***Official April 2006 MCAT Practice Test and Verbal 101 Test Scores***

[gujuDoc]

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[DrBowtie]

I took VR Test 1 out of the Kaplan Comprehensive Review Book.

50/60. No scale included but compared to a few aamc and kaplan scales it is a 10-11.

I suppose it is a good start and many would kill for that but I'm kinda disappointed in myself. I missed 4 questions on the final passage, mostly due to fatigue I think. I had plenty of time left (approx 7 min.) after I was done but felt sorta burnt. I haven't looked at the detailed explanations yet, but I know I felt the most shaky on the inference questions.

 

[Mr. Tee]

ooo I've been waiting for a thread like this!

EK101 tests:

#1 = 10 (48/60) grrr so close to an 11!
#2 = 9 (41/60)
#3 = 10 (45/60)
#4 = 11 (49/60)
#5 = 10 (48/60) close to an 11 again!
#6 = 10 (48/60) 1 question from an 11 yet again!

so as you can see I'm pretty much in the 10-11 range right now. I'm in the middle of refining my strategy. I usually get all the questions right on half the passages, then miss alot on the others those damn humanities passages! I'm praying for easy humanities passages on this April's test I'm hoping to reduce half my errors on these EK tests so I can get into the 12 range by April.

 

[Anastasis]

I got a 10 on EK Verbal 1. I feel kinda disappointed as I have been getting 11 and 12s. I think I may be over thinking some of the questions and I know on the Psychology one I was bringing in information not in the passage.
I also think that stamina may be a problem for me because I didn't miss a question until I was in the 30s and missed most of my questions on the last section. I also disagree with their analysis of some of the questions in the back.

I got a 35 on AAMC 3r and I was planning to do another full-length practice today but woke up late

 

[shantster]

EK101 Tests...

#1 (36/60) = 7
#2 (42/60) = 9
#3 (45/60) = 10
#4 (44/60) = 9

#4 mad me mad though since I was doing extremely well until the last 2-3 passages. I think I was just sick of passages by that point. Hopefully I'll get used to it before the MCATs.

 

[Mr. Tee]

I got a 10 on EK Verbal 1. I feel kinda disappointed as I have been getting 11 and 12s.

I've heard that these EK ones are harder than the real thing, so don't feel bad!

 

[HunterGatherer]

Guju,

I prepared for the April 2005 MCAT for about 5 weeks and decided to not take it and took the August 2005 MCAT instead. For the August MCAT I retook AAMC 3R and 5R and also redid EK verbal 101 full lengths 1-6. I really did not remember anything at all and felt it was still good prep.

Most of you will be working hard for 10+ weeks just to get 5 more answers correct (compared your first few practice verbals) to ensure a 10 on the MCAT verbal. Life is absurd!

Good luck everyone.

 

[silverpaw54]

I was at Barnes, but with a large group of friends who weren't really studying and I did the first 20 questions before everyone decided to grab dinner. I missed 7 out of 20 (first 3 passages). I missed 5 of the first 7 in the first passage though. I might have been on the road to my worst practice test

 

[gujuDoc]

I was at Barnes, but with a large group of friends who weren't really studying and I did the first 20 questions before everyone decided to grab dinner. I missed 7 out of 20 (first 3 passages). I missed 5 of the first 7 in the first passage though. I might have been on the road to my worst practice test

So if you look at that as having gotten 13 out of 20 and multiply it by 3, you would have a 39 out of 60. Which is roughly an 8. That is if you are looking at this from the perspective a 30 minute exam.

So it isn't too bad. But if you want to take it full length, you'll probably have to do it over and see what happens.

I got a 7 and was two points from an 8 which I would have gotten without second guessing myself on the first one. I took the 3rd one yesterday and got a 6, which saddened me. However, I was not fully concentrated because I kept losing time which I had to spare when I took the other test. I had to reread passages a couple of times. So i'll take it again today and take test 4 and see how I do and report back here.

 

[shantster]

On test 4, I think you were one point from a 10. That sucks, but at least a 9 is decent.

The score itself doesn't bother me that much, it's just that it was me doing so many stupid things on the last 2-3 passages. At least there's many more practice tests to be able to get my stamina up for the real thing.

 

[cabrillo]

10/21 = 6 but I am talking about the 30 min test. I am going to take the first 101 test today!!! will report my final result soon!

