What about the real MCAT makes it so much harder than the practice AAMC tests?

Boost your MCAT score by 12 points or more.
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
T

trojanMD

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
197
Reaction score
0
Its the consensus that the real MCAT is more difficult than the practice AAMCs and accordingly, real scores tend to be slightly lower than avg. practice test scores. Going into the June 13th MCAT sitting in 6 days, I think I have an idea of what to anticipate judging from the practice tests but then again most of you MCAT veterans had the same thought going into the real deal only to be surprised at how much more difficult the real thing was. So my question is pretty simple: whats different from the practice AAMCs that makes the real thing so much more difficult? Is it the elusiveness of the passages? The language? The calculations? The difficulty of the questions? Unseen material? Or is it simply test day nerves?

I would like to keep surprises to a minimum on the real deal in 6 days, so any insight is GREATLY appreciated!
Members don't see this ad.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
There are two things that come to mind when I see your question. First, yes the sciences are getting a little tougher which contributes to the real MCAT being harder. However, I think the bigger reason is strictly test day nerves. No matter how you much practice or try simulate the experience of taking the MCAT during your practice FLs, it can never be the same. There's just no way to really mimic how one feels walking into that test center for the first time. I bet if someone took their MCAT as a practice test (let's say an imaginary AAMC #11) during their studying, they would hit their average score.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
trojanMD said:
Its the consensus that the real MCAT is more difficult than the practice AAMCs and accordingly, real scores tend to be slightly lower than avg. practice test scores.
Click to expand...

Correct premise, wrong conclusion. I thought the real MCAT was harder but I scored the average of my AAMC's. Raw scores and scaled scores are different.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
trojanMD said:
Its the consensus that the real MCAT is more difficult than the practice AAMCs and accordingly, real scores tend to be slightly lower than avg. practice test scores. Going into the June 13th MCAT sitting in 6 days, I think I have an idea of what to anticipate judging from the practice tests but then again most of you MCAT veterans had the same thought going into the real deal only to be surprised at how much more difficult the real thing was. So my question is pretty simple: whats different from the practice AAMCs that makes the real thing so much more difficult? Is it the elusiveness of the passages? The language? The calculations? The difficulty of the questions? Unseen material? Or is it simply test day nerves?

I would like to keep surprises to a minimum on the real deal in 6 days, so any insight is GREATLY appreciated!
Click to expand...

thats not true at all. youll find that most people score within their AAMC range. equal numbers score above and below.

im gonna say for most people it is test day nerves. i'm pretty relaxed and dont get stressed easily. i try not to let things get under my skin and i think i'm pretty good at it. IMO the 5/27 test was very similar to the AAMC tests. It might as well have been AAMC #11. I'm not saying it was easy, or that i knocked it out of the park, but there were very few questins/topics that i hadn't come across before. Passage lengths were similar, difficulty was similar. i think people tend to freak out and hype it up so much. to me it just seemed like i was taking another practice test. everything looked exactly the same.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
i think that it varies from test to test, some of my friends actually said they had a test which was easier than the average AAMC test, mine was of course MUCHHH harder (5/10) but I still dont have a score to compare against my averages. I think what made it harder was that the freebies were gone, there were not many EASY questions, so it made it tough. I wasn't really very nervous at all, because I knew I could void it and take it again if need be. Also, the real test throws in like 2-3 REALLY DETAILED questions that are not represented much at all on the AAMCs (at least my test). Random details were tested just to make it that much harder. In the end, I would say dont let your diag scores get to your head going into the test, dont get too comfortable, but stay calm, and most important go as quickly as possible while retaining accuracy. The real test is longerr..esp verbal.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I am very calm when it comes to test taking...I honestly found the sciences to be harder! I took every single AAMC test before taking the MCAT. The biology and PS sections took more critical thinking than the AAMC tests. I found that my BS section was MUCH harder than the AAMC while the PS section was only slightly harder.

