So I read on the AAMC site that there are field questions that are thrown into every MCAT which are not graded. Does anyone know whether these questions constitute an entire passage?
To the best of my knowledge (given that this question has popped up repeatedly over the seventeen years of the passage-based MCAT) is that they follow standard statistical methodology when scoring their exams. Field tested (polite way to say "recycled") passages appear on exams to establish consistency from exam to exam in terms of a curve. This allows applicants from different MCAT pools to be compared fairly. It's a standard practice for a standardized exam.
The field untested passages and questions (first timers) are scrutinized for statistical validity after the exam has been given (which explains why it takes them so long to generate a score). If a question does not meet their criteria for validity, it is removed from the data for generating the scoring curve. This too is a standard statistical practice that shouldn't be surprising.
I doubt they intentionally place a bulk amount of questions on any single exam with the intention to not score them, as it would undermine their exam's results. But as their website indicates (and has indicated for many years), they do remove questions from the exams after the fact. The impact, like the exam, has some randomness to it that just can't be avoided.
Where it would seem to have the greatest impact is on verbal reasoning, where there are only 40 questions to begin with. Such scoring practices could generate the largest
surprise factor for a test-taker's score. If five to eight questions are removed and they happen to come from early passages, then someone who was unable to finish the entire exam and consequently guessed on the last few questions is penalized more than they should be by the removal of questions where they spent extra time. But that also works the other way as well. If someone doesn't finish, but it happens that the new passages are the last two or three, they win.
Every time, there are a few students in our class who pray to just reach a 10 and somehow get a 12 or higher. But sadly, that good story is balanced out by the verbal gurus who expect teens on VR and don't get double digits.
I saw someone averaging 12s on the practice exams in April get a 9 on the real thing in May while his best friend who got 6 to 8 on practice exams pulled an 11. I'm not sure if they're friends anymore.
🙂 Things like this are fallout from the way AAMC analyze their data. It comes with the territory.
The best thing you can do is try to finish each question and not waste too much time on any single passage or question. All in all, they do a pretty damn good job with the test they write.
