Kaplan vs. AAMC Practice Exams vs. Test Day - My Experience

[gridguy]

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I'd like to share with everyone how I did on my Kaplan and AAMC practice exams versus my actual Test Day performance (from July 28, 2011). Bottom line is that I got my exact median score across all 19 practice exams that I took.

A small preface, my July 28, 2011 MCAT was my fourth time taking the exam. My first three attempts went as follows (TO column means total).

Year - TO - PS - VR - BS
2006 - 28 - 10 - 10 - 08
2007 - 31 - 11 - 10 - 10
2009 - 30 - 12 - 07 - 11

And here is the table for my 11 Kaplan practice exams and 8 AAMC practice exams (taken in chronological order leading up to Test Day, KN means Kaplan, AC means AAMC, the numbers mean the specific test and MEDN means median).

Test - TO - PS - VR - BS
KN01 - 32 - 11 - 10 - 11
KN02 - 38 - 13 - 12 - 13
KN03 - 39 - 14 - 12 - 13
KN04 - 37 - 14 - 10 - 13
KN05 - 38 - 14 - 10 - 14
KN06 - 40 - 14 - 12 - 14
KN07 - 40 - 14 - 12 - 14
KN08 - 39 - 13 - 12 - 14
KN09 - 41 - 13 - 14 - 14
KN10 - 28 - 11 - 08 - 09
KN11 - 29 - 11 - 08 - 10
AC03 - 35 - 14 - 09 - 12
AC04 - 38 - 14 - 11 - 13
AC05 - 37 - 13 - 11 - 13
AC07 - 37 - 13 - 12 - 12
AC08 - 39 - 14 - 12 - 13
AC09 - 40 - 15 - 11 - 14
AC10 - 36 - 13 - 10 - 13
AC11 - 37 - 13 - 11 - 13
MEDN - 38 - 13 - 11 – 13

So my overall means were a 36.8 overall, 13.2 on the PS, 10.9 on the VR and 12.7 on the BS. My actual Test Day performance on July 28, 2011 was a 38 (13 on the PS, 10 on the VR and 15 on the BS).

I hope this table can serve as a valuable resource to future MCAT students. I will not comment on the quality of the respective exams nor particular study habits as I think that is too subjective. Attached is an Excel spreadsheet with this data. Good luck!

 

[btc8]

Wow, this is very encouraging considering I am contemplating retaking; I am focusing more on the TPR passages than on content review (which I believe is what got me last time).

Did you retake any practice exams? I took the majority of the AAMC exams, but I have the Kaplans.

Thanks!

 

[gridguy]

Wow, this is very encouraging considering I am contemplating retaking; I am focusing more on the TPR passages than on content review (which I believe is what got me last time).

Did you retake any practice exams? I took the majority of the AAMC exams, but I have the Kaplans.

Thanks!

You raise a good point - I had used several AAMC exams to prep for my 2009 MCAT (longer than two years ago) and several Kaplan exams to prep for my 2006 MCAT (longer than five years ago), but by and large I had forgotten anything relevant during this last round of studying. Every once in awhile I would recall the content of an AAMC passage, but never anything specific. As far as I am concerned, these are 'untainted' results. I specifically took AAMC 11 last because it had been released since my 2009 MCAT and therefore I had never seen it (I got a 37 on AAMC 11, and a 38 on Test Day).

 

[bakedsoft]

Hey Gridguy,

Great job on the MCAT scores. Was wondering if you wouldn't mind putting in the dates when you took these exams so I can compare with my study regimen. Thanks so much and good luck on applications.

 

[chemhead123]

Really interesting. What was your take on the days were you had drastic score jumps and drops? Poor exam quality or what?

Thanks for posting this!

 

[SaintJude]

Yeah, seriously thanks for posting. I'm about to take my 3rd practice exam in the same 19-exam regimen as you and I needed the motivation!

How did you review your exams?

 

[FirstAndFinal]

Great posts, love to see numbers. I'm also going to request that you put up dates for when you took your full lengths and if you can comment on any of your content review materials/strategies/timeline (I'm guessing you took the Kaplan course, any extra material or just Kaplan for studying?). Always great to hear what someone who scored very well did to prepare.

 

[gridguy]

Great posts, love to see numbers. I'm also going to request that you put up dates for when you took your full lengths and if you can comment on any of your content review materials/strategies/timeline (I'm guessing you took the Kaplan course, any extra material or just Kaplan for studying?). Always great to hear what someone who scored very well did to prepare.

Well, exact test dates I cannot recall but consider the following information.

