<p>Do you have to take MCATs if you are planning on going to the med school of the university that you are attending for undergrad or are you automatically in their program?</p>
<p>It varies from program to program. WashU's program requires that you score a 36 (97th percentile) to continue. Some programs don't require that you take it at all.</p>
<p>Mike, that's why I'd say take it when you can get the highest score...</p>
<p>I understand what you're saying about the rollign admissions, but no school is going to give away all their slots before they've finished interviewing everyone. Further, the people they are going to take early on in the process deserve to be there anyways. If you're at all on the edge, then they'll waitlist you. But I imagine that with the expanding test options, that timing will be less of an issue. I mean, if they really do have 20 windows per year like I've heard, then that's a test date every 2-3 weeks.</p>
<p>You're right - it definitely changes. Our advice, however, is that (again, this is under the old testing scenario), if you don't feel ready for the April MCAT, that's okay - but you should delay your application a year.</p>
<p>Actually, we're advised that it's best to take it even the August before that, or at least to prepare for it.</p>
<p>In any case, the 20 windows are going to change things considerably.</p>
<p>I am a high school senior. I did my first Verbal free online test today from AAMC released MCAT 3R and got 12 (51 of 60) after a 2 hour review. However, I would only get a 10 score with 9 wrongs from Kaplan score table . Why is the difference? Does it mean that AAMC MCAT tests do the similiar curves as SATs (give scores according to percentage) ?</p>
<p>Anyone knows or has experience the deviations from one test to an other by a same person in a short period in MCAT test? Thanks.</p>
<p>My two times SAT verbal scores were 750 and 800 respectively.</p>
<p>each test, like the SAT is scored on a curve so the one u got a 12 on was probably harder than the one where 9 wrong would be a 10. In my experience the kaplan ones are usually harder and graded on a better curve where sometimes you can get something like 17 - 20 wrong and u'd still get a 10.</p>
<p>It's because the released items from the AAMC are ancient...seriously most are like 10-15 years old. That 3R test is probably at least 11 years old. While the AAMC just released a new test, it is probably not from the last 3 or 4 years. Given that the AAMC is in the process of creating a test bank right now for the administration on computer, there is likely few if any things that will ever be released again. A 12 on the MCAT last week would probably require a 56 out of 60, if not a 57.</p>
<p>I work for Kaplan and Kaplan does pay to have the AAMC items available to students, however, I personally discourage students from ever using the AAMC items b/c they are so outdated, unless they've completely used EVERYTHING else available to them through Kaplan (which of course is nearly impossible). </p>
<p>The MCAT curves are all restandardized for each administration. I believe with the Computer Based Testing (CBT) they are just going to measure you against the collective of everyone who has taken the test in the past (they'll likely cap it for the last 4-5 years, and when a new year comes, they'll replace the oldest year with the newest year).</p>
<p>A couple of other reasons why you may have done so well (because you sound surprised).
1) You're a HS senior, you have nothing riding on how well you do. Nerves can do a lot.</p>
<p>2) The MCAT tests Critical thinking, and the VR section requires no outside knowledge - everything is in the passage. The topics were likely, for the most part, things about which you had no prior knowledge, which after a solid undergrad education, you might. Many students are tempted to bring in outside knowledge they may know about the subject leading them to wrong answers. You however, were stuck with having to go back to the passage (a good thing!)</p>
<p>3) Lack of fatigue. You didn't just spend the last hour and 40 minutes tackling passages on physics and general chemistry. 2 hours of review is not the same.</p>
<p>4) You have talent with language tests. Your SAT verbal scores show that. However, the SAT and the MCAT do test different things, and there is little overlap. Where the SAT might ask for the authors thesis or main idea, the MCAT will ask you "If the each of the following was true, which would most damage the author's arguement?" which is a higher level thinking question, b/c it requires not only figuring out the author's main idea, but also understanding it, the evidence that supports it, what the new evidence means, and how they play nice together.</p>
<p>And there are a lot of things that can change from test to test. The most likely explanation being that you are just comfortable with the topics the passages covered. This is particularly true in the science sections as they can't test every physics formula. Some of getting a good score is luck.</p>
<p>Edited to add: Shraff, none of the VR sections for Kaplan that I know of have that generous of a curve. Most are fairly accurate representations of the types of scales you see on test day. Granted they are standardized from the students that take them, but given that Kaplan prepares so many MCAT students, that should be accurate enough.</p>
