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Started by _ian
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dave613 said:
You missed problems? That's generally what they use to arrive at a score.
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dave613 said:
Ah, here we find the source of your confusion.
The MCAT is graded based on the total number missed in each section. Did nobody tell you?
MoosePilot said:
Are you serious!?!? And here I thought they pulled scores out of the sorting hat. Or maybe that was that dream I had after staying up too late reading Harry Potter. 🙄
dave613 said:
All right. Good luck!
_ian said:
It's true that each student is supposed to be responsible for everything on the MCAT syllabus, but there's something unsettling about the forms' having content ratios that are very different. If you look at the "Form XX" posts on this forum, there were some versions of the test that had a lot of orgo whereas mine had none; if the impressions shared on this forum are even vaguely correct, then different forms of the test don't even test the same subjects to the same degree, which I find disturbing. I think the AAMC could at least throw in the same amount of organic chemistry into each test; mine only had 2 orgo passages.
While I agree with you that you can't blame the form of the test that you took directly, I think it *is* very reasonable to assume that you were better suited for one form of the test over another and that your score could have varied to some degree - I'm thinking 1 to 4 points - based on which form of the test you took. But in the end, this is more of an issue of chance than of skill; what the AAMC chooses to test each year may or may not match what you study.
A) I thought you were graded on how many anweres were correct, not wrong
B) I'm pretty sure you're only scored against people with the same form. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to be very standardized.
C) You're expected to know everything, but that isn't really possible. A little luck comes into play to get a really high score, such as receiving a form that is composed mostly of stuff you know well and are pretty good at. But, ultimately it is up to YOU to study what needs to be studied.
My lowest section is PS. I can bring it up. I know physics very well now, it's my highest GPA. (3.68 for physics and genchem). However, I made two mistakes. The first time I took the MCAT, I had not had Physics II. I didn't really put much study time into optics and E&M and learning all the formulae. My form was mostly E&M.
The second time, after having physics II, I reviewed and pimped myself on E&M and knew it inside out. I spent about two straight weeks on nothing but physics. I neglected gen chem, which by that time was a class I took 3 years ago. My form was mostly genchem with some E&M stuff thrown in, and naturally I couldn't remember **** from genchem. My score went up, but not as much as it should have.
I now know that anything is fair game because of the variation of forms and administrations. If, for some reason, I decide to retake the MCAT, I'm spending weeks on PS alone.
The only plus side is that I'm flying through astrophysics and astronomy because I know physics so well. At least something came out of it. 👍
B) I'm pretty sure you're only scored against people with the same form. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to be very standardized.
C) You're expected to know everything, but that isn't really possible. A little luck comes into play to get a really high score, such as receiving a form that is composed mostly of stuff you know well and are pretty good at. But, ultimately it is up to YOU to study what needs to be studied.
My lowest section is PS. I can bring it up. I know physics very well now, it's my highest GPA. (3.68 for physics and genchem). However, I made two mistakes. The first time I took the MCAT, I had not had Physics II. I didn't really put much study time into optics and E&M and learning all the formulae. My form was mostly E&M.
The second time, after having physics II, I reviewed and pimped myself on E&M and knew it inside out. I spent about two straight weeks on nothing but physics. I neglected gen chem, which by that time was a class I took 3 years ago. My form was mostly genchem with some E&M stuff thrown in, and naturally I couldn't remember **** from genchem. My score went up, but not as much as it should have.
I now know that anything is fair game because of the variation of forms and administrations. If, for some reason, I decide to retake the MCAT, I'm spending weeks on PS alone.
The only plus side is that I'm flying through astrophysics and astronomy because I know physics so well. At least something came out of it. 👍
I still do not understand why they just dont have the same problems on all the forms maybe in different order if they are worried about cheating. That would be ultimately the most fair way of doing this ridiculous test.
There would then be no doubt about the scale or scoring...Comments on why they dont do this............. 😕 😕
There would then be no doubt about the scale or scoring...Comments on why they dont do this............. 😕 😕
Forms with immunology/molecular bio had much more to read and analyze versus an organic-filled form. On the time issue, it ain't fair.
On those Bio topics, experiments vary and you must extract stufff from the passage. On an Organic passage, sometimes you can basically skip the reading and jump into the questions.
actually you can go straight to the questions on the BS and PS sections for orgo,gen chem, physics, and bio. Many people do that to score well on the exam. I got this idea from the MCAT forum as advice on how to improve my score. It works very well.
SearsTower said:
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gujuDoc said:
check out their forum while you're at it.
JKDMed said:
What does that mean? There are only two choices: right and wrong. So if a question isn't right, it's wrong. If it isn't wrong, it's right. So grading based on the number right is the same as grading based on the number wrong.
Unless you're assuming there is a third category, which is unanswered. There isn't and hasn't been since the SAT or whatever crap test had that option to discourage guessing.
i hate desiredusername for some reason.
Sicilian said:
Yep, you're only credited for answers you get correct. You are not penalized for answers that are wrong. You build your score up from nothing by answering questions correctly, but wrong answers won't hurt your score. A wrong answer just isn't counted.
It's nitpicky I know. I had it all figured out once.
i like desiredusername now.
JKDMed said:
That's my whole point. That distinction matters if you have a three option scoring system in which you have correct answers which increase your score, unanswered questions which don't affect your score, and wrong answers which subtract points. But in this case it's a binary system. You get a question right or you get a question wrong. You can think of it like you start at zero and get a point for every right answer or you can think of it as you start with the same number of points as the number of questions and lose one for every one you answer wrong (through either leaving it blank or answering the wrong letter). It doesn't make any difference.
who's personally attacking who?
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desiredusername said:
I just got a vision in my head of me saying something very similar to my high school principal.
drmom, are u a mom and a doctor?
