Kaplan Diag vs. real thing

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BloodySurgeon

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I'm still scoring around 30-31 range on my diag and i want to score around 34+ by the test day (jan 25th). How accurate are these Kaplan Diags? my score has been consistent almost since i started the program (except verbal) and I dunno what to do anymore except practice.

Baseline scores:
PS-12(closer to 11) VR-4 BS-10

Current Scores:
PS-12(closer to 13) VR-8 BS-11(closer to 12)

I was getting 9s before my fall quarter and only now started studying. I did 3 month of studying for the august test, chickened out and now started studying for the January test.

How possible is it to score PS:13 VR: 10 BS: 12 on the real deal when I haven't gotten this on any given practice (at least as a whole)? I know anything is possible, but I want to know how accurate these diags are. Will I be more likely to get a higher, lower, or equal score? I feel like my verbal score is inflated and my bio score is deflated... does anyone else feel the same?

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*I'm referring to VR when I say consistent 9s before fall.

Also, I will be taking some Princeton Review Diags to compare. Should I be expecting the same? I hear their test are actually quite harder, but how about their scaling. A kaplan representative told me that their scaling could be the most accurate scaling out there? Is this a marketing pitch or does some validity exist?
 
I don't know what you mean by Kaplan Diags. I thought there was only one or at least, I was only required to take one. Anyway, the Kaplan diag I took was nothing like the actual test. Question difficulty was different, timing was different, wording was different, just about everything was different. As for the actual practice tests, I thought the real thing was a mix between Kaplan and AAMC.
 
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From experience, I can assure you that Kaplan full lengths are much more difficult than both the real test and the AAMC full lengths. I would suggest doing more AAMC full lengths if you haven't already, as they are very similar to the real thing in terms of difficulty. Also, if it helps, my real MCAT score was 3 points higher than any Kaplan full length I ever took, and I took all eleven.
 
I'll agree that Kaplan's tests are different than what you'll see on The Big Dance, but not necessarily harder. F'r instance, on my 9-11-07 administration, I dropped a solid 2 points in VR from my average Kaplan VR score on the real test (yowch!), but gained a point on BS from my average (rock on!). PS stayed the same, even if my real MCAT's PS section felt almost ridiculously easy.

So, anecdotally and dripping with bias, I'd say that they've got a different scale than the actual MCAT. But they're still phenomenal practice: I ended up getting a 35 on the real schlemiel, and that's the result of a steady rise from 29 over about 4 practice tests. I felt just about as solidly challenged by the Honest-to-G-d MCAT as I did by each of the practice tests.
 
My issue with the Kaplan Diag is this: yes, the questions are different and harder, but the curve is steeper. For me, Kaplan gave me much higher scores than what I got on the AAMC practice tests.
 
My issue with the Kaplan Diag is this: yes, the questions are different and harder, but the curve is steeper. For me, Kaplan gave me much higher scores than what I got on the AAMC practice tests.

Man this is tripping me out. Most people are saying that the Kaplan scores are inflated (especially for verbal) and my sciences are fine but my verbal scores are suxin. I dun understand why its dropping.... I had at one point some 10s and 11s on a practice then i was stuck at 9. then i was getting consistent 8s and 9s... now i took 3 full lengths and am stuck at 7! WTF! is it possible to just get worse n worse at verbal?
 
I'm a retaker

On the Kaplan tests, I had gotten 34s, a 36, and a 37
AAMCs were lower though

Real deal: 29 .. (Aug 20th MCAT)... hardest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.

Don't know what happened :confused: I had never gotten lower than 12s on PS or BS on practice tests. I got 10s in both on the real thing

Even though the AAMCs are easier, definitely trust their "scores" more.. I was getting 32s and 33s on the AAMCs ... that's still closer to the 29 than the Kaplan tests
 
kaplan fl 10 and 11 are much harder--i scored 12 points higher on the real exam than on those two.

i found that the style of the practice aamc exams were different than kaplan, in that kaplan questions / passages were harder, but the scoring was more generous. on the practice aamc exams, i thought many of the questions were simple and only a few wrong could really affect your score. i was scoring about the same on both kaplan and aamc practice exams, although the # wrong varied a lot. i scored about the same on the real thing.

gl! for verbal, try writing a practice set (not the entire exam, just the kaplan 60 minute test) untimed, and decide why you think each answer choice is right or wrong. i did this with 2 practice sets, and understanding why i made the mistakes (as i made them, not going back with the answers clearly marked) really helped me.
 
If I have all the time in the world I score 4 points higher on verbal and every minute I subtract from that I get 1 point less. I always finish the test with one passage not done and no matter how much I practice I'm just not getting use to the MCAT paste. I usually have nearly 10 mins left on bio and couple of minutes left on physical but on verbal there is always 2 mins left and I haven't read the last passage. I took a full length every other day and now I am done with the kaplan tests and will move on to the AAMC. But it's not only timing, my other two problems are: 1) I always have one passage that just destroys me and I have no clue what they're saying and 2) I can't stand those question that go, which of the following would the author LEAST likely agree with and the answer is not the one that wasn't even mentioned in the passage. ARGH!
 
I'll agree that Kaplan's tests are different than what you'll see on The Big Dance, but not necessarily harder.

:thumbup:

Everyone needs to remember that these tests are just for practice - the testing conditions will never be identical to the real thing. The curve will be different. Please DON'T use your practice scores to try and "predict" your real score. Rather, compare your score to previous practice exams and see if you need improvement in any particular area.

I can't tell you how heart-breaking it is to hear of so many people who are devastated because they scored several points lower on the real test, compared to their practice exams. If only there were some practice test that could accurately "predict" your real score! In college, there were never any practice tests that were essentially similar to the real thing - why would that change now?
 
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