Should I take AAMC 3 (Diagnostic) before cracking an MCAT book?

[Rop]

I am shooting for the April 11th MCAT.
Goal score: 25 or higher. That's the MCAT score my early assurance program requires.
Should I take AAMC 3 (Diagnostic) before cracking an MCAT book or should I take it after content review?

Also helpful:
1. What was your MCAT diagnostic before content review?
2. What was your MCAT afterwards?
3. How long did you study for?

I am exclusively using TPR subject books for content review and TPR Hyperlearning Science and Verbal workbooks for passage/discrete question practice. (I am poor and these were given to me by a friend). I will study 23 hrs/week (taking 18 hrs of classes) and work through these Hyperlearning books as much as I possibly can. Are these TPR review materials sufficient?

I will also buy 3 or 4 AAMC FLs to take periodically throughout my 11 weeks of studying.

Thanks!

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[IlyaR]

Absolutely not. That would be a waste of an FL. Since the MCAT emphasizes a shallow knowledge of a very broad variety of subjects, no single FL would be a good "diagnosis" until you do a thorough content review. Taking the FLs allows you to develop an intuition for AAMC style questions, and is arguably the most helpful part of studying. Definitely save them for the very end

 

[tennisalex]

I would agree with IlyaR's statement. Doing so would just waste good practice material. I would also like to add that taking a diagnostic exam is a waste of time before any studying has been done for the reasons listed in this thread by SN2ed.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/why-diagnostic-tests-are-worthless.557231/

Study your content and practice with passages. Don't crack open an AAMC full length until you feel you are actually ready to begin the next step in your studying.

 

[BestDoctorEver]

I am shooting for the April 11th MCAT.
Goal score: 25 or higher. That's the MCAT score my early assurance program requires.
Should I take AAMC 3 (Diagnostic) before cracking an MCAT book or should I take it after content review?

Also helpful:
1. What was your MCAT diagnostic before content review?
2. What was your MCAT afterwards?
3. How long did you study for?

I am exclusively using TPR subject books for content review and TPR Hyperlearning Science and Verbal workbooks for passage/discrete question practice. (I am poor and these were given to me by a friend). I will study 23 hrs/week (taking 18 hrs of classes) and work through these Hyperlearning books as much as I possibly can. Are these TPR review materials sufficient?

I will also buy 3 or 4 AAMC FLs to take periodically throughout my 11 weeks of studying.

Thanks!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[Rop]

Thanks for the heads up everyone. I just realized the limited amount of practice AAMC FLs available to the public @ $35 a pop.

 

[Atticum]

I'm going to completely disagree with everyone.

Personally, I studied for the test. Yeah, the knowledge too, but my entire focus was on the TEST. And to do that, you need to know what the test is like. You need a feel for it. The way they present the passages, the different kinds of answer choices... it will give you an invaluable glimpse into the minds of the test takers.

I think the exposure alone helps you approach the test prep material in a more meaningful way.

There are 8 FL AAMC practice tests. I know you say you are poor. I encourage you to do whatever you can to earn the 7x$35 to buy those practice tests. You should do them all before you take the MCAT. In fact, you should do at least one of them twice.

You will be overwhelmed by the test right now. It will feel like you got punched in the face. That's fine. You can learn from that.

 

[Rop]

I'm going to completely disagree with everyone.

Personally, I studied for the test. Yeah, the knowledge too, but my entire focus was on the TEST. And to do that, you need to know what the test is like. You need a feel for it. The way they present the passages, the different kinds of answer choices... it will give you an invaluable glimpse into the minds of the test takers.

I think the exposure alone helps you approach the test prep material in a more meaningful way.

There are 8 FL AAMC practice tests. I know you say you are poor. I encourage you to do whatever you can to earn the 7x$35 to buy those practice tests. You should do them all before you take the MCAT. In fact, you should do at least one of them twice.

You will be overwhelmed by the test right now. It will feel like you got punched in the face. That's fine. You can learn from that.

Thanks for your insight. Your reasoning is the exact reason why I initially asked the question. How long did you study for? Also, do you mind sharing your FL scores improvement trend and actual MCAT score?

 

[Cmdr_Shepard]

Atticum is sorta correct. Gaining familiarity with the structure of the test is important and doing a FL will help with that. However, I think you have plenty of time to review content before taking your first FL such that you can learn what you need from the FL in time for test day. There's no rush at this point to take a FL for the specific purpose of gaining familiarity with the test.

If you indeed want to do a FL, AAMC 3 is the one to do since it's easiest and free. I would buy all the tests from the AAMC as well.

If you want my practice scores and real score just PM me.