People who are naturally gifted at standardized tests

[Uafl112]

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I got a new roomate this year who took a practice test for the first time and got a 39 for one of the AAMC practice exams. He even showed me. I know some people who studied for a week and got a 34 on their actual MCAT. I studied for an entire year and managed to only get a 28 (9,9,10). However, I by no means consider myself unintelligent or a bad student. So for all you guys and gals that can score so high without trying, what exactly goes through your mind while taking these tests? Was it always this easy? Is there a specific mindset or is this just one of those things you guys just cant explain? Ive always wondered this.

 

[somedudehere]

What is your roommates educational background? You're wording it as if he/she sat down for the first time with no review and scored a 39. Even if you were stellar at standardized tests there is no shot at getting a 39 with no background knowledge of the information. For example in BS (orgo) when they ask you what is the product of x ---> x and all the choices are
ch3ch2ch2oh
ch3ch2ch2ohch3
etc.
Knowing how to take standardized tests has no effect on this type of question.

 

[NeuroMaster316]

I agree with the above, look at people's backgrounds. Having a really strong foundation of the material will make it easier for people to take the test. "Test taking skills" will not get you a high score unless you already know the material really well.

 

[ricklee]

Asians....

 

[jamcat]

I kind of agree, but I do think some people are just much better at test-taking than others. Solving a problem from scratch and being able to pick out one right answer out of four are very different skills. One of my friends is a fine student but nothing special (3.2ish science GPA, although at a difficult school) and got a 43. It wasn't a fluke either; her practice tests were all around that range. Another friend is brilliant in our classes but was consistently mid-30s and ended up with a 34 I think. Not shabby at all, but not 43 either.

We asked the 43 friend about it and she said she is just really good at picking out answers. We were trying to figure out what exactly made her so good at this, and we gave her a bunch of MCAT problems *without the questions.* So all she was given was A, B, C, and D. A very significant majority of the time she was able to select the correct answer without even having the question!

I think *this* is what separates the naturally-gifted standardized test-takers.

 

[TheRhymenocerous]

I kind of agree, but I do think some people are just much better at test-taking than others. Solving a problem from scratch and being able to pick out one right answer out of four are very different skills. One of my friends is a fine student but nothing special (3.2ish science GPA, although at a difficult school) and got a 43. It wasn't a fluke either; her practice tests were all around that range. Another friend is brilliant in our classes but was consistently mid-30s and ended up with a 34 I think. Not shabby at all, but not 43 either.

We asked the 43 friend about it and she said she is just really good at picking out answers. We were trying to figure out what exactly made her so good at this, and we gave her a bunch of MCAT problems *without the questions.* So all she was given was A, B, C, and D. A very significant majority of the time she was able to select the correct answer without even having the question!

I think *this* is what separates the naturally-gifted standardized test-takers.

That's really interesting. I think that might explain why humanities majors often score well – even the science questions are to a large degree reading comprehension, so the ability to read answer choices critically is a huge advantage. So many answer choices are designed to trick you into choosing them, by using words directly from the passage in the wrong context and playing into easy assumptions and that sort of thing.

 

[Doug Underhill]

I knew someone with a 2.5 and a 39. He knew absolutely nothing about organic chem (and I mean nothing) and very little about biology or general chemistry, but still got like an 11 in BS and a 14 in PS. To this day, I have no idea how they did it.

I just tried the answer picking thing without reading the question and it was awful. I couldn't do it. I have a very good MCAT score, but I studied for hundreds of hours over six months to do it.

 

[Odi]

I knew someone with a 2.5 and a 39. He knew absolutely nothing about organic chem (and I mean nothing) and very little about biology or general chemistry, but still got like an 11 in BS and a 14 in PS. To this day, I have no idea how they did it.

I just tried the answer picking thing without reading the question and it was awful. I couldn't do it. I have a very good MCAT score, but I studied for hundreds of hours over six months to do it.

I've never heard of this until reading this thread. Decided to try it out with TBR Ochem questions I was hung up on today and scored all of them right... Granted it was only a handful of questions but wow

Each question I used this method for followed the same pattern: 3 answer choices could be lumped into the same category somehow (polarity/acids/bases/solubility/mol.weight/functional groups etc) while 1 answer choice clearly had a unique property.

