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Hello people of SDN. I've come to seek your wisdom regarding my scores on 3rd party exams.
For context: I'm currently scheduled to test on May 1. I'm applying in this coming cycle. My target score is 515.
I've taken 7 practice exams so far (around 1 every weekend), and here are the score breakdowns:
Looking at these scores, it feels like my progress is beginning to stagnate. I'm consistently getting ~40 questions correct in the science sections, and I know I need to increase that to ~50 correct. In CARS, I'm consistently getting in the high 30's correct; I know I need to increase that to mid 40's. Though I know that no 3rd party CARS is very representative, so I'm mainly focusing on the other 3 sections.
I've done ~500/2000 UWorld questions and have not touched any AAMC content.
I've got 2 main questions:
1. Will I be ready for an official AAMC FL in around 2 weeks? Or should I hold off and continue taking 3rd party exams?
2. Any tips on how to approach studying going forward? I'm trying to figure out why I'm stagnating because, of course, doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of madness. I'm thinking I should ram through as much UWorld as possible in the next 2 weeks, take one official AAMC, and then reassess and potentially switch over to AAMC content. Though I'm willing to shell out the money for a prep course if that would be helpful.
I definitely want to test in the month of May, as that's the latest possible for this upcoming cycle.
Thank you for reading! If you have any other comments/recommendations, I'd love to hear them.
For context: I'm currently scheduled to test on May 1. I'm applying in this coming cycle. My target score is 515.
I've taken 7 practice exams so far (around 1 every weekend), and here are the score breakdowns:
| Total score | C/P | CARS | B/B | P/S | |
| Kaplan FL1 | 504 | 125 | 126 | 126 | 127 |
| Kaplan FL2 | 508 | 126 | 127 | 127 | 128 |
| Kaplan FL3 | 506 | 127 | 128 | 124 | 127 |
| Blueprint FL1 | 509 | 127 | 126 | 128 | 128 |
| Blueprint FL2 | 512 | 128 | 127 | 129 | 128 |
| Blueprint FL3 | 510 | 127 | 126 | 128 | 129 |
| Blueprint FL4 | 509 | 128 | 126 | 127 | 128 |
Looking at these scores, it feels like my progress is beginning to stagnate. I'm consistently getting ~40 questions correct in the science sections, and I know I need to increase that to ~50 correct. In CARS, I'm consistently getting in the high 30's correct; I know I need to increase that to mid 40's. Though I know that no 3rd party CARS is very representative, so I'm mainly focusing on the other 3 sections.
I've done ~500/2000 UWorld questions and have not touched any AAMC content.
I've got 2 main questions:
1. Will I be ready for an official AAMC FL in around 2 weeks? Or should I hold off and continue taking 3rd party exams?
2. Any tips on how to approach studying going forward? I'm trying to figure out why I'm stagnating because, of course, doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of madness. I'm thinking I should ram through as much UWorld as possible in the next 2 weeks, take one official AAMC, and then reassess and potentially switch over to AAMC content. Though I'm willing to shell out the money for a prep course if that would be helpful.
I definitely want to test in the month of May, as that's the latest possible for this upcoming cycle.
Thank you for reading! If you have any other comments/recommendations, I'd love to hear them.
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