PS was harder in terms of critical thinking questions(Some questions were very tricky...not typical of the AAMC CBTs). Discretes were not as straight forward. Scored an average of 12 on AAMC's and scored an 11 (I was expecting 12-13 though)

BS...extremely passage based. Very basic knowledge of prior concepts was required. I scored an average of 12 on the AAMC's and scored an 11 on this section (Expected a 10 or 9 due to difficulty).

I found verbal to be about the same maybe even easier...But then again I suck at it...(I scored at my AAMC range)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I think what is happening that make people think the real deal is harder is you're getting the odd section the majority biology sections that are very very passage based. Second the AAMC's don't reflect the shift from physiology to microbio and genetics that was made way back when.

So tester X walks in scores well on bio usually, feels comfortable, and hits a section that makes him or her very uncomfortable.... runs back to SDN and friends saying the MCAT is a much harder test than practice tests make it seem.... and either one or two things happens... X either was spooked by the section and performs under potential or does just as well as he or she was normally doing without realizing it...

The May 10th thread seems to have some of the most shocked testers I've seen in a while.... but watch as their scores are released..... a lot of people will be pleasantly surprised, not everyone but a lot. The test may be harder from a raw score perspective, but the increase in difficulty applies to everyone and keeps the scaled scores very stable.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Second the AAMC's don't reflect the shift from physiology to microbio and genetics that was made way back when.
Click to expand...
So there is a higher emphasis on microbio/genetics on recent MCATs compared to AAMC exams? I know people have been saying they got some hard genetics questions but I did not know physiology was getting "replaced" or "reduced" in amount for micro/genetics!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
futuredoctor10 said:
So there is a higher emphasis on microbio/genetics on recent MCATs compared to AAMC exams? I know people have been saying they got some hard genetics questions but I did not know physiology was getting "replaced" or "reduced" in amount for micro/genetics!
Click to expand...

Around 2003 the aamc mentioned that they were going to increase the emphasis on genetics.... however, the cbt's reflect this a little bit better.... back when I was taking the longer paper version which were .... 11 passages I think.... you could expect about 4-5 phys passages.... Nearly every test has a hormones passage, a hormone/thyroid/bone remodelling passage, a CV passage, and always something about the Kidney....

Writing the cbt's now the physiology is more fairly reflected I think.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I took May 10, and on my test there was more genetics questions than on average, about 2 passages on my test iteration. Do not change your study habits by what people are saying, but study genetics/mbio a little more if it would make you comfortable. On my test, the questions were not anything difficult genetics-wise, simple dominant/codominant/recessives, and how simple feedback mechanisms/operons work. That said, by my score I know I missed at least a few of them ><
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I took the 7/8 MCAT, and I was blown away by how hard the PS was compared to the practice exams. I'd taken AAMC exams 5-8, and my scores were 36-36-35-34. I didn't realize until I started hanging around SDN that a lot of people consider AAMCs 7-10 to be much harder, and more representative of "real" exams, than the earlier ones, but I'd say I have to agree with that. I've been wondering why, and I just realized something that might explain the trend we are seeing.

AAMCs 8 through 10 were the first ones that were written as CBT-format exams from the get-go. You can tell this if you print out the scoring grids for all the exams (thanks to SDNer who mentioned that this was available on e-mcat.com). When I did so, I noticed right away that exams 3 through 7 had 2 scoring grids: one called "full length," which was originally a paper test with 1/3 more questions, and one just called "practice test," which has been shortened to CBT length. AAMCs 8 through 10 don't have "full length" scoring grids, so that suggests to me that they were CBTs when they were written.

Why should this matter? I have a hunch that in the paper days, when the test was 50% longer, the individual questions were somewhat easier. (After all, sheer fatigue was going to hold down people's scores, especially near the end of the test.) So when the AAMC shortened the old paper exams to produce practice tests, it wasn't really a fair representation of what the MCAT was like at that point. Now, when they're writing tests just for the CBT, they seem to be going for the jugular much more with the difficulty of the questions.

I know this is just a hunch, but I think it's a decent one. If I'm right, it would tend to convince me that the last 3 AAMCs (8-10) are a much more realistic guide to the real test than the older ones.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I went into my MCAT July 10 very calm and "very slightly arrogant" -- I like to approach an exam with a real positive attitude and just knock it out of the park. I really wasn't nervous enough to have it interfere with my ability to answer the questions.