An example of one of the questions today:

The best choice with which to rinse sodium acetate in order to remove propanol residue is:

A. hydrochloric acid.
B. propanol.
C. diethyl ether.
D. water.

Neglecting the question, you can spot the odd one out right away: diethyl ether.

This method has officially been added my last resort Hail Mary guessing techniques for Ochem lol

 

[Uafl112]

I talked to one of my friends who scores well on standardized tests about this today, and his answer gave me some clarity. To others this may sound like common sense, but to me, someone who has struggled with standardized tests his whole life, but did well in all his classes, it comes as new information. He said "If we define intelligence as an ability to master a skill or idea, then the intelligence that a standardized test fundamentally tests is your ability to tackle the type of questions it asks; it doesnt necessarily come down to the facts of the material because those are just the language you have to speak to the respond to the questions, the test is can you respond?"

So essentially it comes down to picking the most logical pathway to get to the correct answer, and thats where the test comes in; picking the correct approach to each question. The best example that I could think of is one of the questions that I use to get in some elementary school standardized exams. "if there are x amount of shirts to choose from, y amount of pants to choose from, and z amount of socks to choose from, whats the total amount of combinations that could possibly be made?" At first glance, and without thinking, one might consider counting every combination. However, the correct, adn much more efficient, method that the test wanted you to get to the answer by, was to multiply all three variables to get the total number of combinations.

I think some people naturally think out those methods better and quicker than others.

 

[House D.O.]

I've never heard of this until reading this thread. Decided to try it out with TBR Ochem questions I was hung up on today and scored all of them right... Granted it was only a handful of questions but wow

Each question I used this method for followed the same pattern: 3 answer choices could be lumped into the same category somehow (polarity/acids/bases/solubility/mol.weight/functional groups etc) while 1 answer choice clearly had a unique property.

An example of one of the questions today:

The best choice with which to rinse sodium acetate in order to remove propanol residue is:

A. hydrochloric acid.
B. propanol.
C. diethyl ether.
D. water.

Neglecting the question, you can spot the odd one out right away: diethyl ether.

This method has officially been added my last resort Hail Mary guessing techniques for Ochem lol

I feel pretty dumb now lol

 

[Rhino1000]

Uhm... how is diethyl ether the odd one out? Difference I see is it has no hydrogens?

It's nonpolar; it has no strong dipole moment. Also, diethyl ether does indeed have hydrogens, haha. 😛

 

[House D.O.]

It's nonpolar; it has no strong dipole moment. Also, diethyl ether does indeed have hydrogens, haha. 😛

Pretty sure I need sleep right now :O lol (i meant bonded to the oxygen but...then HCL lawl)

 

[edgerock24]

I kind of agree, but I do think some people are just much better at test-taking than others. Solving a problem from scratch and being able to pick out one right answer out of four are very different skills. One of my friends is a fine student but nothing special (3.2ish science GPA, although at a difficult school) and got a 43. It wasn't a fluke either; her practice tests were all around that range. Another friend is brilliant in our classes but was consistently mid-30s and ended up with a 34 I think. Not shabby at all, but not 43 either.

We asked the 43 friend about it and she said she is just really good at picking out answers. We were trying to figure out what exactly made her so good at this, and we gave her a bunch of MCAT problems *without the questions.* So all she was given was A, B, C, and D. A very significant majority of the time she was able to select the correct answer without even having the question!

I think *this* is what separates the naturally-gifted standardized test-takers.

This sounds like a bunch of nonsense/witchcraft. I don't believe you.




P.S. teach me how she does this and I'll PayPal you $1000.

 

[Doug Underhill]

At least one "good test taker" I know is prescribed amphetamines for her ADHD. I wonder if that has anything to do with it?

 

[popopopop]

That's really interesting. I think that might explain why humanities majors often score well – even the science questions are to a large degree reading comprehension, so the ability to read answer choices critically is a huge advantage. So many answer choices are designed to trick you into choosing them, by using words directly from the passage in the wrong context and playing into easy assumptions and that sort of thing.

Met a philosophy major who scored 14 on his real verbal section without studying and without a strategy. He is a god in my eyes.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

Met a philosophy major who scored...

Yeah when people ask me how I prepped for my own MCAT I say, "four years of majoring in philosophy".

 

[ReggieNoble22]

I think a lot of MCAT questions can be simplified into 'which one of these are not like the others'. So I could totally see how a philosophical standpoint could help haha.