GS Tests - Helpful, but Contains Numerous Repeats

[BearDownAZ]

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Basically, if you buy the set of ten exams, expect about ~9 exams worth of new material.

I posted this in another thread but I thought I'd share it here also:


"I'm sorry, but there are blatant repeats within the ten Gold Standard Tests. With people paying $25 a test, I don't think that it is that difficult to remove the obvious duplicates between ten tests. It is understandable that some concepts should be stressed several times, but it is quite shameful to not even change the wording or the phrasing of the question.

For example, on GS-3 PS and GS-9 PS, there is a duplicate passage on pH indicators. The ENTIRE PASSAGE and EVERY ONE of the subsequent questions are THE EXACT SAME. This is not an isolated incident, there are many repeats of the exact same question between the ten GS tests.


At least test prep companies like Princeton Review and Kaplan give do not have such obvious copy/paste jobs."

 

[addo]

I agree.

 

[mcat prep]

The reason we have never had this complaint aired here before is because the problem is not to the degree that is suggested but I would like to underline our challenge and the fact that this will be rectified.

We have created more than 3000 multiple choice questions simulating the MCAT (10 GS MCAT CBTs + our MCAT-specific chapter review questions + extra 10 VR tests) . We are admitting that 1% may be repeated because of transferring issues related to basic human error. We do not intentionally want to repeat 30 questions or so - even if that means that out of the hundreds of passages, 1 passage - as mentioned - is repeated. We don't want it, we have a programmer working full time on a program to automatically find those 30 or so questions. We would be equally happy if those questions would be reported to us so that we can make the proper changes sooner since we have the content, this is a content management issue.

The repeated passage that was correctly identified in GS-9 PS (pH indicators) will be changed within 1 week.

In terms of "similar" questions: if you examine all 8 AAMC released FL tests (3-10), you will notice some questions (i.e. the pH of a certain concentration of a strong acid; strings/pipes, P=IV - V=IR) repeat with minor changes (i.e. different acids or different concentrations in the case of their classic pH question). It is the nature of the exam. In a few question types, we have chosen to act in a similar manner to be sure we reflect the emphasis that the AAMC has in their tests. This of course is a different issue from the 30 or so questions that may have been repeated out of the 3000 or so that we have online. And this issue will be stamped out this summer.