The "How you did" compared to "How you thought you did" Thread

1. When did you take the MCAT April 5th
2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?I thought it was wayyy harder than the 8 AAMC practice tests or the first 4-5 Kaplan tests i took
3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?I really didnt think i did well, but I had my dreams. my practice tests ranged from 32 to 39 and I thought I would get on the lower end
4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?37Q; 14PS, 12 BS, 11 V
5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?I guess dont be fooled by what you thought at the end of the exam. IF your practice tests have been solid, the exam should be ok unless nerves get in the way

I know where you're going with the OP, but don't indulge this thinking. You will get what you get, and don't let your perceived performance during the exam affect you. The vast majority of people score within their practice range.

Jan 26th

Much harder than the practice tests

Expected: 12 PS, 10 V, 10 BS
^ That was seriously what I expected and I felt doomed since it wasn't competitive enough for me (I'm 'international')

Got 14 PS, 10 V, 13 BS

One thing I'll tell you is... don't expect miracles. For example, if you're getting 26s, don't expect to get a 30 on the real deal. It just doesn't happen. But somehow, you'll score within your practice range.

Much harder than most practice tests, i thought it was similar to kaplan tests without the generous curve

ecpected anywhere from 28-32 was avg 35-36

got 34Q pretty happy considering i know i missed 4 very dumb questions that i should have gotten right.

took it on apr 5

It was a bad physics day and I didn't even finish PS.

Thought: 9PS, 13VR, 10BS
Got: 11PS, 12VR, 11BS

edit: I was sad about my score and thinking of retaking to go for a 40. I was getting over it until I read this thread. How is everyone that is in the 93%+ in this thread?

1. When did you take the MCAT
APRIL 5th
2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?
Took most of the AAMC practice tests--I thought the real thing was a bit harder...maybe it was the nerves, but the questions definitely seemed trickier, requiring you to stop and really think, something I didn't really do as much when doing practice tests
3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
Thought: 12V, 13-14PS, 13-14BS (This is what I was getting on practice tests)
4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?
11V, 12PS, 12BS
5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?
Again, nerves probably played a role, but I think I had a really good chance to battle the nerves and work through the test...at the end of the day, I tend to do better on practice tests, as they seem easier for me (happened with the SAT's back in the day too)

Also, sometimes the test you get just happens to work for your strengths; call it luck of the draw, but it happens
goodluck!!!

bozz said:

Jan 26th

Much harder than the practice tests.

Click to expand...

Would you say difficulty was closer to Kaplan, TPR, or GS (if not AAMC)?

tncekm said:

Would you say difficulty was closer to Kaplan, TPR, or GS (if not AAMC)?

Click to expand...

Physical was a little harder than the AAMCs but those are great prep

Verbal was very easy (I felt) but I guess so did everyone else.

Bio = Almost exactly like the Kaplan FLs/Section tests. Especially those hard molecular genetics passages you see on there with genetic technology, sequencing etc.... AAMC just doesn't have those types of passages: the type where they actually talk about "specific genes." (like some random *** gene like FLD272 has a mutation that prevents it from doing X. What kinds of tests can you do? etc etc.. Kaplan has a ton of those.

I'd try the Kaplan Bio just so you're not totally shocked on the real deal.

Are the Kaplan bio's that come with the Premier book good enough (the two tests on the CD), or should I look elsewhere?

1. When did you take the MCAT June '07
2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)? PS was harder, rest was same
3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)? 10s
4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)? 13s
5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?
I just thought about the problems I missed, without thinking about the fact that I didn't miss very many.

why do sum ppl suggest that you should only expect to score in your practice score range? my scores have ranged from 27-36 with the 36 coming last tuesday and the 27 coming 2 months ago...my scores have gradally gone up on every test ive taken but 1...so why shouldnt i expect this trend to continue on test day?! lol...and, this may be peripheral, but im an athelete...and i usually bring it on gameday! so i thin kthat my level of focus/perfomance will be strongest on testday...does anyone else feel this way?

1. When did you take the MCAT --- August 20, 2007

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)? Much harder than the AAMC CBT tests. I didn't take any other ones

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
I was thinking around 33O or so. 13PS/12BS/8VR. This was sort of in my lower range of practice scores (33-38), and I felt pretty bad about the test afterwards.

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)? 40Q (15PS/14BS/11VR)

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)? Maybe the curve works after all. I guess sometimes miracles happen, but I don't know if I would count on it.

