Princeton Review exams vs. AAMC exams

[fattymangox03]

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How do you think Princeton Review practice exams compare with the AAMC practice exams? and to the real MCAT? These are my scores..

PR #1 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #2 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #3 Bio8 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 20
PR #4 Bio7 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 19
AAMC #9 Bio9 Verb10 Phys11 COMPOSITE 30

I have no idea how I improved so much..? Are PR exams more similar to the actual, or AAMC?? Which exams do you think I should focus on taking until Jan 26? Any input would be appreciated!!

 

[mterp45]

How do you think Princeton Review practice exams compare with the AAMC practice exams? and to the real MCAT? These are my scores..

PR #1 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #2 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #3 Bio8 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 20
PR #4 Bio7 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 19
AAMC #9 Bio9 Verb10 Phys11 COMPOSITE 30

I have no idea how I improved so much..? Are PR exams more similar to the actual, or AAMC?? Which exams do you think I should focus on taking until Jan 26? Any input would be appreciated!!

Congrats on the AAMC 9 score, from the information I have garnished on this site, AAMC 9 is one of the practice tests most similar to the most recent real ones, and about the TPR practice test, I know a girl who got a 22 on her last TPR pratice test a week before she sat for the real test. She freaked out and almost rescheduled her MCAT but decided to take it and ended up with a 34 and now she is at Hopkins, and one of my best friends was averaging 17-21 this past summer, I thought he was crazy for not postponing his test but he ended up with a 26 so I think your score of 30 is legitimate, from what I have heard, the TPR tests are generally much more difficult than the real one am saving mine for a month before I sit.

 

[DrDre2001]

remember, TPR has to stand by its point improvement gaurantee. Which is:

"your score on the real mcat" - "your score on your first TPR practice exam" = "point improvement"

so, it would make sense for them to make their own tests harder than the real thing, that way they wont have to pay you back or let you take the class again or whatever it is that they gaurantee you.

 

[fattymangox03]

whew. this makes me feel so much better. i thought i got lucky on the AAMC9 exam. i almost rescheduled my mcat too haha. thanks guys!

 

[determinedpreme]

How do you think Princeton Review practice exams compare with the AAMC practice exams? and to the real MCAT? These are my scores..

PR #1 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #2 Bio8 Verb6 Phys5 COMPOSITE 19
PR #3 Bio8 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 20
PR #4 Bio7 Verb6 Phys6 COMPOSITE 19
AAMC #9 Bio9 Verb10 Phys11 COMPOSITE 30

I have no idea how I improved so much..? Are PR exams more similar to the actual, or AAMC?? Which exams do you think I should focus on taking until Jan 26? Any input would be appreciated!!

Yeah, I've been experiencing the same thing with TPR tests. I took three of their tests and scored 18, 17, 17. I felt bad after every time I took those tests. I still have to take one of the AAMC tests. Hopefully I score way higher than those TPR tests. Btw, how did your real MCAT go? I'm scheduled to take it in May.

 

[actoutfit]

TPR tests are mucher harder than the aamc tests. They are also scaled worse. I started with a 18 on my TPR tests took my first AAMC jumped 9 points took the rest of the AAMC's and ended up with a 31 S on the real thing. The TPR tests are great practice just don't let the score get you down.

 

[determinedpreme]

OP, i'm assuming you've already taken your MCAT? If you don't mind posting, I was wondering what you got because my TPR scores are similar to yours. Also, I've taken AAMC 3 and I didn't do so well. I got a composite of 23. Should I be worrying right now if my test date is next month?

 

[Appless]

OP, i'm assuming you've already taken your MCAT? If you don't mind posting, I was wondering what you got because my TPR scores are similar to yours. Also, I've taken AAMC 3 and I didn't do so well. I got a composite of 23. Should I be worrying right now if my test date is next month?

Test 3 is one of the easiest tests, I wouldnt panic as a month is a long time to study, but you defiantly have a long way to go.

As for TPR I took their class and honestly their diagnostic tests are just pure trash, theres no better way to describe it. They are NOTHING like the real mcat or even the practice tests. I dont think i ever got better then a 26 on the TPR tests then on the AAMC tests I was always 33-36 range. I get my real mcat score back on april 28th, so I cant say what I actually got, but I know for a fact that TPR tests are useless.

