POLL: worlds most specific real MCAT vs. AAMC (& Kaplan FL)

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MCATsMyMistress

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LET ME START OFF BY SAYING I KNOW THIS IS A VERY SPECIFIC POLL, BUT THIS MAY HELP TO GET A CLEARER PICTURE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRACTICE TESTS & THE REAL MCAT.

1) How did you do on the real MCAT vs. AAMC practice tests?
2) How about the real MCAT vs. Kaplan full length practice tests?
3) Which AAMC practice test or Kaplan FL did you feel what closest to your real MCAT score (how close? give specific scores)?

4) Also, are there certain tests (probably mostly AAMC) that are known for certain things such as being easy, hard, etc. List what you think, or others have said about each exam if you know anything. (Kaplan FLs can be included as well)

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My score was the same as AAMC9 and 10. But the nature of the tests were so different. I probably could have scored better on 9 and 10, but by then I was so tired of studying that I wasn't checking any of my work, even with 15+ minutes left in the sciences.
 
last AAMC test i scored a 27 (my highgest AAMC score). Real deal I scored a 28R. I also voted that MCAT was exactly like AAMC. Similar in terms of length of questions, lenghts of passages, and difficulty of questions/passages. The only thing that wasn't similar was distribution of ochem and bio. for AAMC they have way more ochem than was actually on my test. on the real deal i only had 2 passages for a total of like 10 quesitons. No stand alones.
 
last AAMC test i scored a 27 (my highgest AAMC score). Real deal I scored a 28R. I also voted that MCAT was exactly like AAMC. Similar in terms of length of questions, lenghts of passages, and difficulty of questions/passages. The only thing that wasn't similar was distribution of ochem and bio. for AAMC they have way more ochem than was actually on my test. on the real deal i only had 2 passages for a total of like 10 quesitons. No stand alones.

Thanks, very useful info! Do you have any opinions about the Kaplan FL vs. real MCAT? From what I can tell they differ more than the AAMC tests.
 
Great survey for the AAMC predictability. It looks so far like the AAMC is a good score prognosticator, even if people feel it's easier than their actual MCAT. It also supports the notion that the curve is stable from year-to-year given that some of the AAMC practice exams are pretty old.

In my humble opinion, I tend to think people mis-estimate the easiness of the AAMC practice exams because they can read the answer explanations. Tests always seem easier once you read the answer key.

It also supports the reality that AAMC has all of us test prep folks beat when it comes to indicative exams. We are all battling each other for second place.
 
It also supports the reality that AAMC has all of us test prep folks beat when it comes to indicative exams. We are all battling each other for second place.
Yea, that's what I was expecting. Only 20 people have voted however, so maybe it's too early to call, but I expect that AAMC will come out as the more accurate of the two because they are old (actual) exams, so that would make sense.
Let me guess, you prefer TPR? :laugh: jk
 
Thanks, very useful info! Do you have any opinions about the Kaplan FL vs. real MCAT? From what I can tell they differ more than the AAMC tests.

I bought a kaplan book that consisted of just two practice test...i'm not sure if that is considered a kaplan FL....but either way, i took it as practice for passages and questions. I feel that their curve is way messed up. They make the curve really hard for VR and really easy for PS and BS.... Like i said i didnt pay attention to my overall score i just used it for practice.
 
Bump :ninja:

Why the ninja? because I like it ! (not really sure what the ninja is for, but I need to use it more often)
 
I bought a kaplan book that consisted of just two practice test...i'm not sure if that is considered a kaplan FL....but either way, i took it as practice for passages and questions. I feel that their curve is way messed up. They make the curve really hard for VR and really easy for PS and BS.... Like i said i didnt pay attention to my overall score i just used it for practice.

For PS it is really easy and messed up (you can miss up to 9 and get a 15!). VR is really hard and messed up (miss 5 Q's and you're at a 10 lol ). BS was pretty close. I just took the second exam in that book on sunday and got a 35 (14P/9V/12B). I compared this score to the AAMC scales and they were close (~11P/~11V/~12B), so physical sci took a bit of a dive, verbal got a bit of a boost, and bio was about the same (obviously these are rough estimates based on the ranges of all of the AAMC practice exams).
 
For PS it is really easy and messed up (you can miss up to 9 and get a 15!). VR is really hard and messed up (miss 5 Q's and you're at a 10 lol ). BS was pretty close. I just took the second exam in that book on sunday and got a 35 (14P/9V/12B). I compared this score to the AAMC scales and they were close (~11P/~11V/~12B), so physical sci took a bit of a dive, verbal got a bit of a boost, and bio was about the same (obviously these are rough estimates based on the ranges of all of the AAMC practice exams).
do either of you know if exams from that book (Kaplan practice exams) that they sell in bookstores are the same as the exams given on the Kaplan online class?
 
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