august 2006 curve

[kilog]

word is that this past summer's test had a harsher curve than it's spring counterpart...i feel like i've heard this kind of thing before. is there any truth to that? do adcoms acknowledge these things?

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[Schaden Freud]

The curve is the great equalizer. It assures that adcoms DON'T have to consider MCAT scores from different administrations differently.

word is that this past summer's test had a harsher curve than it's spring counterpart...i feel like i've heard this kind of thing before. is there any truth to that? do adcoms acknowledge these things?

 

[IckeyShuffle]

The curve is the great equalizer. It assures that adcoms DON'T have to consider MCAT scores from different administrations differently.

It is a standardized test. Everyone has the same curve everytime as it is adjusted accordingly. That is the point of a standardized test.

 

[gotmeds?]

Actually, the average score on the August MCAT was about a point lower than April. They have the stats up somewhere on the AAMC site.

 

[Haemulon]

Actually, the average score on the August MCAT was about a point lower than April. They have the stats up somewhere on the AAMC site.

Have you considered that the average test taker may have performed differently in August than in April? I have no idea, just sayin. The scaling should be a good equalizer between administrations.

 

[redsoxfan]

the aug exam was def curved higher. for example my "11" in VR was in the 87%. 87% on the april exam would have been 12 or 13. adcoms know that aug mcat takers have more time to study (theoretically) as opposed to the traditional undergrad studying for the april exam. therefore they scale differently to make up for this and so scores are representative over time.

 

[drizzt3117]

the aug exam was def curved higher. for example my "11" in VR was in the 87%. 87% on the april exam would have been 12 or 13. adcoms know that aug mcat takers have more time to study (theoretically) as opposed to the traditional undergrad studying for the april exam. therefore they scale differently to make up for this and so scores are representative over time.

I think the august curve was pretty generous for PS, either that or they threw out a lot of questions. Most people I talked to said PS was pretty hard, but their scores didn't reflect that. I've heard that most ppl consider the august test to have a harder curve than April, but I'm not sure about that, and who knows what is going to happen going forward with 22 administrations...