what to do? big drop from practice scores, but still a really good score

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>I'm really trying not to be an ass about this, but I do want to get a lot of people's opinions.</p>

<p>I'm debating if it is worth my time to retake the MCAT after getting a 36. I know this is a very good score, so please read this through before replying. First off, I want to go to an MSTP MD/PhD program, which have higher standards than straight MD, but more importantly, this score represents a huge drop in performance from my practice scores.</p>

<p>I did the Kaplan program, got a 30 on the diagnostic, and then the seven full lengths that I took came out like this (in the order I took them): 33, 37, 40, 38, 41, 41, 44. The final practice test was the sunday before I took the MCAT (test day was friday).</p>

<p>The test felt a little harder than I expected, but I figured that meant instead of a 44 or 45, I was looking at a 40 or 41. I really couldn't think of that many questions that I could have gotten wrong. This is what bothers me the most. Even though I scored so much higher on Kaplan, the fact is that I didn't feel like I struggled that much, so maybe Kaplan was just a poor predictor of my success.</p>

<p>Is a 36 simply good enough that my time would be better spent elsewhere, or does the fact that I scored 8 points higher than that on my final practice test mean I should try again?</p>

<p>Kaplan said don't retake, but I feel like they're biased because obviously I would take them up on their "satisfaction guarantee" which after hearing them tell me I obviously got over a 40, I'm not satisifed now that the score is actually out. My pre-med adviser said "don't worry about it, everyone scores lower on the real test than in practice" and I'm about 95% sure that is totally false, so I don't know how much faith I can put in him.</p>

<p>Thoughts?</p>

2

<p>I don't think it's a matter of "everyone scores less on the real thing", unless you're talking nerves. I do think there's just an element of luck to it, I know they adjust the curve to make all administrations "equal" but we all know there are some versions that we'll do better on, and when you're talking very high scores where it's basically a point off per question, you're going to vary a lot. It's unfortunate and you could probably do a lot better on another test, but then you might not, and how would it look to retake and get two 36s?</p>

<p>Also, almost everyone I've talked to says that Kaplan overpredicts. Their material is a lot harder so it's a great way to prepare, but because they make their curve so generous to compensate I have a feeling it's nowhere near as "accurate" as the AAMC exams. SDN had done a survey with people's practice exams for AAMC, Kaplan, and TPR - AAMC was more accurate than the other two.</p>

3

<p>Your scores were basically in the 37-40 range (if you throw out the outliers). You got a 36. The 36 is not a fluke and is basically in line with the rest of your practice test scores. There's no reason to retake.</p>

4

<p>The data from AAMC:</a> MCAT: Applicants/Matriculants and Retesters Data Tables suggests that you're unlikely to do significantly better. I'd take the 36 and get on with my application.</p>

5

<p>All I have read is the subject line so far: intuitively, I would tell you to leave it alone. Drops from practice scores are not only normal but expected, and it's unlikely you'd get a major boost from a retake.</p>

<hr>

<p>Now that I've read the whole post:</p>

<p>--NCG is ON THE MONEY. That's like saying one good game batting 5-for-5 means a .350 average on the season would be worth redoing. You have one outlying score; everything else is consistent.</p>

<p>--
[quote]
My pre-med adviser said "don't worry about it, everyone scores lower on the real test than in practice" and I'm about 95% sure that is totally false, so I don't know how much faith I can put in him.

[/quote]
This is utterly and completely true. Obviously not "everyone," but almost everyone drops relative to Kaplan or AAMC scores. I have seen several of my friends drop five points on one section alone.</p>

6

<p>A couple of thoughts...</p>

<p>1) The 44 should set off warning bells for you that there was no way you were going to score that high on the real thing...do we really need to go over the stats and the frequency of how often there are scores >42? It would have been reasonable for you to walk in thinking "39". The fact that it was harder, you should have thought, "maybe a 37". But your actual thought process borders on lunacy.</p>

<p>2) The fact that this seemed "a little harder" to me screams that you got thrown a few topics that were not your strongest. Everyone has weaknesses no matter how awesome they are across the board. Part of getting a great MCAT score is luck in the topics that show up. While the test itself is about critical thinking, the subjects are the vehicle to test that, and comfort with the topics makes it easier to cut through the distractors and really get at the heart of the question.</p>

<p>3) There's no mention of nerves, but they always come into play. Some people manage them and do better on test day then they do on practice exams, others don't. My guess (from my experience as a kaplan instructor) is that because you had been doing so well on the practice exams, you weren't fully bought into the 2nd C of Kaplan's MCAT teachings: Crisis Management. I'm not saying you had a meltdown, just that the slightly increased difficulty might have been enough to alter your performance from an ability to perform sort of angle.</p>

<p>4) It's not surprising that you can't think of that many questions you got wrong or had trouble with - you handled the overwhelming majority of the test with tremendous ease...when you get that high on the scores, one question this way or that way makes a difference.</p>

<p>5) Bottom line, it's still a damn good score and it (by itself) won't keep you out of any school, and it (almost by itself) will put you into a great many schools. Remember the admissions game is about getting in somewhere first then worrying about where you go if you have multiple options...</p>

7

<p>thanks guys. I didn't really take into account the fact that the 44 was only ONE score. I just assumed that with only seven tests and the fact that each one was taken after more and more prep, the one that was 5 days before the test should receieve a little more weight. I have heard what people said about Kaplan tests, I myself recall thinking after a few of them "this many wrong is still a 15?"</p>

<p>With regard to what my pre-med adviser said. Maybe the MCAT is a different enough beast, but I know for every other standardized test I've ever taken (SAT I, 6 diff SATIIs, and 5 APs-although with only 5 possible scores, these don't really count), my test day score was ALWAYS my highest score, which is why I was so shocked at the dip, especially since I hadn't seen a score that low since my first month of studying.</p>

8

<p>I don't know the curve now but back when I took it, the difference b/w a 36 and a 39 was approx. 8 questions...out of 214. That's only a 4% difference.</p>

9

<p>there are only 144 questions now</p>

10

<p>36 is fantastic....there's absolutely no need to retake.</p>

11

<p>Similar thing happened to me, I was scoring 38-41 on most of my practice tests, and got a 35R on the real thing. No way I'm going to retake.</p>

12

<p>Did you really think that a 45 was ever possible, seriously? I've heard from several sources that a 45 has never been done. I personally scored a 41 on my MCAT, and my Kaplan scores were 32, 39, and then everything between 40-43.</p>