difficulty of 1/27 cbt

[Delilah]

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i was scoring low 30s consistently on my practice tests (V - 8/9, PS - 10-12, BS - 10-11). but now i fear that i might have bombed it. actually, more like i'm really ambivalent about how i did. i have no idea. the curve is so much tougher on this shorter version. on the paper version, you could get 20 wrong and still score a 10. on this version, over 10 wrong brings you at a 9 according to the aamc scale. is this same scale gonna hold on the real test? i thought the test was considerably harder than my practice tests.

anxious. anxious. anxious.

 

[Gospe1]

I feel the same way. i scored 39 on AAMC 10 and I was pretty confident about this exam. The PS went fine but the verbal was a mess. One of my passages didn't line up with the question so the proctor had to call tech support. By this time I had wasted about 10 minutes already. They said that they already knew about the problem and to just go on. Now I am completely flustered, and my next passage is way way hard. I can't go into the details but lets just say it was completely conceptual. Then BS was definitely harder than I remember it. My first passage was something I had never seen before. The Orgo was ok through.

Anxious^2

 

[Misfit!]

is this same scale gonna hold on the real test?

No. The real test always feels harder, but people usually tend to do around the same as practice tests (except for me, but that's because I didn't finish much of some of the sections when I took it in august).
Try to chill out for 4 weeks!

 

[babycapybara]

i feel horrible. partially because of the stupid verbal passage that didnt match up. also the breaks were too short and the fingerprinting machine took so long to get right that it took about 5 minutes off the 10 min break.
arrrghhhh

 

[collinscs]

i'm with all of you. i thought it was alot harder than the practice tests. especially the ps part. i guess i can't go into much detail, but here's my overall impression -

ps - pretty hard. i thought alot harder than the practice ones on aamc and i thought more abstract with the questions being more passage based.
vr - i thought it was going really well until the stupid passage mess up... same happened with me...
writing - who cares anyways??
bs- i didn't think this was too bad at all. the discretes were a little more difficult than i remember them being, but all in all, not too bad...

another thing - when my test got done, my "confirmation" said my score would be available in 60 days... i thought 30??

ok - thoughts? opinions??

 

[Funky]

i'm with all of you. i thought it was alot harder than the practice tests. especially the ps part. i guess i can't go into much detail, but here's my overall impression -

ps - pretty hard. i thought alot harder than the practice ones on aamc and i thought more abstract with the questions being more passage based.
vr - i thought it was going really well until the stupid passage mess up... same happened with me...
writing - who cares anyways??
bs- i didn't think this was too bad at all. the discretes were a little more difficult than i remember them being, but all in all, not too bad...

another thing - when my test got done, my "confirmation" said my score would be available in 60 days... i thought 30??

ok - thoughts? opinions??

yea i got the same thing with 60 day confirmation
here's what i think

ps - wasnt too bad for me but this is the section i do the best on
vr - not too bad except of the passage not matching question incident
writing - i forgot to add a period at the end of one of my essays because i was goofing off too much/still recovering from VR mishap
bs - a lot of cell bio + bio chem, stuff i'm not particularly that great on but orgo wasnt bad at all

 

[collinscs]

oh - another question. i never saved my first writing sample... but i submitted it. does it save automatically??

 

[deleted131481]

i didnt see the passage not matching the question... i didnt skip a passage did i?!

also i thought we were supposed to have a find function for the passages. did anyone else have this? its not that big a deal, but could have saved about 2 minutes scanning the passages.

anyhow here's what i thought:
ps - about average, this is usually my best section
vr - much harder, but i got bogged down and spent too much time on some questions so i had to rush at the end
bs - not that hard, but i felt like there was several details i should have known but couldnt recall

im pretty sure i read the writing sample saves at the end (otherwise im in trouble)

 

[tp709]

another thing - when my test got done, my "confirmation" said my score would be available in 60 days... i thought 30??

Wtf?? 60 days is how long it took on the OLD version - that better not be true, because the 30 day score release is the reason I'm taking it in Jan.

 

[Delilah]

PS - decent, heavy on the physics, but decent. harder than practice tests however.
VR - decent before the mishap, which threw me off in timing.
BR - passages were tricky. morale dampened after VR incident.

overall, i thought it was harder than the practice tests. Furthermore, if the scale is the same -- meaning if i can only score if a ten if a miss a meager 12 points, 12 POINTS ONLY, i'm screwed. the

 

[bigchoader]

I thought it was tough too. Do threads like these always happen? If this is a new thing that doesnt usually happen that that may indicate that the test was pretty hard and there will be more generous point distributions. On the other hand if this always happens, threads like these, then I can assume I really did eat **** on the test and that my score will reflect it.

