KAPLAN TEST DIFFICULTIES

[DZT]

Hey y'all in premed land. I got a question. I was wondering whether anyone here has taken the Kaplan course and whether their questions are reflective of the actual MCAT at all. For the first two diagnostic tests I got scores of 29 on both. As silly as that sounds, how do scores acquired in Kaplan translate to the AAMC test score (aka. the real thing).
I spoke to the Kaplan coordinators and instructors and they said that statistically people score 5-6 points better on the real thing, but I had a friend who got 29's on his Kaplans and got the same on his MCAT. I just dont know if Kaplan can be trusted, and I hope that someone who has taken Kaplan can answer some of these questions. Thanks a million.

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[TommyGunn04]

I took Kaplan, and found that their tests quite fairly mirrored the questions on the real MCAT. However, maybe something varies in their calculation of your score, because I consistently scored 29-31 on the 4 or so full-length exams I took. But when I took the real MCAT, I ended up with a 36! Either that's a testament to how well Kaplan works, a miracle on my part, or a manifestation of the fact that they may purposely make you think you'll score lower than you ACTUALLY will, to ensure you think their course was worth the $1400!

 

[Assassin]

Kaplan tests compared to my own actual MCAT (in terms of difficulty):
verbal: right on target
physical sci: kaplan's considerably more difficult
bio sci: kaplan's A LOT easier.

 

[slam]

i was consistently getting 11's on the science part of kaplan's full length test, but ended up with a 14 (physcial), 12 (biological) on the real thing.

I thought Kaplan's physical sci was way more difficult than the real thing. biological sci was pretty close. verbal....pretty close to the real thing.

 

[slam]

however, wait for the full lengths before you start guessing at what you'll get on the real thing. the diagnostic doesn't say much !! endurance is a key part of mcat success.

 

[locitamd]

Not to scare you, but I scored the exact same thing on my Kaplan diagnostic as I did on the real thing. And, I did all of the Kaplan materials, i.e. I did the work they suggested. I found that PS was v. different than Kaplan: Kaplan = computational, MCAT = conceptual. If I had to do it all again, I would make sure to do more AAMC practice and less Kaplan. But, you have plenty of time so just try and get as much practice of both in before the test and you'll do fine.

 

[Yogi Bear]

Would you kaplan graduates who did well on mcats suggest doing the physical sci and bio sci pratice tests? did they come into any use?

 

[rincon]

I would suggest doing ALL of the Kaplan and AAMC material that you can squeeze in...you can drastically improve your score if you just become a better test taker...

 

[locitamd]

definitely do the tests!

 

[slam]

definitely do everything available if you have the time.....

 

[UCLA2000]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by nb81:
• As silly as that sounds, how do scores acquired in Kaplan translate to the AAMC test score (aka. the real thing).
I had a friend who got 29's on his Kaplans and got the same on his MCAT. I just dont know if Kaplan can be trusted.•••••I've said it before and I'll say it again. The only score that accurately predicts your MCAT score is your MCAT score. The practice tests are unreliable. In general testing companies make diagnostic exams much harder in order to scare students into enrolling in their course. It's a cheap marketing tactic.

Can Kaplan be trusted? I don't like them one bit. I read their claim about how like 7/10 or 9/10 students who take Kaplan end up at their number one choice med school or something...of course the study was only conducted at the top 5 med schools in the us!

I'd chose Hyperlearning. In my area they offered more in class hours, and more out of class take home material. In addition we were able to take home practice tests (which kaplan doesn't allow).