Examkrackers Full Length (MCAT 2015)?

[KungFuPanda123]

So EK released full length practice exams. For those of you guys who have tried them, what did you think?

I've tackled the very beginning of the PS section. I'm finding it to be very challenging for some reason; I'm not sure if it's because I'm feeling a bit off today or if it's because I legitimately don't know my stuff, but I'm getting a lot wrong (you can choose to check if your answer is right/wrong right away).

Let me know your guys' thoughts on the test, and I'll post some of my thoughts as I finish it up.

Edit: Finished up my test and posted results down the page. Please post your results as well in comparison to AAMC/Kaplan/TPR/whatever so we can get a better understanding of the score correlation.

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[deleted567285]

Tests are way harder than the AAMC, I got about 55% right while compared to 69% right on the AAMC sample test early in my studying.

 

[somedudehere]

Tests are way harder than the AAMC, I got about 55% right while compared to 69% right on the AAMC sample test early in my studying.

Have you taken any next step tests? I'm using EK for content review and their material is pretty challenging.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

I've used EK in the past, and I usually don't fall for their tricks (EK really likes to test your ability to critically think/not memorize/not fall for tricks). But for this test, I keep falling for trick after trick. I'm wondering if this test is just extra tricky or if I'm just really rusty for whatever reason.

 

[JOLA46]

how are the explanations to the answer choices?

have you tried tns? i haven't done one of their whole full lengths, but have done a bio and verbal timed full section.

 

[JOLA46]

*meant NS (next step) not TNS sorry.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

*meant NS (next step) not TNS sorry.

I've done the CARS from NS. It's okay. I don't care much for NS' lack of details in their explanations

 

[JOLA46]

me either.......do you like the ek explanations?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

me either.......do you like the ek explanations?

Yup I do. They tend to go through every answer choice and explain why it is incorrect, as opposed to just explaining why the correct answer is right.

Also, holy crap I'm struggling with this test (finishing up Bio now). Getting wrong answers left and right...

 

[goodtime]

Are they comparable to aamc like reasoning and passage wise and harder than the ek 30 min exams?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Are they comparable to aamc like reasoning and passage wise and harder than the ek 30 min exams?

They seem comparable in reasoning skills (this is why I like EK). I think that they were harder than the 30 minute exams (Just finished doing PS and BS).

I found myself falling for a lot of little tricks; I'm hoping that this is just because I'm rusty since I've been cramming so much content as of late. However, I did find the passages so much more harder to read/understand than the 30-minute passages and the AAMC passages. I think I need some time to clear my head because everything's starting to blur together.

 

[JOLA46]

i just went on ek's website. 50 dollars is alot of one practice test....do you think it's worth it?

 

[Abraxas305]

Are there similar passages/questions in this 2015 version vs the older versions?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Are there similar passages/questions in this 2015 version vs the older versions?

No idea, never did EK full lengths before. I will say that I like these questions; they're really challenging and are almost all based on data analysis passages.

 

[Levrone]

^that's good. I am interested to hear from others as well, especially those who have also done the 2015 AAMC passages from the guide or the practice exam. Unfortunately these tests are very expensive! Right now I have kaplan and TPR exams, was thinking of buying next step and maybe 1-2 EK.. EK did a really good job on their 9th ed passages

 

[KungFuPanda123]

If any of you guys can post your guys' scores on the EK full lengths, that'd be greatly appreciated. It'd be nice to see the relationship between AAMC practice tests, Kaplan, and EK.

Here's my data to share with you guys...

For the first EK full length, this is how I scored:
PS: 64% (think it was because I was feeling very hazy/rusty?)
CARS: 83%
BS: 71%
Psych: 66%

For the Kaplan Diagnostic #1 this is how I scored:
PS: 68%
CARS: 79%
BS: 69%
Psych: 72%

For the AAMC practice MCAT2015, this is how I scored:
PS: 91%
CARS: 96%
BS: 86%
Psych: 80%

For the AAMC Official Guide questions, this is how I scored:
PS: 93%
CARS: 87%
BS: 90%
Psych: 77%

 

[Levrone]

If any of you guys can post your guys' scores on the EK full lengths, that'd be greatly appreciated. It'd be nice to see the relationship between AAMC practice tests, Kaplan, and EK.

