Understanding how the AAMC PREview® professional readiness exam is scored can help you develop your study plan ahead of time. We recommend reading this article together with an AAMC PREview Practice Exam.
The PREview exam is a situational judgement test that gives you text-based scenarios presenting hypothetical dilemmas similar to what you may encounter in medical school or health professions training. After each scenario, you will be presented with several potential responses and you will be asked to rate the effectiveness of each response: very ineffective, ineffective, effective, or very effective.
The AAMC collaborates with subject matter experts – admissions officers, faculty, student affairs representatives, and others – who work closely with students and understand the expectations and responsibilities of future health care professionals. These experts determine the scoring key for each response for each scenario by strong consensus. The scoring “key” for a PREview exam item is the effectiveness rating that receives full credit.
You can receive full credit, half-credit, or no credit for each response rating that you select. Think of the scale as divided into two sides with very ineffective and ineffective on one side, and effective and very effective on the other side. If the rating you select matches the key, you will receive full credit. If the rating you select does not match the key, but your rating is on the same side of the scale as the key, you will receive half credit. If you chose a rating that is not on the same side of the scale as the scoring key, you will not receive any credit.
To fully prepare for the exam, we recommend becoming familiar with the competencies assessed within the exam. We also recommend using the free AAMC resources, including the preparation guide and two full-length practice exams.
Learn more about the PREview exam by visiting: www.aamc.org/preview.
For questions, contact us at askpreview@aamc.org.