those questions wrong and how you can get the answers right on the next test. (Read the answer keys for all the questions, the ones you answered correctly and incorrectly.)
One thing I remember from the VR sections: the answers are always in the passage. Don't try to think about any outside knowledge. The questions always refer to the author - don't be afraid to look back and see what the author wrote. Then place that knowledge in context: what the author wrote, does it makes sense with regard to the question?
I'm sure you can do well - these are practice tests, you have time to improve your score and hopefully 4R was just an anomaly.

 

[alex_shimp]

Don't get too discouraged, alex. These tests are hard. They are designed to make you answer questions wrong.
For the questions you got wrong, make sure you read the answer keys. Understand how the AAMC fooled you into getting those questions wrong and how you can get the answers right on the next test. (Read the answer keys for all the questions, the ones you answered correctly and incorrectly.)
One thing I remember from the VR sections: the answers are always in the passage. Don't try to think about any outside knowledge. The questions always refer to the author - don't be afraid to look back and see what the author wrote. Then place that knowledge in context: what the author wrote, does it makes sense with regard to the question?
I'm sure you can do well - these are practice tests, you have time to improve your score and hopefully 4R was just an anomaly.

Thanks, yeh what I am thinking of doing is, redoing some of my bad passages before looking at the answers... not sure if its a good idea or not... it seems that most of the passages I got wrong where at the end, the first 4 I got perfect on, so it may be a stamina issue.

 

[utdallasguy2006]

Guys:


Is AAMC 6R considered an obsolete test (like 3R-5R basically are), or is it pretty close to 7R/8R as far as similarity to the current format? I'm taking the test myself this weekend, so I want to get an idea. (TPR is giving us 7R/8R as our last diags, so I'll be taking that anyways).

 

[SeminoleFan3]

I took AAMC 8 earlier this week and got a 28 (8PS/11V/9BS) and took AAMC 4 today and got a 31 (11PS, 11V, 9BS). I'm going to save AAMC 7 for the weekend right before the exam. Would anyone recommend doing 5 and 6, or are they really not indicative of the current question and format type?

 

[jebus]

Tests 5R & 6R are great. Seriously. The AAMC revised them in 2003 so they would be germane (hence the R). 7 & 8 are different, and I think they are the most like the real MCAT, but the other ones are very similar (and I cannot stress very enough). The differences are not substantive - they are mostly minor changes in style.
Also, your 31 is pretty damn good. Bring up that BS score a point and you'll be sitting pretty.
Good luck to both of you, seminolefan3 and utdallasguy2006.

 

[SeminoleFan3]

Tests 5R & 6R are great. Seriously. The AAMC revised them in 2003 so they would be germane (hence the R). 7 & 8 are different, and I think they are the most like the real MCAT, but the other ones are very similar (and I cannot stress very enough). The differences are not substantive - they are mostly minor changes in style.
Also, your 31 is pretty damn good. Bring up that BS score a point and you'll be sitting pretty.
Good luck to both of you, seminolefan3 and utdallasguy2006.

Thanks for the input. I'll try 5R this weekend. Other than that, Kaplan has us scheduled for the next 4 consecutive Saturdays (starting the 18th) with FLs. Nothing like practice, I guess.

 

[utdallasguy2006]

5R and 6R are actually better then even 4R, so I'd do them.

If you follow the link, the TPR review says that the April 2003 MCAT was comparable in difficulty to 6R; 2003 was the first year of the revamped MCAT, I believe, so I'd think that 6R is pretty applicable.

http://www.princetonreview.com/medical/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=375&TYPE=MCAT-REPORTS

 

[suckermc]

If you follow the link, the TPR review says that the April 2003 MCAT was comparable in difficulty to 6R; 2003 was the first year of the revamped MCAT, I believe, so I'd think that 6R is pretty applicable.

http://www.princetonreview.com/medical/testprep/testprep.asp?TPRPAGE=375&TYPE=MCAT-REPORTS

okay, so if 7 and 8 were the best to take...and i already took them..would it suck to do 4,5,6 because they are not comparable? i scored really high for 7 and 8--blew chunks on the real deal..and afraid that retaking 7,8 would f me over.

wasn't there supposed to be a 9 amcas? i've been checking, no dice.

 

[ks2005]

Most difficult to least for me is difficult is 3R,4R,7,5,6

3 is supposed to be the easiest, but I felt it was harder for me then some of the others for some reasons.

However, not counting 3R.....

From most difficult to least difficult:
8,6R,7,5R, 4R

3R, I'm not sure where I put that into the pile. I think it was somewhat difficult but not as difficult as some of the other the others but for me I still did better on some of the harder ones then 3R. So it is kinda hard to say where I'd rank that one.

 

[jebus]

okay, so if 7 and 8 were the best to take...and i already took them..would it suck to do 4,5,6 because they are not comparable?

They'll be fine. Behold, the horse's mouth! http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/ptfaqs.htm

 

[JEV2007]

hey all, so i've been reading everyone's posts and there is no mention of #2 at all. I know it's an old school exam, but is there any point in taking it? That being said, I took it recently and found 1 or 2 of the orgo passages to be very obscure and uncomfortable to say the least. the verbal was fine, and the PS was terrible.....any thoughts? Cheers~JV

 

[JEV2007]

For all who have not yet heard.....9 came out 2 days ago. You can grab it off of the AAMC website for $40