Here's my data to share with you guys...

For the first EK full length, this is how I scored:
PS: 64% (think it was because I was feeling very hazy/rusty?)
CARS: 83%
BS: 71%
Psych: 66%

For the Kaplan Diagnostic #1 this is how I scored:
PS: 68%
CARS: 79%
BS: 69%
Psych: 72%

For the AAMC practice MCAT2015, this is how I scored:
PS: 91%
CARS: 96%
BS: 86%
Psych: 80%

For the AAMC Official Guide questions, this is how I scored:
PS: 93%
CARS: 87%
BS: 90%
Psych: 77%

thanks a lot man. by any chance, you taking a TPR test anytime soon ?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

thanks a lot man. by any chance, you taking a TPR test anytime soon ?

Wasn't planning on it (don't have access to TPR) since my test is April (really regret it now, since 2 months to cram all this soc/psych and new changes to the other parts is way too little time...). If I void it, I'll probably use TPR to study for May

 

[Levrone]

Wasn't planning on it (don't have access to TPR) since my test is April (really regret it now, since 2 months to cram all this soc/psych and new changes to the other parts is way too little time...). If I void it, I'll probably use TPR to study for May

I see. did you ever do Khan Academy passages? How do they compare in difficulty and similarity to these exams? especially the aamc?

is the EK exam much more representative of AAMC than kaplan? is it even worth doing kaplan?

oh and might as well ask this too. What practice passages did you find most helpful from different sources? TPR SW/ TBR/ Khan academy/ EK 9th? I'm trying to do everything but just won't have time, so I might do every bio passage but 1/2 of the physics and orgo ones, and 3/4ths of chem

1 more thing. for the EK exam, did they show each question separately like AAMC and khan?

 

[Abraxas305]

Seems like the passages are really good in their FL's.
Will most likely buy 2-3 of them, along with the TPR ones. Then the rest I probably would have to use old sources and try and create my own 7 hour test lol

 

[KungFuPanda123]

I see. did you ever do Khan Academy passages? How do they compare in difficulty and similarity to these exams? especially the aamc?

is the EK exam much more representative of AAMC than kaplan? is it even worth doing kaplan?

oh and might as well ask this too. What practice passages did you find most helpful from different sources? TPR SW/ TBR/ Khan academy/ EK 9th? I'm trying to do everything but just won't have time, so I might do every bio passage but 1/2 of the physics and orgo ones, and 3/4ths of chem

1 more thing. for the EK exam, did they show each question separately like AAMC and khan?

Yup I tried some Khan academy questions - Khan is more similar in difficulty, but I felt like Khan required more outside knowledge while EK was more based on critical thinking within the context of the information in the passage.

I do think that EK exams are more representative of AAMC material than Kaplan in the sense that the two seem to test in very similar ways. I will say though that EK seems more challenging.

Although I've dabbled in the other resources, I've primarily used EK. I used Kaplan for Psych and found that it was a nice supplement to the EK psych/soc book since it went into more depth (in fact, some answer choices in the EK practice passages had vocab that was not in the EK books but was in the Kaplan books - the EK answers would always say that those words are not necessary to know for the MCAT, but having the knowledge from Kaplan was helpful). I used TPR practice passages for my last go around of the MCAT; I didn't use it much for content review, as I trusted that my background in science would be helpful (science was fine on my practice AAMC and ended up being fine on my real MCAT).

No, EK did not show each question separately in the same way that the Official MCAT will be/is doing now. I just answered each question in sequence anyways and didn't use any "strategies" like jumping to the discrete questions/skipping passages, so this was a non-factor for me.

And if anyone was curious about results from my taking the 2nd EK full length, here they are:
PS: 75%
VR: 78%
BS: 74%
Psych: 86%

 

[Abraxas305]

^ great info, definitely getting the EK FL's

 

[grey_wind]

really like EK materials, glad they came out with these, though I wish they were discounted a bit though, $150 is steep for three exams

I think I'm going to do 3 TPR , 2-3 EK, and 3 NS and of course the the AAMC Sample, starting in the next week.

