ease of the april exam

[MSc44]

Im beginning to hear from people that the April exam is useually way easier then the Aug exam, i had no idea. Is this true?? If so why??

Also now that the exam is going to be given on computer like 21 times a year, do you think some administrations will be harder then othere like the aug and april exam

Is there anyone who has taken both the paper exam and the computer based exam??? what did you think, how did they differ??


Thanks and im sorry if this has been discussed b4

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[Schaden Freud]

The April test is not easier than the August. Of course, some tests are harder than others, but only slightly- and the curve corrects for it.

Im beginning to hear from people that the April exam is useually way easier then the Aug exam, i had no idea. Is this true?? If so why??

Also now that the exam is going to be given on computer like 21 times a year, do you think some administrations will be harder then othere like the aug and april exam

Is there anyone who has taken both the paper exam and the computer based exam??? what did you think, how did they differ??


Thanks and im sorry if this has been discussed b4

 

[theunremarkable]

I've also heard from several people, who have taken both august and april, that the august exam tends to be a bit harder. I dont know how much validity there is to their statement. . its all perception. You can analyze the stats and see, but when you do there isnt much difference.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

the point of a standardized test is that the scores are very unlikely to change upon repeated sittings for the test. take the mcat when you feel ready for it, don't worry about trying to catch the "easy" time. I took it last August and I thought my test book was easier than my practice tests (mostly the old mcats).

 

[Kikaku21]

the point of a standardized test is that the scores are very unlikely to change upon repeated sittings for the test. take the mcat when you feel ready for it, don't worry about trying to catch the "easy" time. I took it last August and I thought my test book was easier than my practice tests (mostly the old mcats).

That really depends. The MCAT is largely based on comparisons between you and other test takers. If people who sit in August are more prepared on average, then a better performance would be required in August for score X than it would in April. The real question is whether the August tester is more prepared than the April tester. I kind of doubt it.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

That really depends. The MCAT is largely based on comparisons between you and other test takers. If people who sit in August are more prepared on average, then a better performance would be required in August for score X than it would in April. The real question is whether the August tester is more prepared than the April tester. I kind of doubt it.

yeah, I would think that people that take it in August are theoretically better prepared, but I imagine that statistically it would work out to be the same as everyone is given the chance to study more. Statistically there's plenty of people that go into the mcat with very little prep and there's plenty that go in with alot of prep, no matter if its April or August. Also, August has more retakers who tend to just not perform as well, this is a counter to the gunners who are pale by the end of the summer since they did nothing but study.

 

[DrBowtie]

That really depends. The MCAT is largely based on comparisons between you and other test takers. If people who sit in August are more prepared on average, then a better performance would be required in August for score X than it would in April. The real question is whether the August tester is more prepared than the April tester. I kind of doubt it.

There are also a lot of retesters that score usually score within 3 points either way of their score. You can't really classify 30K people as a whole.

It's standardized so scores can be compared across administrations. Just have some faith in the system. Worrying about this in unnecessary.

 

[chaeymaey]

All I can say is, people that I know that only took the August test scored 30+ while people I know that took the April test scored under 30. This is true of my friends whether they took it last year or 10 years ago. And I'm going to believe this because I scored under 30 in April 05 so I have to score 30+ next month.