-not used to eating ****

Ross

 

[tp709]

Do threads like these always happen? If this is a new thing that doesnt usually happen that that may indicate that the test was pretty hard and there will be more generous point distributions. On the other hand if this always happens, threads like these, then I can assume I really did eat **** on the test and that my score will reflect it.

-not used to eating ****

Ross

yessssss....omg after the august exam (and the other ones I'm assuming as well), there were 203948203894 threads about how horrendous the test was and how everyone thought they bombed it. They are always curved. For example, I skipped two entire passages on verbal (bc there was a super hard one right before), thought I was going to get a 4, and still ended up with a 9 (only a point lower than my practice test average). As long as you didn't do anything to completely screw up, you should be fine!

 

[akinf]

I took Aug. 06, and this one was definitely harder. Especially the VR. However, I have no idea what the verbal mishap is and I also got the message about 60 days. For a more thorough opinion, check out

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19146

 

[tp709]

I took Aug. 06, and this one was definitely harder. Especially the VR. However, I have no idea what the verbal mishap is and I also got the message about 60 days. For a more thorough opinion, check out

http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19146

I just called AAMC to ask about score release, and was told 30 days. Maybe that 60 day confirmation message was some sort of mistake, but the person I spoke to had no idea was that was about.

 

[Arsenic]

congratulations on being done with the beast guys!

 

[Captain Fantastic]

PS - harder than practice tests, my timing got off and I scrambled for three questions
VR - felt good, so that's probably a bad sign
WS - first prompt went well, second prompt I struggled to get going
BS - just had a different vibe than the practice exams, toward the end I started to notice fatigue

I hate to join the bandwagon, but overall I too think it was more difficult than the practice exams. Man, I hope I don't have to retake that sucker.

 

[sk06]

ps- freaking hard, i hate physics & it was mostly physics so yea i didnt like it
vr- the proctor tapped my shoulder & told me she was going to hang up my jacket during the 1st passage!!! WTF who does that? that messed me up on the whole 1st passage
bs- wasnt too bad

*not feeling too great about this exam, who knows

 

[metastasis]

How many passages did you guys have for VR, and were the passages long in length (greater than 300 words)

Thanks.

 

[mnmsuccess]

Congratulations 1/27 MCATers!!!

I will be taking mine on monday and I would like to find out how today's exam compared to AAMC 10 CBT or AAMC 9/8 CBT?

Thanks!

 

[mc4435]

How many passages did you guys have for VR, and were the passages long in length (greater than 300 words)

Thanks.

7, most all of them were average in length, with some being very lengthy. But none were very short. You can't really tell though because it's not formatted on a "page" it's a scrolly thing.

 

[nerdo07]

I didnt have a glitch with the verbal section. Here's what I thought to help you future test takers out there:

PS: Thought this was the hardest section- and it's usually one of my better sections. Questions were more concept-based than I was used to with Kaplan. Also i felt like it was NOT similar to any of the AAMC tests I did. A lot of guessing going on here.
V: Didn't think it was so bad. Again, didn't have a glitch problem. Passages were pretty straightforward with maybe one abstract passage where I had no idea what the author was talking about.
BS: Didn't think it was too bad. Similar in style/content with practice AAMC's and Kaplan. However, the discretes were more difficult than I was used to- I just didn't know the facts and they were those detailed facts that you usually just skim by and think you don't need to know. Plus side- very little orgo.

--Also, dont lose hope if you score low on diagnostics. I had a 16 on my Kaplan diag (don't ask) and scored a 30 consecutively on Kaplan and AAMC tests.
--Practice as much as you can. You can study all the content you want but it won't help on this test. It's all about critical thinking and passage analysis.

 

[smarbut]

--Practice as much as you can. You can study all the content you want but it won't help on this test. It's all about critical thinking and passage analysis.

Took it today and I agree completely. Maybe half of the questions were pure passage analysis.

With regard to the 60 day thing, I believe this may be something they are claiming at the start and that they will one day get that down, maybe even shorten it this year.

I took the GRE a few years back and you still have to wait to get the essay grade since someone will have to read and score but the other scores are presented at the end of the test. That is definately the way to go. They basically use a chart like the ones you find in the study books to relate your correct questions to a score. It makes sense that they wouldn't really need to compile the scores from certain dates if their database was large enough. MCAT may never go that far but 30 days is something I'd expect them to accomplish relatively soon.

