Official Kaplan Aug 2004 Thread

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willthatsall

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Just so Kaplan people have a place to discuss their practice tests and progress. How's everyone doing?

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anyone else want to scream when they are doing physics passages? i have been trying to do topical tests all day thinking, ok i will listen to the kaplan physics teacher who has told me that is what i should be doing to try to increase my PS score. instead, i am just so frustrated i am starting to feel like i can't do ANYTHING physics related. damn! i'm going for a run before i go postal. :wow:
 
There is a lot of Physiology, O-Chem, Physics formulas to be reviewed before the exam. At this point, what would you say should be the focus, review the material or do more of those topical/subject tests.... I am not talking about the practice full lengths, they are certainly beneficial.

Last week, I focused on Physics and now I see that there is a lot of other stuff that needs review rather than trying to do all the tests. So, is anyone out there who feels like its better to review the material and recap than do more tests? Any thoughts on how to maximize the last few weeks? Thanks!

Scout
 
You need a base knowledge in each subject to do well. So if you don't have it, then you still need to review. If you don't have much time and still have many unfamiliar subjects, then it's best to prioritize. For example, I believe memorizing the physics formulas probably will pay more dividends then memorizing physiology details. Of course, ideally you should do both.

If you have the base knowledge, then practice should be the priority. You really don't internalize much until you apply the knowledge to test questions.


raom_dtpi said:
There is a lot of Physiology, O-Chem, Physics formulas to be reviewed before the exam. At this point, what would you say should be the focus, review the material or do more of those topical/subject tests.... I am not talking about the practice full lengths, they are certainly beneficial.

Last week, I focused on Physics and now I see that there is a lot of other stuff that needs review rather than trying to do all the tests. So, is anyone out there who feels like its better to review the material and recap than do more tests? Any thoughts on how to maximize the last few weeks? Thanks!

Scout
 
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anyone have the score conversions for tests 7-11? Please let me know

thanks
 
I'm taking FL 3 tomorrow, how is everyone else doing? I have finished most of the topical stuff and I'm kind of lost as to what to work on now.
 
Just took FL 2. Again, verbal seemed easy, but I am sure I made quite a few dumb errors. I thought the Biological was slightly harder than the FL 1, particularly that bacteria essential amino acid question really threw me for a loop. Physical sciences is at least manageable. Now the dreaded waiting for the score begin. I can't imagine taking the real thing and have the suspense hanging over me like the sword of damocles for two months.

If you are out of practice material, you could try EK's 16 Mini MCATs, it is basically 16 one hour tests that include material from all sections. I am just about to start on it.

willthatsall said:
I'm taking FL 3 tomorrow, how is everyone else doing? I have finished most of the topical stuff and I'm kind of lost as to what to work on now.
 
Anyone have taken FL6-11? How are they in difficulty compared to FL1 and FL2? I am planning on taking FL6 tomorrow.
 
pateltr1 said:
Anyone have taken FL6-11? How are they in difficulty compared to FL1 and FL2? I am planning on taking FL6 tomorrow.

I took FL 6, it seems about the same difficulty as the first one. I actually scored a point lower on 6.
 
pateltr1 said:
Anyone have taken FL6-11? How are they in difficulty compared to FL1 and FL2? I am planning on taking FL6 tomorrow.

I heard 7 is hard as ****. Especially PS section.
 
premedgeek said:
I heard 7 is hard as ****. Especially PS section.

Yeah I thought it was pretty tough. To me the PS seemed about like FL 1, or at least in the same difficulty range. The VR was harder though. But the scale was a little more lenient on the VR.
 
anyone have any tips for improving in the ps section? i can't seem to figure out what my problem is. i have done the topicals, reviewed the FL tests to see what i got wrong/right and why and so on but i can't get above a 7 on it. it's killing me! my bs and verbal scores are fine, just the ps is hideous. help! :scared:
 
Scubadoc, do you know why you're missing questions? Is it because you don't remember how to work through them, because you don't remember formulas, or what? I'd review your tests and figure out why you're missing the ones you're missing and review accordingly.
 
