Different forms for the MCAT?

[hlchess]

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I heard that there are many different forms of the real MCAT test. I'm wondering how the forms differ from each other. Is it just different ordering of the questions and passages, or are the questions different?

Does anyone know about this?

 

[DrBowtie]

Different content and different order.

 

[Avalanche21]

Different content and different order.

Yep. Some forms were completely different than mine, while some had seemingly identical sections.

 

[hlchess]

So if the forms have different content, how do they set the curve fairly? If one form contains more difficult questions than another form, then people who take that form will get lower scores. How do they adjust the scaled scores to account for the different difficulty levels? Do they assume that the average intelligences of the people who take each form are equal, and set a curve for each form? Are there enough people who take each form to do that?

 

[Mister Pie]

So if the forms have different content, how do they set the curve fairly? If one form contains more difficult questions than another form, then people who take that form will get lower scores. How do they adjust the scaled scores to account for the different difficulty levels? Do they assume that the average intelligences of the people who take each form are equal, and set a curve for each form? Are there enough people who take each form to do that?

I think they randomly distribute the test forms across the nation with the assumption that doing so should account for variability in "intelligence" (I hate that word) amongst the test takers. The test is curved for each form on their own separate scales. I'm not sure how many people get each form, but I think around 30,000 (or is it 50?) take the test each adminstration so sample size probably isn't a problem. Someone who's recently taken stats can probably comment on this better than I can though.

 

[dipak_ramkumar]

The differences can vary any where from different ordering to different passages. I believe the curves for each form are also slightly different.

 

[DrBowtie]

Each form is graded. It is then set on a continueum. Forms that were too easy get a harsher curve and harder tests get a more lenient curve. It is all evened out and normalized.