Does anyone have other suggestions? Think Kaplan is better...or the new GS?

 

[grey_wind]

For the AAMC Official Guide questions, this is how I scored:
PS: 93%
CARS: 87%
BS: 90%
Psych: 77%

Are these the bundle things that AAMC sells?

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Are these the bundle things that AAMC sells?

Not the bundle - it's called the Official Guide, and it contains 30 questions from each section. They do not appear to be in the bundles.

 

[Glazedonutlove]

If any of you guys can post your guys' scores on the EK full lengths, that'd be greatly appreciated. It'd be nice to see the relationship between AAMC practice tests, Kaplan, and EK.

Here's my data to share with you guys...

For the first EK full length, this is how I scored:
PS: 64% (think it was because I was feeling very hazy/rusty?)
CARS: 83%
BS: 71%
Psych: 66%

For the Kaplan Diagnostic #1 this is how I scored:
PS: 68%
CARS: 79%
BS: 69%
Psych: 72%

For the AAMC practice MCAT2015, this is how I scored:
PS: 91%
CARS: 96%
BS: 86%
Psych: 80%

For the AAMC Official Guide questions, this is how I scored:
PS: 93%
CARS: 87%
BS: 90%
Psych: 77%

Wow you did really well on ek! So far I have 61 and 67 for ps and verbal...my MCAT is in 3 days..this is so discouraging. plus while doing the verbal I thought I would only miss a couple

 

[mcatjelly]

Wow you did really well on ek! So far I have 61 and 67 for ps and verbal...my MCAT is in 3 days..this is so discouraging. plus while doing the verbal I thought I would only miss a couple

*comforting pat*

Don't let your EK score discourage you. My worst verbal score was on EK FL 1 (77%), compared to 89% on the Sample, 97% on the Official Guide, and 85% on the first CARS question pack). And I thought their Chem/Phys section was the most brutal. Your AAMC sample test score was really good, and you took that before the EK FL, so again: this is just one exam.

 

[Abraxas305]

EK 2 tomorrow.
Angus is peppered.

EDIT: Meant EK 2 lol I did the 1st one already.

 

[bee17]

I've taken Kaplan, NS, AAMC, and EK exams, and I feel like EK was by far the most representative of AAMC as far as content and style are concerned. I did find it more difficult. My most recent exams were EK 1 and Kaplan 3, so I'll post those percentages:

EK 1:
PS: 68%
CARS: 79%
BS: 75%
Psych: 73%

Kaplan 3:
PS: 68%
CARS: 88%
BS: 58% (yikes)
Psych: 73%

I took the AAMC back in March, so I don't know if you can really compare it to these two exams, but I ended up with 69%/98%/71%/88% on that. I think the CARS was a fluke, as I've never scored that high on any other CARS section.

 

[Abraxas305]

^ How are the Kaplan passages btw? My friend has access to them and says they are pretty difficult but good practice.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

So EK released full length practice exams. For those of you guys who have tried them, what did you think?

I've tackled the very beginning of the PS section. I'm finding it to be very challenging for some reason; I'm not sure if it's because I'm feeling a bit off today or if it's because I legitimately don't know my stuff, but I'm getting a lot wrong (you can choose to check if your answer is right/wrong right away).

Let me know your guys' thoughts on the test, and I'll post some of my thoughts as I finish it up.

Edit: Finished up my test and posted results down the page. Please post your results as well in comparison to AAMC/Kaplan/TPR/whatever so we can get a better understanding of the score correlation.[/

 

[northernlights15]

You should check out the Altius Test Prep tests. We made 10 exams that are statistically identical to the MCAT in over 100 different measures.

This week is test prep week in SDN. To learn more about our exact match tests, click on the test prep week icon on the home page, go to test prep, then MCAT, then Altius!

Will it be possible just to buy the tests without buying any tutoring package?

 

[jokers123]

You should check out the Altius Test Prep tests. We made 10 exams that are statistically identical to the MCAT in over 100 different measures.

