I took 3R and got a 20!

[perfectmoment]

I took 3R as a sorta diagnostic... to gauge how I'd do. I took it pretty much cold, but i'm quite disappointed with my score. 6 PS, 9 VR, 5 BS. anyone else have such a low diagnostic and do well on the final thing? the stupid thing just took the wind outta my sails.

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[FutureDrKt]

The good news is the 9 in verbal. They say that it's better to start with a high verbal and low sciences rather than the opposite. You can clearly comprehend, it's just the science you need to work on, which is way easier to study than verbal. You can do it!

 

[DHMO]

The good news is the 9 in verbal. They say that it's better to start with a high verbal and low sciences rather than the opposite. You can clearly comprehend, it's just the science you need to work on, which is way easier to study than verbal. You can do it!

I agree. It's much easier to improve in the sciences than verbal. hang in there!

 

[tank you]

why so low in BS and PS? i would say that with hardcore studying in the summer, u can get 30+, especially since u got 9 in verbal. just hit the books, good luck.

 

[perfectmoment]

why so low in BS and PS? i would say that with hardcore studying in the summer, u can get 30+, especially since u got 9 in verbal. just hit the books, good luck.

i'm wondering that myself... i did well on the ochem parts. but all that first year stuff (physics, human biology, and inorganic chem) screwed me over. i may be in the minority, but the ochem questions are much more manageable than the others. and a heck of a lot more straightforward. maybe cause it's fresh on my mind. but yeah, i was really surprised that I did so badly on the science. I figured that since i'm a science major, lots of that stuff would be familiar to me, but going through some of those passages, i couldn't help but be flustered. it was like reading some foreign language. i swear, they put in all that extra info about experiments and whatnot to confuse you... any tips on how to approach those, short of doing a billion practice tests?

 

[Engin]

20 on a diagnostis isnt bad, especially since it was the science's that flustered you. SO much is that review and how to take the passage.

Some tips are as they tell you in most study books and prep course:

-Most important, read your passage for structure and not detail. Don;t try to understand everything and skim parts that seem repititive. You should just note what every paragraph covers and then come back to that specific paragraph once a questions asks question on it.

-Don't look at the answers. Answer the question first.

 

[wetlightning]

I took 3R as a sorta diagnostic... to gauge how I'd do. I took it pretty much cold, but i'm quite disappointed with my score. 6 PS, 9 VR, 5 BS. anyone else have such a low diagnostic and do well on the final thing? the stupid thing just took the wind outta my sails.

yep, trust me -- your bio score is going to improve astronomically once you do some solid foundation review. it's probably the easiest section to improve just through sheer knowledge, in my opinion. PS is a bit tougher, but if you thoroughly comb through your formulas and get used to thinking conceptually, i'm positive you can bring it up to at least a 10 by august.

your high verbal is great news! now do many many many passages --do not let up on verbal just b/c your score was good. i scored a 14 on my verbal diagnostic, and my VR score went progressively downhill b/c i got complacent and didn't practice.

i'm still awaiting my scores though, so take my advice for what it's worth

good luck!!!

 

[IgweEmeka]

yep, trust me -- your bio score is going to improve astronomically once you do some solid foundation review. it's probably the easiest section to improve just through sheer knowledge, in my opinion. PS is a bit tougher, but if you thoroughly comb through your formulas and get used to thinking conceptually, i'm positive you can bring it up to at least a 10 by august.

your high verbal is great news! now do many many many passages --do not let up on verbal just b/c your score was good. i scored a 14 on my verbal diagnostic, and my VR score went progressively downhill b/c i got complacent and didn't practice.

i'm still awaiting my scores though, so take my advice for what it's worth

good luck!!!

A 14 on the verbal diagnostic? That is ****ing amazing. Anyways, like wetlighting said, your bio would shoot up rapidly if you do some solid foundation review. The physical should shoot up aswell, provided you are good conceptually. 9 on the verbal is not superb, so don't think you are good to go. I was in the same ballpark of the low 20s(22) for my diagnostic and about 3 weeks to the test when i started doing the AAMC tests, I was in the mid 30s. However, i must warn you, the AAMC material is rather easy compared to the mcat I just took in April. Do the Kaplan exams, they were more representative.

