Wait a month for MCAT scores, 0 days for GRE...why?

[skeletor06]

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Was just thinking; why is it that you can get your GRE score immediately (as in, in the testing room after the exam), while AAMC makes you wait 30 days? Can't really think of a reason for the disconnect. They're both computer-based tests, and the need for statistical examination for each exam, etc. is the same. So, why does ETS let you see a score right away? Sure, you have to wait weeks for your writing score on the GRE, but there's not even going to be a writing portion on the MCAT next year, so the argument that writing scores hold up the score is bogus, as is the argument that they need time to norm the exam. I'm sure ETS does too, and they figured out how to get things done immediately.

Any thoughts? Just curious.

There are a few pretty good ideas about this that I found after posting; I suppose I assumed the GRE and MCAT were relatively similar in scoring. It seems they are not:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=852708&highlight=gre

 

[Spinach Dip]

'Cause the AAMC is lazy?

'Cause the AAMC is sadistic?

'Cause waiting builds character?

'Cause it prevents people from registering for a make-up the same day?

'Cause.... no one knows?

 

[timeturner]

'Cause the AAMC is lazy?

'Cause the AAMC is sadistic?

'Cause waiting builds character?

'Cause it prevents people from registering for a make-up the same day?

'Cause.... no one knows?

Lol.

Someone from previous threads talked about how they wanted to wait for people to call in and complain about any issues during testing i.e. cheating or other things that happened; i know the curve is determined before hand but i feel like they want to do a ton of data analysis before sending out the scores. i don't know though i don't know anyone working for the AAMC.

 

[AFVet07]

There is a lot that goes into the analysis of the exam results. Like it was stated above, they allow time for possible irregularities to be reported and also they look at the responses from each test center. They need the time to "verify" the integrity of the test before releasing scores.

Think about it this way, what if you finished the exam and got a great score just to get letter saying that the test was being voided due to problems.

The AAMC has info on why they do it this way, I just can't remember where they published it.

 

[marcdagr8]

More GRE takers than MCAT takers (guessing). therefore larger pool of takers to make score curving easier.

Also, GRE score is only and estimated score and they retain the right to change the score on your official score, so... the GRE score you get before walking out is not your true score. The AAMC could give you an estimated score but, as Mr. Dip said, they are sadistic.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Was just thinking; why is it that you can get your GRE score immediately (as in, in the testing room after the exam), while AAMC makes you wait 30 days? Can't really think of a reason for the disconnect. They're both computer-based tests, and the need for statistical examination for each exam, etc. is the same. So, why does ETS let you see a score right away? Sure, you have to wait weeks for your writing score on the GRE, but there's not even going to be a writing portion on the MCAT next year, so the argument that writing scores hold up the score is bogus, as is the argument that they need time to norm the exam. I'm sure ETS does too, and they figured out how to get things done immediately.

Any thoughts? Just curious.

There are a few pretty good ideas about this that I found after posting; I suppose I assumed the GRE and MCAT were relatively similar in scoring. It seems they are not:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=852708&highlight=gre

A lot of reasons.... Since the MCAT is standardized it functions on a bell curve. Thus they have to scale the score on the perceived level of difficulty.. the way they assess that is by seeing what questions people miss and how many they miss. That is how they curve the test. Analyzing that takes time. Not as much as a month maybe but its a structured schedule so it works.

But yea the wait is nerve racking..

 

[slz1900]

A lot of reasons.... Since the MCAT is standardized it functions on a bell curve. Thus they have to scale the score on the perceived level of difficulty.. the way they assess that is by seeing what questions people miss and how many they miss. That is how they curve the test. Analyzing that takes time. Not as much as a month maybe but its a structured schedule so it works.

But yea the wait is nerve racking..

Supposedly it is pre-curved, so they do not directly compare you to other people who took the test the same day you did.

 

[circulus vitios]

Because the AAMC is a worthless, bloated organization that deserves to decimated in accordance with the Roman military tradition.

 

[Captain Sisko]

Because the AAMC is a worthless, bloated organization that deserves to decimated in accordance with the Roman military tradition.

what, kill one in every ten of them? They might take longer then 🙂

 

[shoehornlettuce]

I thought the reason they didn't release scores immediately was because the writing section had to be manually scored. Now that the writing section has been removed I wouldn't be surprised to see quicker results in the future.

