The Official April MCAT 2015 Takers Thread

[emulsifier]

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Hey guys,

I've seen some old threads (from 2012, or early 2014) on the MCAT2015.

I am wondering if we can bring resources together here, discussions for those who are planning on taking the new one in or after April.

Has anyone gotten their hands on the new prep material for 2015, and the chance to compare the different companies? I scoured the internet, obviously not much at the moment. But I know someone out there has started, just need to get this info out!

Edit:
Resources mentioned in this thread or elsewhere:

• Free mini-test: AAMC MCAT 2015 12 sample questions and answer (3 x 4 sections)
  • http://offers.aamc.org/mcat2015-mini-test
• Next Step guide here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...e-mcat-2015-100-days-to-mcat-success.1101251/
• TPR 2015 books: They seem to be the same as their previous books. Their bio book has a chapter on biochem.
• Kaplan 2015 books: removed content that is not tested. Physics section is 400 pages (may be too much for the new MCAT). Very little practice. Whole book on biochem.
• EK 9th edition books: reformatted the whole book. SDNer reviewer has said that even parts with same illustrations have whole new contents. Got rid of topics that won't be tested. May be too condensed though.

 

[NaomiM]

@TexanProud I've gotten my access to the TPR practice exams too, but haven't tried them yet. Just curious how you'd compare them to the AAMC practice exam?

 

[otterxavier]

Anyone taken the free Kaplan diagnostic? How did it compare to other tests? I was surprised at how easy it was... the only section I struggled with was physical sciences, but the first passage was all about fluid dynamics and we are just covering that in my physics class now.

 

[TexanProud]

@TexanProud I've gotten my access to the TPR practice exams too, but haven't tried them yet. Just curious how you'd compare them to the AAMC practice exam?

I haven't done the AAMC one yet! waiting for the right time. probs in ~2 weeks. these PR ones are good practice though for sure! I'm breaking them up by section (only doing the science sections)

 

[theshorttimer]

For anyone who bought/has the 8 Princeton Review full length exams (or the Kaplan exams)- - Do you have any thoughts of how they compare to the AAMC practice test? And how are you scoring on them? I have yet to get above 502

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Anyone taken the free Kaplan diagnostic? How did it compare to other tests? I was surprised at how easy it was... the only section I struggled with was physical sciences, but the first passage was all about fluid dynamics and we are just covering that in my physics class now.

Wow. I took the Kaplan diagnostic and thought it was SIGNIFICANTLY harder than the AAMC MCAT2015 sample test. For reference, I scored a 90% on the PS section of the AAMC and a 68% on the Kaplan one.

 

[Levrone]

Anyone take the TPR exams yet? I did the TPR demo after content review but before doing passages (6 weeks ago) and I did TPR complete exam 1 yesterday (after doing around 500 passages). Did not do well even after like 700 hrs of study already 🙁
(complete 1 CARS score was pretty bad, usually I do well in CARS but there were a couple passages where I felt I didn't understand one thing after reading the passage lol.

 

[Sir.SavaLottaLife]

Anyone take the TPR exams yet? I did the TPR demo after content review but before doing passages (6 weeks ago) and I did TPR complete exam 1 yesterday (after doing around 500 passages). Did not do well even after like 700 hrs of study already 🙁
(complete 1 CARS score was pretty bad, usually I do well in CARS but there were a couple passages where I felt I didn't understand one thing after reading the passage lol.

I did TPR complete exam 1. Got a 500 (go figure), but that was just after I started my content review.
My CARS score was a 124, I did pretty well on most passages but I bombed a couple of them lol. I remember feeling the same way you did though.
Although I had no psyc or sociology content whatsoever I managed to get a 125 on the section just off reasoning/common sense alone. I felt like the AAMC questions from the official guide were even more reasoning based and less content based than TPR.