 

[Hotbodmatt]

some of you amaze me with how you freaking own the verbal section. don't stress with a 20 on that 3R...I think I made like 24 (11P, 6V, 7B), but then hit 32, 32, 31, 36 on AAMC 5, 6R, 4, and 7 respectively. i did a heck of a lot of studying in between though and managed to never drop below an 8 on V which is good for me and shameful for some of you, hehe. i'm never balanced score-wise. On the AAMC 7, i hit like 14P, 10V, 12B. my average for all of the tests was like 12-13P, 9V, 10B. i'm illiterate and love math.

 

[DrBowtie]

A 9V on 3R is solid especially with the confucious passage. That one is a toughy.

 

[willthatsall]

I thought 3R was really easy. So easy that I took it in early June when I had done minimal studying and ended up with the same score I made on the real thing after a couple months of studying. Maybe you should take another test (4R and above seemed much more realistic, IMO).

 

[MEG@COOL]

I took 3R as a sorta diagnostic... to gauge how I'd do. I took it pretty much cold, but i'm quite disappointed with my score. 6 PS, 9 VR, 5 BS. anyone else have such a low diagnostic and do well on the final thing? the stupid thing just took the wind outta my sails.

That is a very bad score. Dont worry though. Remember that 20 is still high compared to what a child will score. You are better than that though. So dont worry.

 

[Kazema]

20 is about average for a first-time taker of a diagnostic. You've got a lot of room to improve, but you will improve with practice and studying. Hit the books.

 

[Hotbodmatt]

That is a very bad score. Dont worry though. Remember that 20 is still high compared to what a child will score. You are better than that though. So dont worry.

hey meg,

you should go easy on the crack. what's with comparing the person to a child? that's lame. seriously, go bake some brownies or hit the treadmilll for an hour.

 

[Booyakasha]

I went from a 24 to a 38. The diagnostic was Kaplan's though, so there is a chance they scored it harder than usual to make sure that they would keep my money.

 

[Freakedout]

i scored a 24 on kaplans diag.. and didnt even make it to 30 on any of the kap tests.. but did so on aamcs... and considering the actual was more like kaplan than aamcs... i am very very worried....

just wanted to show you how difff diags... dont always imply the same end result.

 

[Sarabi]

hey well just to make you feel better i just took the kaplan diagnostic and got a 16 I'm so bummed out, i aced all of my pre req's so its confusing... but now i know i really have to hit the formulas.

 

[alec689]

I scored a 24 on the Kaplan diagnostic. I never took AMCAS prep tests, but I took all the Kaplan prep tests. On those, I scored in the low 30s, always doing best on the Verbal section. In the end, I scored in the high 30s, so improvement is definitely possible, especially on the sciences.

In my case, I hadn't finished physics for the diagnostic, and I hadn't taken any cell/genetics/microbiology since high school...

Keep studying, and you'll do fine.

 

[optimistique]

The OP is talking about 3R as a diagnostic, which is different from any Kaplan diagnostics. 3R is older and some would say "easy." Kaplan diag is purposly made harder, for various reasons good and bad.

I scored higher on the 3r Verbal Reasoning - with no practice- than on any other test AAMC 4r-8 VR- with lots of practice. So, down the line, I did not read much out of 3r VR score.

Look at all of the questions you missed in the sciences and used those to formulate your study guide. As it has been mentioned many times before make your weak area your focus.

 

[gujuDoc]

I got the highest verbal score I got on 3r as well, but not so high on the sciences since I hadn't finished reviewing the material. Later on, I took 3r's physical again, just to see if I would do better, and went to a 10 in the physical section. I also did better on the other aamc's which I thought were harder. I think test 7 and 8, the two latest tests were good as well as 4r. 5r and 6r were similar to some questions on my April exam, but I think test 8 or 7 are more representative.

 

[BoogieGnome]

If this is your first diagnostic/practice MCAT, don't sweat it, even if it is the 'easy' 3R. People commonly get 10-14 point improvements from their first diagnostic to their real test. I know I was in that range (I don't recall exactly the improvement, and that score has expired... DOH!). Heck, I got a 4V on one of my verbal diagnostics, and still managed over a 10 on a real test. A 9V is f'n awesome!

 

[crazy_cavalier]

After you prepare, that is!

I know lots of people with low diagnostic scores... my kaplan teachers typically had 19, or 20 or 18, and they all went up to 34's!!

I agree with what everyone else said; the low scores in the sciences just reflects that 1.) you took it cold, and could use the basic review, and 2.) you are not yet accustomed to the format (or grueling length) of the exam.

I'm sure after a lot of practice your score will go up quite a lot and you will feel very comfortable about this test!

