Curve - April vs. August

[pharm1234]

Is there any truth to April having a better curve than August? That is if you have the exact same performance on both dates will you end up with a higher score for April? If so, by how much?

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[DrVanNostran]

I dont think anyone can answer that fully, but I think everyone ASSUMES that April test has a better curve, but who knows

 

[Re3iRtH]

Is there any truth to April having a better curve than August? That is if you have the exact same performance on both dates will you end up with a higher score for April? If so, by how much?

Yes Pharm that is correct, but not by much. Go to the AAMC
web site, they posted statistics from April 2005 and August 2005.
It seems as if the means from august were slighty lower.

 

[DrVanNostran]

August does have all the retakers who have studied double, plus people who devoted an entire summer so it does make sense that it would be harder to score well on the August test. Im still fuming over a question or two from PS, time to go find another thread to vent

 

[nassir]

Yah I heard that bc the number of students taking the aug exam is much larger, the mean is harder and the curve is harder bc there is an incredible amount of geniuses within the pool. I heard it is easier to do well iin April bc less students are taking it and more and not as prepared bc majority are taking classes as well. Not sure if these remarks are true though.

 

[docolive]

We can only hope! I try not to speculate because I thought August had a (supposed) better curve due to the level of difficulty. However, when I got my scores back in August, I felt as though the numbers were as raw and unfettered as they could get. I hope April is better

 

[Orthodoc40]

The 2 April tests I've taken were ridiculously difficult, and the August test I took was elementary level easy. I thought I did a LOT better in August, but only slightly improved from last April. Yesterday was just too depressing to think about.

 

[GujuMD]

Someone told me that the curve for April is better because most of the people who take April are also taking full load of college classes. and the people in August have three months of just MCAT. So everyone in August does better because they are better prepared for it, and since everyone does better, the curve is higher.

 

[Madcoomofo]

Yes Pharm that is correct, but not by much. Go to the AAMC
web site, they posted statistics from April 2005 and August 2005.
It seems as if the means from august were slighty lower.

Could you explain?