April MCAT harder than AAMC tests?

[Turquoisey]

I took the april mcat- scored a 26. Taking the aamc tests...I score in the 30s everytime. Did anyone who took the april mcat find it more difficult than these tests? I just dont feel like these AAMC tests are like actual mcats. The verbal passages on the real thing had way more than three hard ones and the physics problems, at least to me, were impossible!! I am nervous that these arent good representations of our scores.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[hippocampus]

it was similar for me.. on the real thing, the physics was really hard, but the curve i guess was decent. i got the same physics as i did for 6R, the same bio for 7R, and the same verbal for 6R.. i think? i thought the real verbal was easier than anything i've done in the past, but my score wasn't that great, even though it was the highest i ever got on a practice test (still low) which was in 6R. anyway... i think aamc tests are easier regardless.. :*( aamc likes to trick us and make us feel better

 

[frany584]

i took the april mcat and i dont feel that test was anything like the tests AAMC gave us. i still did the AAMC tests again while studying for august, but i also did kaplan tests to get more practice and b/c ive heard kaplan FLs were apparently more difficult. but ive also heard ppl say their real score was real close to their AAMC practice scores, so i think it has a lot to do with anxiety as well (which i definitely had in april!).

 

[NilamPatel]

i think people are expecting the same score they are getting on the AAMC tests on the real thing, but i found to only use it as a range...expect somewhere in between. which sucks cuz it doesn't make me feel any better but that way you don't have false hope. :sigh: only 6 more days

 

[USArmyDoc]

I found the PS section to be much harder than the AAMC tests. However, I also did not have study correctly. I gauge my progress by how I am doing on the practice tests now versus how I did back then. I am doing much better on my practices, regardless if it was kaplan or AAMC. I just hope I can get my scores that I want.

 

[Turquoisey]

Well I would be very happy to be in my new score range. After I got my April score I could have died. I did a lot of practice work in the EK books. Kaplan honestly didnt do it for me. I found the actual mcat questions to be more like the aamc ones except harder. I think everybody should buy the 1001 books.

 

[USArmyDoc]

I also found the PS section to be harder than the AAMC tests because mine turned out to be mostly physics. I dislike physics with a passion so after that I felt bummed for the whole test.

 

[Turquoisey]

Oh yeah, April 2005 physics....oh god. That was rediculous.

 

[USArmyDoc]

I got the EK 1001 books also. They have been great!

 

[amberm4]

If the true MCAT is harder, then why are scores similiar? I scored 32 on #7 and #8. I'm hoping for the same (or better!), but it intimidates me to think some go down as many as 6-7 points on the real thing!

 

[speranza]

If the true MCAT is harder, then why are scores similiar? I scored 32 on #7 and #8. I'm hoping for the same (or better!), but it intimidates me to think some go down as many as 6-7 points on the real thing!

Yeah, I've been wondering this too. A lot of people (at least on SDN) even do much better than their practice tests. I know that the curve takes the difficulty into account, but if the real test is SO much harder, it would have to be an extremely generous curve to keep the scores the same or higher than practice test scores.

In any case, all this talk about how the incredibly hard the real test is is making me scared...

 

[mustangsally65]

In any case, all this talk about how the incredibly hard the real test is is making me scared...

Don't worry, it's not as bad as you think it will be. This will be the third time for me, and I'm still intimidated, so I don't think that part ever goes away, but just remember that everyone feels scared going into it the first time, but it will be done before you know it. I found that the first half of the day flew by the first time, even though PS is probably my worst section.

Good luck on Saturday!

 

[jon0013]

i also went down 6-7 points....but just dont psych yourself out...remember that if its hard for you. its hard for everyone....the curve will take care of itself...concentrate, have a short memory...and dont dwell on a few questions...

just expect a challenge and dont crumble when the time comes and things will work out...

 

[USArmyDoc]

I am surprised you guys are going down 4 plus points. I stayed right where my diags were. I remember it being hard but no where as hard enough to destroy you. Maybe it was some major test anxiety?

 

[toxin]

Im surprised as well that ppl are going down especially on aamc 8. I took 4 so far and have been in the same range.

aamc 3: 33
6: 32
7: 32
8: 33

good luck to everyone this sat. be confident and respectfull and you will do fine

 

[RayhanS1282]

I took the april mcat- scored a 26. Taking the aamc tests...I score in the 30s everytime. Did anyone who took the april mcat find it more difficult than these tests? I just dont feel like these AAMC tests are like actual mcats. The verbal passages on the real thing had way more than three hard ones and the physics problems, at least to me, were impossible!! I am nervous that these arent good representations of our scores.

