KAPLAN QUESTIONS REPRESENTATIVE OF MCAT?

[Guest rainnoodle]

Hi I am studying for the Mcat this augest, and Im just wondering....are the sample questions in the Kaplan Comprehensive Book very similar to the acutal ones in the Mcat?

 

Someone told me to be wary...some say that different companies (like Berkely, Arco, Columbia) produce questions that are NOT similar to the ones in the real Mcat, so its not worth trying...any thoughts? Thanks!

 

Rainy

[Guest Ian Wong]

There are definitely MCAT books out there that suck. I can't remember off-hand the name of the one I bought, but this particular book was put together by people that have probably never even seen a real MCAT. The kicker was one question that asked you to calculate Sine 76 degrees, or something like that, and all the multiple choice answers were so close together that you could never estimate it. In other words, you needed a calculator to figure out the answer, but calculators are forbidden in the MCAT!

 

The best questions are going to be the sample questions put out by the AAMC, and you can get to their MCAT web-site using the link at the top of this forum. I found the Gold Standard questions to be fairly similar, although when I wrote the MCAT, I thought the Gold Standard questions were actually a little more difficult than the real thing.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest YongQ]

Yeah Ian, I've seen that one floating around.

It's called "The Best Prep Guide to the MCAT" or something very close to that. It's a very thick book with pages that are smaller then 8 1/2 by 11, I don't know their real sizes exactly.

Listen, folks, NEVER buy this book! Even if you see it at the library, don't even look at it! The authors of it are :evil

 

Edit: forgot to mention, from many friends and friends of friends, I've heard that Kaplan tests are slightly harder than the real MCAT. I DID however study from the Kaplan review books for Biological Sciences, and found them to be quite useful for pointing out what areas I didn't know and needed to study again straight from old textbooks.

[Guest MEDCOMPSCI]

Kaplan books tend to overemphasize calculations on the PS section and thus may be more difficult. The BS is about the same, but please be warned: Kaplan's VR is much easier than the real thing. By that I mean that the curve Kaplan uses is acutally much tougher (ie - you need less questions wrong it get a high score) versus the acutal MCAT.

 

So, your 'coverted' score on the Kaplan exams will be about the same as the real MCAT, but the questions will be tougher.

[Guest Kirsteen Can MBA]

Hello,

 

I completely agree with the above comment regarding Kaplan's materials and the MCAT that I wrote last August (although I can't comment on the April exam, which I've read contained, on average, a more challenging BS component). Opting to take all five of Kaplan's dry-run exams prior to the real thing, I was quietly shocked at the level of difficulty of VR last August. So challenging, it seemed, that during the small break after VR and before Physical Sciences, many people resembled stunned zombies, feared for the level of difficulty of the approaching PS section and more than a few people in my room failed to return to find out.

 

As the above comment reports though, the PS and BS sections seemed ridiculously simple in comparison--and this comes from someone who is no physics paramour. The PS questions were delightfully calculation-light, and centered more on understanding the concepts which formed the formulae; so if you understood how and why the variables in a given formula worked together, then you could get through with not too much of a problem.

 

Due to my MCAT VR experiences last year (I was happy with the science and WS section outcomes, but pulled off a 9 in VR) I decided to give the MCAT another go for this August. I also decided to do a little comparing and contrasting and filling in some of the VR gaps by enrolling in the Princeton Review course, which I'm taking now.

 

Touted as a more challenging course by virtue of its greater emphasis on more "difficult" passages, I'm discovering that its reputation may be accurate. Some of the VR sections that we're given to work through are pretty tough, and the whole VR practice exams do smack of how I remember last August's VR section appearing.

 

Regarding its approach to the science sections, I find that Princeton seems to place more emphasis on understanding concepts as opposed to simply memorizing them. Their Science Manual helps fill in some of the gaps of which Kaplan stopped a little short. However, in saying that, Kaplan contained its virtues: for example, it provided excellent little mnemonics for remembering key MCAT equations and good, general test-taking strategies.

 

If anyone is considering taking one of these courses, I'd be happy to go into a little more detail. Also, given that I'm aiming for this administration of the test to be my absolute last, if anyone is looking for a whole whack of material to study from, I should have a pile available mid-October!

 

Good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest Mike]

I might be interested in your material for next April. What do you have and where can I reach you?

[Guest Kirsteen Can MBA]

Hi Mike,

 

I'd mentioned the mid-October date as I have to wait and see if my VR work pays off this time around. If so, then I'd be happy to reconnect with you then and offer the small Library of MCAT Congress that I have amassed.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

 

P.S. FYI, the collection consists of: umpteen Kaplan/Princeton books covering each area of the MCAT; Kaplan flashcards (an excellent resource); the collection of AMCAS exams; various first-year or high school textbooks, including the latest Giancoli "Physics" text, which is excellent; the AMCAS Writing Sample guide; a few non-Kaplan/-Princeton MCAT books from a few years back, anon. My bookshelves will be happy to be all the skinnier.