Wierd drop in BIO, possible mcat glitch

[Batman55]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has ever had issues with actual mcat not saving answers properly. This happened to me on my Bio section on the test day, and I just assumed that I might have been somehow careless, and I didn't recheck every question afterward. However, I received my score back from a retake cp:131 cars:131 127< Bio was my strongest section in my last mcat 129 ( Where I had much poorer prep and strategy ), and I also scored around the same in my practice fl. However 127 is in a different confidence band entirely.

Given that this time my performance was much better judging by my first 2 sections, I think my bio score does not make any sense , especially because I put the most time in its prep to make sure I see an improvement much like other sections. This was evident by all my practice scores and aamc material as well. On the test day , I did not encounter any topic that I was weak in. I also made sure to be more cautious than my practice FLs where I had made a few dumb mistakes. Last time I basically had to rush cp and guess blindly on 10 questions to end up with a 127... The more I consider my prep and my performance, the more impossible it seems that I somehow messed up this bad without feeling that I am under performing significantly. I know that it doesn't really matter in grand scheme of things, but I can't help but to feel I was robbed because I had devoted so much more time to bio than any other section. Plus, I am concerned that med schools will think that I was arrogant and I didn't take bio seriously , which is far from truth, if anything I wanted to make sure I improve on my strongest section.

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[GreenDuck12]

Score drops are not uncommon in retakes, especially in sub scores. If you encountered difficulties in test day with the testing software, did you report them that day? Tbh, I wouldn’t stress about a 2 pt drop in bio. Schools are not going to think you didnt take it seriously. They will see improvement in the other sections. Also keep in mind that this is a scaled test. It’s possible your score difference could be due to missing 2-3 additional questions as opposed to many questions. It just depends on how that particular exam was scaled.

 

[Batman55]

Yes, I understand the scoring system. I didn't think mcat glitch issues was a possibility during my exam, and I mainly was focused on answering the questions. Something else already happened, and I reported that, and they gave me a partial refund ( which I did not ask for ).
Maybe giving percentiles help you see it more clearly. 129 is 90th percentile, and 127 is 73th percentile. So the difference is more like six or seven questions depending on the scale of the day. Like I said, many things went wrong in my previous attempt as well ( personal problems, major sleep deficiencies, lack of proper preparation or even strategy ). Given that I knew the content much much better, and my logic was not inadequate ( Cp and cars both 99th percentile this time ), a 17 percentile drop into a much lower confidence interval seems highly unlikely to me.
I thought I did 130 at worst to be honest, and I always have been able to predict my performance except when it comes to cars.

 

[Isoval]

I'm not totally sure why you retook a test where you had a 129 in B/B to begin with.

Regardless, a slight drop like this is pretty meaningless, especially if your overall score increased or remained the same from your previous exam. If nothing else, you're reasonably consistent.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Yes, I understand the scoring system. I didn't think mcat glitch issues was a possibility during my exam, and I mainly was focused on answering the questions. Something else already happened, and I reported that, and they gave me a partial refund ( which I did not ask for ).
Maybe giving percentiles help you see it more clearly. 129 is 90th percentile, and 127 is 73th percentile. So the difference is more like six or seven questions depending on the scale of the day. Like I said, many things went wrong in my previous attempt as well ( personal problems, major sleep deficiencies, lack of proper preparation or even strategy ). Given that I knew the content much much better, and my logic was not inadequate ( Cp and cars both 99th percentile this time ), a 17 percentile drop into a much lower confidence interval seems highly unlikely to me.
I thought I did 130 at worst to be honest, and I always have been able to predict my performance except when it comes to cars.

I tutor the MCAT, I promise you I am familiar with the percentile bands. I cannot tell you how common this sort of drop is on a retake. There is a reason the AAMC data shows the vast majority of retakes score the same or below the original score. Our feelings of knowing the content much better does not always translate into a stronger performance. While it might seem unlikely to you, it is quite common.

 

[Batman55]

I'm not totally sure why you retook a test where you had a 129 in B/B to begin with.

Regardless, a slight drop like this is pretty meaningless, especially if your overall score increased or remained the same from your previous exam. If nothing else, you're reasonably consistent.

Because I knew I didn't prepare properly first time, also I realized I needed reading glasses ( Literally ). My first attempt was 511 and second attempt is 517 even with the bio fiasco. Also, my first mcat was the first standardized test I ever have taken in my life.

 

[Batman55]

I tutor the MCAT, I promise you I am familiar with the percentile bands. I cannot tell you how common this sort of drop is on a retake. There is a reason the AAMC data shows the vast majority of retakes score the same or below the original score. Our feelings of knowing the content much better does not always translate into a stronger performance. While it might seem unlikely to you, it is quite common.

So what are the odds of someone scoring 127 on both cp and cars and then increasing to 131 on both based on your experience? because that's what happened which is also in keeping with all my practice scores. I doubt people get simply lucky on two sections in a row. Otherwise, this test has no objectivity.