I will agree that the April MCAT was difficult than any of the AAMC practice exams. The PS was especially brutal. But I think AAMC took the difficulty into consideration and gave a very generour curve. I still think that AAMC exams are good representations of your potential score. And speaking from experience, AAMC 8 predicted my score dead on, even to the point of individual scores on every section.

 

[Turquoisey]

Well I really hope everyone does well especially if you have been getting good AAMC scores. I like to hear that they are similar- it just didnt work out for me the first time. I mean how do you go from the 30's to a 26?? This is prob the last time I will take this exam- its completely draining.

 

[jintonic5]

Well I really hope everyone does well especially if you have been getting good AAMC scores. I like to hear that they are similar- it just didnt work out for me the first time. I mean how do you go from the 30's to a 26?? This is prob the last time I will take this exam- its completely draining.

tell me about it... i was scoring mid-high 30's, but i took aamc 6r yesterday and scored a 32 so pissed.

 

[amizle]

my highest diag score for the april test was a 23 and i got a 28 on the real thing. not sure what it was...maybe i was just concentrating more, or it was one of those days

 

[67192]

My Kaplan tests were 28-32 (or 33, can't remember) and the AAMC practice tests I took were 33-35. I got a 31 on the April '05 test. I was a little disappointed. Thought the VR was very challenging and had to push hard to get through it. My advice to everyone taking the upcoming test: just get through the test. You'll probably have a section you don't do well in, but you'll be okay overall.

 

[CoffeeCat]

Also I've noticed with my own practice that if I feel like a test is hard, all of a sudden I start getting easy ones wrong due to lack of confidence so let's keep it up, regardless of what they throw at us!!

 

[jc11011]

People who perform poorly (when compared to other AAMC exams) on the day of suffer from one of three things: 1) A weak part of your knowledge was overrepresented on the real deal, 2) You were "cheating" on your practices (taking longer breaks, giving yourself a few extra right answer choices because you have the answer key, etc.), or 3) You had a bad day concentrating due to anxiety, sickness, etc.

There are ways that you can prevent all three of this things from happening, all of which are very logical. This is the week in which you should be doing all of these things! 1) Brush up on your weak areas. 2) Take an HONEST AAMC diagnostic to know where you are realistically. 3) Chill the **** out, start going to bed (and waking up) early, and eat regularly.


GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!!!

 

[speedyIs]

April one was way too hard for me and I ended up cancelling my test. I hope I will stay till the end this time!!

 

[wetlightning]

april 05...way harder than aamc, close to kaplans (except on bio, on bio it was harder)

good luck all!

 

[mrhealth]

My Kaplan tests were 28-32 (or 33, can't remember) and the AAMC practice tests I took were 33-35. I got a 31 on the April '05 test. I was a little disappointed. Thought the VR was very challenging and had to push hard to get through it. My advice to everyone taking the upcoming test: just get through the test. You'll probably have a section you don't do well in, but you'll be okay overall.

those are my scores exactly (except for the actual which i havent taken yet). i certainly hope my actual test is on par with my aamcs and not kaplan

 

[kalenakai]

i plateaued my practice mcat socres at 30-31 a few weeks before the april 2005 exam. however, i was surprised that i scored a 33Q. many say that the physics section on the april 2005 exam was hard--and i agree--but i somehow got a 13. must have been a fluke. didnt fare so well with the others though.

keep in mind that there are 3-4 different versions (with different questions/order) floating around on test day, each graded and standardized on its own scale. good luck to all those taking the mcat this saturday!!!

 

[hoomsy]

I took the april mcat- scored a 26. Taking the aamc tests...I score in the 30s everytime. Did anyone who took the april mcat find it more difficult than these tests? I just dont feel like these AAMC tests are like actual mcats. The verbal passages on the real thing had way more than three hard ones and the physics problems, at least to me, were impossible!! I am nervous that these arent good representations of our scores.

Hey,

I dunno... I wrote the April 2005 exam. I got 11 in phys. I'm retaking the August exam because of a crappy verbal. Anyhow...I'm doing all the AAMC exams....My Phys science is about the same...sometimes maybe a point or 2 higher but basically the same. I guess it shouldn't really matter if an exam is harder or easier right? Isn't it scaled anyways? Like when I took the April exam. I skipped 2 passages (I didn't have time). I thought I did horrible....but I didn't do bad.