Are the actual MCAT curves any different than the AAMC ones?

[missdoctor]

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I know (I think) that the curves given for AAMC tests 3-10 are the actual curves that were used when those tests were administered.. but is it at all possible that the actual MCAT curves are more generous?

I look at practice test 10... and see that 10 wrong out of 52 in PS and BS you're already down to a 10, 10 wrong in VR you're down to a 9.

Has it really gotten to the point that nowadays if you want a 30+ MCAT you can't afford to get more than 10 questions wrong per section? This seems so difficult.. or maybe I just need to study a lot more 😕

 

[apumic]

They vary by exam. Chances are they will be less generous (or similar -- not more), as the applicant pool has become, if anything, increasingly competitive. If you're getting 10+ wrong/section, which means you're getting <85% of the problems right, you need to study more. The practice tests are generally considered easier than the real MCAT.

 

[PennFranklin]

The fact is, they don't give you your actual numerical breakdown of how many questions you got right/wrong on the real MCAT. The most accurate assesment of how you're going to do on the real thing is how you do on the practice AAMC tests. And yes, 10+ wrong on every section is missing too many questions. Try and pinpoint your mistakes. Are you missing questions because you don't understand the underlying concepts? Or are you just making careless errors? Learning to minimize your mistakes on the real MCAT is crucial to scoring well, esp if you want to score 35+ where missing 1-2 questions can make a huge difference in a section.

 

[UnclePhil]

I know (I think) that the curves given for AAMC tests 3-10 are the actual curves that were used when those tests were administered.. but is it at all possible that the actual MCAT curves are more generous?

I look at practice test 10... and see that 10 wrong out of 52 in PS and BS you're already down to a 10, 10 wrong in VR you're down to a 9.

Has it really gotten to the point that nowadays if you want a 30+ MCAT you can't afford to get more than 10 questions wrong per section? This seems so difficult.. or maybe I just need to study a lot more 😕

10 questions is a lot in a section. The AAMC 10 curve is pretty tough but even then 10 questions is a lot. I missed 3 in PS and only got a 13, and 5 in VR and only got an 11. Which makes it incredible to me that you can miss 10 and still get a 9 on that test. Forgot what I got in BS. But I was amazed at how low my scaled scores were...

The actual MCAT curve might be more generous or around the same, but the actual exam is a lot harder.

 

[Prateek]

10 questions is a lot in a section. The AAMC 10 curve is pretty tough but even then 10 questions is a lot. I missed 3 in PS and only got a 13, and 5 in VR and only got an 11. Which makes it incredible to me that you can miss 10 and still get a 9 on that test. Forgot what I got in BS. But I was amazed at how low my scaled scores were...

35/40 seems like a standard 11 at least from the EK scales

 

[UnclePhil]

I feel like on most AAMCs I usually miss 7-8 and get 10 or 11. I might be wrong, I've tried to block that out of my mind.

 

[missdoctor]

10 questions is a lot in a section. The AAMC 10 curve is pretty tough but even then 10 questions is a lot. I missed 3 in PS and only got a 13, and 5 in VR and only got an 11. Which makes it incredible to me that you can miss 10 and still get a 9 on that test. Forgot what I got in BS. But I was amazed at how low my scaled scores were...

The actual MCAT curve might be more generous or around the same, but the actual exam is a lot harder.

This makes sense. I wonder about the people who say that afterwards they felt they did absolutely terrible and didn't know how to answer a lot of the questions ,and end up with high 30s or even low 30s. How can you think you did HORRIBLE and then only get 5 questions wrong? As I read these forums I see that a lot. Perhaps they're not being truthful about their score or just got lucky? It just seems to me if you take an MCAT and are averaging 5 ques wrong per section, you'd have to feel somewhat confident you did well. Or maybe no one ever feels remotely good after taking this test. ugh.

 

[BlitzSleep]

This makes sense. I wonder about the people who say that afterwards they felt they did absolutely terrible and didn't know how to answer a lot of the questions ,and end up with high 30s or even low 30s. How can you think you did HORRIBLE and then only get 5 questions wrong? As I read these forums I see that a lot. Perhaps they're not being truthful about their score or just got lucky? It just seems to me if you take an MCAT and are averaging 5 ques wrong per section, you'd have to feel somewhat confident you did well. Or maybe no one ever feels remotely good after taking this test. ugh.

There are quite a few possible reasons why someone would say/think they did horrible (prescore):

1. They do not want to jynx themselves
2. People have high expectations, if they didn't know how to answer a few questions, they will dwell on that and those questions are the only ones they think about, hence in their head they believe they did really bad.
3. They didn't know some of the answers, but are very good guessers.
4. They really don't know how they did, so they tell people they did horrible instead of good or alright so they don't disappoint friends/family when they get scores back.
5. They could be a gunner trying to psych you out hahaha

 

[PennFranklin]

This makes sense. I wonder about the people who say that afterwards they felt they did absolutely terrible and didn't know how to answer a lot of the questions ,and end up with high 30s or even low 30s. How can you think you did HORRIBLE and then only get 5 questions wrong? As I read these forums I see that a lot. Perhaps they're not being truthful about their score or just got lucky? It just seems to me if you take an MCAT and are averaging 5 ques wrong per section, you'd have to feel somewhat confident you did well. Or maybe no one ever feels remotely good after taking this test. ugh.

Trust me, no one feels good after doing battle with the beast. Think about it, you spend 5 long hours focusing as hard as you can trying to get every question right, and as soon as your done you leave knowing that you have to wait the longest 30 days of your life to find out the results of the most important test youre ever going to take. Definitely not a recipe for a good time.

 

[UnclePhil]

This makes sense. I wonder about the people who say that afterwards they felt they did absolutely terrible and didn't know how to answer a lot of the questions ,and end up with high 30s or even low 30s. How can you think you did HORRIBLE and then only get 5 questions wrong? As I read these forums I see that a lot. Perhaps they're not being truthful about their score or just got lucky? It just seems to me if you take an MCAT and are averaging 5 ques wrong per section, you'd have to feel somewhat confident you did well. Or maybe no one ever feels remotely good after taking this test. ugh.

because something like verbal is a huge crapshoot.

the thing is i can feel terrible about a section and then look at the answers and turns out, i've only missed 5-6 questions and got like... an 11 or something. and then other times, i feel great, finished everything early and turns out i've bombed vr, missed like 15 questions and got an 8 and i'm like wtf. part of it comes from the fact that there are just a lot of questions out there (most of the questions) that you never truly feel 100% confident on. or even 90% confident on. to see your scores on practices afterwards can really shake your confidence, even if its better than you expected.