Is the real MCAT like this?

[shoehornlettuce]

I noticed while doing the AAMC practice exams that there are usually 1 or 2 answers that are so beyond ridiculous that you can eliminate them without hesitation e.g.

-rxn equations that don't contain any of the reactants
-unbalanced equations
-made up terms
-wrong units or often times only one correct answer after dimensional analysis
-completely bogus answers intuitively speaking (a current through a small copper wire isn't gonna generate a 20,000 gauss field)

Just wondering from people who have already taken the MCAT if it really is like this. With any sort of understanding of a topic you can usually narrow it down to 2 answer choices?

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[sc4s2cg]

Haven't taken the MCAT, but AAMC FLs are supposed to be past MCATs. The higher the number, the more recent it is.

 

[bananaz]

Yes, the real MCAT definitely had questions where you could immediately narrow down the choices to two with some background knowledge and a little common sense. Recognizing and eliminating those obviously incorrect responses is a vital skill to develop in terms of time management for the test, so it's great that you've already picked up on it.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Wait the AAMC tests were previously administered MCATs?

I didn't know that.

 

[HoltMD]

Wait the AAMC tests were previously administered MCATs?

I didn't know that.

 

[mariambaby3]

Yeah, on the real MCAT that I took this Jan, there were definitely some rofl answer choices.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Yeah, on the real MCAT that I took this Jan, there were definitely some rofl answer choices.

They probably had some rofcifp answers too. (Roll on floor crying in fetal position)

 

[Melomare17]

They probably had some rofcifp answers too. (Roll on floor crying in fetal position)

i think AAMC might consider that suspicious behavior if you did that during the test, prob would void your exam too

 

[red doctober]

Wait the AAMC tests were previously administered MCATs?

I didn't know that.

I'm pretty sure that most (if not all) of the AAMC practice tests take questions from old tests that date back from before it was computerized. The content was pretty much the same as it is now with a few changes, but there were more questions on the written test (77 questions for both PS and BS and 60 questions for VR.) I have a theory that the science sections on these practice exams are slightly easier than the current MCAT (just my opinion) because with 25 more questions, the writers had more freedom on examining breadth of knowledge and put in more easy questions that spanned more topics. These questions definitely exist on the real thing, but expect fewer of them.

In my honest, humble opinion, I think that the AAMC practice exams are slightly too easy. However, I also think that TPR tests are overly difficult and some of the things they expect you to know completely exceeds what you actually need to know. Many EK questions are just frustrating and poorly written in my opinion. I have little experience with Kaplan, but I hear they are overly difficult like TPR. Long story short, IMO AAMC science sections are slightly easier, TPR is slightly harder, and EK is plain frustrating, but compared to the rest, AAMC is the most valuable.

 

[kasho11]

Most people that post here still tend to score within their AAMC range so I think that still speaks to their viability or at the very least as a gauge.