This week is test prep week in SDN. To learn more about our exact match tests, click on the test prep week icon on the home page, go to test prep, then MCAT, then Altius!

Get your own thread. This is for discussion of EK FL's!

 

[dreamer659]

Just took EK1 PS section, got an 80%. Can't convince myself to keep going so I'm just going over that section for now and I'll take the rest maybe later today or tomorrow. PS section was definitely pretty brutal. I would wager harder than Kaplan even

 

[mcatjelly]

Yikes. 74% on FL 1, 70% on FL 2. Bummer.

 

[bee17]

Yikes. 74% on FL 1, 70% on FL 2. Bummer.

I'm in the same boat: 73% on FL 1 and just got 70% on FL 2. My brain is fried.

 

[mcatjelly]

I'm in the same boat: 73% on FL 1 and just got 70% on FL 2. My brain is fried.

Solidarity!

It's definitely humbling to have your score decrease the more you study, haha.

 

[ElectricNoogie]

Solidarity!

It's definitely humbling to have your score decrease the more you study, haha.

Disheartening, but common, I promise you. When I was preparing it was definitely tough to see my score not budge or even dip a bit. With CARS, going from 73 --> 70% is only 2 questions so its not so bad. However CARS improvement is tougher because you cannot just study Chapter X and know you'll get it next time.

Rather than jump from CARS test to CARS test, you should review your method of reading/thinking and analyze your missed questions thoroughly. Do not just check for the right answer. Your wrong answer, can you now see why it was wrong? Can you explain it? Does the explanation match what the explanations tell you (esp w/ the AAMC practice CARS)? CARS is all about bringing your thought processes/reasoning in line with the AAMC. You will never see that passage or question again, but the subtle change to the wrong answer, that tone the passage used to let you know what was the main point and not some minor aside, you will see over and over again. Good luck!

 

[mcatjelly]

Disheartening, but common, I promise you. When I was preparing it was definitely tough to see my score not budge or even dip a bit. With CARS, going from 73 --> 70% is only 2 questions so its not so bad. However CARS improvement is tougher because you cannot just study Chapter X and know you'll get it next time.

Rather than jump from CARS test to CARS test, you should review your method of reading/thinking and analyze your missed questions thoroughly. Do not just check for the right answer. Your wrong answer, can you now see why it was wrong? Can you explain it? Does the explanation match what the explanations tell you (esp w/ the AAMC practice CARS)? CARS is all about bringing your thought processes/reasoning in line with the AAMC. You will never see that passage or question again, but the subtle change to the wrong answer, that tone the passage used to let you know what was the main point and not some minor aside, you will see over and over again. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice! My CARS score is generally on point, though (85-97% on AAMC material)--it's the Chem/Phys section that usually gives me the most trouble.

 

[bee17]

Thanks for the advice! My CARS score is generally on point, though (85-97% on AAMC material)--it's the Chem/Phys section that usually gives me the most trouble.

Are we the same person? CARS is almost always my best (though EK2 was tough) and Chem/Phys is almost always my worst. At this point, it is what it is. I'm going to keep reviewing over the next few days, but I'm done with FLs. The one today had me mentally exhausted.

 

[mcatjelly]

Are we the same person? CARS is almost always my best (though EK2 was tough) and Chem/Phys is almost always my worst. At this point, it is what it is. I'm going to keep reviewing over the next few days, but I'm done with FLs. The one today had me mentally exhausted.

Are we?????

Maybe we'll find out after the exam Friday, haha. I try to take comfort in the fact that schools care the most about verbal scores... right??? right????

 

[dreamer659]

Hokay just finished EK1, last full length before the real deal!

PS: 80%
CARS: 83%
BIO:80%
Psyc/Soc: 78%
Total: 80%

 

[exodian1]

Just took EK2 and thankfully improved a bit from EK1. Still got a lot of work to do, but at least this is somewhat encouraging

EK1
Chem 41%(ouch)
CARS 75%
Bio 59%
Psych 59%
Total 58%

EK 2
Chem 56% (still horrible)
CARS 72% (CARS on this one was a lot harder than last test)
Bio 68%
Psych 71%
Total 67%

 

[MiasmaticHelium]

Can anybody else verify the quality of EK's FLs? If it's anything like there 30 minute exams on bio, I think I'd pass.

