How did your MCAT score compare to how you felt you did on it?

[randomb]

I've been reading a lot of people say "the actual MCAT is so much harder," and "I thought I would get less than 30 but I got a 35." I'm guessing it must be the case that either 1) people are more freaked out during the real thing so they find it to be harder when it's the same difficulty, or 2) it actually is significantly harder, but it's curved in a way that alleviates a lot of the difficulty when it comes to scores.

So please respond: how different was your MCAT score from what you were expecting from the "feel" of the test?

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[phltz]

This thread's basically been done before. But anyway, yeah, I felt like the real MCAT was about in line with my practice AAMC FLs, and my score was about in line with them too. No big surprises.

 

[kehlsh]

To be honest,

I really felt I guessed every single Verbal questions and at least 20/51 questions on BS and PS.
I felt TERRIBLE coming out of the exam. And score reflected that. (got between 28-31)

I'm going to retake for heaven's sake.

 

[randomb]

^But you still ended up getting what you got on the AAMC 10?

 

[Jonamicdee]

All of my practice tests were 27. I felt like the real deal was much harder and i thought i did worse than the practices... I got a 29

 

[randomb]

All of my practice tests were 27. I felt like the real deal was much harder and i thought i did worse than the practices... I got a 29

Hey, that's great because a 29 is a significantly better score than a 27!

 

[Mithril]

I knew I messed up on the verbal when I took it and my VR mark reflected that (8). I also thought I did very badly in BS because there was a lot of physiology on it, which I'm not very good at, but I somehow ended up nailing it (14). Physical sciences was a joke and I knew I'd do well in that (14). The writing sample was where I thought I'd be (Q).

I expected high 20s-low 30s but I ended up getting mid-high 30s.

 

[jsndom]

Walking out of the test I felt horrible! However, after getting back my score, it is obvious that the AAMC FL's are pretty accurate in giving you a range of what you will score more or less (as always, there are exceptions to this). My score was my AAMC average and believe it or not it was the exact same score and breakdown as the last FL i took (AAMC 10). Hope that helps!

 

[kehlsh]

^But you still ended up getting what you got on the AAMC 10?

Yea, much to my disappointment

 

[LostInStudy]

I thought I did as well as my AAMC FLs (36+ average) and ended up getting a 36+. My test felt like just another practice test too so I think that is a reason. Usually most people mess up during the real thing, not because it's hard, but because they panic and do something on the real thing strategy and timing wise that they have never done on their practices. Obviously not all, but most people who score below their average end up falling for that trap.

Hope this helps,

-LIS

 

[seriusdoc]

Walking out of the test I felt horrible! However, after getting back my score, it is obvious that the AAMC FL's are pretty accurate in giving you a range of what you will score more or less (as always, there are exceptions to this). My score was my AAMC average and believe it or not it was the exact same score and breakdown as the last FL i took (AAMC 10). Hope that helps!

hope the same applies to me...i took the 9/9/10 mcat and felt like crap afterwards. i really felt like i scored 10 pts below aamc 10😡

 

[randomb]

UGH I feel like I definitely scored a little below my AAMC average of a 38. Even accounting for a slightly easier curve on the bio, I don't think I got as high as I was hoping.

 

[jsndom]

hope the same applies to me...i took the 9/9/10 mcat and felt like crap afterwards. i really felt like i scored 10 pts below aamc 10😡

Don't freak yourself out! cause that's exactly what I predicted and obviously I was wrong 🙂 Best of luck to you!

 

[seriusdoc]

Don't freak yourself out! cause that's exactly what I predicted and obviously I was wrong 🙂 Best of luck to you!

thanks a lot! i really hope so...

 

[UnclePhil]

I averaged a 36 on the AAMCs and scored around there. Did worse on verbal than I thought and probably could've done better on PS (I knew I made at least 2 careless mistakes the moment time ran out). I thought I did pretty poorly but I ended up doing ok. You can't really predict your score, I thought I would've gotten below a 30 for sure when I stepped out of the exam but I ended up doing alright.

 

[latrala2300]

Question for all reading (who've received scores)--
Are all of you just very optimistic? I was always under the impression that people do much better than expected, or much worse.

The fact that most of you did as expected is a bit scary. Is "expected" really your AAMC average, instead of how you felt after?😎

 

[Rabolisk]

I did as well as my AAMC average indicated I would do. I thought I did pretty well coming out of the exam too, though.