 

[GreenDuck12]

CP is the easiest section to increase and changes in cars score usually occur with a revamped approach and/or a more favorable mix of passages. Some folks do much better with passages pertaining to philosophy than art, or optics than structure of sugars, for example. Anything above a 129 is too variable to predict because the raw score difference between a 130, 131, and 132 is so small. I’ve seen folks average 515+ only to drop to the mid 500s on test day.

I went back and reread your original post and your basic premise here seems to be to argue that because you did better in two sections and worse in another that there was a problem with the test and to look for validation for this theory from others. This is my mistake; I thought you were asking for advice about your situation seeming uncommon when, from my experience working with others on the MCAT, it is not. Had I read your original post more carefully, I would not have jumped in.

 

[Batman55]

CP is the easiest section to increase and changes in cars score usually occur with a revamped approach and/or a more favorable mix of passages. Some folks are do much better with passages pertaining to philosophy than art, or optics than structure of sugars, for example. Anything above a 129 is too variable to predict because the raw score difference between a 130, 131, and 132 is so small. I’ve seen folks average 515+ only to drop to the mid 500s on test day.

I went back and reread your original post and your basic premise here seems to be to argue that because you did better in two sections and worse in another that there was a problem with the test and to look for validation for this theory from others. This is my mistake; I thought you were asking for advice about your situation seeming uncommon when, from my experience working with others on the MCAT, it is not. Had I read your original post more carefully, I would not have jumped in.

I don't think personal attacks are really productive, I don't really need any validation from strangers on the internet. Scoring well on a standardized test is no where near the meaningful achievements in life lol...Regardless even with bio remaining at 129, I would still be in the same overall interval anyway, so the difference is meaningless. My premise was to find if some other people experienced the same issue with their answers was not being saved properly. Also, I improved from 127 to 131 on cars, not from 129. Furthermore, I didn't even know what English is till I was 21 years old. The reason I mentioned these increases was to show that I have significantly changed my approach since last time and I have put much time into it, And not to get " Validation".
Pretty sure the type of person you're describing would boast about how they improved without much work and just using their natural genius.

I understand the need to justify everything based on the " norm ", but sometimes issues occur, and no system is perfect. In the end it is what it is, and If I was someone who couldn't accept my mistakes, I probably wouldn't even retake in the first place, I would keep acting like something else went wrong instead of taking responsibility for my own lack of proper preparation.

Also, if this happens to someone else, I would like them to know there are other people that have experienced the same issue.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I don't think personal attacks are really productive, I don't really need any validation from strangers on the internet. Scoring well on a standardized test is no where near the meaningful achievements in life lol...Regardless even with bio remaining at 129, I would still be in the same overall interval anyway, so the difference is meaningless. My premise was to find if some other people experienced the same issue with their answers was not being saved properly. Also, I improved from 127 to 131 on cars, not 129. Furthermore, I didn't even know what English is till I was 21 years old. The reason I mentioned these increases was to show that I have significantly changed my approach since last time and I have put much time into it, And not to get " Validation".
Pretty sure the type of person you're describing would boast about how they improved without much work and just using their natural genius.

I understand the need to justify everything based on the " norm ", but sometimes issues occur, and no system is perfect. In the end it is what it is, and If I was someone who couldn't accept my mistakes, I probably wouldn't even retake in the first place, I would keep acting like something else went wrong instead of taking responsibility for my own lack of proper preparation.

Also, if this happens to someone else, I would like them to know there are other people that have experienced the same issue.

I don’t think I engaged in a personal attack but I apologize for any offense I caused. I was ESL teacher, have English as my second language, and have worked with a lot of students to prepare for the MCAT for whom English is a second or third language. Many students do well and improve. I do not believe the students I have worked with relied on natural genius but rather hard work and appropriate preparation. Unfortunately, aberrations do occur. Scores fall unexpectedly.

GL to you

 

[MyOdyssey]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has ever had issues with actual mcat not saving answers properly. This happened to me on my Bio section on the test day, and I just assumed that I might have been somehow careless, and I didn't recheck every question afterward. However, I received my score back from a retake cp:131 cars:131 127< Bio was my strongest section in my last mcat 129 ( Where I had much poorer prep and strategy ), and I also scored around the same in my practice fl. However 127 is in a different confidence band entirely.

Given that this time my performance was much better judging by my first 2 sections, I think my bio score does not make any sense , especially because I put the most time in its prep to make sure I see an improvement much like other sections. This was evident by all my practice scores and aamc material as well. On the test day , I did not encounter any topic that I was weak in. I also made sure to be more cautious than my practice FLs where I had made a few dumb mistakes. Last time I basically had to rush cp and guess blindly on 10 questions to end up with a 127... The more I consider my prep and my performance, the more impossible it seems that I somehow messed up this bad without feeling that I am under performing significantly. I know that it doesn't really matter in grand scheme of things, but I can't help but to feel I was robbed because I had devoted so much more time to bio than any other section. Plus, I am concerned that med schools will think that I was arrogant and I didn't take bio seriously , which is far from truth, if anything I wanted to make sure I improve on my strongest section.