 

[TexanProud]

I did TPR complete exam 1. Got a 500 (go figure), but that was just after I started my content review.
My CARS score was a 124, I did pretty well on most passages but I bombed a couple of them lol. I remember feeling the same way you did though.
Although I had no psyc or sociology content whatsoever I managed to get a 125 on the section just off reasoning/common sense alone. I felt like the AAMC questions from the official guide were even more reasoning based and less content based than TPR.

I agree the psyche section can easily come down to reasoning, but to get the better end of the curve, I'm going to make sure I know all those terms! Got a 127 on TPR 1, shooting for 128+. This is to outweigh my (not so hot) PS section. Scored 124 on it today and I was happy. Non-science major here, clearly. Hehe.

 

[Affiche]

Hi all! I'm registered for April 17th. Just took the AAMC Sample test.

PS section...oh lawd.

It seems like the content-based physics questions are MUCH easier that the old MCAT...you can basically get by with knowing your formulas (but I seem to keep forgetting those haha).

Did anyone else panic after taking this test?

PS working full-time and studying for this is...not my cup of tea lol.

 

[Winger]

Hi all! I'm registered for April 17th. Just took the AAMC Sample test.

PS section...oh lawd.

It seems like the content-based physics questions are MUCH easier that the old MCAT...you can basically get by with knowing your formulas (but I seem to keep forgetting those haha).

Did anyone else panic after taking this test?

PS working full-time and studying for this is...not my cup of tea lol.

that's good for someone like me to hear the physics is much easier. YESSS. I'm taking the AAMC next Friday so we'll see how it goes.

ouch sorry to hear about working full time AND studying. I cut my hours back this month (luckily the job is flexible). only one month left of torture though! gotta pull through so we don't have to retake.

 

[Young741]

Can someone please suggest a useable CARS review book? I need a lot more practice, and I've been using EK's old 101 Verbal book, which I've found to be not as helpful (I feel like).

 

[allantois]

Can someone please suggest a useable CARS review book? I need a lot more practice, and I've been using EK's old 101 Verbal book, which I've found to be not as helpful (I feel like).

TPR Hyperlearning, Next Step CARS book, AAMC question packs for CARS, KTP has 3 section tests, I believe, if you buy their book.

 

[wagonwheel23]

Hi all! I hope everyone's studying is going well... I'm holding down a full time job (at a hectic startup no less) while trying to study for this beast, but I think it's going moderately ok. I'm most concerned about not knowing how % correct converts to an actual score, since I was hoping to use a practice score a few days before to decide if I'm ready for the exam. However, it seems like that is a bit of a pipe dream, so I'll take the test, hope for the best, and pray a bit that admissions committees will be more forgiving with the new MCAT.

My AAMC practice about 4 weeks ago was fine, I think. CARS was 90%, Behavioral was 60%, Bio was 60-70%, and PS was 35% (questionable, I know. But I've improved on practice questions). I've started doing the PS questions on Khan Academy to improve, but they seem far off from what I've seen on the AAMC test and practice questions. Has anyone else done them? If so, have you found them helpful?

Thanks!

 

[Affiche]

I think the Khan Academy passages for the bio/biochem section are moderately helpful. I like doing them because they have individual passages that I can do during down time at work, allowing me to get practice in without having to commit to 1:35 section. I really don't like the passages from other sections compared to AAMC and I think if there were more resources available right now I wouldn't use these at all. Alas, I guess they're better than nothing lol.

I might sound crazy for suggesting this, but if anyone is looking to improve on CARS I HIGHLY suggest taking practice LSAT Reading Comp sections. I took the LSAT 2 years ago (much easier test for me) and the RC was killer to me back then, but after studying for that, the MCAT CARS/Verbal is pretty easy for me. I've heard it's the same writer for both exams, and the LSAT really taught me to read efficiently, look for the important information, and eliminate poor answer choices. Good luck!

 

[goodtime]

I think the Khan Academy passages for the bio/biochem section are moderately helpful. I like doing them because they have individual passages that I can do during down time at work, allowing me to get practice in without having to commit to 1:35 section. I really don't like the passages from other sections compared to AAMC and I think if there were more resources available right now I wouldn't use these at all. Alas, I guess they're better than nothing lol.

