TBR FL's

[carbear02]

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What do people think of TBR FL's? Are they pretty realistic? Or crazy detailed /hard?

 

[ru4real1666]

Very very hard.

Amazing? yes! Basically, BR prepares you for the worst and their tests are really hard. But it also gives you a sense of urgency and shows you your weaknesses (with a grain of salt - because some questions are just crazy). It really helps when you do BR then take the AAMC, which also gives you confidence!

 

[carbear02]

Very very hard.

Amazing? yes! Basically, BR prepares you for the worst and their tests are really hard. But it also gives you a sense of urgency and shows you your weaknesses (with a grain of salt - because some questions are just crazy). It really helps when you do BR then take the AAMC, which also gives you confidence!

so were the scores predictive of your actual MCAT score?

 

[FollowTheMoney]

so were the scores predictive of your actual MCAT score?

I was wondering the same thing because I took a practice AAMC and BR CBT 1 and the P.S. section was off by a lot for me (I did a lot worse) and I did really well on the Biology part of the B.S., but that organic was ridiculous! I swear I'm very good at organic and that was most of what I missed. All I can say is wow, that B.S. section felt more like it was intended for a graduate student studying biochemical pathways with a focus on pharmacology. Anyone know if they have that level of detail in organic on the mcat? Btw, how do you get your overall score in each section? Is there a special place I need to go to get that?

 

[ru4real1666]

Were the scores predictive? NOT AT ALL.

Basically, the pattern for me is that I would get 10BS 11PS and like 8VR on BR FLs. Then, when I would take the AAMC ones, my avg would 12-13 BS, 12 PS, 10VR.

BR Composite Score: 29
AAMC: 34

Usually, my BR scores turned out to be an avg of 2-4 pts below my total for AAMC. Yes this is quite significant, but all of BRs questions are medium-hard-insanely hard and random while the AAMC is more balanced and accurate because they have a good easy-medium-hard distribution for questions. Personally, I feel that doing the BR tests under time constraints caused my AAMC score to increase significantly because it taught me how to work really well under pressure and think efficiently. Furthermore, BR questions have a lot of calculations which might be way harder than necessary for the MCAT, and this also made very quick at arithmetic and simple things which provided me more time for other types of questions. Ultimately, as long as you don't think of BR FL's score as your MCAT score and just use it to learn and improve as much as you can, it will help you immensely.

 

[MCAT guy]

I've taken a few BR's and they were working me a bit.

 

[carbear02]

Were the scores predictive? NOT AT ALL.

Basically, the pattern for me is that I would get 10BS 11PS and like 8VR on BR FLs. Then, when I would take the AAMC ones, my avg would 12-13 BS, 12 PS, 10VR.

BR Composite Score: 29
AAMC: 34

Usually, my BR scores turned out to be an avg of 2-4 pts below my total for AAMC. Yes this is quite significant, but all of BRs questions are medium-hard-insanely hard and random while the AAMC is more balanced and accurate because they have a good easy-medium-hard distribution for questions. Personally, I feel that doing the BR tests under time constraints caused my AAMC score to increase significantly because it taught me how to work really well under pressure and think efficiently. Furthermore, BR questions have a lot of calculations which might be way harder than necessary for the MCAT, and this also made very quick at arithmetic and simple things which provided me more time for other types of questions. Ultimately, as long as you don't think of BR FL's score as your MCAT score and just use it to learn and improve as much as you can, it will help you immensely.

Do you feel like TBR tests the same skills as AAMC? I don't mind hard so long as I'm working the right "muscles"? But if it's too much detail (like the bio book), it gets frustrating.

 

[ru4real1666]

Well, that's why you dont do BR bio haha. But for other things (the FLs and physical sciences) TBR is great because it flexes the right "muscles" REALLY HARD. It actually tests fairly simple concepts in really creative and challenging ways (a few questions are just random and too detailed but that's with every good prep company). Also, it puts a lot of pressure on the test taker not only based on the difficulty of the problems, but also time!

 

[phonyreal98]

Are the questions in TBR FL's much like the ones found in the books?

 

[carbear02]

Were the scores predictive? NOT AT ALL.

Basically, the pattern for me is that I would get 10BS 11PS and like 8VR on BR FLs. Then, when I would take the AAMC ones, my avg would 12-13 BS, 12 PS, 10VR.