Good luck on your studies

 

[frankrizzo18]

This is a really interesting subject! This is probably the first time I have admit this! I was disappointed with the teaching TPR had in my area (don't ask what area!). The teachers made open note of individual scores within the class, constant self-admiration by telling us their scores etc etc. My first practice test was 4931. I earned 5p 4v 6b. I was completely embarassed and mortified. A teacher said that she earned a 23 on the first one! The class made me want to sit in the way back and avoid any and all communication. I was there to get all the notes and work hard outside of class. On 4921 I made a 6p 6v 7b. I told nobody because I started to believe I was not a good test-taker. The f'in teacher in class said to me that if I sat up closer I would be doing better in his subject and told everyone I was the example of someone whom was moving in the wrong direction! I was virtually the guy people felt bad for (wtf)? I finally did a lot better on 4933 8p 8v 9b. The next test I took was two weeks before the real mcat and was 5r. I earned 10p 9v 10b. I was so happy that I earned that because I thought I was not going to earn an adequate score. Then, a week before I took 6r and earned 11p 10v 11b. I was so happy. However, in my class there were tons of people that were scoring 35's etc. This depressed me more because I felt inadequate. UNTIL, at the end of 6r I saw people cheating. They were faking their scores!! The entire time I was the bad example that TPR teachers openly shunned and now I realized why!! I immediately told the graduate director at the TPR office and he told me, yes, he knew it happened. But, not to worry because he could tell that my progression was typical of what the TPR course aimed to do. He also said that at the site I was at that most people already took the MCAT course and were re-taking the same tests, or faked their scores. He knew for sure this was the case when multiple students had 35's on practice tests and scored 24-25 on the real thing. I do not know what I will earn, but I deserve to do decent after all that stress from the course and being pointed out as the "******". So, buddy my advice to you is forget asking people what they got on this board because I assure you that most people on this board exaggerate and just focus hard while you study and try to always get better.

 

[gujuDoc]

This is a really interesting subject! This is probably the first time I have admit this! I was disappointed with the teaching TPR had in my area (don't ask what area!). The teachers made open note of individual scores within the class, constant self-admiration by telling us their scores etc etc. My first practice test was 4931. I earned 5p 4v 6b. I was completely embarassed and mortified. A teacher said that she earned a 23 on the first one! The class made me want to sit in the way back and avoid any and all communication. I was there to get all the notes and work hard outside of class. On 4921 I made a 6p 6v 7b. I told nobody because I started to believe I was not a good test-taker. The f'in teacher in class said to me that if I sat up closer I would be doing better in his subject and told everyone I was the example of someone whom was moving in the wrong direction! I was virtually the guy people felt bad for (wtf)? I finally did a lot better on 4933 8p 8v 9b. The next test I took was two weeks before the real mcat and was 5r. I earned 10p 9v 10b. I was so happy that I earned that because I thought I was not going to earn an adequate score. Then, a week before I took 6r and earned 11p 10v 11b. I was so happy. However, in my class there were tons of people that were scoring 35's etc. This depressed me more because I felt inadequate. UNTIL, at the end of 6r I saw people cheating. They were faking their scores!! The entire time I was the bad example that TPR teachers openly shunned and now I realized why!! I immediately told the graduate director at the TPR office and he told me, yes, he knew it happened. But, not to worry because he could tell that my progression was typical of what the TPR course aimed to do. He also said that at the site I was at that most people already took the MCAT course and were re-taking the same tests, or faked their scores. He knew for sure this was the case when multiple students had 35's on practice tests and scored 24-25 on the real thing. I do not know what I will earn, but I deserve to do decent after all that stress from the course and being pointed out as the "******". So, buddy my advice to you is forget asking people what they got on this board because I assure you that most people on this board exaggerate and just focus hard while you study and try to always get better.

Wow that is pretty sad when people have to cheat on a diag. They are only doing themselves a diservice because, they are not going to benefit in the long run. Good luck to you. I'm sure you did ok.