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MoosePilot said:
Scubadoc, do you know why you're missing questions? Is it because you don't remember how to work through them, because you don't remember formulas, or what? I'd review your tests and figure out why you're missing the ones you're missing and review accordingly.

some of the mistakes seem math related (i still can't figure out how on fl #2 that they did the exponents on one of the questions). otherwise i just don't seem to be able to be able to apply the information well enough even though i seem to know the formulas pretty well. ah it i soooooo frustrating. i'm going back thru fl 2 right now and trying to make myself not lose hope on this. i am going to just be so bummed if i rock the verbal and the bio and get like a 5 on the ps. :thumbdown: :(
 
Scubadoc said:
some of the mistakes seem math related (i still can't figure out how on fl #2 that they did the exponents on one of the questions). otherwise i just don't seem to be able to be able to apply the information well enough even though i seem to know the formulas pretty well. ah it i soooooo frustrating. i'm going back thru fl 2 right now and trying to make myself not lose hope on this. i am going to just be so bummed if i rock the verbal and the bio and get like a 5 on the ps. :thumbdown: :(

Ok, that seems to me to point to a need to do lots of practice problems. Work lots of practice PS problems. Do that as much as you have time for. It will let you work on applying formulas in the right ways and also your math in that special MCAT way :)

What do you think, sound like a good prescription? :laugh:
 
Scubadoc said:
some of the mistakes seem math related (i still can't figure out how on fl #2 that they did the exponents on one of the questions). otherwise i just don't seem to be able to be able to apply the information well enough even though i seem to know the formulas pretty well. ah it i soooooo frustrating. i'm going back thru fl 2 right now and trying to make myself not lose hope on this. i am going to just be so bummed if i rock the verbal and the bio and get like a 5 on the ps. :thumbdown: :(

I think that's one of the problems a lot of people have on the physical section -- a lot of students seemed to have gotten away with regurgitation of info & plugging & chugging numbers into formulas they've memorized when taking their pre-reqs, realizing you can't exactly do that when it comes to the mcat b/c you actually have to -understand- it.

It's not bad to know the formulas, b/c it's a good way to see the relationship between things if you can't remember them originally (i.e. if this increases, then this should decrease), & obviously good for those calculation problems. Otherwise, you really have to practice applying what you know through passages. It's kind of the same problem I have with bio right now -- I know the stuff, but suck when it comes to passages. You'll learn from your mistakes the more you keep practicing on this stuff though. You have time...at least you know what you have to really concentrate on for now.
 
FL #6 was not as bad as I thought it would be. I got pretty much same as FL #1 and FL#2.
 
moosepilot & strangelight,

yep sounds good...i think confidence is playing a BIG role in this too. with verbal, i know i can do it and that the info is right there & subsequently i don't freak at all and consistently do well in that. but with physics & chem i have always had a bit of a mental block and i think that is really hurting me. i have been going over fl2 and so far have found EIGHT questions in PS (and am only up to #38 in my review) that were simple mistakes of either math or in the case of one entire passage-running out of time on the test and having to choose a letter of the day. i ALWAYS run out of time on PS and have to do that. how do you get faster? just practice practice practice? do you time yourself when you practice? the stupid thing is that i would have gotten all of the questions in that passage correct had i had the time to go back and do it (i skip around when i take the test, which maybe i shouldn't do...maybe it is better to just go for it?) arghhhhhhhhhhhh!
 
Scubadoc said:
moosepilot & strangelight,

yep sounds good...i think confidence is playing a BIG role in this too. with verbal, i know i can do it and that the info is right there & subsequently i don't freak at all and consistently do well in that. but with physics & chem i have always had a bit of a mental block and i think that is really hurting me. i have been going over fl2 and so far have found EIGHT questions in PS (and am only up to #38 in my review) that were simple mistakes of either math or in the case of one entire passage-running out of time on the test and having to choose a letter of the day. i ALWAYS run out of time on PS and have to do that. how do you get faster? just practice practice practice? do you time yourself when you practice? the stupid thing is that i would have gotten all of the questions in that passage correct had i had the time to go back and do it (i skip around when i take the test, which maybe i shouldn't do...maybe it is better to just go for it?) arghhhhhhhhhhhh!

I used to have a problem(may be still do, but not apparent in last 3 test) of constantly running out of time in PS.

As everyone said, keep practicing, you will get faster at calculations and what not. Also remember that Kaplan PS is more computationally intensive than real MCAT, so calculations will be easier on the real deal.
 
How much has everyone improved from their diagnostic through their 2nd or 3rd test? Most of the people in my class seem to be between 6-8, although a lot of that depends on where you start out.
 
willthatsall said:
How much has everyone improved from their diagnostic through their 2nd or 3rd test? Most of the people in my class seem to be between 6-8, although a lot of that depends on where you start out.

