Not Sure of how to interpret results

[mbio2015]

So I am taking the MCAT Jan 19th, and hoping for a 515, but would be happy with a 510+ I've taken five and half exams so far, but not sure if I'm in my target range or not. In order my results are

Demo TPR-495 ( C/P 122, B/B 122, Cars 125, P/S 126 ): Was surprised it was this low even though I heard it was absurdly hard because I felt as though I understood most of the content/questions.

NS 1: 508 (127 on everything): In line with what I expected based on difficulty of the test.

NS half-length diagnostic: 511( C/P 126, B/B 126, Cars 131, P/S 128): Surprised my science scores went down due to taking this after the FL.

AAMC sample (C/P 63%, B/B 86%, Cars 87%, P/S 80%): Still don't know if this was good or not. The C/P should have been higher; About 3/4 of the way through I misread a calculation for diameter as density and wasted a lot of time meaning, I had to skim over the rest of the passages. Reviewing the test, I found 4-5 easy questions (amino acid type gimme type) I probably would have gotten right had I not skimmed through and another 3-4 I understood and may have gotten right without the wasted time. B/B and P/S seemed right.

AAMC scored: 509 ( C/P 126, B/B 128, Cars 127, P/S 128): Still need to review this but it seemed harder than the sample...and maybe even NS. I felt like I understood most of the content, but thought I'd get a 127 on C/P (seemed to be a question or two away from that). CARS surprised me since I got 77% correct but on the AAMC qpacks I've been getting 83% correct minimum (though I've been doing 3 timed passages a day rather than a whole exam so maybe I'm not doing it right?) but B/B and P/S seemed right...though again seemed harder haha. I thought I'd do better considering I heard people tend to do a few points better than their NS, and I'm about a week and a half from the actual thing.

Don't know if it matters but on my physics qpack I got 74%, chem 82%, and biology 86% a few weeks ago. This has been on par with the TBR exams I've been taking (been doing better % wise on TBR biology however). Section bank 60% C/P, 64% B/B, 71% P/S though this was months ago while still reviewing content.

Sorry for the long post, but by your estimates is a 509 about what I should expect or is 510-515 still within reasonable grasp? Thanks for the help!

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[ScreenName23]

So I am taking the MCAT Jan 19th, and hoping for a 515, but would be happy with a 510+ I've taken five and half exams so far, but not sure if I'm in my target range or not. In order my results are

Demo TPR-495 ( C/P 122, B/B 122, Cars 125, P/S 126 ): Was surprised it was this low even though I heard it was absurdly hard because I felt as though I understood most of the content/questions.

NS 1: 508 (127 on everything): In line with what I expected based on difficulty of the test.

NS half-length diagnostic: 511( C/P 126, B/B 126, Cars 131, P/S 128): Surprised my science scores went down due to taking this after the FL.

AAMC sample (C/P 63%, B/B 86%, Cars 87%, P/S 80%): Still don't know if this was good or not. The C/P should have been higher; About 3/4 of the way through I misread a calculation for diameter as density and wasted a lot of time meaning, I had to skim over the rest of the passages. Reviewing the test, I found 4-5 easy questions (amino acid type gimme type) I probably would have gotten right had I not skimmed through and another 3-4 I understood and may have gotten right without the wasted time. B/B and P/S seemed right.

AAMC scored: 509 ( C/P 126, B/B 128, Cars 127, P/S 128): Still need to review this but it seemed harder than the sample...and maybe even NS. I felt like I understood most of the content, but thought I'd get a 127 on C/P (seemed to be a question or two away from that). CARS surprised me since I got 77% correct but on the AAMC qpacks I've been getting 83% correct minimum (though I've been doing 3 timed passages a day rather than a whole exam so maybe I'm not doing it right?) but B/B and P/S seemed right...though again seemed harder haha. I thought I'd do better considering I heard people tend to do a few points better than their NS, and I'm about a week and a half from the actual thing.

Don't know if it matters but on my physics qpack I got 74%, chem 82%, and biology 86% a few weeks ago. This has been on par with the TBR exams I've been taking (been doing better % wise on TBR biology however). Section bank 60% C/P, 64% B/B, 71% P/S though this was months ago while still reviewing content.

Sorry for the long post, but by your estimates is a 509 about what I should expect or is 510-515 still within reasonable grasp? Thanks for the help!

While a 510-515 isn't out of the question you also need to consider the 507 possibility. The AAMC scored is more difficult than the sample and it is more similar to the exam. Very often people score +/- 2 from their scored.

With a 509 AAMC scored you should consider how you would feel with scores ranging from 507-511. You could have a great test day where everything flows and get >511 people do it all the time. But most people end up within two points.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions as test day approaches. I think going in confident is a huge part of your performance so try to relax and think 510+.

