AAMC 8 vs Kaplan FL 5; Need input

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Vanguard23

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ok, I took the Kaplan 5 yesterday(actually, I had to take it in two sessions because I had a BAD sinus infection when I started it and had to stop in the middle of the verbal, so my score was ****ed up on that) and I just now finished the AAMC CBT 8.

Here are the scores:

Kaplan FL 5: 10 6 11 Total: 27
AAMC CBT 8: 7 7 9 Total: 23

(pitiful on the AAMC one, I know)
Suffice to say, I was disappointed on the AAMC considering I *found* it easier, but I suppose I was just too damn tired to take it like I should have.
Anyways, here are the respective percentages correct:

Kaplan FL 5: 56% 40% 71%
AAMC CBT 8: 60% 60% 69%


Should I be that depressed? Overall, I did about the same, percentage wise(yes, I know it's supposed to be a bit easier, with the Kaplan curving at a varying rate per section) but my scores per section were drastically different.
Is the AAMC score not curved at all? What should a test of that difficulty be curved at?
Settings were timed, all levels of difficulty and everything else to set it as standard to the real thing.

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The AAMC test is easier than the Kaplan, but the curve is tighter. On the Kaplan tests you can actually not finish the exam and still get a double digit score because the curve is so generous, and the questions are so much harder.
 
ok, I took the Kaplan 5 yesterday(actually, I had to take it in two sessions because I had a BAD sinus infection when I started it and had to stop in the middle of the verbal, so my score was ****ed up on that) and I just now finished the AAMC CBT 8.

Here are the scores:

Kaplan FL 5: 10 6 11 Total: 27
AAMC CBT 8: 7 7 9 Total: 23

(pitiful on the AAMC one, I know)
Suffice to say, I was disappointed on the AAMC considering I *found* it easier, but I suppose I was just too damn tired to take it like I should have.
Anyways, here are the respective percentages correct:

Kaplan FL 5: 56% 40% 71%
AAMC CBT 8: 60% 60% 69%


Should I be that depressed? Overall, I did about the same, percentage wise(yes, I know it's supposed to be a bit easier, with the Kaplan curving at a varying rate per section) but my scores per section were drastically different.
Is the AAMC score not curved at all? What should a test of that difficulty be curved at?
Settings were timed, all levels of difficulty and everything else to set it as standard to the real thing.

thats F**cking depressing
 
The AAMC score is accurate (and it is curved, that's why you only have 1-2 misses allowed, if even that, to get a 15, while for Kaplan it's usually 3+).

If you're missing 40% there's still a lot of the basic content you're not grasping.. I would review the concepts for the questions you got wrong before going ahead and taking more tests.
 
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It's weird, because most of the test(namely the Physics) I *found* easy. I just have no idea why I missed them. Bleh. I honestly think it's the way some of the passage questions were asked, but I'd better get used to it, either way.
One question that got me on AAMC CBT 8 was 49 in the PS section. One of the values in the answer choices(this 'q') is not in the diagram. I was sitting there wondering what the **** it was.
edit: Ok, I just went through the PS section of CBT 8 and found that I missed a lot of questions that weren't so much dependent on my understanding of the material, but on how the passage gave the information and how the questions were asked and such. I think I need to work on my test relations too.:)
 
Based on what you said, you might want to zero in on the verbal reasoning section. Improving their will likely improve your deficiencies in the others as well since you were misinterpreting the passages. Have you looked at the EK Verbal? Some people seem to really like it better than Kaplan and they say it is much closer to the AAMC style. I personally hate the Kaplan verbal and do a lot better on the AAMC tests. Maybe that would help you.
 
Based on what you said, you might want to zero in on the verbal reasoning section. Improving their will likely improve your deficiencies in the others as well since you were misinterpreting the passages. Have you looked at the EK Verbal? Some people seem to really like it better than Kaplan and they say it is much closer to the AAMC style. I personally hate the Kaplan verbal and do a lot better on the AAMC tests. Maybe that would help you.
Well, thing is that I usually do *better* on the verbal(like 9's and 10's on the Kaplan tests for most sections). Maybe this test was just a fluke, but your recommendation about concentrating on the verbal will be taken to heart.
I have the EK Verbal section book.
 
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