Kaplan FLs same as my AAMC practice test scores????

[jellibag]

So I've been doing the Kaplan course the past couple of months and have gotten: 503, 505, 507 and 509 on my last FL tests.

From the forums, everyone was saying that the AAMC practice test is sooo much easier than the Kaplan tests and that you should expect at least a 3 point increase.

So going into the AAMC test I was pretty confident, until I saw my score... a 509!!
And apparently the AAMC practice is easier than the actual one??

This is starting to freak me out since my MCAT is only a little more than a week away, and my AAMC score is not reflective of my goal.

What's the deal?? What could explain this?? Do I need to diversify my studying to include stuff that's not Kaplan (I've only been using Kaplan until now)?? Anyone else in the same boat??

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[YayPudding]

Have you done all of the available AAMC FLs? When I took the MCAT last year there were 2 available. I scored a 512 and roughly a 513 on the older % based version. My real score was 514. I believe very strongly that AAMC FL performance preceding an exam is a powerful indicator of expected score. I would say a range of +/- 3 points more often a one or two points higher in real life. If you would be very unhappy with a 510 I think you should look to take the exam at a later date or show up and void your exam next week. I pushed back my April scheduled exam to 5/20 and am so happy that I did so. The extra month was incredibly helpful to me.

I understand this is a challenging time but I want to be completely honest with what I have experienced and what I found to be useful.

 

[tj123]

The same thing happened to me. In fact, I scored lower on the AAMC exam than Kaplan. Firstly, go back through and look at what you got wrong. I found on my C/P section I knew all of the material I needed to know, the AAMC just threw some stuff at me that I wasn't familiar with, such as the one letter codes of amino acids. So some stuff like that is an easy fix. Also, I found that the AAMC used different psych terms than Kaplan. So I recommend going through more AAMC material (section banks, q packs) and then take the second AAMC FL. If your score isn't where you want it then reschedule or take the exam and void. I ended up moving my exam back (was supposed to take April 22).

 

[jellibag]

Ya I've been hearing the same thing about the correlation between AAMC FL and real MCAT scores. Although I do have a friend that scored a 508 on the practice and 515 on the real exam (he took the practice a week before his exam), I get the feeling he is an exception (either he didn't take the practice seriously or got lucky with the content on the real).

What really is kinda pissing me off is the overwhelming amount of people that said your Kaplan FL should be much, much lower than your AAMC FL and real MCAT score, which just isn't happening for me.

I've only taken the first AAMC FL, I plan on taking the second one this Friday. I guess if I don't score near my goal on that one, would you suggest that I reschedule? I'm scared to take the test with an intent to void it because when I took the first AAMC FL, I was actually feeling fairly confident about it until I got my score :/

Does you know if the Kaplan FLs changed this year? Because the info I was getting about the Kaplan FL's being overwhelmingly harder was from either last year or two years ago. Did they make it so it's more compatible with AAMC? Because if so, I will definitely reschedule.

I also saw on some posts that the AAMC practice tests, although easier, are curved harsher. Is this true?

 

[jellibag]

The same thing happened to me. In fact, I scored lower on the AAMC exam than Kaplan. Firstly, go back through and look at what you got wrong. I found on my C/P section I knew all of the material I needed to know, the AAMC just threw some stuff at me that I wasn't familiar with, such as the one letter codes of amino acids. So some stuff like that is an easy fix. Also, I found that the AAMC used different psych terms than Kaplan. So I recommend going through more AAMC material (section banks, q packs) and then take the second AAMC FL. If your score isn't where you want it then reschedule or take the exam and void. I ended up moving my exam back (was supposed to take April 22).

That's when my exam is scheduled XD. When are you taking it now?

And ya I did review my test and came to pretty much the exact same conclusions as you did. Seeing psych terms on the AAMC test that I never saw on Kaplan was pretty disorienting.

I will definitely take your advice and do the AAMC material before taking the second practice test. Thank you!!

 

[tj123]

That's when my exam is scheduled XD. When are you taking it now?

And ya I did review my test and came to pretty much the exact same conclusions as you did. Seeing psych terms on the AAMC test that I never saw on Kaplan was pretty disorienting.

I will definitely take your advice and do the AAMC material before taking the second practice test. Thank you!!

I rescheduled for June 17. But I was scoring 500-505 on everything so I thought it was best to give myself more time. Honestly it depends on where you're trying to get into school, but you can get into some MD schools with a 509. Don't be too discouraged, part of is its just understanding how to read/interpret AAMC passages. Obviously you know the content, hence the good kaplan scores. I think that with some fine tuning you should be good to go!