<p>bigredmed....i found the AAMC stuff more usefull and more like the real thing than any kaplan material i ever used. For starters the kaplan physics sections are consistently ridiculously hard and were discouraging as hell for me but when i did the AAMC practices i got a better idea of how it actually is.....and after taking the MCAT I would say that that physics section was more like the AAMC practice than the kaplan ones. The curves also tend to be more realistic....on the MCAT you need about a 72% in physics to get a 10 but on some of the kaplan physics sections from the full lengths i would get a 10 with a 56%. I understand they want to make the tests harder blah blah blah....but that is just making it unrealistic. </p>
<p>As for verbal, the higher scores are usually alot harder to achieve....for example the AAMC practice from last year (practice test 8) you could get up to 7 wrong and get a 12 or 13 wrong for a 10. </p>
<p>Also, bigredmed....kaplan really pushes the AAMC practices and urged us to go check them out at least once. 3R is a very old one which i didnt even bother touching....i would suggest that, when you get to actually studying for the mcat, use 5R through 8, though this advice i'm sure will be useless after the august administration.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, I'm a little concerned about the future computer based MCATs, after they change it, how are future MCAT takers supposed to practice taking tests. I mean, will Kaplan have to create simulated MCATs on the computer so that we can replicate test taking conditions?</p>
<p>What if we want to practice at home, what can we do then?</p>
<p>I've found some of the Kaplan curves (and tests) to be highly unrealistic. I had some of the old PT's and for one of them you could miss 26 on the PS section and still get an 11???!!!</p>
<p>do you guys have any recomended mcat books to buy?</p>
<p>Actually, NCG, the PS section really is that hard, if I recall correctly.</p>
<p>And william, my understanding is that most verbal sections do not have that generous a curve. When you start having higher scores, my rule of thumb - and I might have been wrong, I don't really know, but it seemed to work for me - was that each question missed on VR would cost you a point on the MCAT.</p>
<p>thats only when we'r talking about 13, 14 and 15....some VR sections i have seen it was even impossible to get a 15....if u got every question right u would get a 14.</p>
<p>Was that only on Kaplan tests, or were there some AAMC tests that refused to give 15s at all?</p>
<p>i think i distinctly remember a BS section on an AAMC practice that did not award any 15s....dont remember the specifics though.</p>
<p>I'd have been very frustrated had I missed nothing and not gotten a perfect score! Whoa.</p>
<p>hey everyone, i have a question esp. for those preparing/have taken the mcat:</p>
<p>how much evolution/neural stuff is on the test? i need to make up my mind about courses and am still trying to decide between evolution or vertebrate physiology (mainly the neural part)</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>Not very much of either appears, but some of each is there.</p>
<p>However, animal physiology in GENERAL appears a great deal. Take that one. Plus it's more useful for when you actually get into med school.</p>
<p>The evolution stuff is pretty minimal - a little bit of Hardy-Weinberg, little bit of just the general concepts (ie Natural selection - survival of the fittest). If you have had an intro bio course and a course in genetics, you've probably covered the topic throughly enough.</p>
<p>I can't think of any neuro stuff that is on the MCAT or in Kaplan's prep stuff (though I don't usually teach the bio portions). Main physio topics are hormones, renal physio, muscle action, some cardio and little bit of acid/base/blood buffer sort of things. BDM is correct in animal phys being more important, both on test day and in the M1 year.</p>
<p>Thanks for many valuable inputs.</p>
<p>Verbal MCAT is my most concerned and had no idea before.</p>
<p>I took another two verbal tests yesterday and today. One is from 5R with 11 (50/60) and Princeton Review 12 (52/60).</p>
<p>The reason I took MCAT verbal tests as a high school senior is to help me to gauge and decide which college I will go for next four years now. The choice is between Princeton and a BA/MD combined program. Besides the attractiveness of four exceptional undergraduate study at princeton as discussed in many other threads, I want to know if I have a good chance to go first tier (top 25) medical schools from princeton several years later. I know the entry to medical schools is a different game and no one can be guaranteed.</p>
<p>Looks my current MCAT verbal scores fall in 11 range (without preparation but I prepared well for my SAT's during high school years), hopefully two and half year later I could be stable at 12+s. For science part, I am generally confident to shoot at 13s.</p>
<p>From my experiences, MCAT verbal passages are more broad knowledge based, longer and questions are somewhat different. Interestingly, some questions are involved with some logic inferences, implying, and numeral numbers deductions from passages (not directly). This will probably benefit science and logic reasoning students. Otherwise, format is quite similiar with SATs but hard. It took me to have no minutes left at all to barely finish all the questions in all three tests vs I uaually had 5+ minutes left in 25 minutes SAT passages. However, I do believe there are some correlations between SAT and MCAT.</p>
<p>I am pretty much decided now to go Princeton and give up a very good BA/MD program with full scholarship including tuition, room and board for shooting a first tier reseach medical schools. Sometime I just wonder if it is unrealistic.</p>
<p>My Stat: SAT 2370(V800 <750, 800>, 800, 770), Math2 800, Physics 800. Mbio 790, National Merit Finalist (232).</p>