AAMC FULL LENGTH PRACTICE EXAMS FREE

NextStep has stated via email that they are constantly fine-tuning their algorithm, with a major overhaul in January 2017. When I have more time, I’d like to add more test prep companies (namely Altaius and ExamKrackers), and compare individual sections to actual MCAT section scores to see if any companies have a notably higher correlation on one subsection.Īmong the many shortcomings of this data, the most damning is the fact that the 3 rd party test prep companies can change their scaling algorithms anytime without warning (and they do). I now understand it’s their way of protecting their revenue while still offering a money-back score guarantee. Princeton Review at no point notes how deflated their scores are, and many students probably don’t realize this. Had I not worked with this data, I would have thought I was on track for a 500 on the real exam – a score that has a dreadful mean acceptance rate of 22.3%, per the AAMC. In reality, most people who score that on their exams get between 511 and 516 on the actual exam. Personally, I was dejected when I got a 500 on my first Princeton Review practice exam.

AAMC FULL LENGTH PRACTICE EXAMS FREE

They do have a guarantee for their tutoring, but it only redeems a free 2-hour tutoring session. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that NextStep, a prep company without a full-refund ‘Better Score Guarantee’, doesn’t deflate their practice test scores as heavily. If you aren’t a retaker, and the latter is used, there is almost no chance you fail to beat that score. Princeton Review offers a similar program, but the baseline score can be either your previous actual MCAT score (if taken within 90 days of the start of the review course) or the Princeton Review diagnostic exam taken at the beginning of your course. Kaplan is the most popular MCAT prep company, and they have a treasure trove of student data that could be used to give accurate scores, if they desired. They’ve built a ~10 point cushion into the scaling of their practice exams to ensure this won’t be redeemed often. Kaplan’s “ Higher Score Guarantee” program will only redeem if your actual MCAT score is below your diagnostic score. Their “100% money back guarantees” rely on you outperforming your practice test score. But I think it’s primarily because the test prep companies prefer someone scoring 505 on their practice exams and a 515 on the actual MCAT, rather than the opposite. So why are these tests so deflated? Part of it is my skewed data set (see next section). It does mean that their scaling is the most accurate. Kaplan and NextStep had the strongest correlation to actual MCAT scores, though this isn’t necessarily saying they’re the best practice material. This becomes less predictive at the upper and lower extremes. As an extremely crude conversion, you can add 10 points to your Kaplan score to get your AAMC score. The short story is – Kaplan’s scores are heavily, heavily, deflated, but still have predictive power. I don’t know if it’s possible to drop the ball that badly on test day so I’m calling it a fluke. I also excluded data from one other user who reported a 472 on the real exam after reporting 505, 504, 509, and 509 on NextStep Exams 1-4, and a 509 and 510 on AAMC #1 and #2. Impossible scores were thrown out (one user reported a ‘406’ on NextStep Exam 1, which, like the real MCAT, is scored 472-528). There is a tremendous amount of self-reporting bias in this data, which I’ll touch on at the end. I only included individuals who took the MCAT between January and September 2017.

It’s comprised of users of the MCAT subreddit and the Student Doctor Network forums. The data has been taken from this user submitted score spreadsheet, comprised of 844 user-submitted scores. Here I attempt to predict MCAT scores using 3 rd party practice exam scores and user-submitted data from Reddit. Test takers of the past had 10 AAMC exams, but the post-2015 MCAT renders those practice tests worthless. If their score isn’t where they want it to be, they’re left with only 3 AAMC scored exams. But those exams are a precious resource, as they’re the closest thing we can get to the real MCAT. The AAMC only has 3 scored practice exams released, leaving prospective test takers in a tough situation – to know where they stand, they have to take an AAMC scored exam. Also don’t look at this on mobile, the graphs are probably butchered on there) ( 3/26/18 – this is an unfinished post that I’ve put up so the data can be of use to others while I add to it / revise it.

Aamc full length practice exams