I might sound crazy for suggesting this, but if anyone is looking to improve on CARS I HIGHLY suggest taking practice LSAT Reading Comp sections. I took the LSAT 2 years ago (much easier test for me) and the RC was killer to me back then, but after studying for that, the MCAT CARS/Verbal is pretty easy for me. I've heard it's the same writer for both exams, and the LSAT really taught me to read efficiently, look for the important information, and eliminate poor answer choices. Good luck!

What books for the lsat RC would you recommend that will help for mcat cars. I'm looking for extra practice anyways as my test date is not in april

 

[Affiche]

What books for the lsat RC would you recommend that will help for mcat cars. I'm looking for extra practice anyways as my test date is not in april

I wouldn't buy a book, I would just buy the PDFs of prep tests from old exams and really review them thoroughly. From what I remember, you get 35 minutes to answer 27 questions, so you really have to learn to read passages in 2-3 minutes. I think lsatblog sells tests for pretty cheap, usually around $8 a test, but there may be other companies that sell bundles for cheaper (RC sections only). There's a free blog that I found via google searching that has detailed explanations of all previous LSAT tests, and reviewing is what I found helped the most.

The LSAT RC questions are MUCH more inference based and were more difficult for me than any MCAT passage so far, so if you can get used to reading those and answering LSAT questions, the only issue you should have with the CARS section is building endurance.

 

[NaomiM]

I wouldn't buy a book, I would just buy the PDFs of prep tests from old exams and really review them thoroughly. From what I remember, you get 35 minutes to answer 27 questions, so you really have to learn to read passages in 2-3 minutes. I think lsatblog sells them for pretty cheap, but there may be other companies that sell bundles for cheaper. There's a free blog that I found via google searching that has detailed explanations of all previous LSAT tests, and reviewing is what I found helped the most.

yay! I'm not the only person using the LSAT prep books for the VR/CARS section. I found my books on amazon. The series is called 10 New, Actual, Official LSAT Preptests... which doesn't sound weird at all... Thanks for sharing about the lsatblog. 🙂

 

[Affiche]

Yes! I forgot that they sell the pack of 10...those are great!

I found what helped me most was to read the passage quickly and make mental note in my head of what each paragraph was about (just a general phrase to summarize), while paying close attention to the author's opinion. After that, I would go back to the passage to answer almost any question. Usually, if you go off of memory alone, you will get it wrong. The only questions I don't refer back to the passage for are general questions, like "what is the main idea of this passage?" lol. Hope this helps someone!

 

[Affiche]

Did anyone else see material on the psych section of the AAMC Sample Test that they hadn't seen in study materials?

I used the Kaplan psych/soc book and there were a few content questions on material that just wasn't covered by Kaplan. Has me kind of worried....

 

[meant4med]

Did anyone else see material on the psych section of the AAMC Sample Test that they hadn't seen in study materials?

I used the Kaplan psych/soc book and there were a few content questions on material that just wasn't covered by Kaplan. Has me kind of worried....

What topics are you referring to?

 

[GEToutLADYits6AM]

Did anyone else see material on the psych section of the AAMC Sample Test that they hadn't seen in study materials?

I used the Kaplan psych/soc book and there were a few content questions on material that just wasn't covered by Kaplan. Has me kind of worried....

I heard tpr has all the content down pretty good

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Did anyone else see material on the psych section of the AAMC Sample Test that they hadn't seen in study materials?

I used the Kaplan psych/soc book and there were a few content questions on material that just wasn't covered by Kaplan. Has me kind of worried....

Yep - stuff on Mead. I vs. Me was not in EK or in Kaplan

 

[goodtime]

Yep - stuff on Mead. I vs. Me was not in EK or in Kaplan

Was it passage-based because it's not on the aamc outline either

 

[Affiche]

Yeah, it was the Mead "me" vs "I" stuff, world-system's theory (which could figure out the answer, but still hadn't seen it before), and some of the options for different types of intelligence. I think they were all discrete questions, not passage-based.

