Best (Most Realistic) Practice Tests

[medbunny56]

Hi guys!

I'm taking the exam on May 6th and I was looking to purchase some more Practice Tests (besides for the AAMC scored and unscored). If anyone has any feedback on NS, EK or Kaplan I would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance

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[NecrotizingFasciitis]

I took the AAMC one and did pretty well. I took the EK FL1 and lost lots of confidence. Very difficult.

 

[salemstein]

Yea EK really gets you thinking. Haven't taken the new MCAT yet, but compared to the old it definitely is more involved than the real thing.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I'd confidently add our (BR) exams to the list of great resources. We don't get the volume of posts we did before the exam changed, but the recent feedback about our exams has been very good.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

There is a free 1/2-length exam on our website. You can review/criticize it and decide for yourself. AAMC is the standard, so look at tests from any company in terms of how they compare side-by-side to AAMC.

 

[banana_phone]

I've taken 4 NextStep exams, 4 EK exams, and 1 TPR exam. The NS and EK exams are fantastic, in my opinion. Both are challenging are contain passages written in the same style as the AAMC exam (I've only taken the unscored sample)

They are challenging (much harder than the unscored) but encourage critical thinking like AAMC. The NS format is much more representative of the AAMC tests. EK has a strange layout that presents all questions for a passage on one page (don't like that), and doesn't give you scores, just raw % correct. If you have any other questions let me know!

I did not like the TPR exam. Avoid!

 

[arlo]

I've taken 4 NextStep exams, 4 EK exams, and 1 TPR exam. The NS and EK exams are fantastic, in my opinion. Both are challenging are contain passages written in the same style as the AAMC exam (I've only taken the unscored sample)

They are challenging (much harder than the unscored) but encourage critical thinking like AAMC. The NS format is much more representative of the AAMC tests. EK has a strange layout that presents all questions for a passage on one page (don't like that), and doesn't give you scores, just raw % correct. If you have any other questions let me know!

I did not like the TPR exam. Avoid!

How did you feel about the scoring? Did you get around the same score range for EK and NS? I did the free kaplan FLs and my scores have been depressingly low while my unscored AAMC percent correct was a lot higher than what I averaged on Kaplan.

 

[LordH]

I'd confidently add our (BR) exams to the list of great resources. We don't get the volume of posts we did before the exam changed, but the recent feedback about our exams has been very good.

Hi there, any consensus on which of your FLs was generally favored by students? Has there been an update to them since their initial release?

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

What percent were you scoring on ek?

 

[banana_phone]

How did you feel about the scoring? Did you get around the same score range for EK and NS? I did the free kaplan FLs and my scores have been depressingly low while my unscored AAMC percent correct was a lot higher than what I averaged on Kaplan.

Both tests were hard. Its difficult to say about the scoring for EK, as its just percentage correct. Looking at raw data from NS and EK, my score ranges were about the same. I did WAY better on the AAMC unscored, percentage wise.

I think the EK and NS tests are great practice, personally.

 

[Wannabedrgrey]

Both tests were hard. Its difficult to say about the scoring for EK, as its just percentage correct. Looking at raw data from NS and EK, my score ranges were about the same. I did WAY better on the AAMC unscored, percentage wise.

I think the EK and NS tests are great practice, personally.

If you don't mind can you give numbers?

 

[Moose A Moose]

Hi guys!

I'm taking the exam on May 6th and I was looking to purchase some more Practice Tests (besides for the AAMC scored and unscored). If anyone has any feedback on NS, EK or Kaplan I would really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance

AAMC were the best back when I tok the MCAT, but I used Kaplan as well.

 

[TXhopeful]

Here's a little compilation of advice from the 509+ forum:

One user's ranking:
1. EK 4 (best test not made by AAMC)
2. EK 1-3
3. Kaplan 1-3

Another user:
Next Step (pretty good)
TPR (way harder than the real thing)
EK (harder than the real thing, but pretty good!)

 

[popopopop]

It blows my mind how people are still recommending EK. EK exams aren't even the same format as the new test. Next Step all the way and I know I sound like a broken record.

 

[Gurby]

It blows my mind how people are still recommending EK. EK exams aren't even the same format as the new test. Next Step all the way and I know I sound like a broken record.

Format seems a lot less important to me than content of the questions?

 

[popopopop]

Format seems a lot less important to me than content of the questions?

It is, but when the timer in EK is not even the same position as AAMC, it's a bit annoying. I feel EK is more in the style as the older MCAT, not like the 2015 at all. I've done tests from both companies, just throwing out my opinion. NS has free sample tests at least, so users can make their own decisions.

 

[Gurby]

It is, but when the timer in EK is not even the same position as AAMC, it's a bit annoying. I feel EK is more in the style as the older MCAT, not like the 2015 at all. I've done tests from both companies, just throwing out my opinion. NS has free sample tests at least, so users can make their own decisions.

More egregious IMO is the fact that it doesn't split up questions by section, just shows you your progress out of 230, making it much harder to gauge your pace through each section. I haaaaate the EK format. But am willing to put up with it if the passages are good.

 

[popopopop]

More egregious IMO is the fact that it doesn't split up questions by section, just shows you your progress out of 230, making it much harder to gauge your pace through each section. I haaaaate the EK format. But am willing to put up with it if the passages are good.

I almost forgot about that! For EK, you have to click next question a hundred times to get to the middle of the test.

Don't buy all 4 at the same time like I did. I would buy one EK, then try out NS to see if you like it. At least on NS, you can click "end section" or "next passage" to skip to where you left off reviewing.