 

[gujuDoc]

I did the first 4 passages on the test 4, and got 19 out of 24. I would have had 21 out of 24 but second guessed on a couple of questions. At any rate, I thought that was pretty decent and had I finished taking the test, I think I woulda done good. i was getting bored though and only decided to do it in parts, rather then as a full verbal test. I give my self 8-10 minutes to get through each passage.

I'm going to do another 2 passages and grade them and then do 2 more and grade them and then the last one and grade it.

But tomorrow, I'll take a full verbal test all in one sitting. With the exception of last night when I lost concentration, I've sooooo far been doing better then last year.

 

[Anastasis]

10/21 = 6 but I am talking about the 30 min test. I am going to take the first 101 test today!!! will report my final result soon!

Sooo.... how did you do?

 

[gujuDoc]

I ended up finishing the rest of test 4. I didn't feel like doing it in one sitting, but I wanted time to be calculated right, so when I initially started taking it, I started the timer at 85 minutes, and stopped it after each passage, but picked up where it left off.

I will take a verbal test tomorrow in one sitting the proper way of doing it.

This was just to warm myself up a little, I guess. At any rate, I got a 40 out of 60 which is an 8 scaled score. One more question right and I would have had a 9 scaled score.

So that's a good sign.

I will take a test in full sitting tomorrow and see how it goes.

 

[Anastasis]

That's a trend of improvement there. Good job

 

[tifxiii]

I have the 101 passages and i was kind of doing one passage per day. But do you think that's a good idea? Should I just be taking full length verbals so that I get the timing down right? I have a lot of full length exams to supplement. What do you think????

 

[shantster]

I have the 101 passages and i was kind of doing one passage per day. But do you think that's a good idea? Should I just be taking full length verbals so that I get the timing down right? I have a lot of full length exams to supplement. What do you think????

I say do the full lengths. The big part about taking the Verbal passages as a full-length is that you build up your stamina, which is extremely important. I'm finding that through all my practice tests the most errors that I make are in the last third of the test, and some of those are stupid errors that looking back at them I know are wrong.

 

[tifxiii]

Thanks Shantster. I think that I'm going to start doing that... i just have to find time

 

[Mr. Tee]

The big part about taking the Verbal passages as a full-length is that you build up your stamina, which is extremely important.

Nicely said! Even though my scores aren't ostensibly improving, I find that my stamina and endurance are improving with each full length. I also used to be rushed for time, but now everything has settled in.

 

[DrBowtie]

I also agree. I was on the fast track to a 12-13 until the last passage where my stamina and focus were in the gutter. It is pretty tough to be on you're A game for the full 85 minutes just starting out.

 

[Mr. Tee]

I also agree. I was on the fast track to a 12-13 until the last passage where my stamina and focus were in the gutter. It is pretty tough to be on you're A game for the full 85 minutes just starting out.

I wish the VR was the first section of the MCAT like it used to be...doing VR after 100 minutes of physical sciences will be a challenge

 

[DrBowtie]

I wish the VR was the first section of the MCAT like it used to be...doing VR after 100 minutes of physical sciences will be a challenge

Yeah, I'm trying to get the hang out of it. Although PS is going to be my best section so it will only roll downhill from there.

 

[dba2dr]

14V/8PS/12B on a test from the 2002 REA MCAT book. It's a really good score, especially considering that I've never taken a college chemistry course, and haven't been in school for ten years. Still not high enough to override my crappy GPA, though!

 

[gujuDoc]

14V/8PS/12B on a test from the 2002 REA MCAT book. It's a really good score, especially considering that I've never taken a college chemistry course, and haven't been in school for ten years. Still not high enough to override my crappy GPA, though!

I should probably warn you, I've seen the REA book. In fact, I used to own it thinking it was good MCAT practice. However, the questions in the tests from REA are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooooooo easy and completely nonrepresentative of the actual MCAT. Furthermore, the scales used by the REA company are nothing like the real scales and well over exaggerate the scores on the real scale. You are better off using TPR, EK, AAMC, and Kaplan tests. They are more predictive.

 

[DrBowtie]

Anyone using 16 mini mcats or bio 1001? They seem to be linked to the lectures but I feel if I do them right after reading the lecture it won't reflect my long term retention.

Should I do these weeks later of the lecture to more greatly reflect how much I know?

 

[Anastasis]

If it helps, I've been using them about a week later to see how much I can remember. Plus there are several passages for each chapter you could do them 1 week later and then a month later and so on to keep track. You're taking in August right? You could spread them out quite a bit.