But, I found the real thing to be MUCH harder than the practice tests. There were way more calculations on the PS section which took a massive chunk out of my time. The same 2-3 concepts were tested through the entire PS section which made it a train wreck since those were my weakest areas. Verbal was most similar to the practice MCAT, but even then the passages were about a paragraph longer than usual. The BS section was 90% mendelian, molecular and developmental genetics. Once more if that was your weak area, you had no chance to do well on the test. I was quite suprised at the vast difference between the AAMC practice and real MCATs.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thanks for your post Mandarin. It seems like the recent trend for MCAT administrations has been to add more difficult questions and emphasize Molecular/Developmental Genetics and Microbio from what I have been reading.

It is unfortunate AAMC practice tests no longer "match" real MCAT exams, but at least do the scores match? Hopefully when 6/13 and 7/8 test takers get their scores they can post "average AAMC score" and "MCAT score" for comparison.

Student1799- I also think your theory makes sense. If the exams 8-10 were actually designed for the CBT they are most accurate.

But even if the real MCAT is more difficult from the AAMC exams, the score breakdown (% of people earning each score) should remain the same right? In other words, if more people score worse in their raw score, that test date will get a higher curve... hopefully in that way any issues with difficulty would work itself out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
futuredoctor10 said:
But even if the real MCAT is more difficult from the AAMC exams, the score breakdown (% of people earning each score) should remain the same right? In other words, if more people score worse in their raw score, that test date will get a higher curve... hopefully in that way any issues with difficulty would work itself out.
Click to expand...

In theory, you're right, but it certainly doesn't feel that way in real life. There's a psychological factor that comes into play when you're faced with a lot of hard questions--it saps your self-confidence, and I think undermines your performance in general. I think a lot of MCAT takers have felt this way recently.

But the other effect that's hard to capture is the increasing variability in the content of the tests. In the abstract, it's not hard to understand: they have to produce more tests (22 a year now vs. 2 before), and the tests are closer together in time. So to in order to avoid excessive overlap between tests, they make them wildly different. That may average out statistically when you look at thousands of scores, but it doesn't feel so hot to a student who encounters a test that's all genetics when they suck at genetics. In my own case, I got hit with a ton of torque, and I'm actually good at those problems once I've reviewed them, but I hadn't studied them because there was almost no torque on any of the practice tests I took. It came as a shock, and I slowed down and didn't finish the section. But 2 days later (based on what I read here), it was mostly G Chem, and I would have gotten through those problems without getting clenched up. Luck of the draw.

So in the CBT age, I guess we have to expect the unexpected and study EVERYTHING. That seems to be the nature of the beast.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Members don't see this ad :)
student1799 said:
So in the CBT age, I guess we have to expect the unexpected and study EVERYTHING. That seems to be the nature of the beast.
Click to expand...

The nature of the beast today is The right day, at the right time, with the right luck. These tests are simply unpredictable, and have a significant amount of variance in their level of difficulty. One of my study partners (also a physics major), a guy who is smarter than me got a 28 PS 8 VR 10 BS 10 in April, took it again in May less than a month later, and ended up with 37 (PS 13 VR 11 BS 13. He said the test he took in May was much more straightforward and "AAMC like" than the one he took in April. You simply don't jump up by 9 points or drop by 9 points in such little time because of nervousness.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Wow 28 to 37 in 1 month, that is scary! I see what you mean, student1799 and mterp45... especially about the 22 tests/year meaning that content tested may fluctuate from test to test.

I guess like you said the only safe thing to do is to learn as much as you can and go into the test prepared for anything.