I attribute the jump in my score from a 30 in 2009 to a 38 in 2011 to the fact that I attended Georgetown's SMP during the 2010-2011 academic year. Having said that, I have bumped into several of my former classmates during the 2011-2012 application cycle and of the ones who retook their MCAT after the SMP, none reported meaningul increases in their scores, so in this regard I am something of a lucky outlier. However, this hardly represents a comprehensive survey.

A bit more information that may be of use. I finished the Georgetown SMP on June 10, 2011 and took my MCAT on July 28, 2011 during which time I prepared fairly rigorously for my MCAT. I did not begin to take any practice exams until after my content review, which last about 3 weeks (though I was already very familiar with much of the content before this). By and large, I prepped independently. At one point I was taking exams daily (as the scores indicate there was sometimes not much that needed to be reviewed).

With regard to my outlier scores, I recall their being a technical glitch during KN01 prevented me from finishing a section and as far as KN10 and KN11 are concerned, I remember their curve being much tougher than other Kaplan exams. Overall, you can miss far more questions on Kaplan exams and do well than you can on the AAMC exams, however taken altogether it's my opinion that the average Kaplan exam is more difficult so it balances out.

Student beware - the intent of this post was not to recommend any particular study schedule or technique. Rather, what I was trying to do was substantiate practice exam scores - in my case they represented a pitch perfect prediction of my real score, which possibly holds true in any range.

In the end, what did my 38 get me? So far, not much. After applying to 31 US allopathic medical schools, I sit on six waitlists and have no acceptances, although I did get a speeding ticket on the NJ turnpike on my way to an interview.

 

[UrshumMurshum]

Gridguy, thanks for your data. I think there was a post earlier that showed that most people score within their AAMC average +/- 2 points.

That said, can I just ask you a question generally. Is the level of difficulty in the sciences sections similar between the practice tests and actual test in your opinion? I realize this is subjective.

Personally I've been scoring a flat 30 my last two practice tests, but that's with my BS in the 8-9 range. Hopefully I can get that up to the 10-11 range by test time.

 

[gridguy]

Gridguy, thanks for your data. I think there was a post earlier that showed that most people score within their AAMC average +/- 2 points.

That said, can I just ask you a question generally. Is the level of difficulty in the sciences sections similar between the practice tests and actual test in your opinion? I realize this is subjective.

Personally I've been scoring a flat 30 my last two practice tests, but that's with my BS in the 8-9 range. Hopefully I can get that up to the 10-11 range by test time.

AAMC 10 and 11 were the best simulations of test day both in terms of content and style. Without a doubt, the MCAT is evolving into an exam that tests your ability to read, comprehend and process well written scientific literature... at least until the pending reforms are enacted.

I would say generally speaking test day passages are generally harder but questions are manageable. For instance, one of my PS passages dealt with a double pendulum, which I did not study until my 400 level physics classes (and hadn't considered in 4 years), however, the questions dealt primarily with 100 level concepts. The AAMC probably does this on purpose to instill a sense of anxiety while reading the passages so that one blows otherwise reasonable questions.

 

[railgun]

I'll add mine as well for anyone that would like more data:

Test - TO - PS - VR - BS

Diag - 09 - 07 - 08 - 24
KN01 - 11 - 07 - 11 - 29
KN02 - 12 - 10 - 11 - 33
KN03 - 13 - 10 - 11 - 34
KN04 - 13 - 10 - 10 - 33
KN05 - 14 - 08 - 10 - 32
KN06 - 11 - 11 - 12 - 34
KN11 - 11 - 11 - 10 - 32
AC03 - 14 - 10 - 10 - 34
AC04 - 12 - 08 - 12 -32
AC05 - 13 - 12 - 12 -37
AC06 - 14 - 10 - 12 - 36
AC07 - 14 - 10 - 12 -36
AC08 - 14 - 09 - 12 - 35
AC09 - 14 - 09 - 12 - 35
AC10 - 12 - 09 - 12 - 33
AC11 - 13 - 09 - 10 - 32

AAMC stats: avg 34.5, 13.5 PS, 9.5 VR, 11.5 BS.
Actual MCAT (1/27/12): 38, 14PS, 9VR, 15BS!!!!

 

[gridguy]

For all those still interested, I was accepted to Ohio State today, probably on the strength of my MCAT. Good luck - it is more competitive than you can imagine.

 

[PreMedOrDead]

Wow, railgun, getting your high on your actual, that's incredible, I wish I was that lucky! Congrats!

 

[Rogerfederer88]

How did you review your practice exams? Any suggestions?