MCAT v. GPA

[7175pank]

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I was wondering if anyone had some insights on this.

My GPA isn't stellar (cGPA: 3.07, sGPA: 2.97) but the two practice MCATs I took this past week, timed and in one sitting, don't seem to correlate well with those numbers (Kap Diagnostic: 30 - 11 PS, 10 VR, BS 9 and AAMC 3: 32 - 10 PS, 12 VR, 10 BS). I haven't been studying this summer and have decided to get my **** together and get back on the pre-med wagon but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to why such a discrepancy would exist?

Obviously, I don't have any reliable indicator for how reflective those results are of my ability (also n=2) but if there is any validity would anyone have some hidden kernel of knowledge as to why this would be and why I can't seem to apply this to my GPA? Is my brain wired weird? Glitch in the matrix?

 

[LifeTake2]

My best guess is it has to do with the type of test.

There are some people that can blow standardized tests out of the water, but suck in things like long answer (physics, chem) and essay (social sciences).

As an example, I got a C in both semesters O-Chem mostly due to my mechanisms that I could explain while studying NEVER worked on the exam. Yet, I love standardized tests, and got a 34 (11/12/11) meaning I did substantially on the O-chem questions on the MCAT than I ever got in the same class just a month before.

 

[7175pank]

There are some people that can blow standardized tests out of the water, but suck in things like long answer (physics, chem) and essay (social sciences).

Funny how that works. The GPA says 'below average' but the standardized metric says 'significantly above average'. C'est la vie.

Yeah, long answer tests seem to just slaughter my GPA and I'm not sure why (go figure they are the metric of choice for all but one of my finals... and I'd get an A- in the MC class). It probably doesn't help that my school doesn't curve but people still manage to get A's and whatnot.

I haven't taken O-Chem yet (coming up soon though, and I am planning my hibernation to study for it) but is it as bad as people say?