 

[gujuDoc]

Anyone using 16 mini mcats or bio 1001? They seem to be linked to the lectures but I feel if I do them right after reading the lecture it won't reflect my long term retention.

Should I do these weeks later of the lecture to more greatly reflect how much I know?

I'd use the 1001 book right away cuz that's more to serve as a workbook then a test. On the other hand, I'd use the 16 mini MCAT when you are done reviewing, because those are meant to be tests rather then just workbook kinda stuff, if you see what I mean.

 

[shantster]

Anyone using 16 mini mcats or bio 1001? They seem to be linked to the lectures but I feel if I do them right after reading the lecture it won't reflect my long term retention.

Should I do these weeks later of the lecture to more greatly reflect how much I know?

I'm doing them after the lectures as the schedule says since I figure that I'll go back to the 1001 books and do full-length practice tests to see my retention. They actually help me remember things since I see where I may have gone wrong or they just reinforce the concepts that I was a little shaky on. I also go back and read through the lectures for the week after doing the mini mcats and 1001 question problems and I remember more random things in those chapters because I remember seeing them on the practice problems.

I thought that the mini mcats were hard, especially some of the bio passages.

 

[shantster]

Just finished EK101 #5 with a 52/60 = 11

I'm learning that I shouldn't go back and change anything that is not glaringly wrong. I was one point away from the 12 and that one point just happened to be the one question that I changed.

 

[DF38]

Just got my Kaplan diagnostic scores back. I got a 7 PS, 8 BS, 7 VR. Not too bad, considering I really hadn't studied at all before then. I was expecting to do really poorly on PS (like a 5), so that was a pleasant surprise. But, I thought I had done really well on verbal, apparently not. Overall, I guess it's a good starting point.

 

[Anastasis]

I just took EK 101 #2 and got an 11. Does anyone else disagree with some of the EK reasoning for the right answers? I swear I don't understand why my verbal score is going DOWN with practice.

 

[Mr. Tee]

Does anyone else disagree with some of the EK reasoning for the right answers?

Not really...I think EK's reasoning closely matches AAMC's reasoning and will hence prepare you the best for the real VR.

I swear I don't understand why my verbal score is going DOWN with practice.

These scores mean nothing. It's not like you're going to get an 11 on the real thing

 

[Will Ferrell]

EK Verbal 101 scores were extremely accurate. I took 10 of their tests. I got my real score 6 times, +1 twice, and -1 twice. All perfectly averaging to my real score. I can vouch that they're an excellent predictor.


The reading material was a little to interesting for MCAT verbal, but the questions were on point. Good luck!

 

[Mr. Tee]

EK Verbal 101 scores were extremely accurate. I took 10 of their tests. I got my real score 6 times, +1 twice, and -1 twice. All perfectly averaging to my real score. I can vouch that they're an excellent predictor.

What I'm saying is that the only score that matters is the one you get on the real test. There's no need to bum out on practice test scores.

 

[Anastasis]

Not really...I think EK's reasoning closely matches AAMC's reasoning and will hence prepare you the best for the real VR.


These scores mean nothing. It's not like you're going to get an 11 on the real thing

Thanks for the vote of confidence I'll go over the questions tommorrow and see if I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong

 

[Anastasis]

I just took a Kaplan full-length. I don't have the conversion chart so I just used one of the ones from AAMC. I'm happy with my verbal and BS scores but I think I must have gone insane when I took my PS. Anyway - are the AAMC charts valid for other exams or do you think I should try and track down the Kaplan chart?

 

[Mr. Tee]

I just took a Kaplan full-length. I don't have the conversion chart so I just used one of the ones from AAMC. I'm happy with my verbal and BS scores but I think I must have gone insane when I took my PS. Anyway - are the AAMC charts valid for other exams or do you think I should try and track down the Kaplan chart?

Which Kaplan FL was it? If you tell me your raw scores, I can tell you the scaled scores.

 

[Anastasis]

Which Kaplan FL was it? If you tell me your raw scores, I can tell you the scaled scores.

FL #1:
PS was 50/77 - yeah yeah I know, I forgot a couple formulas :-(
VR was 55/60
BS was 60/77

 

[Mr. Tee]

FL #1:
PS was 50/77 - yeah yeah I know, I forgot a couple formulas :-(
VR was 55/60
BS was 60/77

11 PS
11 VR
11 BS

How did that compare to your AAMC conversions?

