520+ scorers, how'd you judge your performance before receiving score?

[Dirtybird]

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Took AAMC FL1 last week, got a 521 (131/128/132/130), taking my exam in 8 days

I remember feeling super comfortable with my C/P and B/B sections while taking AAMC FL1. I was confident in almost every single answer and figured that I was close to 100%, ended up 56/59 and 57/59.

For anybody who scored 130+ for each section on their actual MCAT, I was wondering if you also felt this sort of confidence with all the questions during the exam. The AAMC FL1 and the sample exam have given me the impression that it's well within reach to get every single answer correct, but I don't want any unnecessary anxiety if I find this isn't the case on test day.

At least on this practice material, it seems that you can't miss more than 4 or 5 questions if you want a 130+, but do you guys think this is an accurate assessment for the real thing? I've read posts saying FL1 might not be representative, real test is harder, etc.

 

[Dirtybird]

@mcatdoggo @aldol16 ?

 

[aldol16]

For anybody who scored 130+ for each section on their actual MCAT, I was wondering if you also felt this sort of confidence with all the questions during the exam. The AAMC FL1 and the sample exam have given me the impression that it's well within reach to get every single answer correct, but I don't want any unnecessary anxiety if I find this isn't the case on test day.

At least on this practice material, it seems that you can't miss more than 4 or 5 questions if you want a 130+, but do you guys think this is an accurate assessment for the real thing? I've read posts saying FL1 might not be representative, real test is harder, etc.

The AAMC FLs can give you a false sense of security if you studied to it - if you knew what was on it and studied those materials more than others, then you'd obviously get a good score on that exam. But if you studied all the topics on the MCAT carefully, then this is more likely to be representative. The real MCAT will test some sample of those topics and the FLs are supposed to just be samples of those topics as well. The sampling of topics on test day and on the FLs does not fully overlap. But in general, you can be confident that you will do well if you do well on the FLs.

Do not go into it expecting to get every question right because that view could take a hard hit early and ruin your psyche for the day. Each exam is different and the one you're given may be easy or hard. If it's easy, you might feel like you're getting all of them. If it's hard, you might not feel that way. But know that the "curve," or scaled scores, is designed the reflect that. If it's an easy test, you don't have as much room for error. If it's a hard test, you have more room for error and can achieve the same scaled score with more error.

 

[mcatdoggo]

Depends on the test and how the score is scaled. Tbh during the real exam I wasn't really focused on how I was doing or on keeping track of how many questions I felt confident about. I was a lil sleep deprived and focused all my energy on what was in front of me.

Congrats on the FL1 score. That takes a lot more than good luck. I would say try not to worry too much about your score but I know it's easier said than done.