 

[DesignEngineer]

i was scoring low 30s consistently on my practice tests (V - 8/9, PS - 10-12, BS - 10-11). but now i fear that i might have bombed it. actually, more like i'm really ambivalent about how i did. i have no idea. the curve is so much tougher on this shorter version. on the paper version, you could get 20 wrong and still score a 10. on this version, over 10 wrong brings you at a 9 according to the aamc scale. is this same scale gonna hold on the real test? i thought the test was considerably harder than my practice tests.

anxious. anxious. anxious.

I feel the same. I was scoring consistently 36+ on AAMC practice tests. After the real thing, I still feel a bit bombed out. I guess this exam is a bit on the difficult side.

 

[cool_vkb]

Guys common, iam not saying the exam was easy. But you gotta agree in PS, most of the calculations they were asking. The formulas were given right there in the passage. One just had to twist and change them a lil bit to deduce it to get the right value.

The same with BS. I thought it was more of a reading passage and finding answers then applying what we learnt. Majority of points that were mentioned in the passage were infact answers. Something which practice tests didnt had. In practice tests the passage was saying one story and the questions were asking some other question yet related to that story.

Verbal sucked. I never noticed that passage. may be they gave different set of questions. I dont even know what i did with my writing . anyways i was planning to take MCAT again in April even before i entered the room. So i guess it was a good practice and now i can conclude that the practice tests are nothing compared to real exam. The real exam was heavy on Physics and verbal section was spooky.

But anyhow, the worst part was of breaks. As mentioned earlier by other OP. That 5 min were gone just in

 

[drakyn07]

PS - definitely tougher than what i was used to with kaplan and aamc practice tests, tested a variety of pretty specific concepts that i was suprised to see. likewise as someone else said, if i had studied another year for this thing i wouldnt have noticed the answers to some of these Q's
VR - i didnt get the test glitch, but i got a ton of science passages so i think actually i may have lucked out a little (bio major)>> sorry to all those who got screwed ..
BS - only one orgo passage which was great, and it was mostly on analytical stuff anyways.

my general impression of the test site was that it was HORRIBLY run. i got to the test site at 7:30 and didnt get to my test till 8:55. otherwise things were cool, i took most of my breaks at my computer actually. some breaks i was able to extend simply b/c of the 'end of section' or 'beginning of section' notices that didnt start timing until you clicked ok. i took a few minutes for some, but mostly i felt 10 minutes was adequate.

 

[theunremarkable]

some breaks i was able to extend simply b/c of the 'end of section' or 'beginning of section' notices that didnt start timing until you clicked ok. i took a few minutes for some, but mostly i felt 10 minutes was adequate.

you can do this and get away with it?

 

[MochezzmO]

PS: The first passage was tough, and I thought that was it... but it only got worse, By far the hardest section of the day. I was scoring solid 12s in practice tests, we'll see what ends up happening with this one. A lot of guessing... too much to feel any confidence.

VR: This wasn't too bad. I didn't have a glitche in mine, but a few students in my testing center did and they were really upset about it. Passages were pretty straightforward and I felt somewhat good about it... which really makes me feel even more insecure.

BS: Alot of Biochem and Mobio and some good physio passages. Little orgo, and a lot of the time no amount of information that you knew could have possibly prepared you for it. This is what the MCAT is really testing, critical thinking and being able to differeniate on the smallest of levels.

 

[Nikki2002]

wow so i guess the test forms aren't labeled anymore? we used to be able to compare/talk with other people who had the same form

 

[GT2]

wow so i guess the test forms aren't labeled anymore? we used to be able to compare/talk with other people who had the same form

Nope, not labeled

 

[cool_vkb]

Hey quick question for you guys, Was the mcat exam same for everybody or different for everyone.

I hope it should be same. because suppose if the MCAT people cancel or give full points for that reported passage, then we all can benifit. Its gonna be good rough score boost depending on the number of questions they give us points which can take our scaled score some points up.😀

I never noticed that passage though. but i wasnt able to keep my mind focussed and i cant recall any of the today;s passages to recall. so i hope it was there in my paper.

 

[Tartheheel]

wow...I am sorry to hear that guys. I hope it will work out in your favor in the end.
I had a few Qs about the computerized version of the beast...😕

Did you guys have 'highlighting' and 'search' options for any/all sections?

Did you have access to a pencil/pen/paper for scratch work?

Could you go back and change answers once you submitted them?

Was there a page that mapped out what questions you had done, and which ones you had left?

Thanks.

 

[akinf]

If there was a search option, I didn't discover it. There was highlighting, but I found it useful only in the sciences. The VR went by too fast to even know what was happening. Hopefully it all pays (I can't do this a third time :|

 

[cool_vkb]

The VR went by too fast to even what was happening.

This is most beautiful and accurate description of today's VR i found on SDN. You are absolutely right. the VR went by too fast to even know what the hell was happening.

