How realistic is the Kaplan Practice Test?

[Chuck's Right Foot]

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I bought the Kaplan 2005 MCAT review book and took the verbal section of the test (got a 13!) and was wondering if the difficulty was comparable to a real MCAT?

I'm not so worried about the verbal since I test well typically. What about the other two section?

Anyone else studying for April in the maryland area?

 

[nicholonious]

I bought the Kaplan 2005 MCAT review book and took the verbal section of the test (got a 13!) and was wondering if the difficulty was comparable to a real MCAT?

I'm not so worried about the verbal since I test well typically. What about the other two section?

Anyone else studying for April in the maryland area?

Word of mouth is that Kaplan tests are harder in the Physics section because of the over emphasis on formulas and equations. Its mainly done that way to better prepare students for AMCAS's MCATs, which may not go into such depth with memorizing and applying those damned bernoulli's equations and what not.

Personally, I found Kaplan's Physics section extra hard, but I should take more past AMCAS tests to make a better comparison.

Oh yeah, thumbs up on the 13. I hate verbal, its my weakness. 👍

 

[stoic]

Definately the Kaplan tests are different from the real deal. Generally they are much more detail oriented and don't test critical thinking as much as the actual test.

My practice scores were quite different from my actual score.

 

[UseUrHeadFred]

The purpose of taking practice tests is twofold:

(1) Increase your score through test familiarity alone - i.e., give yourself a competitive advantage through simply pacing yourself, reducing your stress level, and familiarity with the format.
(2) Identify weak areas so as to increase study efficiency.

The practice test scores are virtually total nonsense. Especially verbal.

 

[Chuck's Right Foot]

The purpose of taking practice tests is twofold:

(1) Increase your score through test familiarity alone - i.e., give yourself a competitive advantage through simply pacing yourself, reducing your stress level, and familiarity with the format.
(2) Identify weak areas so as to increase study efficiency.

The practice test scores are virtually total nonsense. Especially verbal.

Darn. Thought I had a good start on that section. It did correlate highly with my GRE verbal though. Thank you all for the input on the kaplan tests.

 

[QofQuimica]

I bought the Kaplan 2005 MCAT review book and took the verbal section of the test (got a 13!) and was wondering if the difficulty was comparable to a real MCAT?

I'm not so worried about the verbal since I test well typically. What about the other two section?

Anyone else studying for April in the maryland area?

I also found that my Kaplan VR test scores did not correlate too well with my actual test score. I ended up scoring two points higher on the real section than I did on my very best practice one. So from me, the Kaplan tests were harder than the real thing, but I know a lot of people had the opposite experience. In contrast, I did get the same score on some of the practice science sections that I scored on the real ones.

I agree with Fred's points too.

 

[ishaninatte]

I actually thought that the Verbal on the Kaplan tests and on the real thing were pretty comparable. The physics sections are quite different though.

 

[DrKT2009]

I bought the Kaplan 2005 MCAT review book and took the verbal section of the test (got a 13!) and was wondering if the difficulty was comparable to a real MCAT?

I'm not so worried about the verbal since I test well typically. What about the other two section?

Anyone else studying for April in the maryland area?

First of all, congratulations on such a good score on the first Kaplan test that you have taken 😉 . I bought the Kaplan MCAT book before I had decided to take the class. I do know that the full length verbal sections in that book, go along with the first few tests that you take in the course. They are typically easier than the tests that Kaplan gives you later in the course; however, they are still good and somewhat comparable to the real thing. This probably means if you took the test tomorrow, you maybe wouldn't get a 13. It probably means you would get an 11 or so which is still better than a lot of people could ever wish for (remember, the average is an 8). I thought that the tests we took later in the course were a lot harder than the real thing. This is definitely a good thing so that while you are taking the test, you feel more comfortable and not nearly as stressed because you are used to the type of questions, passages, and length of the verbal section.

As for the other sections, I thought that most of the physical science passages in the Kaplan practice materials were much harder. They focus a lot more on the equations while the actual test focuses more on concepts. However, this actually helped me because it forces you to understand how to use the equation in different situations and it helps you know when to use the different equations. My score in this section was about 2 points higher on the actual test.

I thought that the biological section was pretty comparable to the real thing throughout the entire course (the book basically has the same review material as the course).

Also, if you ever tend to use the AAMC practice materials (past MCAT exams), they tend to be much easier than the real thing. The tests continually get harder as you go, and they were not helpful except for timing purposes. I did one of the tests, and I got almost a perfect score which I knew was completely unrealistic. I thought I would share just incase you were thinking about it.

Keep up the good work and good luck with studying.

 

[evajaclynn]

I did 6 points worse on the real thing than on my best KAPLAN test. One of my friends did even worse. A lot of people's scores correlate closely with how they do in KAPLAN or TPR. Just realize that they don't always turn out that way.

But if you took that VS timed, then that 13 looks pretty good. The best I ever got was a 12! 👍

 

[RachelD]

I bought the Kaplan 2005 MCAT review book and took the verbal section of the test (got a 13!) and was wondering if the difficulty was comparable to a real MCAT?

I'm not so worried about the verbal since I test well typically. What about the other two section?

Anyone else studying for April in the maryland area?

I took Kaplan this summer and I thought the Kaplan verbal sections were much more difficult than the real mcat. I got an 8 in verbal on my first Kaplan and a 10 on my last one. I got an 11 on the real thing. My experience is that you will only improve. If you timed yourself and everything when you took the practice test I think you should continue to score very well in verbal. I thought the PS and BS sections were also easier than the Kaplan tests. That does not mean that you will score better because Kaplan scores you based on everyone else who has taken the test (like the real mcat). Good Luck!

 

[skiracer90]

got 10s and 11s on my practice tests and an 11 on the real thing. i think verbal was pretty similar to kaplan.

 

[stoic]

My practice test scores were WAY below my actual score. Part of this might be b/c the only way I could convince myself to spend a saturday taking practice mcat's was if I drank all the way through them...


Anyways, *most* people I know have scored slightly higher on the real test than their practice test. But I also know a lot of people who did much worse.
And some who did about the same.

The point is to take your practice test scores with a grain of salt. Use them more to identify what topics you need to work on than to predict your actual score.

 

[cardsurgguy]

I found Kaplan tests way harder than the real thing, especially physics. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, since it's give you a kick in the ass to go study.

I took 10 Kaplan Full lengths and got two 30's, and a 31, and the rest were under 30. I then got a 33 on the real test.

Also, before you take the test, I would recommend getting the 3r-6r from aamc. the last week before the test, I took the 4r-6r and my average was exactly a 33, which as stated, matches my real score exactly.

 

[45408]

I thought the real thing was noticeably (not substantially though) easier than the Kaplan tests. I tested one point higher on the real thing than I did on my best Kaplan test, and a few points over my average Kaplan test score.

 

[OTheHorror]

this should be a sticky...there are about 50 of these that come up every year