 

[UnclePhil]

Question for all reading (who've received scores)--
Are all of you just very optimistic? I was always under the impression that people do much better than expected, or much worse.

The fact that most of you did as expected is a bit scary. Is "expected" really your AAMC average, instead of how you felt after?😎

I "felt" like I did worse than I did on the AAMCs when I walked out. I averaged ~36 on the AAMCs and I generally felt ok about those exams when I finished them, however when I walked out of the MCAT, I thought I got <30 based on how the exam was.

Part of this is really just that every little mistake that you make stands out to you. I knew that I made stupid mistakes and I had to guess on three questions in verbal because time ran out so those really haunted me for a while. But I think after several weeks after the initial shock wore off, I started to become more optimistic about my score and it turned out to be around what I expected and was basically my AAMC average.

 

[randomb]

I "felt" like I did worse than I did on the AAMCs when I walked out. I averaged ~36 on the AAMCs and I generally felt ok about those exams when I finished them, however when I walked out of the MCAT, I thought I got <30 based on how the exam was.

Part of this is really just that every little mistake that you make stands out to you. I knew that I made stupid mistakes and I had to guess on three questions in verbal because time ran out so those really haunted me for a while. But I think after several weeks after the initial shock wore off, I started to become more optimistic about my score and it turned out to be around what I expected and was basically my AAMC average.

So you chose "5 or more points better than I thought," I hope.

 

[randomb]

Bump for the 9/3 and 9/2 takers.

 

[Oxygen206]

Bump for the 9/3 and 9/2 takers.

*Before*
AAMC avg = 35, AAMC 10 = 37

*After Test*
I felt PS was ridiculous, I was worried I wouldn't break an 8 on it. VR was always kind of random (anywhere from 10-14) so I didn't know where I stood. I thought I honestly aced the BS section, like at least a 13. I definitely expected an unbalanced score, and I was worried about that.

*Actual Score*
31N. Totally different than what I expected/how I felt I did...at least its balanced.
PS: 10 (wtf?!??!?)
VR: 10 (meh...could have been any number 10+ and I wouldn't be surprised)
BS: 11 (wtf again! I felt like there were MAYBE 2 or 3 questions I wasn't sure on. I almost wonder if I missed a passage or something because I finished with 30 minutes left...)

 

[tangoclose]

AAMC average: 39.5
Princeton Review average: 33

Actual MCAT: 39 (straight 13's)

I took the MCAT for the first time on Sep 3. As I was leaving the test room, I thought I'd get anywhere between 35-37, after doing some rough estimations in my head. Seemed to make sense. Halfway between my AAMC and PR averages - even if the AAMC's are more authoritative, I only took one of the new AAMC's (#8), and I kept hearing that the old ones were too easy.

Prognosis?

Even though it's only a sample of one... AAMC knows what they're doing. The PR books are really good but their diagnostic tests are junk that they make purposely too hard so they can technically make good on their promise that "your score will go up by test day".

 

[aerodoc]

ditto from above:

I averaged about 33 on the AAMC practice tests and I got a 33 on the real thing, balanced score, in fact each of the subjects was about right on my average.

To answer the original question however, I thought I absolutely bombed the test, I walked out of there with a white face, and for the next week I just fretted over what I was going to do. I thought PS was pretty difficult, VR was normal so I didn´t worry about that, but BS I thought I absolutely failed. I had visions of mid-20s for the first week after the test.

The point is, I don´t think that your feelings coming out of the test have as much bearing on your score as you think, if you studied hard, didn´t panic (too much) on the real thing, I think you should get about your AAMC average...

 

[orion333]

I did not have strong feeling about the test right after I took it. I just felt numb. But after reading about people who scored in the same range as me on practice tests and then got a much lower score on the actual test, I expected the worst, say the low range of my practice scores, or even lower. Instead, I got my highest score ever. Higher than any practice test.

So, ya know, take everything you read on here with a grain of salt. Most of it is just plain wrong or does not apply to your specific situation. Believe in yourself, study hard, and never left the turkeys get you down. If I had followed the popular wisdom on here I would never even have taken the test this year. So glad I did what I wanted and thought was right instead.