I know this is n=1 but I went up two points from my scored and my friends who have taken it had a similar increase. Hoping it goes that way for you too.

 

[mbio2015]

While a 510-515 isn't out of the question you also need to consider the 507 possibility. The AAMC scored is more difficult than the sample and it is more similar to the exam. Very often people score +/- 2 from their scored.

With a 509 AAMC scored you should consider how you would feel with scores ranging from 507-511. You could have a great test day where everything flows and get >511 people do it all the time. But most people end up within two points.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions as test day approaches. I think going in confident is a huge part of your performance so try to relax and think 510+.

I know this is n=1 but I went up two points from my scored and my friends who have taken it had a similar increase. Hoping it goes that way for you too.

Thanks for your input! Haha, yeah I was really worried about about the 509, not because it's bad but because a legit chance of something below that.

I reviewed the exam, and felt ambivalent; I made a ton of stupid errors on the science portions where I just misread the question (the one that comes to mind first was where bacteria are grown in media with one isotope then allowed to replicate on another, and I switched the order of the isotopes). There were three such on bio/biochem and 5 on P/S, and a few on CARS and P/S. On one hand, I'm a little relived because my logic and/or content application was correct, I just had a mental laps, rather than a lack in understanding. I think my score was around 513 or 514 had I read the questions correctly. On the the other hand I could make as many if not more of those dumb mistakes on test day. Guess more practice and hope for a test that suits my strengths, especially on CARS...77% was my lowest score in a while, and I'm currently scoring 91% on volume two.

Thanks again for the reply, and glad to hear about your score going up!!

 

[ScreenName23]

I think my score was around 513 or 514 had I read the questions correctly.

I honestly think that's a really good sign. I had a similar feeling on my scored. There was even one where I full on circled the wrong answer. As long as you figure out how to change that for the test, you'll be in good shape. The bad one is if you got most you guessed on right bc then your score is less accurate. Stay sharp on test day, and I think you'll be happy with the results!

 

[mbio2015]

I honestly think that's a really good sign. I had a similar feeling on my scored. There was even one where I full on circled the wrong answer. As long as you figure out how to change that for the test, you'll be in good shape. The bad one is if you got most you guessed on right bc then your score is less accurate. Stay sharp on test day, and I think you'll be happy with the results!

Haha, sucks when you catch yourself doing that! Yeah I think I'm going to experiment with reading the question twice, and see if that strains my timing too much. FL 2 should illuminate a lot.
Quick question: in your opinion does doing three passes from the CARS qpacks daily shed light on performance? I scored 87% on the sample (heard that was on the easy side), and 77% on FL 1 dumb mistakes or not which was lower than my qpacks (83% on 1 and 90% on two). So I've started question if only doing a few passages is even worthwhile.

 

[ScreenName23]

Haha, sucks when you catch yourself doing that! Yeah I think I'm going to experiment with reading the question twice, and see if that strains my timing too much. FL 2 should illuminate a lot.
Quick question: in your opinion does doing three passes from the CARS qpacks daily shed light on performance? I scored 87% on the sample (heard that was on the easy side), and 77% on FL 1 dumb mistakes or not which was lower than my qpacks (83% on 1 and 90% on two). So I've started question if only doing a few passages is even worthwhile.

I'm not sure if I totally know what you're asking so feel free to clarify if I go in the wrong direction.

I would say at this point it's good to do full sets of passages because the fill length timing is important to get down especially in terms of stamina. However it's good to do just a few some days because you don't want to do a full length test's worth of cars passages everyday. I think doing just a few can be indicative of performance if your doing them.under timed conditions!

I don't have great verbal advice because I essentially barely studied for that one because I had it down pretty well going into it which I knew because I had previously taken the test and gotten a 95% verbal score so I was focusing on other areas.

 

[mbio2015]

I'm not sure if I totally know what you're asking so feel free to clarify if I go in the wrong direction.

I would say at this point it's good to do full sets of passages because the fill length timing is important to get down especially in terms of stamina. However it's good to do just a few some days because you don't want to do a full length test's worth of cars passages everyday. I think doing just a few can be indicative of performance if your doing them.under timed conditions!

I don't have great verbal advice because I essentially barely studied for that one because I had it down pretty well going into it which I knew because I had previously taken the test and gotten a 95% verbal score so I was focusing on other areas.

Sorry wrote that after some studying and working all day, and my brain was a little fried haha. Basically the last couple months I've been doing 3 timed CARs passages a day from the qpacks, and one FL a week from any source (usually scoring 81-87% but from supposedly "harder" sources). On AAMC qpack volume one I scored 83% overall, and on qpack volume two 90%; it made my sample test CARS (87%) seem kinda accurate until I heard it was just plain easy. So that makes me wonder if doing three passages a day is inflating my score somehow...