I love how only the MCAT freaks decide to post...lol

1. When did you take the MCAT- August 13 2007

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?

I was scoring avg of 12's on the sciences and 5-6's on the verbal...The real thing WAS harder than the AAMC practices that were administered probably during World War II...

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
I really thought Bio killed me and I did OK on verbal compared to practices...I actually made a poll somewhere around here and 50% of the people agreed that bio was the hardest section (about 50 ppl voted). The curve must have been generous because I expected a 9-10 on bio...The biology portion was seriously like another verbal...They tested BASIC concepts NO details...I thought princeton review was a terrible overkill...The PS section aslo was slightly more difficult than the AAMC (I expected a 12-13 though)...

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?
6VR 11BS 11PS N

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?

The MCAT is not only about memorizing and subjecting your head to ridiculous amounts of studying with no breaks. Organize your day so that you have a good amount of time to have fun and relieve yourself of stress...I really think I was burned out by test day...(i did a practice test every single day for about 1 month)

I agree. Lots of freaks here. 15PS and you thought you did bad?

1. When did you take the MCAT

August 2006

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?

Physical/Verbal on par with AAMC's
Bio - was a monstrosity.... like nothing I had seen before.

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?

Walking out I felt like 11,11,6
I rationalized that the curve would be better and predicted an 11,11,9


4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?

Scored 11P,11V,9B WS-R lol. Swear to god, search my old posts, or I can post the link if you like.

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?

Exactly what I expected.... mind I really felt awful after bio... so the curve was favorable...

1. When did you take the MCAT
4/19/08

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?
Took all GS and AAMC practice tests. The verbal was identical to the AAMC verbal. The physics was slightly more difficult than AAMC because the topics were the ones that I suck at. Biology was very passage-based and did not require much outside info. There was a passage on evolution, which never really showed up on any of the practice tests.

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
PS: 9, I ran out of time and I didn't even get to read the last two passages, I just went straight for the questions. I had the time issue because I had two really hard passages in the beginning.

VR: 10, Felt like AAMC.
BS: 12-13, I felt like I did really well on this section and finished with time left over. There was also only one Organic passages, which a 4 year old could have easily mastered.

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?
PS: 10
VR: 9
BS: 11

A 30O, so I am really on the borderline here, I really don't want to take it again.

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?
I guess my constant practice with practice tests, especially GS, helped on the PS. I just recognized the questions quickly and was able to answer them without reading the passages.
I don't know what happened with Bio.

1. When did you take the MCAT
Aug 9, 2007

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?
PS was on par with AAMC, VR had longer passages but questions were similar to Kaplan, BS was much harder than Kaplan and AAMC, almost all exp. passages with a huge focus on cell bio.

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
12-9-10

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?
10-8-10

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?
Score was quite close to expected... VR is hard to predict though. Crossing my fingers for a better run on May 31st.

1. When did you take the MCAT
4/19/2008

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)?
Easier than Kaplans. Kaplan exams are very detail oriented and draw heavily on previous knowledge. Avg 31 +/- 3 on Kaplan FLs.

Harder then AAMC (3-10) exams (avg 32 +/-2) AAMC exams gave a false sense of security, but in the end I guess they were quite predictive.

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)?
PS 8-9 freaked out in PS (see mdapps for more details)
V 9-10
BS 11-12 Felt like AAMC

Didn't think I would break 30. Actually signed up for retake on May 31

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)?
32P
PS 10
V 11
BS 11

Surprised by verbal. Wished I did better on PS. Other than that happy.

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)?
Kaplan and AAMC appear to be predictive.

1. When did you take the MCAT --- 4/18/08

2. Was it easier, harder or similar to practice tests you've taken(feel free to elaborate ie-Kaplan, TPR, AAMC etc. or specific sections)? --- Overall, somewhat harder than the AAMC practice tests, I did have a couple of killer PS passages though

3. How did you think you did before you got your scores (individual sections based on your practice scores and how difficult you thought it was)? --- I thought I did worse than what I actually got. I thought I would get around a 32/33 (10, 11, 11).

4. How did you actually do? (individual sections)? --- 36Q (14 PS, 11 VR, 11 BS)

5. Any comments on the above (probably best when explaining why your score was significantly different than expected)? --- I thought the AAMC practice tests were the best gauge for the real feel of the test and most of the passages, but Kaplan practice tests helped prepare for handling the 1 or 2 really hard passages that show up on the real deal