 

[Status Sciaticus]

Supposedly it is pre-curved, so they do not directly compare you to other people who took the test the same day you did.

How can they pre-curve a test that they havent received the results on?

here is a scenario:

They use the same test for two groups one year apart.
Group one averages 32 --> low curve
Group two averages 26 --> higher curve than group 1.


Obviously theyre not going to give the other group the lower average since they have to standardize it.

Its not about how good you perform. Its about how bad everyone else does.

 

[slz1900]

How can they pre-curve a test that they havent received the results on?

Somehow they do, unless they are lying about the way they score it. Questions are introduced experimentally and not counted for your score, so that might be how they are able to determine how many people will get something correct. Nobody knows how they do it, but they do.

 

[cuculici1]

How can they pre-curve a test that they havent received the results on?

here is a scenario:

They use the same test for two groups one year apart.
Group one averages 32 --> low curve
Group two averages 26 --> higher curve than group 1.


Obviously theyre not going to give the other group the lower average since they have to standardize it.

Its not about how good you perform. Its about how bad everyone else does.

Every MCAT question has already been administered to previous test takers as experimental questions. As a result, the AAMC already has an idea of the difficulty of each question, based on the amount of people that got the experimental question correct. They then compile these questions into future MCAT's, and preset the scale based on the data from the experimental questions.

 

[mcloaf]

Because the AAMC is a worthless, bloated organization that deserves to decimated in accordance with the Roman military tradition.

I'm pretty sure you are the bitterest poster in pre-med.

 

[gettheleadout]

More GRE takers than MCAT takers (guessing). therefore larger pool of takers to make score curving easier.

Also, GRE score is only and estimated score and they retain the right to change the score on your official score, so... the GRE score you get before walking out is not your true score. The AAMC could give you an estimated score but, as Mr. Dip said, they are sadistic.

A lot of reasons.... Since the MCAT is standardized it functions on a bell curve. Thus they have to scale the score on the perceived level of difficulty.. the way they assess that is by seeing what questions people miss and how many they miss. That is how they curve the test. Analyzing that takes time. Not as much as a month maybe but its a structured schedule so it works.

But yea the wait is nerve racking..

How can they pre-curve a test that they havent received the results on?

here is a scenario:

They use the same test for two groups one year apart.
Group one averages 32 --> low curve
Group two averages 26 --> higher curve than group 1.


Obviously theyre not going to give the other group the lower average since they have to standardize it.

Its not about how good you perform. Its about how bad everyone else does.

No no no no no no no no.

Every MCAT question has already been administered to previous test takers as experimental questions. As a result, the AAMC already has an idea of the difficulty of each question, based on the amount of people that got the experimental question correct. They then compile these questions into future MCAT's, and preset the scale based on the data from the experimental questions.

This is correct.

Read the MCAT Essentials document the AAMC puts out. All of this is stated in plain English.

 

[Mehd School]

No no no no no no no no.


This is correct.

Read the MCAT Essentials document the AAMC puts out. All of this is stated in plain English.

This has turned into a giant pet peeve of mine. People spend months laboring over this exam yet they don't even understand how it's scored.

 

[skeletor06]

This has turned into a giant pet peeve of mine. People spend months laboring over this exam yet they don't even understand how it's scored.

I understand the basic premise of HOW it's scored. What I'm wondering is, WHY it takes this long to get the scores back. If the GRE can do it, why can't the MCAT? That was my original question.

My assumption is that it has something to do with not being a Computer Adaptive Test, which the GRE is. But, even so, the premise that was described by MCAT Essentials is that each question has a relative level of difficulty, decided on by providing that question experimentally to other students. This is also what the GRE does in deciding the way to level their questions for the CAT. The only difference is that the GRE changes the level in response to how you perform on different questions, while the MCAT is set in stone when you start. So, even though the MCAT doesn't change on-the-fly for each student, the way the GRE does, shouldn't they still be able to get a score immediately? As the exam is not validated against any of the students taking it on that day, but rather against a pre-set level of question difficulty, I don't see a reason it takes a month. Did I miss something here?

 

[Mehd School]

I understand the basic premise of HOW it's scored. What I'm wondering is, WHY it takes this long to get the scores back. If the GRE can do it, why can't the MCAT? That was my original question.