 

[ScreenName23]

Sorry wrote that after some studying and working all day, and my brain was a little fried haha. Basically the last couple months I've been doing 3 timed CARs passages a day from the qpacks, and one FL a week from any source (usually scoring 81-87% but from supposedly "harder" sources). On AAMC qpack volume one I scored 83% overall, and on qpack volume two 90%; it made my sample test CARS (87%) seem kinda accurate until I heard it was just plain easy. So that makes me wonder if doing three passages a day is inflating my score somehow...

Did you take the sample test first and then later do the Questions packs? If so I do think the sample test is unrealistically easy, but that doesn't mean you aren't doing well on the question packs too now. I think doing three timed together seems like a good assessment of your skills as long as it's not completely different from your full lengths.

If the percentage you got right on the full is similar to your regular three passage percentage, that's good too!

Seems like you've got a good verbal strategy. Stick to it and enjoy the results!

 

[AnotherLawyer]

So I am taking the MCAT Jan 19th, and hoping for a 515, but would be happy with a 510+ I've taken five and half exams so far, but not sure if I'm in my target range or not. In order my results are

Demo TPR-495 ( C/P 122, B/B 122, Cars 125, P/S 126 ): Was surprised it was this low even though I heard it was absurdly hard because I felt as though I understood most of the content/questions.

NS 1: 508 (127 on everything): In line with what I expected based on difficulty of the test.

NS half-length diagnostic: 511( C/P 126, B/B 126, Cars 131, P/S 128): Surprised my science scores went down due to taking this after the FL.

AAMC sample (C/P 63%, B/B 86%, Cars 87%, P/S 80%): Still don't know if this was good or not. The C/P should have been higher; About 3/4 of the way through I misread a calculation for diameter as density and wasted a lot of time meaning, I had to skim over the rest of the passages. Reviewing the test, I found 4-5 easy questions (amino acid type gimme type) I probably would have gotten right had I not skimmed through and another 3-4 I understood and may have gotten right without the wasted time. B/B and P/S seemed right.

AAMC scored: 509 ( C/P 126, B/B 128, Cars 127, P/S 128): Still need to review this but it seemed harder than the sample...and maybe even NS. I felt like I understood most of the content, but thought I'd get a 127 on C/P (seemed to be a question or two away from that). CARS surprised me since I got 77% correct but on the AAMC qpacks I've been getting 83% correct minimum (though I've been doing 3 timed passages a day rather than a whole exam so maybe I'm not doing it right?) but B/B and P/S seemed right...though again seemed harder haha. I thought I'd do better considering I heard people tend to do a few points better than their NS, and I'm about a week and a half from the actual thing.

Don't know if it matters but on my physics qpack I got 74%, chem 82%, and biology 86% a few weeks ago. This has been on par with the TBR exams I've been taking (been doing better % wise on TBR biology however). Section bank 60% C/P, 64% B/B, 71% P/S though this was months ago while still reviewing content.

Sorry for the long post, but by your estimates is a 509 about what I should expect or is 510-515 still within reasonable grasp? Thanks for the help!

Most people show improvement between FL1 and the real thing but some people do go down and you say you need a minimum of a one point improvement to be happy. If I were you I would study hard between now and early Saturday afternoon, relax Saturday night, take FL2 under test conditions on Sunday morning, and make your final decision based on the result.

 

[theonlytycrane]

this is just my opinion, but I think the real thing is harder than the practice tests. But if you can stay composed and not let the hard questions or passage throw you off on test day, you can edge out a good score even if your "real" test doesn't feel as good.

 

[mbio2015]

Did you take the sample test first and then later do the Questions packs? If so I do think the sample test is unrealistically easy, but that doesn't mean you aren't doing well on the question packs too now. I think doing three timed together seems like a good assessment of your skills as long as it's not completely different from your full lengths.

If the percentage you got right on the full is similar to your regular three passage percentage, that's good too!

Seems like you've got a good verbal strategy. Stick to it and enjoy the results!

I took the qpack before the unscored sample haha. Thanks, I appreciate all your input!🙂

Most people show improvement between FL1 and the real thing but some people do go down and you say you need a minimum of a one point improvement to be happy. If I were you I would study hard between now and early Saturday afternoon, relax Saturday night, take FL2 under test conditions on Sunday morning, and make your final decision based on the result.

I think that's the plan; though if I get called into work I may study a bit more on the weekend, take it Monday, and then go easy after I review it! Hoping for some improvement too, especially since that one point improvement would make me happy. Thanks for the reply!

this is just my opinion, but I think the real thing is harder than the practice tests. But if you can stay composed and not let the hard questions or passage throw you off on test day, you can edge out a good score even if your "real" test doesn't feel as good.

Haha, I figured it probably would be; if anything the pressure of taking the real thing will make it seem so even if the content wasn't too bad. I've started to prepare mentally for that...go in thinking that every question is going to be section bank level haha! Thanks for your input!!