Princeton Review difficulty vs real MCAT

[Shredder]

I have been wondering how the difficulty of the PR material matches up with that of the real MCAT. Diagnostic tests, workbooks? The in class compendium is definitely harder than anything else. Do people typically do better or worse on the MCAT than on the final diag?

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[marglinw]

No. The TPR diagnostic tests are easier, especially physical sciences and verbal. Do not look at SDN for two weeks and keep studying! That is, if you want to be finished with the MCAT this April!!!

I have been wondering how the difficulty of the PR material matches up with that of the real MCAT. Diagnostic tests, workbooks? The in class compendium is definitely harder than anything else. Do people typically do better or worse on the MCAT than on the final diag?

 

[MechE]

Do people typically do better or worse on the MCAT than on the final diag?

I did better on the MCAT than on my final diag.

 

[firebird69guy]

I took TPR last winter and took the MCAT in April. Needless to say, I was very disappointed with the lack in similarity between TPR diags and the real test. My score remained about the same as on the diags (actually increased a bit), but the style of questions and passages were very different (more like Kaplan).

Here's what I mean: On TPRs diags, you can only miss like 10-15 questions to get above an 11 on PS (for example).. On Kaplan's diags, you can miss like 20-30 questions. So when I was taking the real MCAT, I was freaking out that it was a little harder (I had a hard test that was curved more like Kaplan's diags).. You get an easy test, and it may be more like TPRs where you really can only miss like 10-15. This is why people never really know how they did until the scores come out!!!!!

It all depends on the style and toughness (or lack thereof) of the actual test that you get....

Know this: TPRs passages are ridiculous. I can go straight to the questions without reading the passages and do fine. On the actual MCAT I took, I had to read through many of the passages for pertinent information (graphs, etc) to answer the questions. This tended to scare me since I felt that I was rushing for time.

Now that I think about it, I want a hard test because I think you can do better on it (with a tough curve). Any followups to this?

 

[OSUdoc08]

No. The TPR diagnostic tests are easier, especially physical sciences and verbal. Do not look at SDN for two weeks and keep studying! That is, if you want to be finished with the MCAT this April!!!

That is incorrect. The TPR diagnostics are made to be more difficult than the real MCAT. When you get to the final two diagnostics, they are actual old MCATs, so they are closer to the real thing

 

[virilep]

the tests A-D are ridiculous. the kaplan laters one are just as hard. aamc 4 and 7 were the best for me.

 

[jon0013]

the tests A-D are ridiculous. the kaplan laters one are just as hard. aamc 4 and 7 were the best for me.

anyone know how the refresher tests 4941-4961 stack up?
personally i found the real mcat to be harder than any diag i took...freaked out when i prob shoudlnt since u could miss more...

 

[Shredder]

i just found out i got 33 on my 2nd PR diag, up from 29 on my first, but that was 2 months ago. 4 points in 2 months and with a good bit of studying has me worried. id really like a 40 on the real one so i can go to columbia or stanford, so im fretting with under 2 months left to study. is anybody else in a similar situation, or went through one already? i hear diag 2 is harder than 1 and a lot of ppl actually dropped, but i was still aiming for a 35 on it and felt like i got that upon finishing the test. it was pretty disheartening. come on, pour out some consolation and advice. obviously this is geared toward higher scorers--dont hate if youre not or dont plan to be, just disregard please.

 

[gujuDoc]

i just found out i got 33 on my 2nd PR diag, up from 29 on my first, but that was 2 months ago. 4 points in 2 months and with a good bit of studying has me worried. id really like a 40 on the real one so i can go to columbia or stanford, so im fretting with under 2 months left to study. is anybody else in a similar situation, or went through one already? i hear diag 2 is harder than 1 and a lot of ppl actually dropped, but i was still aiming for a 35 on it and felt like i got that upon finishing the test. it was pretty disheartening. come on, pour out some consolation and advice. obviously this is geared toward higher scorers--dont hate if youre not or dont plan to be, just disregard please.

If you are doing that well on the diagnostics, then yes I do believe that it may be possible to bring it up to a 40 or at least past 35 on the real deal.

Many people whom take the initial princeton diagnostic tend to score up to 14 points higher on the real exam from what they scored on the initial. I've seen with most people that I knew, whom got a 23 or 24 on their first diag, generally got a 36 or 37 on the real deal, while those whom I knew got a 16 on first diag, generally went up to 28-30 range.

Take your 3rd diag, and then see where you stand on the AAMC tests. If when you take the 5 aamc tests, of which TPR now has 3 in possession, and you are doing in the 37 or above range, then there's hope of you getting the score you desire.

However, keep in mind, it is still a crapshoot and the tests have different forms etc. Nonetheless, the AAMC tests are probably the best bet at giving it to you like they would really present it.

Good luck. Sounds like you will do very well. Oh and please listen to the other thread and do the other stuff that will make you competitive rather than just focusing on the numbers, because the other 40% or so getting into med school is everything else in the application process.