BR Composite Score: 29
AAMC: 34

Usually, my BR scores turned out to be an avg of 2-4 pts below my total for AAMC. Yes this is quite significant, but all of BRs questions are medium-hard-insanely hard and random while the AAMC is more balanced and accurate because they have a good easy-medium-hard distribution for questions. Personally, I feel that doing the BR tests under time constraints caused my AAMC score to increase significantly because it taught me how to work really well under pressure and think efficiently. Furthermore, BR questions have a lot of calculations which might be way harder than necessary for the MCAT, and this also made very quick at arithmetic and simple things which provided me more time for other types of questions. Ultimately, as long as you don't think of BR FL's score as your MCAT score and just use it to learn and improve as much as you can, it will help you immensely.

oh was your TBR FL 1 inflated btw cuz they said its an easier test?

 

[goark]

I was also wondering about TBR FL's. How do the seven exams compare? (Which one was the hardest, easiest, most similar to the real MCAT, etc.)

 

[carbear02]

I was also wondering about TBR FL's. How do the seven exams compare? (Which one was the hardest, easiest, most similar to the real MCAT, etc.)

yeah i want to know too. anyone find these demoralizing cuz theyre so freaking hard?

 

[futbolboy]

Does anyone know if the BR online CBTs can be taken more than once?

 

[MCAT guy]

I have heard that a few of the BR CBTs aren't very good, does anyone know which ones they are?

I only have time to take a few but got all of them!

 

[MCAT guy]

Are the questions in TBR FL's much like the ones found in the books?

I've taken #1 and #2, they are very similar to questions in the books BUT they are slightly easier.

I can't say right now if they are harder than AAMC, because I only took 1 AAMC and got a similar score, in fact I did better on the BR PS which is weird.

I think I'm so used to BR passages and their style that it is impairing me a bit. Need to switch focus to AAMC now.👍

#1 was much easier than #2 though, that is for sure.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

I've taken #1 and #2, they are very similar to questions in the books BUT they are slightly easier.

I can't say right now if they are harder than AAMC, because I only took 1 AAMC and got a similar score, in fact I did better on the BR PS which is weird.

I think I'm so used to BR passages and their style that it is impairing me a bit. Need to switch focus to AAMC now.👍

#1 was much easier than #2 though, that is for sure.

That is not really saying a lot . Btw, how you you get your score for each section? All I've been getting is a breakdown of right/wrong answers after I'm done. I've been getting mid 60%'s in P.S. and B.S. on CBT #1 and #2, is that good or bad?

 

[phonyreal98]

I've taken #1 and #2, they are very similar to questions in the books BUT they are slightly easier.

I can't say right now if they are harder than AAMC, because I only took 1 AAMC and got a similar score, in fact I did better on the BR PS which is weird.

I think I'm so used to BR passages and their style that it is impairing me a bit. Need to switch focus to AAMC now.👍

#1 was much easier than #2 though, that is for sure.

Is the grading curve similar to the one listed for TBR chapter tests or is it completely different?

 

[MCAT guy]

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[JSU]

Im probably alone in this but my TBR scores were more varied, but in general, they were higher than my AAMC exams except for the 41 I got on AAMC6 (I took all 17 exams). Though, I have a very varied bio education so I think the generous curve on the TBR exams helped me score higher. Also, your scores will vary between even and odd exams on TBR. My VR went from 6-12 depending on the exam. I hope I end up doing well on the real thing (I get score in a few weeks). However, until then, I can tell you that 13-15 PS was common for me on TBR exams and bio was usually a 12. Well see how that compares to the real thing in a few weeks.

 

[MCAT guy]

I saw this post in a different thread, I'm beginning to agree with it a lot.

i would not suggest buying the BR CBTs, i would just buy all of the aamc practice tests and take them very seriously.

i took the BR class and did the CBTs, i wouldnt say its a complete waste, but chances are you'll get rocked hard (in other words, they aren't very good at predicting your score), and a lot of the questions correlate with the questions asked in their review books.

Unless you do the BR review books, don't even bother taking the BR CBTs. too many people on this forum think that they can just keep take a lot practice tests, thats completely the wrong way to approach this test.

In the end, you'll have wasted your money and only learned the material that you missed on the practice tests, which are usually very difficult, can be covered by other practice tests, and are most of the time, beyond the scope of the MCAT.

Maybe I would just say that AAMC >>>>>>>> BR; I guess practice helps.