Inconsistency in AAMC Scores

[Benighted]

Hi, I have taken 3 AAMCs so far and although my overall score has been somewhat consistent, I seem to vary between sections on each test.

AAMC 10: (11 PS, 10 V, 13 B) = 34
AAMC 7: (12 PS, 11 V, 11 B) = 34
AAMC 8: (13 PS, 9 V, 10 B) = 32


I'm going to take AAMC 9 tomorrow and AAMC 11 in a few days. My test is September 12th. (I took 3-5 during my studying so my scores were in the low 30s and aren't reflective of my test-taking abilities now).

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? If so, any advice for the last ~week of reviewing for my mcat? What did you do; or for those who haven't taken the MCAT yet, what would you do at this point?

Sorry if this is a hackneyed type of thread.

Extra information for anyone interested: My goal is a 34-35+. I've been getting by on biology with knowing just the basics. I decided on just knowing the basics and using my critical thinking to score well on the Bio section (it worked on AAMC 10, but not the earlier ones). As for PS, most of my mistakes have been silly mistakes with a few content gaps (Electromagnetism and circuits - which I could never truly understand). In terms of Verbal, I've always been ridiculously terrible with reading comprehension throughout my life and my 11 was a fluke (I guessed really well even though I didn't understand the passages when I read them).

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[lumberjack89]

AAMC-3 = 31 : 10/10/11
AAMC-4 = 33 : 9/12/12
AAMC-5 = 33 : 8/15/10
AAMC-7 = 35 : 9/13/13
AAMC-8 = 31 : 10/10/11

I'm registered for Sept. 12th as well, and those are my scores in chronological order, though there was a 4 week break between #7 and #8 during which I was working on GS tests. It seems pretty common to have fluctuations as wide as yours and mine in AAMC scores, though I'm hoping my score on #8 was a fluke, and I score better in the future, seeing as it's as low as my first attempt (on AAMC-3) almost 6 weeks ago. I just took #8 yesterday though, and will take the rest of the AAMC tests between now and the test date. You might wander on over to the thread for Sept. 12th below:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/september-12-2014-mcat.1077051/

Most of us in that thread are going through the exact same thing as you: we're trucking along and then all of the sudden we're seeing a lower/worse score on a particular AAMC and we're sorta freakin' out about it, each in our own way. We've been talking about what to do in that thread, as well as looking for advice in some others that are linked there, in addition to exploring various re-scheduling options and whatnot.

As for your question in particular, if you want a 34-35+ on the real test I'd say it's a little risky: most people score 1-2 points below their AAMC average on the real MCAT, so personally I don't see the risk of taking it before you're exceeding your target as being worth while, but who knows? Though most folks seem to perform a couple points lower than their AAMC average, some do the same or even better, so if you're feeling confident and you don't want to reschedule, I would just keep taking full lengths, reviewing thoroughly, and reading through whatever notes you took on your missed questions from all the AAMC material to date.

 

[justadream]

My scores for each section are all within 2 of each other but it could easily be within 3 just like you. Keep in mind one question is often the difference between one score and the next.

 

[praystudyeatrepeat]

I'm a little late to this convo, but my scores are super inconsistent too..
Went from a 29 on aamc 8 to 34 on aamc 9 in literally two days. Took aamc 11 a week later and got a 30. Not sure what to think or expect, but the test date is in a week. Any tips?!

 

[lumberjack89]

I'm a little late to this convo, but my scores are super inconsistent too..
Went from a 29 on aamc 8 to 34 on aamc 9 in literally two days. Took aamc 11 a week later and got a 30. Not sure what to think or expect, but the test date is in a week. Any tips?!

Unfortunately you're asking people with inconsistent scores for tips on how to get more consistent scores - if we knew the answer we wouldn't be posting in this thread

But seriously, the only way fluctuating scores makes sense is to realize that certain tests just focus on different topics, and your score in many ways is a reflection of how many of your weaknesses and strengths were on that particular exam. The only way our scores wouldn't fluctuate is if A) we were MCAT robots with exactly 11/15ths (for example, though you could use any number) knowledge of every single MCAT topic, thus netting us precisely 11s in every category and getting 33s every time, but that also supposes that B) every category of knowledge is tested with equal intensity on every different MCAT exam, and the trouble is that neither A nor B is true, or even close to being true.

Think of MCAT scores like a lock and key: the locks are the tests and each one is different from all the others, though they have certain similarities: the ridges and levers inside the lock are MCAT topics, and in some locks certain ridges/levers are big, some small, some aren't even included. The students are the keys, and each student has a totally unique set of characteristic strengths/weaknesses that are akin to the uniqueness of the teeth/ridges on a key. They key is going to fit better and worse into different locks, and when you get a high score, it means a high percentage of your strengths were on that particular test and a low percentage of your weakness, i.e. in our minds that's a good lock-and-key fit.

The thing about the key is that the "perfect" one would be able to adjust itself to each lock, and that's what we try to prepare ourselves for by studying. You never know what topic will be drilled hard, which one will totally be left off, and so on, so we just have to do our best based on the material and tests we've seen to try to be ready for anything/everything. The only way I know how to do that is to keep exposing myself to more and more locks, i.e. more and more tests, more practice material, more passages, and find the weaknesses I've got and try my best to shore them up between tests with content review, drills, problems, memorization, etc.

