Warning: #79 on physics sa = #48 on aamc 10

[SrootsWwings]

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If you want fully untainted AAMC's, DO NOT take the Physics Self-Assessment prior to AAMC 10 - there is an identical question (technically, they put B where D is and vice-versa, but that is by even Platonic measures still the same question).

#79 on Physics SA = #48 on AAMC 10.

This may seem minor, but those AAMC's are precious resources. I have notified AAMC. Sorry if this was caught some time in the past few months, but I could not find it with my feeble search ski!!z.

 

[seojohn]

Don't they do that often though? I just did 10 today and I SWEAR I saw that snell's law problem with theta and alpha before, in another AAMC FL though I dont recall which one.

 

[futureortho]

I am of the belief that the AAMC is quite repetitive in the types of questions that they ask; for example, we will ALWAYS see and acids/bases question, free energy question, periodic trends question, nuclear chemistry question in one capacity or another on any practice/real exam. This is my hunch based on the practice material available from AAMC.

 

[SrootsWwings]

Don't they do that often though? I just did 10 today and I SWEAR I saw that snell's law problem with theta and alpha before, in another AAMC FL though I dont recall which one.

Not often - that is an inter-test repeat, though; #49 on AAMC 8 = #13 on AAMC 10.

I am of the belief that the AAMC is quite repetitive in the types of questions that they ask; for example, we will ALWAYS see and acids/bases question, free energy question, periodic trends question, nuclear chemistry question in one capacity or another on any practice/real exam. This is my hunch based on the practice material available from AAMC.

Yes, we will always see certain questions based on the same concepts, and they may be quite similar in form; this makes sense, since there are only so many ways to reasonably ask about, say, reduction at the cathode.

This situation is different for two reasons. First, it's a word-for-word repeat of a question applying fluids to the human body, which requires the good-ol' critical thinking skills needed for the MCAT. This is different from two different questions asking, say, the pH of an X M solution, in which the numbers have been shifted slightly; the question presents a distinct application of the understanding of fluid concepts to a particular scenario. Having seen it on the SA the previous day, I was robbed of the challenge that would have been presented to me otherwise during the actual test. Legitimate discrete questions are hard to come by, and, this being my second-to-last practice test, this made it difficult to keep pretending this test was the real thing. I am not trying to melodramatize it and say that this ruined my practice test; I would be lying, however, if I said that it didn't, to some degree, affect my ability to keep thinking to myself that this test was the real thing (i.e., the verisimilitude of the practice test was affected with some significance). This "keeping the head in the game" is an essential part of test preparation and performance.

Second, and more directly, the AAMC promises in the FAQs for the Self-Assessments:

"How are the self-assessments different from the practice tests?

The self-assessments are composed of questions from previous MCAT exams not currently on any of the practice tests."

So, I maintain, COME ON!!!

 

[Mdtichen]

Who cares. As long as you know the concept for your real test that is all that matters. It is not likely to show up on your test anyways. But if it does than at least that is one question you won't miss.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

What's worse is that some of the prep companies reuse passages and/or questions from the practice tests. TPR is probably the worst in this regard. One of the last passages of TPRH verbal workbook, for example, is nearly identical to one of the verbal passages on AAMC 11. There's no way that's a coincidence.