 

[islanders11040]

I used Sne2d 3 month review course with the Berkely review which i highly reccommend

2.5 weeks into studying got 23 on free Princeton review practice test

i took a free kaplan test 6-7 weeks into studying and got a 27

AMCC practice. I took them in order the month before the real mcat with a practice test every 3 days

3-26
4-29
5-29
6-31
7-28
8-30
9-29
10-33

9/3 2 pm
Actual 32P 11-10-11

I am happy the score and i actually did better than my average. The score i was most happy with was verbal 10. it aamc 3,4,5 i got 6,7,8 in VR so i was definitly able to improve it with practice. I left the last page in the PS section blank by mistake and that had 3 questions. maybe could have got a 33 but im not gonna stress over it. Im happy with the score i got since i felt pretty low about it when i found out i left the last page blank and the overall difficulty of the test. My summer of studying wasnt a waste and im never gonna open a MCAT book again. I have a 3.16 gpa 32P mcat score and am trying to go D.O incase anyone was curious. This mcat score may be what makes me a competitive applicant.

 

[Grom]

I got 3 points lower than I expected. Coming out of the exam, I felt the same as I always did about BS and PS, so I expected my average AAMC scores for those, and that's exactly what I got.

I thought I f***ed up verbal, but I always feel like I f***ed up verbal so I thought I'd get my average AAMC score of 12. Turns out that time I actually f***ed up, and got 9 instead of my usual 12. Oh well.

 

[HINKLO]

.

 

[randomb]

I got 3 points lower than I expected. Coming out of the exam, I felt the same as I always did about BS and PS, so I expected my average AAMC scores for those, and that's exactly what I got.

I thought I f***ed up verbal, but I always feel like I f***ed up verbal so I thought I'd get my average AAMC score of 12. Turns out that time I actually f***ed up, and got 9 instead of my usual 12. Oh well.

LOL! I'm sorry, but that was really funny. My condolences!

 

[jjesusfreak01]

hope the same applies to me...i took the 9/9/10 mcat and felt like crap afterwards. i really felt like i scored 10 pts below aamc 10😡

Ugh, i'm in the same boat there. I took two AAMC practice tests (and like 6 Kaplans) and I averaged a 35 (on the AAMC tests), but I thought the actual test was so much harder (and I felt like the entire BS section was organic, but I know I am just imagining that). I very much hope my score is in line with the practice tests.

 

[Techmed07]

My AAMC average was about 33, and I scored a 35.

Walking out of the test I guessed 34. As the weeks dragged on waiting for my score that gradually dropped until I was expecting a 26-27 the days leading up to the score release. Did anyone else experience the confidence depreciation?


TL;DR -- First guess = close, ensuing guesses = progressively farther off.

QFT. I did the same thing. I thought I made a 33 on the exam right after I took it. Than leading up to the day we get our scores I was pretty sure I did not even break 30.. I was betting money on a 8Vr 10Ps 10Bs. I ended scroing 12VR 10PS 11BS. I was five points off but right after I took the exam my guess was good as Gold. It makes sense if you take a lot of practice exams... However I must say that I only scored as high as a 33 twice. My average was a 29.92 on AAMC and a 31 combined with Kaplan. My score mirrored exactly my score on AAMC#6.

 

[IamSuperDoctor]

avg of aamc 3-10: 32.8
aamc 10: 32
actual: 32O = 12/8/12

After the exam I predicted 28-34 for an average of around 31. I could have scored 1-2 points higher if the test conditions were better. Not re-writing.

 

[phonyreal98]

AAMC avg- 35
What I thought I got- 31-32
What I got- 36

 

[Nuckles]

I got 15 points better than the diagnostic Kaplan test I took. Just goes to show you that the Kaplan test is designed to be tough and stress you out. I did 6-7 points better than my average AAMC Practice tests, and after the test, I thought it was so tough that I was expecting 4 points worse, so that's a swing of 10 points between what I thought and what I got.

 

[seriusdoc]

AAMC average 31.2
AAMC 10 - 33 (12/8/13)

What I thought I got: 24-26

Actual - 30 (11/8/11)

 

[DoktaThunda]

Never did AAMC, was not too sure whether to take off a year or two so I did not study more than 4 weeks

Predicted 31, got 38... predicted essay exactly but underestimated all other groups

 

[Slowpoke]

AAMC Average: 27.5
AAMC 10 - 27 (10/10/7)

Actual - 31 (11/11/9)