 

[mcatjelly]

Can anybody else verify the quality of EK's FLs? If it's anything like there 30 minute exams on bio, I think I'd pass.

The general consensus is that they currently have the most representative exams.

 

[campb767]

Can anyone give a good comparison between the Next Step FLs and the EK FLs? I haven't heart much about differences between the two...Have taken all 5 NS FLs and thought they were difficult...now starting on EK...

 

[mikil100]

Can anyone give a good comparison between the Next Step FLs and the EK FLs? I haven't heart much about differences between the two...Have taken all 5 NS FLs and thought they were difficult...now starting on EK...

EK exams are hard(er) than the AAMC FL test, but also focus much more on experiment design and less on minute details than do TPR and Kaplan. I can't speak for NS except for the PS section I just took from them that was by far my lowest score in anything, which I can say EK is fairly easier than NS stuff.

 

[fl123]

I've used EK in the past, and I usually don't fall for their tricks (EK really likes to test your ability to critically think/not memorize/not fall for tricks). But for this test, I keep falling for trick after trick. I'm wondering if this test is just extra tricky or if I'm just really rusty for whatever reason.

I think this test was a bad misrepresentation of how you would actually do... I think there's a lot of trick questions that probably would not be asked on a real MCAT

Example (I'm just paraphrasing): If a guy runs on a treadmill for 12 minutes and runs a distance of 2 kilometers, what amount of work was done? Answer: 0 J because he was on a treadmill

Edit: Not to mention EK totally contradicts itself... In the EK review material it says to assume all gases are acting ideally unless specified otherwise yet on the FL test it says the opposite for an answer explanation

 

[mcatjelly]

I think this test was a bad misrepresentation of how you would actually do... I think there's a lot of trick questions that probably would not be asked on a real MCAT

Example (I'm just paraphrasing): If a guy runs on a treadmill for 12 minutes and runs a distance of 2 kilometers, what amount of work was done? Answer: 0 J because he was on a treadmill

The MCAT definitely asks trick questions and EK's FLs have been the best representation of the new MCAT thus far. The answer is 0 J because there's no displacement when you're running on a treadmill, and work is a function of force x displacement.

 

[Sir.SavaLottaLife]

I think this test was a bad misrepresentation of how you would actually do... I think there's a lot of trick questions that probably would not be asked on a real MCAT

Example (I'm just paraphrasing): If a guy runs on a treadmill for 12 minutes and runs a distance of 2 kilometers, what amount of work was done? Answer: 0 J because he was on a treadmill

Edit: Not to mention EK totally contradicts itself... In the EK review material it says to assume all gases are acting ideally unless specified otherwise yet on the FL test it says the opposite for an answer explanation

I feel like thats pretty fair on a multiple choice test, however I do agree with you in my experience with EK. I wouldn't pick that particular question as an example, but I know what you mean. In their 101 passages and 1001 Q's book they do a lot of the like. Like they'll put the right answer for any logical/coherent person and then make up an off-the-wall reason for why one of the other choices is correct and fail to acceptably address why the other answer was wrong, like "its wrong because we say so".

I do have to disagree with mcatjelly somewhat; true "trick questions" on the MCAT are extremely few and far between. Generally, I feel like the MCAT adds degrees of difficulty by disguising relatively logical/agreed upon questions on fair/broad concepts by asking the question in a weird way. And once you crack the code to the question, the answer is clear, or you just don't know that particular piece of material and/or you made a mistake. They also love making inferences from the passage.

I've came to the conclusion that EK tries too hard to mimic the ambiguity of the MCAT. After all, it is one of their selling points but IMHO too many of their questions are up for interpretation. However, I do plan on using one of their FL's because I've heard they are most representative of the new MCAT and I believe it. TPR (and likely other companies) dropped the ball and seemingly through a bunch of old material into the new format. Lacking the inference and experimental emphasis of the new exam as well as the medical context to almost everything.