If anyone else out there has a better idea I'd love to hear it!

 

[justadream]

I'm a little late to this convo, but my scores are super inconsistent too..
Went from a 29 on aamc 8 to 34 on aamc 9 in literally two days. Took aamc 11 a week later and got a 30. Not sure what to think or expect, but the test date is in a week. Any tips?!

Did you find AAMC 8 to be harder than usual? I just took AAMC 8 (I've taken 3,4,5, 7, 8) and I thought 8 was probably the hardest yet.

 

[valkener]

Seems pretty consistent to me. Just take an average!

 

[praystudyeatrepeat]

Did you find AAMC 8 to be harder than usual? I just took AAMC 8 (I've taken 3,4,5, 7, 8) and I thought 8 was probably the hardest yet.

Hmm I thought AAMC 11 was definitely the hardest. 8 was about the same as 10 and 9 imo. I really think it depends on the person though, since for some people the passage content might be more/less familiar.

 

[praystudyeatrepeat]

Unfortunately you're asking people with inconsistent scores for tips on how to get more consistent scores - if we knew the answer we wouldn't be posting in this thread

But seriously, the only way fluctuating scores makes sense is to realize that certain tests just focus on different topics, and your score in many ways is a reflection of how many of your weaknesses and strengths were on that particular exam. The only way our scores wouldn't fluctuate is if A) we were MCAT robots with exactly 11/15ths (for example, though you could use any number) knowledge of every single MCAT topic, thus netting us precisely 11s in every category and getting 33s every time, but that also supposes that B) every category of knowledge is tested with equal intensity on every different MCAT exam, and the trouble is that neither A nor B is true, or even close to being true.

Think of MCAT scores like a lock and key: the locks are the tests and each one is different from all the others, though they have certain similarities: the ridges and levers inside the lock are MCAT topics, and in some locks certain ridges/levers are big, some small, some aren't even included. The students are the keys, and each student has a totally unique set of characteristic strengths/weaknesses that are akin to the uniqueness of the teeth/ridges on a key. They key is going to fit better and worse into different locks, and when you get a high score, it means a high percentage of your strengths were on that particular test and a low percentage of your weakness, i.e. in our minds that's a good lock-and-key fit.

The thing about the key is that the "perfect" one would be able to adjust itself to each lock, and that's what we try to prepare ourselves for by studying. You never know what topic will be drilled hard, which one will totally be left off, and so on, so we just have to do our best based on the material and tests we've seen to try to be ready for anything/everything. The only way I know how to do that is to keep exposing myself to more and more locks, i.e. more and more tests, more practice material, more passages, and find the weaknesses I've got and try my best to shore them up between tests with content review, drills, problems, memorization, etc.

If anyone else out there has a better idea I'd love to hear it!

Haha, that's true. Just hoping that with 3 days left my brain will be ready to go! I'm just really uneasy about voiding or not because I never know how I do. Like I averaged 30's on BR, TPR, and AAMC CBTs...but aren't BR and TPR ones supposed to be harder?!

Also, does anyone know what the greatest discrepancy is between what people averaged on their AAMC's, and what they actually got? I had a friend who claimed the highest he got on practice tests was a 36, and ended up getting a 40.

 

[HinduHammer]

To minimize variance between sections my suggestion will be to spend an equal amount of time between all 3 sections (after content review). For ex, after my content review I usually did 1-2 PS passages followed by 1-2 VR passages followed by 1-2 BS passages. I found that when you focused on one section excluively for a few days your score would be weirdly affected -- sometimes artificially high, and sometimes artificially low due to burnout or overthinking or something.

 

[lumberjack89]

Haha, that's true. Just hoping that with 3 days left my brain will be ready to go! I'm just really uneasy about voiding or not because I never know how I do. Like I averaged 30's on BR, TPR, and AAMC CBTs...but aren't BR and TPR ones supposed to be harder?!

Also, does anyone know what the greatest discrepancy is between what people averaged on their AAMC's, and what they actually got? I had a friend who claimed the highest he got on practice tests was a 36, and ended up getting a 40.

I think we've all got a few stories about people who did 4-5 points better or worse than their average, but that's simply not typical, so I wouldn't count on it. Usually people score within 1-2 points of their AAMC average.

But that's just "typical", and there are tons of counterexamples. The more I've spent time prepping and taking tests the more I think of the actual MCAT as a sort of magic black box: you put in your effort, and you get a score that sorta-kinda-mostly reflects the effort you put into your preparation, but only sorta-kinda-mostly. It's simply impossible to predict with precision what your real score will be like - there's just too many variables.

 

[Aceventura74]

There is a huge inconsistency amongst AAMC Exams. For example, AAMC 3 was released in the mid 90s I believe, where as AAMC 9, 10, 11 were released around 2010ish. There is a huge shift in question style, passage topics, and overall length/quality/difficulty. People bob up and down insanely on these exams, ergo the best suggestion is to AVERAGE all the AAMC scores to get a good indicator for your actual MCAT score. Also, keep in mind AAMC 3-9 were NOT OFFICIAL ADMINISTERED - they're just a set of passages assembled by the AAMC and formatted to be replicative of a real test. AAMC 10 and 11, however, were actual full lengths. Good luck!