kaplan full length tests harder?

[Hawaiiandoc04]

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I took my first kaplan full length (#8) , and i found this to be very tedious/hard with some very long passages...Basically every passage for physical and biological sciences was fairly long and intricate. . . I can't finish the exams in the allotted time...Is the real mcat anything like this? It seems as if the aamc practice materials are much easier (ie passages are shorter, "nicer", simpler) than the kaplan materials. I haven't taken an aamc full length test yet so we'll see how that goes. So what do people think? Is kaplan stuff harder than the real stuff?

 

[SonGoku]

I didn't take any of Kaplan's, but TPR's were definitely harder than the AAMC tests. My teachers told me that TPR does that on purpose to prepare the students for the worst. BUT I couldn't even finish some of the TPR tests, nor decipher what was going on in some of the psgs. Don't worry about it too much, try an AAMC test. I bet you'll have a better time. I jumped into double digits in every section once I started on them after taking all of TPR's.

 

[docbrown76]

I am not sure exactly how the KAPLAN practice exams compare to the real MCAT.

Note: A good friend used a combination of KAPLAN and AAMC practice exams. He did very well on the MCAT (33).

Try supplementing your KAPLAN practice material with AAMC practice exams.

Good Luck!!

 

[kingcer0x]

Hey, i don't think Kaplan changes their tests too much from year to year. Some changes yes to reflect content changes.

If you really wanted to know, I scored 9 points lower on the diagnostic than on the real April mcat...

...then scored exactly the same thing on Kaplan practice #5 as I did on April. I know Kaplan tells its prospective MCAT classroom course teachers that students will outperform Kaplans practice exams by 3-5 points on the real one. Didn't work that way for me, but the end result wasn't too bad.

If you ask me, Kaplan's physical science prep is awesome, verbal is poor, and bio is good if you had a solid understanding to begin with.

Hope this helps!

 

[gonakillmcat]

I took TPR and i used Kaplan tests as well both were significantly more difficulty than the Actual MCAT. I took the mcat in april and did well above a 30. My advice make sure that you take all the AAMC and only use the Kaplan and TPR practice tests as learning resources do not put much stok in your scores.
Good Luck

 

[MeowMix]

The AAMC practice items are more straightforward and simple than the Kaplan practice items. I think real MCAT questions are between the two, with more complexity instead of tricky twists that throw you off. They are all good practice.

The AAMC full lengths should be a very important addition to your full-length test practice; be sure to do III through VI in addition to (or instead of!) your Kaplan full-lengths.

The Kaplan full-lengths can be very difficult, with long passages, lots of computation, tricky questions, etc.. I think that some of these science passages are not very MCAT-like. Use these tests to practice for intimidating passages on the real thing. Time yourself and allow no more than 7 minutes per passage or set of discretes. If you cannot finish in that time, guess, bubble, and move on. Concentrate on finishing and answering every question in the allotted time. Avoid skipping around from passage to passage, looking for easier questions - it just wastes time. (These last 2 tips are central to the Examkrackers method, and I think they are valuable. I know that Kaplan recommends "triage", but I personally do not think it is a good idea.)

 

[iamhere]

After Kaplan 1 and 2, they get pretty freaking hard. 6-11 are actually very hard. I went up 11 points from kap 7 to real one in april. kap tests are definitely much harder. no question about it. don't stress bout it, the aamc are more accurate, but kap are good practice. sort of like swinging a bat with a donut on it for weight...then you get to the plate and the bat is really light!!! okay that was weird and if you don't play baseball you won't understand...but pm if you have any questions.

 

[Wilford Brimley]

Originally posted by iamhere
After Kaplan 1 and 2, they get pretty freaking hard. 6-11 are actually very hard. I went up 11 points from kap 7 to real one in april. kap tests are definitely much harder. no question about it. don't stress bout it, the aamc are more accurate, but kap are good practice. sort of like swinging a bat with a donut on it for weight...then you get to the plate and the bat is really light!!! okay that was weird and if you don't play baseball you won't understand...but pm if you have any questions.

Good analogy.

 

[HIIC]

Don't let these fizzles swerve you. If you go in thinking that you have some sort of magical advantage by having 'swung with a heavier beat', be forewarned!!!! The Kaplan is an accurate measure of the MCAT...The AAMC materials that KAPLAN center has are misleading...those are very easy (comparatively of course). The MCAT this year was changed up...if you are unlucky like I was and got a not-so-kind form, you'll see that your test is AS hard as the Kaplan materials. This was my case.

All in all, the Kaplan materials are a good measure, but they aren't 'donut-fied'. One more thing: when I would take the Kaplan fulllengths, and then an AAMC practice (and i took all of them), I found that the kaplan phys sci was MUCH harder, the verbal was quite a bit harder, and the bio was an accurate measure. I was pretty confident with that, but when I went in for the 2003 MCAT and got the wicked FM form, all that went out the window. My phys sci was actualyl HARDER than any kaplan or aamc full length i ever took, and so was my verbal. Bio was about the same...

ive rambled enough...i hope you take my advice. the advice some posters give might not be the best....we have some geniuses(genii)/liars who made some outstanding scores!

Cheers

 

[carpe diem]

I think the key is to develop or adapt a system for taking each part of the exam, and stick to your system no matter what type (Kaplan, AAMC, etc.) Sometimes the "harder" practice exams can be a detriment as they may cause you to overthink when you come across more straightforward passages. Sorta like over-swinging on a change-up pitch, after you've done practice swings with the donut. (to use the baseball analogy)

Best advice I was ever given was to concentrate on Verbal the most, as it will help you on the other sections (esp bio) also. Also, since it's the first section, it can make or break you psychologically for the rest of the exam.

 

[MeowMix]

Since they changed the order of sections, and now PS is first, now it sets the psychological tone.

On the April MCAT, I got thrown by the difficulty of the first three PS passages. I finished with plenty of time, but I spent the first 45 minutes saying to myself, this is so hard, this is so f*cking hard. Eventually I realized that this was not a good confident attitude to carry through the section.

Doing the difficult practice tests would have helped prepare me for something that would be psychologically problematic - I went in feeling more confident about PS than any other section, but had not prepared for that level of difficulty (I hadn't done enough practice tests).