 

[Peterock]

This is a really interesting subject! This is probably the first time I have admit this! I was disappointed with the teaching TPR had in my area (don't ask what area!). The teachers made open note of individual scores within the class, constant self-admiration by telling us their scores etc etc. My first practice test was 4931. I earned 5p 4v 6b. I was completely embarassed and mortified. A teacher said that she earned a 23 on the first one! The class made me want to sit in the way back and avoid any and all communication. I was there to get all the notes and work hard outside of class. On 4921 I made a 6p 6v 7b. I told nobody because I started to believe I was not a good test-taker. The f'in teacher in class said to me that if I sat up closer I would be doing better in his subject and told everyone I was the example of someone whom was moving in the wrong direction! I was virtually the guy people felt bad for (wtf)? I finally did a lot better on 4933 8p 8v 9b. The next test I took was two weeks before the real mcat and was 5r. I earned 10p 9v 10b. I was so happy that I earned that because I thought I was not going to earn an adequate score. Then, a week before I took 6r and earned 11p 10v 11b. I was so happy. However, in my class there were tons of people that were scoring 35's etc. This depressed me more because I felt inadequate. UNTIL, at the end of 6r I saw people cheating. They were faking their scores!! The entire time I was the bad example that TPR teachers openly shunned and now I realized why!! I immediately told the graduate director at the TPR office and he told me, yes, he knew it happened. But, not to worry because he could tell that my progression was typical of what the TPR course aimed to do. He also said that at the site I was at that most people already took the MCAT course and were re-taking the same tests, or faked their scores. He knew for sure this was the case when multiple students had 35's on practice tests and scored 24-25 on the real thing. I do not know what I will earn, but I deserve to do decent after all that stress from the course and being pointed out as the "******". So, buddy my advice to you is forget asking people what they got on this board because I assure you that most people on this board exaggerate and just focus hard while you study and try to always get better.

Wow thats absolutely ridiculous! As a tpr teacher I never told my class my score for the sole reason that I didn't want them to feel like **** when they're JUST STARTING to review for an 8 hour test that has several years worth of information on it. Thats kind of a jackass thing to do.

Nobody started breaking 30's till the very last 2 tests and nobody every broke a 33. (I think there were 5 30+ scores out of 44 total tests). I can't believe your teacher called you out in class, thats totally f'ed up.

And as far as people cheating... wow.... let them dig their own graves.

 

[frankrizzo18]

Like I mentioned, I spoke to that graduate course director guy and he told me to phase it all out. Plus, when I called to say thanks for responding to my questions and getting me additional material upon request, the graduate director told me that from my class I was the only one that thanked them after the real MCAT. The rest were interested in re-take courses and to complain about TPR and not being prepared like they should have been by the program. He also mentioned that the only people that provide feedback are the people that Cheated/underachieved/Didn't do Jack!! I guess he was trying to let me know that his job was pretty tough, lol. And we still have not received our scores!! Well, take it easy!!

Wow thats absolutely ridiculous! As a tpr teacher I never told my class my score for the sole reason that I didn't want them to feel like **** when they're JUST STARTING to review for an 8 hour test that has several years worth of information on it. Thats kind of a jackass thing to do.

Nobody started breaking 30's till the very last 2 tests and nobody every broke a 33. (I think there were 5 30+ scores out of 44 total tests). I can't believe your teacher called you out in class, thats totally f'ed up.

And as far as people cheating... wow.... let them dig their own graves.

 

[gujuDoc]

Like I mentioned, I spoke to that graduate course director guy and he told me to phase it all out. Plus, when I called to say thanks for responding to my questions and getting me additional material upon request, the graduate director told me that from my class I was the only one that thanked them after the real MCAT. The rest were interested in re-take courses and to complain about TPR and not being prepared like they should have been by the program. He also mentioned that the only people that provide feedback are the people that Cheated/underachieved/Didn't do Jack!! I guess he was trying to let me know that his job was pretty tough, lol. And we still have not received our scores!! Well, take it easy!!

Those people whom cheated, etc. don't deserve to do good on the real thing if they can't take it seriously enough to do what they need to do. When I took it the first time, I know I wasn't prepared and shouldn't have taken it, but I didn't blame it on my teachers. Actually, the funny thing is the first time I took it.... My teachers were way better then the teachers that taught this time around, but I just wasn't in the mental mind frame because I hadn't finished reviewing certain chapters of my TPR books etc. I hadn't finished my workbook either. This time, I took time to finish my workbooks, do the majority of the compendium with the exception of the Physics portion of the compendium, and actually review all the old practice tests. I saw notable improvement from the first time I was taking the course. I did what my teachers had told me to do in the summer and actually try to understand rather then memorizing the information and looked at relationships between the different things and how they integrated with other topics.

These people that blame it solely on their teachers but don't put their effort outside of class need to get bad scores to get a wake up call. Now if the teachers are actually bad, and the student has been being a good student but is not getting her full money's worth then that's another story. That has happened with the recent teachers at our TPR center, mainly the new verbal teacher. But in your case, I think it sounds like it was the students faults.