Id focus on doing every single AAMC test. If you cant/dont have the time, Id say make sure you do 7-10. Then do the others in any order if you had the time. Test 3-6 are good to do but they just dont seem to representative of what the mcat has become lately. But they still are good practice for concepts and getting used to the timing of it all.

 

[JokerMD]

ive taken all the tpr's and all the aamc (except 3 and 4)

based on today's test...

AAMC is most representative of the sciences. TPR is harder for PS and slightly easier for BS. Verbal is a wildcard. neither aamc nor tpr were very representative of today's test.

this is my personal opinion...

 

[G1SG2]

neither aamc nor tpr were very representative of today's test.

In that case, shouldn't the aamc release practice tests that are more representative of today's test? Otherwise, wouldn't this be misleading/false advertisement to most MCAT students?

 

[JokerMD]

^yea they probably should (and will)

in retrospect, i think the sciences were kinda representative of AAMC. verbal was NOT representative

 

[G1SG2]

verbal was NOT representative

was it harder? If so, was it like TPR hard?

 

[JokerMD]

^it depends what you find hard about verbal. the best way to describe yesterday's mcat was, the passages were MUCH longer and the questions were (for the most part) inference-type questions. Also, it was hard but not in a "TPR hard" way. Meaning, there weren't too many retrieval type questions and there were no abstract, highly philosophical type passages to read. The best representation, is EK101. TPR is good practice for building your stamina and reading speed but EK had the most representative questions (but again, the passages were much longer and more complicated to read than the EK ones).

 

[panthers0041]

Hey Guys,

I took four TPR exams. I received scores of 19, 20, 21 and 18 in that order. Somehow I did the worst on the last exam. I went in to take the real exam with ZERO expectations, fully anticipating that I would get an abysmal score and have to retake.

FALSE...

I got a 35 on my exam. I guess I should thank TPR, because I usually get very bad test anxiety. Because I assumed I was going to fail, I went in relatively stress free.

The moral of the story is DO NOT assume your TPR review tests will translate into an actual AMCAS test score!!

 

[tman5890]

Hey Guys,

I took four TPR exams. I received scores of 19, 20, 21 and 18 in that order. Somehow I did the worst on the last exam. I went in to take the real exam with ZERO expectations, fully anticipating that I would get an abysmal score and have to retake.

FALSE...

I got a 35 on my exam. I guess I should thank TPR, because I usually get very bad test anxiety. Because I assumed I was going to fail, I went in relatively stress free.

The moral of the story is DO NOT assume your TPR review tests will translate into an actual AMCAS test score!!

Wow, that's really impressive! Congrats 👍

 

[artsciencelove]

I have done 3 TPR exams and 3 AAMC exams over the last 6 weeks. TPR scores were 26, 30, 30. AAMC scores were 30, 32, 35. It's clear I am improving, but TPR exams are harder, in my opinion. I'm not always at my best when taking practice tests, either (tired, people bothering me, etc). Is it worth $1700 for 5 points improvement on the MCAT? I don't know... 35 is "welcome to medical school", 30 is "maybe good enough", and 26 is "better luck next time". My TPR teachers are all fantastic, I can't say enough good things about them... but I think my score improvement is mostly due to spending 3-5 hours per day doing the assigned homework. If you have the cash, the classroom learning is definitely worth it. If you're smart and a self-starter, just buy the books and do the homework on your own.

It doesn't make the TPR exams useless, though. It is like lifting heavy weights to make yourself stronger for the big game. Go back through the exams and read the explanations for the questions you got wrong.

I'm going into the "home stretch" (2 more weeks) and I am going to focus on doing 2 AAMC and 1 TPR test per week. Shooting for 35-40 on the real MCAT, and I think I can do it. It's all about hard work.

