Aamc 3-8

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meliora27

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I have AAMC 3 through 8 left to take. Of these, are any of them perceived to be easier or harder than others. I know that the exams are ultimately curved but I was curious about the "gut feeling" about these exams. Thanks

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exam 3 is typically seen as the easiest one, and most people tend to score high on that. I took them all and i think a good rule of thumb is the lower numbered tests tend to be easier while 8-10 are a bit harder. I think either 8 or 10 was the hardest? Though honestly, none of them were even close to as hard as the real mcat i took last march!
 
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in general people say 7-10 are the most representative. So make sure you take those if you arent going to take all of them. And you might as well take 3 because its free.

People will always b*tch about how the real MCAT was harder, but regarless most people are satisfied when they get their scores back in the sense that their real score falls into their AAMC range of scores (which is exactly what the AAMC tests are supposed to do).
 
Yea i agree with the post above, the real one is much harder. But if i were you i would do them all (including 3,4,5). B/c not only are practice test important for understanding the content, I believe they help you gain speed.

Despite 3 being easier, a lot of people do not do well on that exam, b/c it is the first (and their timing is not down yet). Take those, before you go straight to 7 or 8, b/c that is going to be quite a transition.....
 
For me it completely depended on the passages. I thought 3 was the hardest and got my lowest score (it was also my first...) and I thought 7, 8, and 9 were easiest, but not by a ton, than the earlier ones. I took them in the following order: 3, 10, 9, 8, 7, 4, 5, 6. I don't know why I did this but whatever. Overall my score only really deviated by +/- one point on every test, almost always hitting my average on the nose. I varied on each section though by +/- two points. There were a few passages that I thought were totally representative of the real test, ussually one or 2 per section per test. The most representative are as follows:

These were in PS:
The earthquake doppler passage
The particle accelerator passage
The counting avagadros number passage
The electrolysis of solids passage
The melting of solids passage

In BS:
The evolution of lizards passage
The firefighter response passage
The respiratory system 4 question passage
The tetrahymea reproduction passage
The developing embryo juxtaposition passage
Pretty much all the ochems except the CBT 6's

Ussually the real MCAT passages questions are like these in difficulty, but are longer in format and contain much more extraneous information. If I could do it over I wouldnt change anything except taking these tests while freaking out with your classmates or study partners in a library or similair location, to better get in the mind set for test day although this still might not completely prepare you.
 
Thanks for the detailed response. I really appreciate it. BTW, do you recall the renal question from #3 in the BS section. Was it me or was that passage particularly difficult?
 
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