 

[TexanProud]

I used the EK psyche book and I feel like whenever I take a practice section (only taken TPR) there's content that is not in the EK book. Kinda frustrating because that means I'm missing easy discreet questions.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

Was it passage-based because it's not on the aamc outline either

It was discrete. I was able to get it right just by the sound of "I" vs. "me" (me sounds more like something in relation to others, while I sounds more like your true self), but it came from completely out of the blue, considering that neither Kaplan nor EK had made any mention of it.

 

[Winger]

Has anyone taken TPR practice tests? And AAMC for comparison? My TPR scores, mainly in the physics section, are so hit or miss; no continuity whatsoever. Wondering if anyone has faced the same thing.

 

[meant4med]

Has anyone taken TPR practice tests? And AAMC for comparison? My TPR scores, mainly in the physics section, are so hit or miss; no continuity whatsoever. Wondering if anyone has faced the same thing.

I've taken 2 Kaplan, and 1 TPR-- I am taking AAMC this weekend so I'll let you know.

Kaplan, I don't like them at all. The difference between my first Kaplan and TPR tests was 8 whole points (not that they know what scoring looks like because lets face it, even AAMC says they don't know). I have not found their tests helpful at all. To give an example, my Kaplan psych was 58%/67% for test 1/2 compared with 92% TPR.

Although I haven't taken AAMC practice test yet (like I said, I will this weekend), I have taken timed sessions of the AAMC question packs (since they are 120 questions, I typically start a 95 min timer on my laptop and do 60 questions--half the question set) and again, I don't feel like they are anything like Kaplan. As for TPR--these have been my comparisons between AAMC question sets and TPR demo test

CARS----- TPR 69.8% vs. AAMC question packs 1 (1-60, 61-120) and 2 (1-60) 61.6% (big shock because it was much different than TPR/Kaplan passages), 70%, 91%
Ch/P------TPR 61% vs. AAMC question packs chem (1-60) 79.7% and physics (1-60) 75%
B/BC------TPR 49.2% vs. AAMC bio 1 (1-60, 61-120) and bio 2 (1-60) 81.4%, 83.5%, 73.3%
Obviously no comparison with TPR psych since there is no question pack.

As you can see--there are some big differences--trend of AAMC being easier. Also, TPR is SOOOOOO long. Like too many passages and too long. I didn't get that feel with AAMC. Again though, this is based off of the question packs that have been reworked to reflect the new test.

 

[BAH94]

I am also interested in seeing how the AAMC compares to the TPR. I took the TPR demo test a couple of weeks ago and didn't score poorly but definitely not as high as I would have liked. I am going to do the AAMC practice questions soon and take the sample test in a couple weeks. I didn't want to take the sample test before I had finished most of my content review so I could get a good idea of where I stand going into the actual MCAT. From what you said it sounds like the TRP demo is harder than AAMC? That would definitely help me feel a lot better with where I stand.

 

[meant4med]

I am also interested in seeing how the AAMC compares to the TPR. I took the TPR demo test a couple of weeks ago and didn't score poorly but definitely not as high as I would have liked. I am going to do the AAMC practice questions soon and take the sample test in a couple weeks. I didn't want to take the sample test before I had finished most of my content review so I could get a good idea of where I stand going into the actual MCAT. From what you said it sounds like the TRP demo is harder than AAMC? That would definitely help me feel a lot better with where I stand.

Yes overall, that was what I felt. I've done much much better on AAMC stuff then TPR.

 

[Winger]

I've taken 2 Kaplan, and 1 TPR-- I am taking AAMC this weekend so I'll let you know.

Kaplan, I don't like them at all. The difference between my first Kaplan and TPR tests was 8 whole points (not that they know what scoring looks like because lets face it, even AAMC says they don't know). I have not found their tests helpful at all. To give an example, my Kaplan psych was 58%/67% for test 1/2 compared with 92% TPR.