Started at 20 (diagnostic), FL #1 was 27, FL #2 was a 30.
 
Scubadoc said:
i've only gone up 6 points. &%$# PS kills it for me every time :(


I was feeling really frustrated with PS too and didn't think that my score would budge but amazingly, it is. So keep at it and I know your scores will improve.

best of luck to you. :)
 
Scubadoc said:
i've only gone up 6 points. &%$# PS kills it for me every time :(

If this makes you feel better, real MCAT's PS is much easier than Kaplan's PS.
 
premedgeek said:
If this makes you feel better, real MCAT's PS is much easier than Kaplan's PS.

Not to scare folks - I remember taking the MCAT in 1996 and I remember the PS being HARDER than I expected. I didn't take Kaplan then - but I am an Engineering Physics major so PS (at least the physics part of it) comes a little more naturally for me.

Then again - I could have completely bombed the PChem part of PS.
 
premedgeek said:
If this makes you feel better, real MCAT's PS is much easier than Kaplan's PS.

I've heard not so much easier, but not as much calculations. Which I supposed on a timed exam translates to easier. So yeah, what he said. :D
 
Scubadoc said:
thanks all....i am definitely putting in the time so i sure hope it helps the score improve.

Just make sure you are going through the review notes and really understanding the topics, too. The topical tests work best if you are learning the material after you miss it the first time. :thumbup:

Edited: My PS score only went up 1 pt from the diagnostic to FL 1, but I worked on my strategy and it has gone up 5 pts total from diagnostic to FL 3. My big problem was not finishing though.
 
willthatsall said:
I've heard not so much easier, but not as much calculations. Which I supposed on a timed exam translates to easier. So yeah, what he said. :D

Hey Will..be carefull...my form on the april 04 MCAT had A LOT of calculations. My friend also had the same form and agreed that it had more than avergage amount of calculations. So just be prepared, b/c I was not expecting sooo many calculations on the real MCAT.
 
willthatsall said:
Just make sure you are going through the review notes and really understanding the topics, too. The topical tests work best if you are learning the material after you miss it the first time. :thumbup:

Edited: My PS score only went up 1 pt from the diagnostic to FL 1, but I worked on my strategy and it has gone up 5 pts total from diagnostic to FL 3. My big problem was not finishing though.


If you don't mind me asking...what was your strategy?
 
ndn diva said:
If you don't mind me asking...what was your strategy?

Well my basic strategy is just speed. If I can't figure something out, I take my best guess and move on. Most of the time, that killer problem that takes you 4-5 minutes is going to end up wrong anyway. At least that's what I have found. On the diagnostic, I ran out of time and guessed on 8 (out of 40?) and on FL 1 I guessed on 15-20. I looked back through the test and felt like there were at least 10-15 of those questions that I could have answered correctly if I had gotten to them. I know it's easy to make excuses about the time and say, "Oh, I could have done it if I had time," but I really thought I could make a huge improvment if I just disciplined myself. There were always a couple problems that I could point to that just really took me off track. On FL 2, I decided I wasn't going to waste my time like I had been and I got done with a couple minutes to spare (+3 improvement over FL 1). I think FL 2 PS was pretty easy though compared to the others. On FL 3, I had to rush through the last 2 passages, but I finished them all nonetheless (+4 improvement over FL 2) and I think FL 3 PS was pretty challenging (in the same ballpark as FL 1). I have been working on learning the material too, so it's not just the strategy gimmick that has helped, but I think it's been a big part of it.
 
Hey guys,
I haven't read thro this thread completely because it was too long but I jus took one of the practice Kaplan full lengths and thought it was really hard...harder than the others i've taken. I was wondering if they generally tend to be more difficult. I"m taking another prep course but was jus testin the kaplan's test.
 
ScOrPiO2983 said:
Hey guys,
I haven't read thro this thread completely because it was too long but I jus took one of the practice Kaplan full lengths and thought it was really hard...harder than the others i've taken. I was wondering if they generally tend to be more difficult. I"m taking another prep course but was jus testin the kaplan's test.

Which ones have you taken? I think the general consensus is they tend to be a little bit more difficult, especiall PS sections.
 
so, i improved almost 25% on the PS section- but i got the same exact "score" on it. what the hell!?

at the same time, i rolled out with a 14 on VR- practice truly makes perfect ;) yayy for the verbal section!!

also- anyone know when/how to get writing sample scores?
 
