Some advice/help please.

[JaggerPlate]

So I have been steadily taking Kaplan FL's and worked my scores up to the low to mid 30's (the average being 31-32). So today I decided I would take my first AAMC (#3) and my score fell basically 9 points to the low 20s ????? My BS fell by 4 pts, my PS fell by 4 pts, and my writing fell by 1pt. The bio went a little worse than me for normal, but not that much worse, and I felt like PS was a disaster ... BUT NOT THAT BAD. I know Kaplan has generous curves, but does anyone have any experience with score drops this bad?? Will I be able to get my scores back up if I keep practicing the AAMC versions?? Help, pleaseeeee.

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[JC2]

You are correct. Kaplan's curves are generous. However, if it makes you feel any better, AAMC3 was the lowest of my scores (and I have had scores in the area of 6-7 higher than what I scored on that exam) and I was doing the same thing you are likely doing now (that is, taking the AAMC's in order).

Part of your score drop can be attributed to unfamiliarity with the AAMC style. Your score will go up slightly just based on that alone.

As for what you can do about it, it really depends on how much time left you have to study. If you are writing in under a week, the best you can do is a combination of taking the AAMC tests (as those are your only source of such multiple choice questions) combined with massive studying of your weak areas (I almost want to say the word 'only' here but it's up to you).

If you have two to three weeks, I would recommend that, in that time, you go over through all 8 AAMC exams. Definitely look over AAMC3 to see what kind of questions you were missing and whether they can be attributed to content review, unfamiliarity with the style or both. That and do a combination of studying (especially in PS if you claim you are weak as AAMC is easier than the real thing, sorry to say... stick with Kaplan's subject tests and such as those, while hard, will prepare you well).

More than three weeks, get a hold of EK101 Verbal to boost up your verbal (as that will boost up your verbal score by proxy through familiarity) and do massive content review, making sure to understand the questions. Personally, I use Kaplan's QBank as I find it is the right difficulty for 'training' (ie. harder than the actual thing, but somewhat similar). If you take this route, be sure to uncheck the 'Verbal' box for Kaplan's QBank it is not very representative of what you will see.

In conclusion, the score drop is somewhat unusual and you will likely have to work at it to reach your targets but it is something that can be achieved through a combination of thorough (ie. concept-based) content review and increased familiarity with the testing style (though the amount of improvement depends on how much time you have remaining).

 

[JaggerPlate]

You are correct. Kaplan's curves are generous. However, if it makes you feel any better, AAMC3 was the lowest of my scores (and I have had scores in the area of 6-7 higher than what I scored on that exam) and I was doing the same thing you are likely doing now (that is, taking the AAMC's in order).

Part of your score drop can be attributed to unfamiliarity with the AAMC style. Your score will go up slightly just based on that alone.

As for what you can do about it, it really depends on how much time left you have to study. If you are writing in under a week, the best you can do is a combination of taking the AAMC tests (as those are your only source of such multiple choice questions) combined with massive studying of your weak areas (I almost want to say the word 'only' here but it's up to you).

If you have two to three weeks, I would recommend that, in that time, you go over through all 8 AAMC exams. Definitely look over AAMC3 to see what kind of questions you were missing and whether they can be attributed to content review, unfamiliarity with the style or both. That and do a combination of studying (especially in PS if you claim you are weak as AAMC is easier than the real thing, sorry to say... stick with Kaplan's subject tests and such as those, while hard, will prepare you well).

More than three weeks, get a hold of EK101 Verbal to boost up your verbal (as that will boost up your verbal score by proxy through familiarity) and do massive content review, making sure to understand the questions. Personally, I use Kaplan's QBank as I find it is the right difficulty for 'training' (ie. harder than the actual thing, but somewhat similar). If you take this route, be sure to uncheck the 'Verbal' box for Kaplan's QBank it is not very representative of what you will see.

In conclusion, the score drop is somewhat unusual and you will likely have to work at it to reach your targets but it is something that can be achieved through a combination of thorough (ie. concept-based) content review and increased familiarity with the testing style (though the amount of improvement depends on how much time you have remaining).

I have a little under a month. Thank you for your suggestions. I think a big part of my problem was that the test (to me) seemed 100% different from every Kaplan exam I had taken. Any other advice is appreciated.

 

[ILikeFood]

I wouldn't worry about it. However, if your scores on AAMC 7-10 are still in the twenties, then it's time to freak out.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I wouldn't worry about it. However, if your scores on AAMC 7-10 are still in the twenties, then it's time to freak out.

Thank you. All advice is appreciated.

As a side question ... are the AAMC tests curved at all? Thanks again, keep the good advice coming.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Jaggerplate - DO NOT WORRY! I was in your exact same situation, approximately 1 month before my MCAT too (which is this Friday). I had taken a few Kaplan FL exams, and then I think I had a 6 or 7 point drop to my AAMC3 score.

I really agree with you that AAMC's exam style is different from Kaplan (most dramatically for VR) in format, the way of asking questions, and the curve. However, you will be able to get better at AAMC exams and your scores will improve on them as you tackle weak areas and get used to the AAMC format, at least that's what I noticed. Good luck!

 

[JaggerPlate]

Jaggerplate - DO NOT WORRY! I was in your exact same situation, approximately 1 month before my MCAT too (which is this Friday). I had taken a few Kaplan FL exams, and then I think I had a 6 or 7 point drop to my AAMC3 score.

I really agree with you that AAMC's exam style is different from Kaplan (most dramatically for VR) in format, the way of asking questions, and the curve. However, you will be able to get better at AAMC exams and your scores will improve on them as you tackle weak areas and get used to the AAMC format, at least that's what I noticed. Good luck!

Just the situation I was hoping for. Thanks a ton for sharing!!!

 

[JaggerPlate]

Does anyone know if the AAMC tests are curved at all??

 

[Ninjaface]

Of course!

There's a link available inside the e-MCAT site which shows you exactly how all the available practice tests are scaled.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Just the situation I was hoping for. Thanks a ton for sharing!!!

No prob- glad to help. Also just a suggestion consider different options for organizing your FL exams. Originally I intended on mixing AAMC/Kaplan FL exams, but after my drop from Kaplan to AAMC, I just took the Kaplan ones first and then did the AAMC ones in order.

I think this is especially/particularly helpful for VR as AAMC's in my opinion are just different, and doing those primarily will be beneficial the weeks leading up to the test.

Also sidenote, alot of people are saying the real MCAT is more like a Kaplan in terms of difficulty and harder than AAMC exams, so in that sense it might be good to leave 1 or 2 Kaplan FLs for the end along with AAMCs.

Just some things to think about, good luck