 

[vidar]

I had the same verbal glitch too.... nice knowing Im not the only one to have gotten screwed (hey atleast they know they screwed up) aside from that I feel as I did well (good practice exam scores)... but it kind of pisses me off. My school is 3.5 hours away from the nearest test center. So obviously it wasn't a cheap trip. They said they would let me know my options by Friday. FYI, I took the exam at the same site with a friend because we figured with the 3.5 hour thing that it was cheaper to split gas and hotel room costs. He was under the impression that the exams were fairly similar. Lucky for him his irish a## didn't have a very obviously different passage for those questions.

Has anyone ever heard of something like this happening before???

 

[Fiddlergirl]

I didn't think that the PS was overwhelming harder than the practice tests, but I thought that the BS asked a lot of questions that required background information I just didn't have. Without going into details, it seemed to require a lot more specifics that I had expected from the AAMC practice test.

 

[akinf]

I didn't think that the PS was overwhelming harder than the practice tests, but I thought that the BS asked a lot of questions that required background information I just didn't have. Without going into details, it seemed to require a lot more specifics that I had expected from the AAMC practice test.

Ya, I found that too.

 

[swim2006]

I thought that PS section was a bit more difficult than the practice test although the calculations involved were simple. I had the glitch in VR which completely messed me up and i didnt get to finish the last passage and had to guess on all of those questions. I agree too that the VR passages seemed longer than cbt10. I found BS to be pretty easy.

 

[nobleheart]

I filed a complaint with MCAT about the VR "glitch". It really through me off with timeing and confidence. I think the only fair thing is to refund our money or let us take it in april for no charge.....and of course throw this score out.

 

[babycapybara]

Think they'll give us the option of finding out our scores before throwing them out? I have a feeling it will be like voiding...you'll be able to toss out this test but you'll never know how you did.

 

[collinscs]

i have no clue... i hope so. i mean, everyone else gets to find out their score before they decide to re-test... i guess we would just have the option of canceling the score after finding it out? as much as it sucks, it still doesn't seem fair...

this is my hope - that they'll just curve our test against the others who had a glitch and not compare us to everyone else. that's what i'm wishing for!!

 

[deleted21595]

Hi all,

Kaplan just sent the following message to all Kaplan students with January test dates. Feel free to distribute to your friends as a heads up.

Dear MCAT student,

With many of you still gearing up to take the Computer-Based MCAT on Monday, we wanted to bring to your attention some recent feedback from your peers who took the Saturday, January 27th, 2007 CBT exam. Most urgent is a programming error in some (not all) forms on the MCAT that have caused the Verbal Reasoning section to display mismatched information. Below is a description of the issue and how to best deal with it.

Issue: Some (not all) test forms administered on Saturday January 27th, 2007 contained a programming glitch that displayed Natural Science passage text in the Verbal Reasoning section dealing with one topic (motility and physiology of robotuna) while the questions dealt with another topic (population genetics of birds).

Resolution for students who experienced this issue: Any students who tested this past Saturday and experienced this issue are encouraged to contact the AAMC Section for Examinee Testing at (202) 828-0690 to report their experience. The AAMC will also be dealing directly with students who experienced interruption in their tests because of this issue. Although it is impossible to predict the exact response from the AAMC, a similar issue in the past prompted the AAMC to give students affected the choice between cancelling their scores and retesting, cancelling their scores and getting a refund, or scoring their tests without counting the defective questions. Any students who are given the choice to retest can call 1-800-KAPTEST to extend their Kaplan online access until the new test date.

Resolution for students testing on Monday 1/29/2007: If you are testing tomorrow, there is a chance this passage might show up on your test form. To best prepare for this possibility please follow the guidelines below:

1. Start your Verbal Reasoning section as normal using the Kaplan Triaging approach and reading one or two lines of the passage. If the passage is of the type you perform well on, continue to reading the passage. If you feel you would do poorly on it, skip to the next passage.
2. Use the Kaplan Mapping strategy to take appropriate notes in your scratch paper and highlight the proper keywords in the passage.
3. If the passage topic refers to robotuna motility and physiology, please proceed to the questions carefully.
4. Check the questions to see if they match the passage text. A quick read of the question stems will verify if there is a problem or not. If no problem is detected continue as normal with the questions.
5. If, and only if, you discover a mismatch between the passage and its questions, fill in a random sequence of answers and 'Mark' all questions in the affected passage set.
6. Continue to the next passage(s) until you get to the end of the section.
7. After completing all other passages, return to the affected passage and attempt to take an educated guess for all random guessed questions.
8. After the time runs out and you've checked all your work on other passages, inform the proctor of the test irregularity (during break).
9. Promptly contact the AAMC after completing the exam.

