Are Kaplan Tests Inflated?

[Bmewriter]

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I'm just wondering what's going on. I recently took these tests and scored high.

Kaplan FL 1 = 33
Kaplan FL 2 = 36
Kaplan FL 3 = 39
Kaplan FL 5 = 38

I mean its cool and all that I got these scores, but are the tests inflated? These are my first four practice tests btw...so I'm just wondering.

 

[Black Adder]

Yes, they are drastically inflated. Take the AAMC tests to get a good approximation for the real thing. The curve on the AAMC test is pretty much what you'll encounter on the actual MCAT.

 

[jammy22]

the curve is definitely easier on kaplan's FL, but the exams are tougher.

When I was doing my practice tests, I did a few kaplans first and then alternated back and forth and then ended with just aamc. At first my aamc scores were a few points lower than the kaplan, but my aamc scores crept up to the kaplan scores. On that note...Congrats on the scores! Keep up the hard work!

 

[pharaoh88]

From my experience, these tests are not helpful at all. The questions are confusing and poorly written, and the final score is not representative of the real deal AT ALL (missing 15 points on PS and getting a 10 or 11). Honestly, I would avoid these entirely and stick with practice passages from EK or another company and AAMC practice tests.

 

[Sharka]

the curve is definitely easier on kaplan's FL, but the exams are tougher.

When I was doing my practice tests, I did a few kaplans first and then alternated back and forth and then ended with just aamc. At first my aamc scores were a few points lower than the kaplan, but my aamc scores crept up to the kaplan scores. On that note...Congrats on the scores! Keep up the hard work!

i agree. kaplan questions are harder, but the curve is very/too generous. aamc question difficulty is pretty simple in comparison, but each mistake hurts.

 

[zogoto]

I took 9 out of 11 Kaplans and all 8 AAMCs.

My average scores were EXACTLY the same, although this trend may break down at lower scores and for different people (I was getting in the 39-43 range). Kaplan's curves are easier but the tests are very proportionally harder.

As for the real deal, the questions will be harder in difficulty than most AAMCs (except maybe 8-10), but easier than Kaplan. The passage style is much more like Kaplan than almost any AAMC. The AAMC tests go back 25-30 years, and the test has changed a LOT since then, taking into what kinds of things are taught in classes, etc. (Even 15 years ago we did not understand apoptosis, for example.)

To study, I would rely mainly on Kaplan. I would not trust the Kaplan scores for Kaplan 7-11 though, and would save AAMC 8-10 for the end. These last 3 tests are the closest to the real deal in terms of curve, difficulty, and passage style.

 

[DrDre2001]

I took 9 out of 11 Kaplans and all 8 AAMCs.

My average scores were EXACTLY the same, although this trend may break down at lower scores and for different people (I was getting in the 39-43 range). Kaplan's curves are easier but the tests are very proportionally harder.

As for the real deal, the questions will be harder in difficulty than most AAMCs (except maybe 8-10), but easier than Kaplan. The passage style is much more like Kaplan than almost any AAMC. The AAMC tests go back 25-30 years, and the test has changed a LOT since then, taking into what kinds of things are taught in classes, etc. (Even 15 years ago we did not understand apoptosis, for example.)

To study, I would rely mainly on Kaplan. I would not trust the Kaplan scores for Kaplan 7-11 though, and would save AAMC 8-10 for the end. These last 3 tests are the closest to the real deal in terms of curve, difficulty, and passage style.

I agree with much of this post.

Kaplan practice tests = harder questions, proportionally easier curve (or maybe slightly a little too lenient of a curve?)

AAMC practice tests = easy questions, difficult curve

real test = question difficulty is a lot like kaplan, and the curve is also a lot like kaplans (except it might be slightly little less lenient)


Oh, and does anyone know exactly how old each practice AAMC is? Does it say this somewhere on e-mcat.com?

 

[zogoto]

I agree with much of this post.

Kaplan practice tests = harder questions, proportionally easier curve (or maybe slightly a little too lenient of a curve?)

AAMC practice tests = easy questions, difficult curve

real test = question difficulty is a lot like kaplan, and the curve is also a lot like kaplans (except it might be slightly little less lenient)


Oh, and does anyone know exactly how old each practice AAMC is? Does it say this somewhere on e-mcat.com?

Correction: the real test does not have a curve that is like Kaplan, but the passage and question style is similar, even though the questions are easier than Kaplan. Missing 1 on PS or BS will often give you a 14 (sometimes you can miss 2). For Kaplan, that number is usually 4 or 5. AAMC 10 is from 2006 or 2007 (after CBT became standard) and the published curve reflects this.

I think you can see the MCAT copyright date somewhere on the test while or before taking it.

 

[greg1184]

Here were my score averages of my recent tests:

Kaplan: 32.5
AAMC: 31.5
Overall Average 32
Real score: 32

AAMC practice test curve is ridiculously strict. Kaplan's curve is more lenient because the tests are very hard. The real MCAT's curve is probably in between the two.

 

[215353]

Three comments:

I agree that Kaplan tests are harder with easier curves BUT couldn't your Kaplan scores also be really inflated because their verbal sections are the easiest verbal sections in the universe??????

The comment about the AAMC exams going back to 25-30 years is completely FALSE. The format of the MCAT given in the late 70's and 80's is not even remotely similar to the format given now. Look up the history of the MCAT on wikipedia (although not considered an accepted source of accurate information by professors) and you will see how the test has evolved over the 20th/ 21st centuries.

I have the original hard copy of AAMC MCAT 2 and the copyright date is 1991. So AAMC 3-10 were probably administered in a window from 1992 to 2006/07.

 

[Bmewriter]

Easiest verbal sections in the universe? I'm in trouble then >_<

I got 9,10,11,10 on my FLs and those were soooo not easy for me to get.

 

[jammy22]

I don't think that it is a universal fact that kaplan has the easiest verbal sections. The passages in kaplan are shorter than the aamc for the most part. But I also found them to be poorly written, which slows down reading pace (it did for me at least). For me, my aamc and kaplan scores were near identicle in both raw and scaled.

EK, on the other hand, was a breeze for me. This doesn't mean it is a breeze for everyone, because many people do swear by EK. I don't think it is possible to objectively define the difficulty of verbal passages because of the many variables and the wide variety of strengths and weaknesses going into it. Whereas, nearly everyone would agree that Kaplan PS is a killer. For verbal, I think you just have to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are and work on them with whichever company works for you and aamc.

 

[215353]

a verbal section is ridiculously easy if you can simply refer back to the passage and get your answer to each question. Kaplan does throw in a main idea question here or there but for the most part one can refer back to the passage for most questions in Kaplan verbal sections. Hence why people avoid using them altogether because the verbal section during the real MCAT is not this simple.

 

[DrDre2001]

I got an 11 on the real verbal section on test day, but i would only get like 9's and 10's on my practice kaplan exams. On the one aamc practice verbal section i took i got an 11.

I didn't really think the kaplan verbal sections were so easy. Maybe you knew something about how to attack kaplan's verbal questions that i didn't know.