Worried about my MCAT on July 7. Can I trust my most recent AAMC FL score?

[GoPenguinsGo]

Hey guys. So I took my first full-length AAMC FL3 4 days ago and got a really good score of 129/124/130/129 for a 512. That's good enough for me, to be honest. But the thing is some people are making it seem like FL3 is inflated somehow and that's extremely worrying to me, someone who wants to score in the 512-515 range. I'm going to take FL4 on June 27 to assess if I just got lucky. I thought FL3 was waaaaay harder than FL2 and 1, and I didnt do those under strict test conditions.

My scores were (and date taken)

FL1 (taken March 20): 128/124/125/126 (503)

FL2 (taken May 5): 128/126/128/126 (508)

FL3 (taken June 16): 129/124/130/129 (512)

In between FL2 and FL3 I did all of the Qpacks (80% on Bio 1, 85% on Bio 2, 83% on Chem, and 78% on Physics, 70% on CARS 1 and 77% on CARS 2) and I also did the Section Bank and reviewed it heavily (79% B/B, 75% C/P, and 71% P/S). I also concentrated on topics I didn't know or got wrong on the Q packs and FL2.

Im worried because a lot of people think FL3 was inflated yet I see people also who fell off on FL3 from the other 2. Is FL3 from the AAMC inflated? Can I trust my score??

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[Blueprint Med School]

None of the AAMC FLs are inflated- they were all given to students and your score is the score you would have gotten had you taken that test on the day it was administered. So FL3 is not inflated. Every time you take an MCAT exam, you will score within a confidence interval that the AAMC will usually provide. With a 512, it could be the upper bound of your confidence interval, but it could also be the lower bound. Based on your previous scores, I would have you scoring in the 508-512 range, but you've also been studying more between exams so this should be higher. Use FL4 to really gauge how you're doing.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Isoval]

Took mine three years ago:

I made a 511 on FL2 (there was only FL 1 and 2 at the time - I didn’t take FL1) and a 508 on the real exam.

 

[JimKimSlim]

A good rule of thumbs I found useful was that the average AAMC FL scores were fairly predictive of my actual performance. There are four practice exams, and you perform differently based on many different factors, like the amount of sleep you got, what kind of food you ate, etc. By taking the average of four exams, you're taking into account of those random fluctuations.

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

A good rule of thumbs I found useful was that the average AAMC FL scores were fairly predictive of my actual performance. There are four practice exams, and you perform differently based on many different factors, like the amount of sleep you got, what kind of food you ate, etc. By taking the average of four exams, you're taking into account of those random fluctuations.

Yeah but those people take those tests in the weeks leading up to their exam. Mine were taken in late March and early May. Wouldn't those have less predictive power than FL3 at this point?

 

[readmypostsMD]

My test day score was average of aamc 1 and 2, but 7 points below 3

 

[ThePotatoDoctor]

The AAMC tests are all very indicative of the your actual score -- barring some unforeseen weird circumstance come test day. Seems like you had a steady increase from AAMC FLE 1-3 over a few months, which seems normal. You do need to take into account that very any given section and entire test you'll fluctuate a few points just from the test hitting your strong/weaker areas. But you can definitely trust AAMC FLE scores!

 

[GreenDuck12]

I don’t know how predictive your first two scores are since they were taken two and four months before test date. My guess is that they are not predictive at all since you’ve had a lot of time to address content gaps and strategies. Take FL 4 soon and use those two latest scores to gauge your readiness.

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

I don’t know how predictive your first two scores are since they were taken two and four months before test date. My guess is that they are not predictive at all since you’ve had a lot of time to address content gaps and strategies. Take FL 4 soon and use those two latest scores to gauge your readiness.

Just an update: took FL4 today. Felt like I knew nothing when taking the test. But ended up with a 130/128/128/130 (516) somehow.

 

[GreenDuck12]

That’s good! Shows that you’re learning how to reason with the material as opposed to simply memorizing the material. Sounds like you’re in good shape for the test.