BUT I do think AAMC can at least keep the ratios equal (50:50 GChem/Phys)- that's odd they put MORE physics on some tests and MORE GenChem on others. That would seem to lend itself to problems in test replicability.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
In fact, another one of my buddies kept going in for tests and voiding until he got a test he liked. He took the august of last year and scored in the low 20s, took it again in Jan and voided, signed up for mid april and voided again. It wasn't until he got a test he liked in may that he actually submitted his test. He ended up with a 28.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
futuredoctor10 said:
^Wow that is real dedication. Sitting through the MCAT multiple times only to void the score!!!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't judge the guy. He is one of the few people I know who works as hard, if not harder than me. I have more respect for him than I do for 90% of the pre-meds I met in college. My point in making the statement above was to make allusion to test's unpredictability.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
mterp45 said:
In fact, another one of my buddies kept going in for tests and voiding until he got a test he liked. He took the august of last year and scored in the low 20s, took it again in Jan and voided, signed up for mid april and voided again. It wasn't until he got a test he liked in may that he actually submitted his test. He ended up with a 28.
Click to expand...

This is my plan.

I know I can break a 30 on the right test. I just need to get the right one for me. I took last Aug 20th and it was nothing like an AAMC or anything I have seen. All my practice tests are above a 30. Got a 24.

When you are going to be thousands in debt, $200 a couple times is not that much in the big picture.

Getting the MCAT score you want: priceless!!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I wouldn't judge the guy. He is one of the few people I know who works as hard, if not harder than me. I have more respect for him than I do for 90% of the pre-meds I met in college. My point in making the statement above was to make allusion to test's unpredictability.
Click to expand...
Mterp45 - sorry if my intention was not clear in my original post. I realize now how it sounds. I am in no way trying to judge your friend for taking it multiple times. It was more in admiration of his dedication and hardworking determination, as you say your friend has. :)

And, I also understand your point in indicating the test's unpredictable nature. It's disappointing that the tests vary so much from test date to test date!!!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
futuredoctor10 said:
Mterp45 - sorry if my intention was not clear in my original post. I realize now how it sounds. I am in no way trying to judge your friend for taking it multiple times. It was more in admiration of his dedication and hardworking determination, as you say your friend has. :)

And, I also understand your point in indicating the test's unpredictable nature. It's disappointing that the tests vary so much from test date to test date!!!
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for clarifying, I am sorry I misread your post. I appreciate it ;)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I know this thread ended in 2008 and I just so happen to stumble upon this thread while on the internet but all of the theories and topics discussed are very helpful. It does seem with the lengthening in the MCAT that the degree of difficulty does go slightly up and the fact that this is a random standardized test, anything could be on this test. There is a strong emphasis on genetics and molecular biology. This is funny to me since on the AAMC outline we have to know sooo much physiology. With physics being anyones guess i feel like this test is like playing the lottery. Sometimes you hit the right test similar to the AAMC and then sometimes you get that test that displays material you havent focused on as much..So the gesture I guess is to study everything 3 times over! geez.....louise.....:( The MCAT is a critical thinking test so you have to reach deep down into your long term memory to really analyze the passage and from that analyzation you POE the answer choices based on what you know, what the passage says, some calculation (praying the formula pops into your head), and randomly guess the right answer!:bang:
What does anyone else think about this topic?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Verbal is longer on the real test than any of the practice materials I used. Probably an extra paragraph longer on each passage compared to AAMCs
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
aauugh.. so even if you get comfortable with the aamc's then you can look forward to longer verbal, more calculations in physics, and a boatload of molecbio/genetics.

man, i wish there would be more GOOD news... i guess periodically freaking out motivates me to keep going though....
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

agentfaithmd
AAMC MCAT Official Prep Complete Bundle Worth It?
Replies
0
Views
2K
agentfaithmd
agentfaithmd
Mr.Smile12
AAMC MCAT Prep Team webinar December 10, 2024
Replies
1
Views
378
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Shelby Van Damme
  • Question
practice tests
Replies
0
Views
1K
Shelby Van Damme
Shelby Van Damme
E
What is the disparity between the Princeton review MCAT practice test and real MCAT?
Replies
2
Views
3K
ExAmateurEconomist
E
rutvan15
MCAT FL Practice Exams (Kaplan FL vs AAMC FL)
Replies
1
Views
951
I'mJustCurious
I'mJustCurious
Top