Considerable fluctuations in MCAT practice tests

[Salad1n]

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My practice test scores are all over the place and it's hard for me to get an idea of what kind of score I can expect on the real one. Needless to say, this is very uncomforting. Sequentially:

Kaplan diagnostic: 24 (6PS/11VR/7BS)
Kaplan FL #1: 22 (8/6/8)
Kaplan #2: 31 (13/8/10)
Kaplan #3: 30 (11/9/10)
Kaplan #4: 29 (9/8/12)
Kaplan #5: 29 (10/9/10)
Kaplan #6: 32 (11/9/12)
AAMC #3: 30 (11/9/10)
Kaplan #7: 35 (12/10/13)
AAMC #4: 27 (9/8/10)

Kaplan 1-6 were taken ~1 week after each other. AAMC 3, Kaplan 7 were taken back to back days, and AAMC 4 was taken after 1 day after Kaplan 7. The 27 on #4 has shaken my confidence. Have I hit my plateau or am I burning out? Aiming for a 30, test is Aug. 5.

 

[SN2ed]

General Guidelines for Reviewing:

- Go over EVERY question. Both the ones you got right and the ones you got wrong.
- Reviewing should take 2-3 times longer than taking the timed practice problems.
- If your tests are fluctuating, it is due to the different topics on the various tests. In other words, you have some glaring weaknesses that when targeted, nail you, badly. You have to find out what those weaknesses are because they are evident by your scores. Do NOT dismiss any wrong answer as a "stupid mistake." You made that error for a reason. Go over your tests again.
- You might want to consider making a log for all of your post test results where you work through the questions below. Doing so, you'll be able to easily notice trends.

Some things to go over when reviewing:

1. Why did you get the question wrong? Why did you get the question right?
2. What question and passage types get you?
3. How is your mindset when facing a particular passage?
4. Are you stressed for time?
5. Where are your mistakes happening the most? Are they front loaded? Are they at the end? All over?
6. What was your thought process for both the questions you got right and the ones you got wrong?
7. For verbal, what was the author's mindset and main idea?
8. Did you eliminate all of the answer choices you could from first glance?
ex. You know an answer should be a positive number so you cross out all of the negative number answer choices.
9. What content areas are you weak in?
10. How can you improve so you don't make the same mistake again?

 

[isasmommy]

Hey, I think part of your fluctuation is between topics covered in PS that seems to be the section that fluctuates the most for you. Also between types of test your score will change because of the difficulty. The Kaplan tests tend to be easier in the PS sections so I would recommend taking more AAMCs closer to your test day to give you a more realistic view of your score. That said I think you can bring your score into the range you want. Just keep doing practice passages specially for VR that seems to be your weakest area and will only really improve with practice.

HOpe this helps! Good luck!

 

[soundnin]

Hey, I think part of your fluctuation is between topics covered in PS that seems to be the section that fluctuates the most for you. Also between types of test your score will change because of the difficulty. The Kaplan tests tend to be easier in the PS sections so I would recommend taking more AAMCs closer to your test day to give you a more realistic view of your score. That said I think you can bring your score into the range you want. Just keep doing practice passages specially for VR that seems to be your weakest area and will only really improve with practice.

HOpe this helps! Good luck!

Weird. I'm finding the AAMC PS (and BS for that matter) a lot easier than the Kaplan. But I'm also using old Kaplan material from 2005 back when the test was structured differently. But yes I agree that differences in test source can account for the fluctuations a bit, one way or the other.

 

[Salad1n]

Thanks for the reply guys. Yes, I do have some weaknesses in PS, and verbal...well, I haven't seen much improvement since I started studying even after doing 12 of the EK 101. I just suck at it I guess, but I don't know how I could get an 11 from Kaplan's diagnostic. I will definitely be methodical in my analysis of every test and brush up on my weaknesses. Here's to another 3 weeks of torture.

 

[NickNaylor]

Fluctuating scores are usually indicative of weak content mastery or random areas of weakness. If you're using the AAMC tests I would definitely use the topic breakdown on the score report to get an idea of where you should focus.