My assumption is that it has something to do with not being a Computer Adaptive Test, which the GRE is. But, even so, the premise that was described by MCAT Essentials is that each question has a relative level of difficulty, decided on by providing that question experimentally to other students. This is also what the GRE does in deciding the way to level their questions for the CAT. The only difference is that the GRE changes the level in response to how you perform on different questions, while the MCAT is set in stone when you start. So, even though the MCAT doesn't change on-the-fly for each student, the way the GRE does, shouldn't they still be able to get a score immediately? As the exam is not validated against any of the students taking it on that day, but rather against a pre-set level of question difficulty, I don't see a reason it takes a month. Did I miss something here?

I wasn't aiming my post at you.

But I agree, I don't understand why it takes so long. There was a theory floating around that it had to due with the essays being manually graded. That made sense, but now that they're removed the delay is the same.

I don't know much about the GRE, but I sat for my mcat (voided) last August the same day a friend of mine sat for his DAT. We finished around the same time, the only difference was that he walked out of the building with his score.

What really sucks is that if you're a really borderline applicant such as me. I'll be applying MD and DO, and while my DO gpa is good (yay replacements), my MD gpa is sub par (3.3c/3.4s). Say my average full length score was a 34 ... if I got that score my state MD school would give me a scholarship. If it was graded that day and I slipped to a 28, now I know I must retake. But since the dance takes over a month, it really costs 2-3+ months considering very few can accurately predict that they bombed the test and now all of the MCAT dates in the near future are filled.

So I guess we have to kill it the first time. 👍

 

[gettheleadout]

And who knows, postulating about this is so much guesswork, it's possible that the delay was caused by the essay grading and now they keep it to be fair to the previous test takers.

There's just no way to falsify any of these hypotheses.

 

[Mehd School]

And who knows, postulating about this is so much guesswork, it's possible that the delay was caused by the essay grading and now they keep it to be fair to the previous test takers.

There's just no way to falsify any of these hypotheses.

Don't you think it's odd though that they don't give any justification for it? I mean, it's only a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I bet a lot of people pester them about it.

 

[gettheleadout]

Don't you think it's odd though that they don't give any justification for it? I mean, it's only a minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I bet a lot of people pester them about it.

I really don't care enough to ever think about it apart from seeing these threads. It doesn't matter to me.

 

[skeletor06]

And who knows, postulating about this is so much guesswork, it's possible that the delay was caused by the essay grading and now they keep it to be fair to the previous test takers.

There's just no way to falsify any of these hypotheses.

Well, you write 2 essays for the GRE, as well. You get your quantitative and verbal scores immediately, on the screen, and your essays are graded and scores posted weeks later. Once again, if ETS can get their act together to get it done, I don't see why AMCAS can't. But, you're right in that there's nothing I can do about it! Was just curious.

 

[NontradCA]

I really don't care enough to ever think about it apart from seeing these threads. It doesn't matter to me.

You might care while you're waiting for your score. 👎

 

[gettheleadout]

You might care while you're waiting for your score. 👎

Indeed! But having seen the issue discussed to the extent it has been on here, I won't be making a thread about it.

But who knows, maybe I'll just put it out of my mind for the month and focus on other things. Maybe not! I didn't intend my statement as criticism of those who feel this issue is significant. It's weird, I'll freely admit that, but I don't dwell on it and I hope I don't even during my own post-test waiting period.

 

[NontradCA]

Indeed! But having seen the issue discussed to the extent it has been on here, I won't be making a thread about it.

But who knows, maybe I'll just put it out of my mind for the month and focus on other things. Maybe not! I didn't intend my statement as criticism of those who feel this issue is significant. It's weird, I'll freely admit that, but I don't dwell on it and I hope I don't even during my own post-test waiting period.

Ya I get you, you were just being honest. I'm with you on that its a non issue for me now and hoping I can use that time focused on other things.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Idk, I think it's because the GRE is a better test and administrated more tactfully.

 

[mcloaf]

Idk, I think it's because the GRE is a better test and administrated more tactfully.

What makes it a better test?

 

[marcdagr8]

What makes it a better test?

I will bite; because it (attempts to?) test only reasoning/intellect/ability to excel in a graduate program and not an ability to study a ton of information that will be of no benefit after the test.

 

[UoCfin]

I guess they figure, *well,,,so buddy it took you 3-4 months to get a hang of this test...then...you can wait a month for the results...suck it*