I'm gonna be a senior and am currently about to start my application process.
i took the exam twice, first time, was last august and got V 9, P 11, W R, B 13
this time i got V 12, P 15, W P, B 15
I was very disappointed w/ my score the first time as i had been scoring much higher when i was taking practice tests during the summer. Its strange that my score improved by 9 pts cuz i spent the entire summer studying for the august exam, but wasn't able to devote that much time for the april admn cuz i had a full schedule, research and a strenuous part-time job.
the main reason was probably i wasn't nervous for 2nd time and got a full nights sleep. the first time i was so nerved out that i only got maybe 4 hrs.
I studied for august using all the berkeley review books that my friends gave me. I highly recommend their science review, not so much thier practcie problmes as they way too hard. also used PR workbooks for v, b, p, and got PR/AAMC tests from my friends who were oh so nice to share. I also constantly referred back to my textbooks for concepts that i wasn't so good on.
also had betz guide and barrons, but they weren't really useful so i didn't look thru them at all
for this april, i got a few more things most notably the kaplan ****. I didn't really feel their flashcards were all that useful nor were the review books. the thing that was incredibly good was the materials they stashed away in their libraries. About 2 weeks before the test, i went with this friend to the nearest test center and he checked out the practice and topical tests.
even w/ all that, i didn't feel going into the test that i would do that well. I felt i would improve on my last score, but had no clue i'd get a 42.
good luck to everyone else studying for the august one.