Although I haven't taken AAMC practice test yet (like I said, I will this weekend), I have taken timed sessions of the AAMC question packs (since they are 120 questions, I typically start a 95 min timer on my laptop and do 60 questions--half the question set) and again, I don't feel like they are anything like Kaplan. As for TPR--these have been my comparisons between AAMC question sets and TPR demo test

CARS----- TPR 69.8% vs. AAMC question packs 1 (1-60, 61-120) and 2 (1-60) 61.6% (big shock because it was much different than TPR/Kaplan passages), 70%, 91%
Ch/P------TPR 61% vs. AAMC question packs chem (1-60) 79.7% and physics (1-60) 75%
B/BC------TPR 49.2% vs. AAMC bio 1 (1-60, 61-120) and bio 2 (1-60) 81.4%, 83.5%, 73.3%
Obviously no comparison with TPR psych since there is no question pack.

As you can see--there are some big differences--trend of AAMC being easier. Also, TPR is SOOOOOO long. Like too many passages and too long. I didn't get that feel with AAMC. Again though, this is based off of the question packs that have been reworked to reflect the new test.

Thanks for the in-depth response! 9-10 passages/section is seeming to be the norm for TPR. Not sure if it will be that way with AAMC. Also, it seems to me like TPR just threw these practice exams together, -- they are RAMPANT with spelling errors, grammatical errors, very slow and on multiple occasions, they have lost some of my answers. I will go to score the exam and 5 questions will have been left blank when I knew I answered them. Overall, not happy with them, but it's all I've got.

 

[Winger]

@meant4med are the practice questions discreet or passages?

 

[meant4med]

@meant4med are the practice questions discreet or passages?

they're both, so i typically do 59 or 60 questions in one sitting under 95 minutes, depending on whether the last passage ends at 59 or not.

It's not perfect but its AAMC stuff, so basically by treating the question packs this way, that's 4 bio sections, 4 CARS sections, 2 physics sections, and 2 chem sections extra from AAMC.

 

[Winger]

they're both, so i typically do 59 or 60 questions in one sitting under 95 minutes, depending on whether the last passage ends at 59 or not.

It's not perfect but its AAMC stuff, so basically by treating the question packs this way, that's 4 bio sections, 4 CARS sections, 2 physics sections, and 2 chem sections extra from AAMC.

ohh ok. seems legit. i'll probably make the purchase. enough TPR for me.

 

[Affiche]

The Kaplan practice tests are terrible. They do not seem comparable to the AAMC tests at all.

Kaplan seems to test on very fine details whereas AAMC seems to test of broader concepts and synthesis of info from passages. Because of Kaplan, I was overwhelmed with material and felt incredibly defeated after their exams. AAMC exams and the khan passages on weak areas seems to be helping me most.

 

[allantois]

Any comments on FLs from other companies? NS?

 

[whitemagic]

I paid the $100 for NS 3 FL package and took the NS #1 today. Holy **** was it hard. My average statistics for all 8 FL Princeton over the past 6 weeks are: PS 127, VR 126, BS 129, PSY/SOC 130, for a cumulative total of 512. On this NS, I got 125, 125, 128, 128. For a grand total of 506. Holy hell. I was also really out of it because I had horrible back pain, but my overall evaluation is this: the physics on this test was insanely hard. AAMC would never ask questions like that. VR wasn't terrible I just sucked at it. BS again wasn't hard, but I did much worse than I thought. PSY was on par with other test prep companies. Overall, they repeated 3 entire passages VERBATIM from another TPR exam I took last week (even with the exact same answer choices verbatim), so I'm pretty sure one of those companies are plaigarizing the **** out of the other and that a lawsuit will probably start soon. Cheers!

 

[med_bound4]

@xyphr deny it all you want, but you totally inflated those numbers.

