What is it about the real MCAT that makes it so much harder than AAMC?

[Swarlos]

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Thoughts anyone?

I can only assume that as long as one does well learning content and doing a fair share of questions/tests, people would be ready.

Perhaps nerves have something to do with it?

Any recent MCATers have any comments on this? How did you guys manage the intensity of an upcoming exam?

 

[Etorphine]

I have not taken it, but a consistent theme I hear on the boards here is that the real deal has consistently longer VR passages.

Nerves definitely play a part as well.

 

[wheet123]

In my experience, the VR passages were pretty similar. It was the science passages that were much longer on the real MCAT. I actually did better on the real MCAT than I did on those AAMC tests though.

As for managing the intensity, just try to find something relaxing to do everyday and do that. It's important to find some time to do something enjoyable. I would also recommend not studying the day before the exam.

Good luck!

 

[2010houston]

In my experience, the VR passages were pretty similar. It was the science passages that were much longer on the real MCAT.

This was my experience as well. I never came CLOSE to running out of time on an AAMC test, but used every minute of it during the phys sci portion of the MCAT. But the AAMC scores were nonetheless very predictive.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Thoughts anyone?

I can only assume that as long as one does well learning content and doing a fair share of questions/tests, people would be ready.

Perhaps nerves have something to do with it?

Any recent MCATers have any comments on this? How did you guys manage the intensity of an upcoming exam?

Real MCAT is much, much, much harder than practice MCAT exams. Don't let anyone who say that they believed practice AAMCs reflect the level of difficulty for the real exam. The "curving" of the exams lets people to score in similar level, but the problems-wise, they are not comparable.

 

[Pons Asinorum]

I'll disagree with the "much harder" camp. What makes the real MCAT different is that it will set the trajectory for the rest of your adult life. Practice MCAT counts for...bragging rights on this forum. The whole "it matters" aspect is what makes it more difficult, not the content. The old AAMC exams are actual exams, and when you read the test date threads, everyone swears that theirs is the hardest exam ever. That's just not the case.

 

[PeterPesto]

I think verbal and either one of BS and PS will be bear similarity. Based on past experiences, it seems one of the science sections will be considerably more difficult than the practice tests, although difficulty is factored in the curve.

I took it in January and PS and VR were about the same (PS was a tad more difficult) and BS was a lot harder. In hindsight, it felt like BS was more like VR. Managed to score a 13 in BS, but I was praying for a 10 in that section after I finished it.

I would rather go in the test anticipating that it will be more difficult rather than a cakewalk, which some AAMC exams were, particularly the earlier ones.

 

[Silverfalcon]

I'll disagree with the "much harder" camp. What makes the real MCAT different is that it will set the trajectory for the rest of your adult life. Practice MCAT counts for...bragging rights on this forum. The whole "it matters" aspect is what makes it more difficult, not the content. The old AAMC exams are actual exams, and when you read the test date threads, everyone swears that theirs is the hardest exam ever. That's just not the case.

Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion so I respect that, but I think it's too bold to generalize that the "it matters" is the central factor that makes the real thing more difficult. Sure, that idea may be nerve-wrecking to some people, but to make a generalization that all exams are like that because people "swear that theirs is the hardest exam ever" isn't such a convincing reason. I stand by my initial post. Take what you want, but for those who are preparing, do not think you can expect the actual exam to have similar level of difficulty; that's just not true. Ask LaurenMCAT (Kaplan) - she once said that the test is intentionally now harder because the increased number of applicants make it harder for MCAT to generate a bell curve, so the test has to include more harder questions that can prevent people from scoring very highly. Note that I'm not saying the "curve" is different for each exam; it's the questions - and if you disagree with what I say, then explain why GS exams, which used to be popular and similar to the level of actual MCAT, are not receiving supports from S2NED.

 

[Rabolisk]

I think the real MCAT was harder, but much, much, much harder? I don't think so.

 

[loveoforganic]

I think the real MCAT was harder, but much, much, much harder? I don't think so.

Ditto, and it's a combination of things. For almost anyone, your fight or flight response is going to be activated to some degree, which is almost always going to make the test harder to take. It doesn't matter if it's the test or not, it's essentially a universal. Beside that, I do feel like the actual test content was a bit harder and VR longer.

 

[gunj122]

the real MCAT is harder in the sense that it intertwines more concepts into a question. it requires a more thorough thought process to get to an answer. the practice AAMC tests, for the most part, have moderately superficial questions, although at times you'll get your occasional 'WTF' question that is more representative of the actual exam.

the verbal for my 1/29 exam was similar to the AAMC tests.

 

[feipar]

How fast were you guys finishing the sections on the practice AAMC's? I'm avging finished 20 minutes remaining, then I go back to marked questions. On your real MCAT, did you do something similar, or did you go straight through. Timing is concerning to me because I would always make a silly mistake or two because I was going too fast, so I'm trying to optimize it, but knowing that I need like a 5 min buffer for the real test in any case.

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

I took my MCAT in Sept. 2009, so it may be a bit different now (though I doubt it, based on everything I've heard from recent test-takers).

The biggest difference between the practice AAMCs and the real thing, IMO, was that both passages and question stems were longer. The difficulty of questions, I thought, wasn't too much greater than the practice exams. However, I remember my exam having more conceptual questions rather using equations to get numbers. I also felt like the real thing integrated various topics together into a single passage better than the practice exams did; it also made the passages more difficult.

I think the biggest thing I would emphasize would be to do all your practice passages under harsh timed conditions. I recommend 6.5 min/passage, and no more than 7 min/passage. Because once I got to the real thing, I needed every bit of that extra time since the passages and question stems were much longer than what I was used to. I was finishing the practice AAMC sections (with the except of VR) with about 15-20 min remaining (especially bio). I was working till the last second on the real deal.