 

[Anastasis]

11 PS
11 VR
11 BS

How did that compare to your AAMC conversions?

Kinda far off. The AAMC conversions were 8-13-11.

What lesson do we learn from this children: Don't use different conversion charts for different exams

 

[Mr. Tee]

Well Kaplan's PS sections are harder, and Kaplan's VR sections are easier (heard this through the grapevine).

 

[gujuDoc]

Kinda far off. The AAMC conversions were 8-13-11.

What lesson do we learn from this children: Don't use different conversion charts for different exams

The AAMC and Kaplan conversion scales are slightly different but the overall scaled scores are still close and on target to the real deal.

Quite a few of the SDN posters who have taken Kaplan, have scored well within the range of both AAMC and Kaplan full lengths. So I wouldn't discount the Kaplan scaled scores as predictors.

Kaplan's PS is supposed to be harder the AAMC PS section, but the best material for VR would probably be EK.

However, even though it is tougher, I'd say it helps reinforce the material from all that I have heard. I took TPR, which I found to help too, but it depends on learning style.

QofQuimica might be able to comment on this cuz she is an instructor for Kaplan and also took the course when she studied for it.

 

[Anastasis]

The AAMC and Kaplan conversion scales are slightly different but the overall scaled scores are still close and on target to the real deal.

Quite a few of the SDN posters who have taken Kaplan, have scored well within the range of both AAMC and Kaplan full lengths. So I wouldn't discount the Kaplan scaled scores as predictors.

Kaplan's PS is supposed to be harder the AAMC PS section, but the best material for VR would probably be EK.

However, even though it is tougher, I'd say it helps reinforce the material from all that I have heard. I took TPR, which I found to help too, but it depends on learning style.

QofQuimica might be able to comment on this cuz she is an instructor for Kaplan and also took the course when she studied for it.

I didn't mean to discount it. I was only pointing out that if you take a Kaplan exam, use a Kaplan chart not an AAMC one.

 

[gujuDoc]

I didn't mean to discount it. I was only pointing out that if you take a Kaplan exam, use a Kaplan chart not an AAMC one.

Ok thanks for the clarification.

 

[gujuDoc]

I just took a Kaplan full-length. I don't have the conversion chart so I just used one of the ones from AAMC. I'm happy with my verbal and BS scores but I think I must have gone insane when I took my PS. Anyway - are the AAMC charts valid for other exams or do you think I should try and track down the Kaplan chart?

If you need the conversion charts, please send me a PM. I'll email them to you. I have all 11 conversion charts.

 

[Tommyk7]

EK 101 Scores:
#1 41/60 9
#2 49/60 11
#3 48/60 10

I always miss a bunch at the end due to fatigue, or simply a loss of concentration. I need that Kobe Bryant killer instinct! Also I notice that the bulk of my other mistakes are bunched together usually in the same passage due to misunderstanding of the particular passage. How are you guys improving your score? Reading magazines, practicing remembering what you read type of thing?

 

[cabrillo]

this is weird!!! on the ek 30 min I am scoring 6 and 5 respectively on the first 2 30 min test but on kaplan I am scoring 11 and 12 on the first 2 tests ... WTF!!! it seems that Kapln are easier or what? which one is more indicative of my results so far

 

[shantster]

How are you guys improving your score? Reading magazines, practicing remembering what you read type of thing?

I'm doing the practice tests and then following what EK suggests in the 4th lecture. I'm going through the question stems and answers for the entire practice test to get an idea of what information can be gained about the passage by just reading the question stems and looking for subtleties in the answers that make them wrong (all without rereading the passage). Then I am reading through the passages again to write out the main idea and then match the main idea up with the main idea questions and answering those without refering back to the passage. This takes a few days to go through. I'm finding that writing out the main idea is helping me a lot with being able to pick up the main idea more quickly and more thoroughly when actually taking other practice tests.

 

[Anastasis]

I took EK Verbal #3 today - I got an 11 but I was one point from a 12 and had seconded guessed myself a couple of times. My scaled score isn't moving much but everytime I take one my raw score goes steadily up. It's made me an EK believer

 

[DrBowtie]

I took EK Verbal #3 today - I got an 11 but I was one point from a 12 and had seconded guessed myself a couple of times. My scaled score isn't moving much but everytime I take one my raw score goes steadily up. It's made me an EK believer

Are you using the EK strategy on those?