Yeah, the scale for FL 2 PS was really hard (couldn't even make a 15, had to get them all right just for a 14). The scale is more lenient again for FL 3, but it's a little tougher. I got my writing sample back from FL 2 and I had about 70% 4's and 30% 5's. They said I needed more precise examples, but that's plenty good enough for me. Who grades those anyway?
 
those of you that got between 24-28 on the diagnostic and the first full length what are you getting now? cos i am yet to do any studying but i got a 24 on my diag and 28s on my FL1 and FL2....i am just trying to gauge the level of improvement i can expect.

actually can you just tell me how much you've improved by from the diag up till now?
 
Ibrahim05 said:
those of you that got between 24-28 on the diagnostic and the first full length what are you getting now? cos i am yet to do any studying but i got a 24 on my diag and 28s on my FL1 and FL2....i am just trying to gauge the level of improvement i can expect.

actually can you just tell me how much you've improved by from the diag up till now?

+8. I think most people are between +6 and +10 right now.
 
willthatsall said:
Yeah, the scale for FL 2 PS was really hard (couldn't even make a 15, had to get them all right just for a 14). The scale is more lenient again for FL 3, but it's a little tougher. I got my writing sample back from FL 2 and I had about 70% 4's and 30% 5's. They said I needed more precise examples, but that's plenty good enough for me. Who grades those anyway?

But since the scale is harder, doesn't that mean the test is easier?
 
hmm- i actually thought PS was pretty easy this time around- too bad my highly improved percentage didn't equate into real points. but i figure if i'm getting 80% right, than i'm not going to **** up too badly on test day- plus there are still a few more weeks to improve.

sucked on BS this week though- actually disimproved. that sucks since it is supposed to be my best!

in regard to diagnostic vs. full length:

diagnostic: 27
fl#1- 30
fl#2- 33

i guess that makes me +6, but i hope to up to +8 by this weekend :)
 
I'm considering taking a Kaplan course in the spring to up my MCAT score of 28Q- the questions is- does it help- can I bump my score up a few more points? the first time I studied on my own.
I don't like studying in front of computers and don't think thats good preparation for the test because the test is paper.
Over all opinions?
 
yposhelley said:
I'm considering taking a Kaplan course in the spring to up my MCAT score of 28Q- the questions is- does it help- can I bump my score up a few more points? the first time I studied on my own.
I don't like studying in front of computers and don't think thats good preparation for the test because the test is paper.
Over all opinions?


Everything on the computer is also at the center on paper. Or you can print it out from your computer. Kaplan will make sure you know all the things that could be on the test, but you still have to do the work. You are already in a pretty good score range, so depending on how hard you studied last time, a course could probably help you get a couple more points.
 
VFrank said:
But since the scale is harder, doesn't that mean the test is easier?

Yes, and I think it evens out as you get down into the 10/11 range, but at the top of the scale I think it was somewhat unfair. Basically, the highest realistic score was a 13 because even though it was easier overall, there are always going to be a couple that you miss and you couldn't miss any for a 14. That seems a little unrealistic.
 
dukejen04 said:
in regard to diagnostic vs. full length:

diagnostic: 27
fl#1- 30
fl#2- 33

i guess that makes me +6, but i hope to up to +8 by this weekend :)


I already took FL 3 to get to +8, but after FL 2 I was also +6. Good luck. :thumbup:
 
wow goo job guys
i went up 2 max and even then i am fluctuating a lot ( diag of 27, low of 24 , high of 29) i need to stabalize...
willthatsall do we get 3-7 at kaplan, do they give us a copy or we borrow a plasti-kote one and use it on site?


(as always you have my thanks in advance!)
 
DieselPetrolGrl said:
wow goo job guys
i went up 2 max and even then i am fluctuating a lot ( diag of 27, low of 24 , high of 29) i need to stabalize...
willthatsall do we get 3-7 at kaplan, do they give us a copy or we borrow a plasti-kote one and use it on site?


(as always you have my thanks in advance!)

Well, 6-11 are plastic. 1-5 are in the paper copies, but I'm not sure if that is only for the proctored exams or what. I'm not sure if you can just stop by one day and tell them you want to take #3 or #4 on your own and they will give you a paper copy, since they proctor those. That seems like a good way for them to end up giving away tests and I'm sure that's not something they like to do.
 
so heres the problem

i got a 24 on diag
24 fl1
24 fl2

why me? why? why?


8ps 8bs 10vr X 3 = CRAP
 
those should be sevens j/k.....
maybe thats why my score is so low?
 
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