We have also received isolated feedback from students describing other minor issues. These are listed below to keep you informed and prepared:

-Some test centers reported problems scanning passports as forms of ID. If you were planning on using your passport, please bring another photo ID in addition to your passport if at all possible.
-Students reported that some centers gave scratch paper packets and pencils, while others gave white-board style laminated pages and appropriate marker.
-Students reported having to undergo fingerprint verification at check-in/check-out and during breaks. Be prepared to get less than the allotted 10 minutes between sections.
-Students reported some centers that do not have computers with scroll-mice. Remember that you can use the up/down keys for scrolling in the passage text along with clicking on the up/down scroll arrows.

If you have any questions about the test administration, please contact the AAMC directly. If you have any questions about your Kaplan program, please contact 1-800-KAPTEST.

Good luck on your upcoming exam!

The Kaplan MCAT Team

 

[Misfit!]

this is my hope - that they'll just curve our test against the others who had a glitch and not compare us to everyone else. that's what i'm wishing for!!

That's how it works anyways...they only curve it against people with the same form as you, who took it on the same administration date.

Obviously they have to do something for you guys, but don't expect TOO many concessions....aamc is not known to budge any farther from the minimum on these matters 😳
I'm sure it will all work out though, try and relax!

 

[Malien]

PS - Lots of Physics on my form...so naturally it was difficult for me. *g* I didn't even get to finish the last set of free-standing questions (I think there were 4) so I'm already pre-screwed in that section.

VR - Luckily I got the bird passage (with the right questions), so no problems there. The passages were challenging...but not too hard like that killer Iberian peninsula passage I had last April. I couldn't really identify a "killer" passage.

Writing - I probably bombed that but...I don't really care. 😀

BS - Lots of Micro and Molecular...and Genetics and Evolution (good thing I'm a TA for a genetics lab at school). A bit of Immunology. Barely any Orgo. Woot.

The proctors were late. I was shivering throughout the whole test. Place was VERY cold. And the proctors wouldn't even let me take my scarf inside. Not even a single tissue. I had to be provided with that. Breaks were pretty short because so much time was wasted getting fingerprints taken (every single time) and signing in and out. And I wasn't allowed to study for later sections during the breaks (it's not like I had any time.....).

I actually liked taking the test on the computer. The screen wasn't too bright, so I wasn't blinded by the end of the test. It felt much shorter compared to when I took it last April, so I was still wide awake for the BS section. There were a lot less other people taking the test, too. I think there were only eight of us. I liked that for some reason. When I took it in April there were about 200 people testing. Lots of wait time.

 

[poly800rock]

i love how kaplan sent out an email to "guess" on the section that hurts most pre meds anyways....$1500 +$210 well spent...

 

[deleted21595]

i love how kaplan sent out an email to "guess" on the section that hurts most pre meds anyways....$1500 +$210 well spent...

My guess is that if you continue to use those great deductive skills of yours that you won't do too well on that section that hurts most pre-meds.

 

[missicyhot]

to anyone that has taken the GRE or any other CBT/CAT test...

are the testing conditions similar? is there anything different? Also, when i took the GRE they gave me a headset to block out noise, do they give you one for the MCAT?


also, just as a side note, when i took the GRE i barely noticed the testing conditions...is this because the test is so much less stressful or are pre-meds just more meticulous?? haha 🙂

 

[GT2]

to anyone that has taken the GRE or any other CBT/CAT test...

are the testing conditions similar? is there anything different? Also, when i took the GRE they gave me a headset to block out noise, do they give you one for the MCAT?


also, just as a side note, when i took the GRE i barely noticed the testing conditions...is this because the test is so much less stressful or are pre-meds just more meticulous?? haha 🙂

Yes, they give you a headphones to block out the noise.

GRE is computer ADAPTIVE

MCAT is computer based.

It's up to you how you handle stress.

 

[IckeyShuffle]

I thought I bombed the real thing and ended up getting a score equivalent to my best practice score. If you studied hard you will score around the upper portions of your practice.

 

[jrshady2]

Hi, I was wondering how the verbal passages and questions were presented on the cbt mcat. Is there a view in which you can see both the questions and the passage (just in case you had to refer back to the passage to answer a question). Thanks.

 

[GT2]

Hi, I was wondering how the verbal passages and questions were presented on the cbt mcat. Is there a view in which you can see both the questions and the passage (just in case you had to refer back to the passage to answer a question). Thanks.

yes. The left side is the passage and the right is the questions. Both can be scrolled need be.