 

[mohad]

Hmm, here are my TPR scores
TPR 1. 10 PS, 7 V, 10 PS
TPR 2. 10 PS, 5 V, 11 BS
TPR 3. 13 PS, 8 V, 11 BS
TPR 4. 10 PS, 9 V, 12 BS

Am I on a good track? I have about 70-80% content down, and I had about 60-70% content done when I took my first test(I just took physics II and ochem II, so I'm a bit ahead of the class since I have a decent memory). Verbal is obviously my weakpoint, but I've been working on that a bit. I really wanna take an AAMC test to see where I stand, but I won't dare try it unless content review is done. I'm just getting frustrated cause I make dumb mistakes on the test and it seems like you need to get a ton right to make a 10, and then after that, for each question, it's like a point.

Edit: my test is on Aug 19.

 

[artsciencelove]

Your scores look good, obviously you already know you want to concentrate on VR. Some people post their strategies on this site, there's a thread around somewhere. Also, try an AAMC test and see how you do.

The exams are designed so that 9 on each section is about average. Every point after that is progressively harder to achieve. Getting above a 12 is quite hard on any section, due to the "dumb mistakes" we all make. A score of 36 is roughly equivalent to 95th percentile, meaning you are in the top 5% of all test takers.

In my opinion, you will do quite well on the real MCAT. Focus on VR, because even if you have a 30+ total score, a below average VR score will raise red flags.

Good luck!!

Hmm, here are my TPR scores
TPR 1. 10 PS, 7 V, 10 PS
TPR 2. 10 PS, 5 V, 11 BS
TPR 3. 13 PS, 8 V, 11 BS
TPR 4. 10 PS, 9 V, 12 BS

Am I on a good track? I have about 70-80% content down, and I had about 60-70% content done when I took my first test(I just took physics II and ochem II, so I'm a bit ahead of the class since I have a decent memory). Verbal is obviously my weakpoint, but I've been working on that a bit. I really wanna take an AAMC test to see where I stand, but I won't dare try it unless content review is done. I'm just getting frustrated cause I make dumb mistakes on the test and it seems like you need to get a ton right to make a 10, and then after that, for each question, it's like a point.

Edit: my test is on Aug 19.

 

[bearintraining]

I agree. TPR tests are way harder than the real one, although I did start to improve on TPR near the end. However, my AAMC average was almost SMACK on with my real score (33S, with which I hope I stand a chance as a Canadian applying to the US).

 

[deep122]

What do you guys think about the idea of taking TPR tests in sections (just using them for 72 minute practice mini tests)? If the point of taking a FL is to give you a sense of pacing and help you learn to adjust to the test conditions, then FLs that are significantly more difficult than the real MCAT are not going to be very helpful as full lengths, are they?

That was my plan. However, I've heard the actual MCAT can be significantly more difficult than the AAMC (with an easier curve apparently). Though, I have also heard AAMC11 is pretty accurate. Must vary from test to test.

 

[bearintraining]

Agreed. 05/20 was harder than I anticipated, especially PS but in a way VR also since the answers were so similar but text was easy to read, compare to the AAMC practice exams (I did several).... my last practice was a 38, my actual was a 33.

 

[artsciencelove]

What did you think was more difficult about PS on the real MCAT? Not looking for actual questions of course.

Got a 39 on AAMC #9 yesterday, so I think I'm in good shape going into 7/16. I also found a bad question on that exam (#7 on PS), so I probably deserved a 40. 🙂 Ethers can accept hydrogen bonds, dammit!

Agreed. 05/20 was harder than I anticipated, especially PS but in a way VR also since the answers were so similar but text was easy to read, compare to the AAMC practice exams (I did several).... my last practice was a 38, my actual was a 33.

 

[Willy38]

What did you think was more difficult about PS on the real MCAT? Not looking for actual questions of course.

Got a 39 on AAMC #9 yesterday, so I think I'm in good shape going into 7/16. I also found a bad question on that exam (#7 on PS), so I probably deserved a 40. 🙂 Ethers can accept hydrogen bonds, dammit!

Ethers do not hydrogen bond with themselves but can if the hydrogen is supplied from another source. (e.g. pure diethyl ether does not have hydrogen bonding)

 

[crazy87]

Bump on this because I found these threads (TPR vs AAMC vs real mcat) really helpful while preparing. My range on on TPR tests was 19-25. Range on AAMC was 27-32 (also a 25 I took a year before the real thing). All of the practice tests except for the latter were taken within 5-6 weeks Of the real deal. Actual MCAT = 31.

