Richie's Last Minute Practice Exam Thread :)

[Guest Richardo Xavier]

Hey gang

 

Post your progress here for your practice tests <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE START-->ONLY <!--EZCODE UNDERLINE END--><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> if your comfortable with doing so. I took practice test IV today and scored a 11 in verbal, a 9 in physical sciences and an 8 in biological sciences.

 

Compared to my previous "real" MCAT, this is an improvement of:

 

1 point in Verbal

2 points in Physical Sciences

2 points in Biological Sciences

 

It's amazing what a difference 2 years makes in your logical reasoning abilities. ( I took all my philosophy classes after I took the MCAT )

 

I've found that taking the practice tests really help ( I crammed information for the last one and it got me nowhere fast ). Anyway, feel free to share your last minute progress here for other's edification. We can do it!

*cheers everyone on*

 

-Richie

 

[Guest ioncannon97]

I just wroted Practice MCAT 4:

Verbal: 12

Bio: 12

Physical: 13

 

I estimated these since test only gives range "greater than or equal to twelve."

 

Compared to Practice MCAT 5 I wrote 3 weeks ago:

Verbal: 11

Bio: 13

Physical:14

 

I can't believe I went down in sciences. that's hard to swallow.

[Guest V]

Go outside and see the sunshine dude. You obviously know your stuff, so why are you worried you went down?

 

If you are an Ontario med hopeful, both SCIENCES sections DO NOT MATTER ONCE YOU ARE OVER THE CUT OFF. It is important to realize that, although majority of you may work harder just to score those "13's" or "15's".

 

Don't sweat it... double digits and move on.

 

Good luck, although I don't think you need it

[Guest Richardo Xavier]

ioncannon, you are the man!

You know your stuff, don't burn yourself out before the exam!

 

I got a 12 in verbal today, almost a 13 so I was pretty happy with that.

 

Bio is still holding steady at an 8-9

and Physical sciences is nearing the 10 mark.

 

Just... need... a 30

Good luck to ya!

-Rich

[Guest UWOMED2005]

If you're in that range with the practice exams, you should do fine on the real thing. V's right - getting higher than 10s on PS and BS doesn't really give you an advantage. From this point on, if I were you, I'd relax on the studying and write maybe a weekly practice exam to make sure you're still in the mode.

[Guest aneliz]

Amen to that! You will be just fine. My actual MCAT scores were actually higher than my AAMC V scores. So, if you can score like that on the practice test, you should be set -provided that you don't freak out on test day! Close the books for a while and go enjoy the summer! Don't drive yourself nuts trying for a 15!

[Guest DHP62]

aneliz,

 

Glad to hear your actual scores were higher then what was predicted by AAMC V. I was fine on 2 sections...but actually went down in one as compared to my other Kaplan mocks.

 

I heard a rumour that AAMC's are easier than the Kaplan mocks...I dunno who started that cause from what I just found with AAMC V, the real things are just the same as Kaplan (not harder...but the same)

 

I'm getting more nervous now cause of that!

 

But I suppose I'll see for sure next Saturday.

 

will this ever end... :\

[Guest medicator007]

DHP62,

 

Allow me to echo what Aneliz said, my score on the actual MCAT was also higher than what i got on AAMC V, so you seem to be in good shape at this critical juncture, however, in the end there is only one exam that counts.

 

I cannot really comment on the relationship between kaplan and AAMC exams as I did TPR. However, I did find the AAMC exams to be very similar to the actual MCAT.

 

Hope this helps,

Medicator

[Guest aneliz]

I found the AAMC V to be absolutely identical in difficulty level to the real thing. AAMC IV was also pretty close. AAMC I,II and III were slightly easier I thought. I didn't have AAMC VI (wasn't released yet when I wrote!) but I imagine it should be very close as well.

 

Good luck everybody!

[Guest V]

I agree. I thought AAMC V was identical to the real thing. I scored one point higher on the MCAT than I did on the practice test.

 

I would save these tests for the week prior, not only to give you the closest mock you can buy, but moreso, to bump your spirits when you do well (cause that should be the peak of your performance).

 

Dont burn out. I stress that LARGE.

 

For those of you who are scared about the real thing.... dont be. If you do, you wont perform as well as you can. Just be calm, and remember, that one or two questions will not affect your score.

 

Stuck? Move on and dont let it bother you.

 

Always read the questions carefully. Scratch out the wrong answers and guess if you have to. Many of us did that at least one time when we wrote it.

 

And finally, relax. This is the first step of the med application process. Congrats on getting to this point, and I wish you all the best on the hurdles to come.

 

V

[Guest peachy3]

Am I the only one that did worse on the real MCATs than on AAMC V? (I did four points worse - dropped one in each science and two in verbal )

[Guest dfenst]

I found the real MCAT to be easier than Kaplan tests. I think the main difference comes from the scoring grid. I know it depends on the difficulty of the exam, but, in general, you need about 52 verbal questions on a Kaplan MCAT to get a 10. If you look at the AAMC scoring guideline, only about 48 questions are needed for a 10. So while the level of difficulty may remain the same, the same number of right answers should hopefully lead to a higher score.

 

In addition, one is always more focused on game day. No longer will you say "I can check over my answers, but I'd rather go start my lunch break". If you have 5 extra minutes, use them to your advantage. Things like that make your actual MCAT likely to be your best score yet!

 

Good luck all.

[Guest V]

Plus,

 

If you are taking Kaplan, you should note that your score is compared to all those TAKING THE COURSE (ie, those who are generally well prepared). You should also remember that there are a lot of people who do not study for this thing, plus a handfull who write it just fo the sake of it (for one reason or another). So when you write the real thing, the pool is generally weaker when compared to those taking a reputable prep course.