What makes real MCAT harder than aamc practice tests?..

[TXtaco25]

What about the real MCAT differs from the 8 aamc practice tests that makes it much harder? Are the questions and passages generally a lot harder? Is it nerves? Is it both?

Sorry, I am sure this is a common question. But would love a response.

thanks

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[Moosecakes]

I've heard it is completely a hit or miss situation. Sometimes its easier, sometimes it is harder. Now one major factor to consider would be stress. That can really mess a student up!

 

[coyfish]

I think the wording makes the biggest difference. The AAMC's seem more straightforward and obvious in the questions. They ask something and you spit the answer. The real thing has trickier wording and more confusing passages that make you analyze / understand what is going on. I have only done the first 3 practice AAMC's though. I voided an mcat for practice.

 

[Don Draper]

pretty much the same, maybe a little harder.

Be ready for a passage or two that is harder than anything you've seen though.

That's part of the game.

 

[erskine]

1) stress- months of studying and tremendous effort culminate in a 5.5 hour ordeal
2) no immediate feedback after the test, which in my opinion was what made the real mcat seem so bad afterwards.
3) weird questions/passages that you're not prepared for. It's easy for test prep companies to take a look at old AAMC practice FL's and write material for those questions, but naturally they can only guess what will be on future tests. Plus, i think AAMC likes to throw obscure stuff on the test just to see how you react under stress and synthesizing new info.

 

[Hemichordate]

If you can take the difficulty of the PS and BS passages on Princeton Review Diagnostic tests, does that mean you can deal with the difficulty of the real MCAT?

 

[Deeder03]

If you can take the difficulty of the PS and BS passages on Princeton Review Diagnostic tests, does that mean you can deal with the difficulty of the real MCAT?

Having taught Princeton Review, I can safely say... those who do well on the MCAT do not necessarily do well on their TPR practice tests. Whilst the TPR practice tests are much more difficult. The actual material on test day will be nothing like you've ever seen before. For example, a CD-rom passage, or something about an obscure DNA binding protein that you've never heard of before that is clearly different than anything you've ever seen.

In all honesty, the MCAT is 90% mental mind game, and 10% preparation. Yeah there's some obscure free standings that you need to just know or have memorized, but otherwise, you need to be able to interpret, synthesize and resynthesize new information on command.

Good luck.

 

[Don Draper]

In all honesty, the MCAT is 90% mental mind game, and 10% preparation.

This can be taken too far.

Then arguably someone who has done no prep will score 90% of their ability compared to a person with 3 months prep.

There are many who have boosted their score 5 or even 10 points higher than their first exam. Improving by huge leaps is because of better preparation.

The question is, "is the prep memorizing stuff?" Well, no. It is answering questions with basic science concepts. It's understanding the basic sciences then applying them in weird passages under time constraints. These activities can greatly improve your score.

 

[Brasco888]

VR passages felt super long.

 

[SoonerLuke]

VR passages felt super long.

I'd agree with this. I've heard that the supposedly increased length is only due to formatting changes, but I don't really believe that. The passages seemed at least a paragraph longer on the real deal. If you are a slow reader or if verbal is your weakest section this increased length can throw off your timing.

 

[sakrisondurant]

I thought the AAMC were the ones who wrote the actual MCAT exams. I guess that is wrong? The official MCAT is different than the AAMCs? This is all news to me! Unfortunate news : (

 

[G1SG2]

I thought the AAMC were the ones who wrote the actual MCAT exams. I guess that is wrong? The official MCAT is different than the AAMCs? This is all news to me! Unfortunate news : (

No. The AAMC writes the MCAT. What people are talking about here is the difference between the ACTUAL MCAT and the practice exams offered by the AAMC.

 

[andyy955]

No. The AAMC writes the MCAT. What people are talking about here is the difference between the ACTUAL MCAT and the practice exams offered by the AAMC.

My kaplan MCAT instructor told me that AAMC tests were ACTUAL MCAT exams given in the past, so I'm pretty sure they're similar to the real thing, although every test varies in difficulty. But thats why its a scaled score right?

 

[same21]

They are actual tests, but they are from years ago, and since the applicant pool is getting more competitive and the spots in med schools are not increasing, they make the exam harder

 

[Parthenon89]

I voided an mcat for practice.

hmm, maybe some day even I'll be rich enough to void an exam...for practice.

 

[Cheargentino]

I think the wording makes the biggest difference. The AAMC's seem more straightforward and obvious in the questions. They ask something and you spit the answer. The real thing has trickier wording and more confusing passages that make you analyze / understand what is going on. I have only done the first 3 practice AAMC's though. I voided an mcat for practice.

How did you do on those 3 aamc fam

 

[ApplicationAnxietatem]

What about the real MCAT differs from the 8 aamc practice tests that makes it much harder? Are the questions and passages generally a lot harder? Is it nerves? Is it both?

Sorry, I am sure this is a common question. But would love a response.

thanks

Some people perform better under stress others perform worse. A lot of this has to do with confidence. If you're confident in yourself the stress will focus your mind, if you aren't it will break it. This is why doing as many FLs as possible is important. It makes the exam not be foreign to you and makes you more confident in your performance (usually). Some people are also inherently different, and to that well I have no advice but keep trucking!

n=1 I performed better on the actual than all my practice FLs mainly because I operate most effectively under stress. The practice FLs did not put me in a truly stressful environment like the actual did, which worked to my benefit. Don't get me wrong, I was still nervous the day of, but I was confident I was going to do the best I can.