AAMC Question Packs vs Kaplan

[TedCruz]

I have been preparing for the May 20th MCAT with a Kaplan course. I have been doing the Kaplan full lengths and found them to be pretty difficult and the passages pretty confusing. On the AAMC question packs, the passages are much more straightforward and the questions easier. I've heard Kaplan is harder than the actual exam but by how much? Are the question packs from AAMC representative of the actual difficulty of the exam? Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Terror Billy]

I would not put much stock into Kaplan scores. From what they had last year their tests were not very representative of the AAMC FLs

 

[Ad2b]

If you are an attending physician, why are you studying for the MCAT?

Kaplan does not = AAMC... use it for strategies. The rationale behind their FLs is to make them so darn hard that when you take the real thing, or even take the practice AAMC tests, they seem much easier. Which should alleviate some stress.

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

Do you have access to the AAMC section banks as well? The question packs (like anything made by the AAMC) are great practice in terms of getting used to AAMC style / wording, but they're taken from "old" AAMC resources (the AAMC practice tests for the old exam as well as the self-assessments). In contrast, the section banks were created for the current exam. The general consensus (which I wholeheartedly agree with) is that the section banks are significantly harder than the Qpacks, and arguably harder than any resource the AAMC has published in recent memory. They also have quite a few dense, more experimental or "reasoning-based" passages, as well as a heavy focus on the "new" topics (biochem especially). While it's certainly true that no company can perfectly mimic the AAMC, I think you'll find that the section banks are more similar to what you've seen from Kaplan or any other resource that is out today.

Not that the Qpacks are bad - their relative straightforwardness actually gives them some advantages. For one, if you miss a question from the Qpacks, it's usually pretty easy to see where you went wrong, so they can provide a good segue from Kaplan into AAMC materials. The questions you miss in the Qpacks can also tell you so much - after all, if they really are "that" straightforward, any question that you miss is something that is likely avoidable, and almost certainly reflects a trap you'll be prone to falling into in the future. But the key is always a good balance between the resources you have available.

 

[aldol16]

Kaplan FLs are not terribly representative of the MCAT. In terms of difficulty, some questions do come pretty close. But here's what I know for sure. The AAMC QPacks are not representative of the difficulty of the exam. They are too easy. So are the AAMC Sample and Scored FLs. These represent the easy spectrum of the MCAT. On test day, you might get an easy version of the test. But my philosophy has always been to prepare for the chance that you get a hard version (I got a hard version). So the Section Bank passages will give you a feel for what the hard questions will be like. On the real exam, you will likely get a mix of easy and hard passages, again depending on the version of the exam you get.