question about kaplan tests

[HailToTheThielf]

Alright, damn it! I have just completed practice test 10 on my kaplan mcat tests. My scores have been consistent 25-26. I need one more test, test 11. Not really satisfied with my scores. Test #9= 9PS, 7VR, 10BS. I cant seem to bring up my VR. No matter what. I am just starting to finally finish the VR part. Now I can do 8 passages in around the 80 minute mark. Question about the kaplan tests. it says that for PS and BS, getting about 60% correct, even sometimes 55% correct will give you about a 9 or 10 for that section. Whereas the AAMC practice tests, you need to get almost 70-75% correct to get that same score?? So I just figured that the kaplan test were harder but after reading a couple of threads, everyone seems to think that they are just about the same in difficulty. So whats up???? If they are the same then Id be getting 7 and 8's on the real thing. Thats really discouraging. And can someone make a magic spell for me so that I can get a 10 or 11 on my VR....in case there are some witches reading this thread. Anyways I have one week left. What should I do? I really seem like I am JUST STARTING to get the hang of VR! My PS and BS are pretty good. What should I do? Should I concentrate more on my VR, or just let it go because its too late and concentrate on PS and BS's. Do you think its too late to possibly bring up that VR score? (I am having trouble getting the gist of the passages and that why the low score) And one other thing about working on your weak areas....its really hard to tell because, for example, my weak area seems to be solutions in chemistry yet sometimes I will get 100% correct in solution and get 25% correct on thermochem which is my strongest. It REALLY all depends on the passage I get! So yeah I can go back and study my butt off for the next two hrs on sol chem then get 100 correct due to the ease of that passage and get 20% correct right on my strongest area which is thermochem because the thermochem was the HARD passage. Sometimes I feel like im wasting time studying one aspect because it really depends on the test and passage I get for that subject. Any advice?Im really really sorry for the long post. Thanks for being patient and good luck to everyone next saturday. One last question....can anyone tell me the correlation b/w kaplan tests and mcat tests. Do people ususallly score the same on the real thing? Better? Worst?

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[challie2385]

I wouldn't advise that you neglect verbal. It's the most important section, so now that you're finally getting the hang of it, practice the hell out of it for the next week. Plus, look at the Verbal Reasoning thread under the Study Q&A forum because there are some good tips on how to read and understand passages, which you say you are having trouble with. For example, how to interpret the author's main point/argument, and passage structure.

As for PS, in my opinion, the Kaplan PS are much harder than the AAMC ones, and although Kaplan's curve SOMEWHAT makes up for the difficulty, it's still a hard section. The only reason AAMC curves are a little tougher is because the sections are easier. If you can get your hands on any AAMC tests, try and see for yourself. You'll probably have a much easier time handling those PS sections.

Finally, as for the discrepancy between what you think your weak areas are and what they really are...I'd suggest going over the answers in more depth and seeing exactly why you missed the questions you missed. Is it because you misinterpreted the question? Stupid math mistakes? Missed an important piece of info from the passage? Sometimes, these are the reasons that make us miss questions in topics that we are usually good at, not because we don't have a good understanding of those topics. If you still feel underconfident after doing this, then go over the main points of these topics once again.

Hope this helps...good luck to you!

 

[USArmyDoc]

Use the EK method for verbal. At the least, it will allow you to finish the section bringing your score up to at least an 8 or 9.