Did you notice issues with your computer terminal not saving answers properly while you were taking the exam?

 

[Batman55]

Did you notice issues with your computer terminal not saving answers properly while you were taking the exam?

Yeah, but I thought it might have been me, but it started to bother me after I finished the section and I started thinking I should have gone through everything, instead of trying to get the couple of harder questions. I just didn't think of it as a possibility while I was taking my exam. I even told this to couple of my real friends right after exam, and they just said " Well, you can't really do anything about it now ", So I just figured i'll wait and hopefully be wrong.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Yeah, but I thought it might have been me, but it started to bother me after I finished the section and I started thinking I should have gone through everything, instead of trying to get the couple of harder questions. I just didn't think of it as a possibility while I was taking my exam. I even told this to couple of my real friends right after exam, and they just said " Well, you can't really do anything about it now ", So I just figured i'll wait and hopefully be wrong.

What exactly did you notice? And it was occurring only on your B/B section?

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

My B/B went down 2 points on my retake. I felt equally prepared both sittings, so sometimes you have to chalk it up to bad luck in terms of their predetermined curve. Thankfully my CARS went up 5 points, which was my entire reason for repeating the exam.

GreenDuck offers salient advice, as always. I honestly wondered some of the same things he said in terms of why you feel going down two points seems like an anomaly. You can always spend the money on a regrade and ask them to look to see if there is an omission of any answers. I personally have never heard of such a thing happening, but if it will put your mind at ease to know for sure that you had a letter marked for every question, then it might be worth it.

 

[Batman55]

My B/B went down 2 points on my retake. I felt equally prepared both sittings, so sometimes you have to chalk it up to bad luck in terms of their predetermined curve. Thankfully my CARS went up 5 points, which was my entire reason for repeating the exam.

GreenDuck offers salient advice, as always. I honestly wondered some of the same things he said in terms of why you feel going down two points seems like an anomaly. You can always spend the money on a regrade and ask them to look to see if there is an omission of any answers. I personally have never heard of such a thing happening, but if it will put your mind at ease to know for sure that you had a letter marked for every question, then it might be worth it.

Yes, as you just said you were equally prepared. However, I was not equally prepared. First Mcat, I did not have a proper preparation, I slept very very poorly, I also did not know I needed glasses which caused me not to be able to read the passages carefully without getting exhausted. Furthermore, I had other personal problems in my life that were affecting me. I also knew that I had done poorly in cars and cp, so I was just skipping and guessing on things that were too difficult. Also, I encountered many questions where I had not studied the topic unlike my second time where I knew every topic more in depth than the question wanted. Since then I have done much better on my practice than 129 as well. Overall, I knew I had done better in Bio than cp and cars in my first attempt, which was the case, and this time I knew I had done much better on Bio than last time, both in terms of performance and familiarity with content.

Also, re scoring would be futile, if more of my answers were not saved properly.

As I have mentioned in previous post, It still doesn't make a difference in grand scheme of things in terms of getting admitted to medical school. I was mostly wondering if anyone had any similar experiences where a marked answer had showed up as incomplete.

 

[JimKimSlim]

Nah, haven’t seen other people with those glitches in my experience. For future students who are worried, leave 5 minutes to double check all your answers.

And Greenduck, thank you for your insight. Your experience as a medical student and an MCAT tutor has always been valuable to the community. I will certainly share this forum with my students who score lower than their expectations.

 

[Batman55]

GreenDuck12 ( since you're a tutor and have more access to other students than I do )
I contacted aamc , they accepted it as a possibility ( Obviously I don't even know for certain Unless I can get some sort of exam report ), but they said I should have reported it within 5 days after my exam, and before the scores being released so they can " investigate ", and now it is too late. I asked one of my friends who is a professor at a university and well versed in standardized exams because he used to tutor various programs, and he informed me that they would have just investigated the testing center and possibly reprimand them, and then at best, they would void my exam and let me retake for free. I agree with JimKimSlim, that students should always check the final review screen ( I didn't because I was skeptical of mcat possibly glitching like many opinions on here ) and make sure everything is saved correctly. This is going to be tougher for people who run short on time I guess, but c'est la vie.

 

[Batman55]

What exactly did you notice? And it was occurring only on your B/B section?

As I finished a question # 35( not exact ), I had an " Aha " moment for a previously more difficult discreet, and then clicked on the navigation button to head back to that particular discreet, as I was scrolling up, I noticed that lets say question #29 was marked incomplete, I was sure that I had answered it because it was a relatively easy recall question as well. I just assumed I had mistakenly not clicked or something. Idk man, it's already over, such is life. I hope other people don't get screwed like that and think they are not good enough or whatever. Like I got 130s on my psych too but test ended up 128, but I knew I had under-performed on that section, and you don't see me mention that at all despite it being probably the easiest section to do well in generally.