 

[whitemagic]

@med_bound4 lol you made an account just to tell me this? Just so you know, PS 127, VR 126, BS 129, PSY/SOC 130 is the equivalent of PS: 10, VR: 9, BS 12. That only adds up to a 31 on the old scale. You're an idiot. If I was trying to make myself look good I'd give myself much higher numbers than a 31.

 

[nonamechemist]

@xyphr deny it all you want, but you totally inflated those numbers.

Why?

 

[nonamechemist]

@med_bound4 lol you made an account just to tell me this? Just so you know, PS 127, VR 126, BS 129, PSY/SOC 130 is the equivalent of PS: 10, VR: 9, BS 12. That only adds up to a 31 on the old scale. You're an idiot. If I was trying to make myself look good I'd give myself much higher numbers than a 31.

Any tips? Seems I can't break 70-75%! Ugh

 

[whitemagic]

@nonamechemist I took the old MCAT in the Fall and scored a 27. Since then I've had a chip on my shoulder and have been going balls to the wall for the past 3-4 months, slowly getting there. My advice is to just keep your head up! Sometimes these things just take a little time

 

[TexanProud]

@nonamechemist I took the old MCAT in the Fall and scored a 27. Since then I've had a chip on my shoulder and have been going balls to the wall for the past 3-4 months, slowly getting there. My advice is to just keep your head up! Sometimes these things just take a little time

what exactly is balls to the wall? 6 hours a day? that's what i'm trying to bump it up to until D day

you have been averaging good scores, way better than my TPR

 

[popKP753l]

I haven't taken psych/soc or biochem classes. I'm also weak on bio. Which test prep book is best for psych/soc and biochem/bio and is very useful in preparation for the aamc practice tests and question packs?

 

[neuropanic]

The Kaplan practice tests are terrible. They do not seem comparable to the AAMC tests at all.

Kaplan seems to test on very fine details whereas AAMC seems to test of broader concepts and synthesis of info from passages. Because of Kaplan, I was overwhelmed with material and felt incredibly defeated after their exams. AAMC exams and the khan passages on weak areas seems to be helping me most.

I've been getting destroyed by Kaplan's practice tests, and it's pretty discouraging. Did you take the AAMC sample test or how are you making your comparison?? There's not much practice material since unfortunately AAMC took away all the old Full-Lengths - I would have still liked to use those as basis of how AAMC asks the questions instead of relying on Kaplan. Anyone have any other insights?

 

[Affiche]

I've been getting destroyed by Kaplan's practice tests, and it's pretty discouraging. Did you take the AAMC sample test or how are you making your comparison?? There's not much practice material since unfortunately AAMC took away all the old Full-Lengths - I would have still liked to use those as basis of how AAMC asks the questions instead of relying on Kaplan. Anyone have any other insights?

I had originally planned to take the January test, so I had the old Kaplan course and the old AAMC materials. I noticed that I did much better on AAMC sections from tests 8-11 on every single subject compared to Kaplan (except verbal was probably close to equal). I would take an AAMC section and feel like I had a lot of work to do, but that I could do it. In contrast, I would take a Kaplan test and think, "do we really need to know THIS much detail about EVERY topic?! I'm never going to do well" and feel completely hopeless and overwhelmed, even though a very generous curve gave me an okay score.

It seems like a similar trend for 2015 Kaplan vs AAMC. I took both the Sample Test and Guide to Questions from AAMC and while I do need to keep studying up until D-day, I feel like I'm in an okay place. Actually, most of the questions I got wrong were because I missed something in a passage, not because I didn't know material. In contrast, I went back to Kaplan after I used those two released AAMC tests and I BOMBED my practice test lol. Like, around 50% on sections vs 80's on the AAMC sections haha. The anxiety I feel from taking Kaplan tests is crippling, so I've stopped using Kaplan's tests completely.