 

[liamhaas]

Adding to this as well because like crazy87, I had this same panic during prep and the more concurring voices I found on threads like this, the better I felt. TPR practice exams are much, much harder than the real MCAT. I was averaging 28 on TPR exams; 38 on AAMC practice exams; got a 41 on the real deal. And the AAMC exams were much closer to the real exam in 'felt' difficulty, in my opinion.

Take TPR exams for practice with the toughest material and for development of time management skills, but don't take the scores seriously.

 

[ezking]

I was scoring significantly lower on TPR exams (10 points) than my actual score, which was close to my AAMC average. Like the poster above said, they are great for time management skills and diagnosing weak spots.

 

[brood910]

Same goes for TBR, but their scale is really lenient. So, my scores are pretty close to AAMC FLs even though I always get 7~8 more questions wrong.

 

[Gauss44]

There's a certain type of clunky old fashioned condensed social science passage popular on TPR that I find dissimilar to AAMC VR (so if you are blowing those passages, you might still do well or better on real MCAT). I find that AAMC science passages tend to have more reading. I still thought TPR was great practice.

 

[acemcatthissummer]

Hey Guys,

I took four TPR exams. I received scores of 19, 20, 21 and 18 in that order. Somehow I did the worst on the last exam. I went in to take the real exam with ZERO expectations, fully anticipating that I would get an abysmal score and have to retake.

FALSE...

I got a 35 on my exam. I guess I should thank TPR, because I usually get very bad test anxiety. Because I assumed I was going to fail, I went in relatively stress free.

The moral of the story is DO NOT assume your TPR review tests will translate into an actual AMCAS test score!!

OMGGGG CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF ONLY THIS HAPPENED TO ME!! -- CUZ I JUST GOT A 19 on TPR DIAG 1.
I AM SORT OF IN DEPRESSION.
THIS POST GAVE ME SOOOO SOOO SOOOO MUCH HOPE!
BUT THEN AGAIN LUCK PLAYS A HUGE FACTOR! --- I PRAY I HAVE SOME LUCK ON THE REAL TEST DAY.
WRITING EXAM IN 10 DAYS!

 

[TexasSurgeon]

I thought I would necrobump this thread because I'm in a similar situation

2014 TPR Exam 1 (online): 22
2014 TPR Exam 2 (online): 20 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Took AAMC 10 over a month ago: 27

Can anyone tell me what this means, and possibly post any similar experiences? Test date on January 23, 2015 and I'm a little worried about the TPR scores.

 

[Levrone]

my diagnostic was TPR exam 1 : 17 (5/6/6)
1 week later, TPR exam 2 : 15 (4/5/6)
3 weeks later, after some studying, AAMC 3 : 21 (6/9/6)

why didn't my sciences skyrocket 🙁

anyway I've been studying a lot since then so after im actually done with content review and 5 passages per chapter review I'll take another TPR test

( im taking mcat2015)

 

[TexasSurgeon]

my diagnostic was TPR exam 1 : 17 (5/6/6)
1 week later, TPR exam 2 : 15 (4/5/6)
3 weeks later, after some studying, AAMC 3 : 21 (6/9/6)

why didn't my sciences skyrocket 🙁

anyway I've been studying a lot since then so after im actually done with content review and 5 passages per chapter review I'll take another TPR test

( im taking mcat2015)

TPR 2 is hard for everyone I think.

MCAT 2015 would be a little different then eh?

 

[The Brown Knight]

My TPR 1-5 scores ranged from 31-35, all higher than my actual of 30 but lower than my AAMC avg
I feel like their sciences are extremely misleading, focusing more on content knowledge and less on verbal-type reasoning prevalent in AAMCs and real thing.
Their bio passages are extremely short and most questions hardly require a solid understanding of the passage - AAMCs and real thing are far less about content and more about the VR-type reasoning.
Their difficult PS sections did help me, however.