I'm really just going for the equivalent of a 30-32 MCAT score, so I won't pretend to be a genius of all things MCAT, but for what it's worth this is what I've been using and has helped me the most:

Kaplan books, AAMC sample test and guide to questions and
Chemistry: EK 1001 questions
Physics: EK 1001 questions
Organic: nothing, I tutored this all through college. I made flashcards of the 2-3 mechanisms my school didn't cover + lab techniques
Verbal: LSAT reading comprehension passages, nothing else
Bio: old AAMC bio passages + Khan academy passages on weak areas
Biochem: Khan academy passages on weak areas
Psych: flashcards on terms

 

[Levrone]

I paid the $100 for NS 3 FL package and took the NS #1 today. Holy **** was it hard. My average statistics for all 8 FL Princeton over the past 6 weeks are: PS 127, VR 126, BS 129, PSY/SOC 130, for a cumulative total of 512. On this NS, I got 125, 125, 128, 128. For a grand total of 506. Holy hell. I was also really out of it because I had horrible back pain, but my overall evaluation is this: the physics on this test was insanely hard. AAMC would never ask questions like that. VR wasn't terrible I just sucked at it. BS again wasn't hard, but I did much worse than I thought. PSY was on par with other test prep companies. Overall, they repeated 3 entire passages VERBATIM from another TPR exam I took last week (even with the exact same answer choices verbatim), so I'm pretty sure one of those companies are plaigarizing the **** out of the other and that a lawsuit will probably start soon. Cheers!

how are you averaging 13s in psych? what did you do to practice? just memorize everything? ar you getting similar scores with aamc/khan?

 

[neuropanic]

I had originally planned to take the January test, so I had the old Kaplan course and the old AAMC materials. I noticed that I did much better on AAMC sections from tests 8-11 on every single subject compared to Kaplan (except verbal was probably close to equal). I would take an AAMC section and feel like I had a lot of work to do, but that I could do it. In contrast, I would take a Kaplan test and think, "do we really need to know THIS much detail about EVERY topic?! I'm never going to do well" and feel completely hopeless and overwhelmed, even though a very generous curve gave me an okay score.

It seems like a similar trend for 2015 Kaplan vs AAMC. I took both the Sample Test and Guide to Questions from AAMC and while I do need to keep studying up until D-day, I feel like I'm in an okay place. Actually, most of the questions I got wrong were because I missed something in a passage, not because I didn't know material. In contrast, I went back to Kaplan after I used those two released AAMC tests and I BOMBED my practice test lol. Like, around 50% on sections vs around 80% on the AAMC sections haha. The anxiety I feel from taking Kaplan tests is crippling, so I've stopped using Kaplan's tests completely.

I'm really just going for the equivalent of a 30-32 MCAT score, so I won't pretend to be a genius of all things MCAT, but for what it's worth this is what I've been using and has helped me the most:

Kaplan books, AAMC sample test and guide to questions and
Chemistry: EK 1001 questions
Physics: EK 1001 questions
Organic: nothing, I tutored this all through college. I made flashcards of the 2-3 mechanisms my school didn't cover + lab techniques
Verbal: LSAT reading comprehension passages, nothing else
Bio: old AAMC bio passages + Khan academy passages on weak areas
Biochem: Khan academy passages on weak areas
Psych: flashcards on terms

Okay thank you, this makes me feel a lot better. With the Kaplan it is hard to tell if I am doing poorly because I don't know the material or if their tests are unrealistic. I have the same thing where when I go back over it, it seems that my problem is not reading the passage well enough.

 

[whitemagic]

how are you averaging 13s in psych? what did you do to practice? just memorize everything? ar you getting similar scores with aamc/khan?

I took a lot of psych and soc classes during my lower division's...looks like it finally paid off. I used the TPR behaviorial sciences book to review. Psych/soc is mostly just memorizing a TON of terms and applying those terms to real life scenarios.

 

[nonamechemist]

I took a lot of psych and soc classes during my lower division's...looks like it finally paid off. I used the TPR behaviorial sciences book to review. Psych/soc is mostly just memorizing a TON of terms and applying those terms to real life scenarios.

Have you done any more NS FL since you took the first one? I have taken two of those by now and they are hard, especially the verbal and pschy!