1st Practice MCAT advice

[HopefulErDr]

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First time post!

So I just took the first Kaplan full length with normal time. My overall was 501 124/127/126/124. I guess I'm just wondering where to go from here, I test on January 19th.

Advice is greatly appreciated!!

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[Dream of the Endless]

I'll start by saying do not feel discouraged or freaked out. This is a tough exam, but it can be beaten. Also, by "traditional" models, you should be using purely AAMC material during the final month of preparation.

Assess your weaknesses by going through the exam. Gauge why you missed a question. Fatigue, lack of knowledge, stupid mistakes. Gauge questions you got right. Did you guess, or did you actually know the material or will able to justify it based off of the passage? Did you feel rushed for time? Each question in itself contains a "Seed" of sorts which is a lesson on how to improve yourself for next time. (Adaption of a quote.)

Next question to ask yourself is what is your target score? 501 can be easily improved, but time is of the essence. You need to make some time to take the AAMC exams as that will be the true gauge of how comfortable you are with their material in their format. If your goal is 510+ maybe 3 weeks may not be enough. That is your own judgment call to make. The average matriculant to MD was 511, I believe. (Or somewhere in that vicinity) Couldn't tell you DO.

The final question is, should you choose not to change the date of your exam and feel comfortable with your practice scores... are you considering the option of a retake?

 

[HopefulErDr]

I'll start by saying do not feel discouraged or freaked out. This is a tough exam, but it can be beaten. Also, by "traditional" models, you should be using purely AAMC material during the final month of preparation.

Assess your weaknesses by going through the exam. Gauge why you missed a question. Fatigue, lack of knowledge, stupid mistakes. Gauge questions you got right. Did you guess, or did you actually know the material or will able to justify it based off of the passage? Did you feel rushed for time? Each question in itself contains a "Seed" of sorts which is a lesson on how to improve yourself for next time. (Adaption of a quote.)

Next question to ask yourself is what is your target score? 501 can be easily improved, but time is of the essence. You need to make some time to take the AAMC exams as that will be the true gauge of how comfortable you are with their material in their format. If your goal is 510+ maybe 3 weeks may not be enough. That is your own judgment call to make. The average matriculant to MD was 511, I believe. (Or somewhere in that vicinity) Couldn't tell you DO.

The final question is, should you choose not to change the date of your exam and feel comfortable with your practice scores... are you considering the option of a retake?

A retake is definitely an option, I know it's not ideal but it's there.

For the next 3 weeks, what order should I take the AAMC tests? I know Kaplan is deflated some so I'm hoping to do better there.

Time wasn't an issue, I think content is, I was pretty weak on psyc so definitely have to focus more there.

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[toedrag]

Q banks -> section banks -> Unscored -> AAMC 1 -> AAMC 2 -> AAMC 3 in this order

 

[HopefulErDr]

Q banks -> section banks -> Unscored -> AAMC 1 -> AAMC 2 -> AAMC 3 in this order

Sounds good! Thanks so much! I get paid tomorrow on the 31st so I'll purchase them then

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[toedrag]

Sounds good! Thanks so much! I get paid tomorrow on the 31st so I'll purchase them then

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Np. If possible, stop working completely between now and your test date.

 

[HopefulErDr]

Np. If possible, stop working completely between now and your test date.

Well, I have a few more scribe shifts scheduled, but I can practice at work between patients

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[Future_Bone_Docta]

What is the best MCAT test to take as a pre assessment scope of where you stand? Basically what test is seen as the most accurate to the actual test?

 

[HopefulErDr]

What is the best MCAT test to take as a pre assessment scope of where you stand? Basically what test is seen as the most accurate to the actual test?

Yeah, I guess so. Wouldn't AAMC be the closest? I had heard Kaplan was deflated a lot but I'm not sure.

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[HopefulErDr]

So an update, I took the FL1 from AAMC yesterday and made a 506, 126/127/127/126.

Shooting for a 508 on the actual, is it doable? Going to review the test today and take FL 2 Tuesday.

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[toedrag]

Very doable. Great CARS btw. You can bump up the sciences a little bit with some focused review

So an update, I took the FL1 from AAMC yesterday and made a 506, 126/127/127/126.

Shooting for a 508 on the actual, is it doable? Going to review the test today and take FL 2 Tuesday.

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[HopefulErDr]

Very doable. Great CARS btw. You can bump up the sciences a little bit with some focused review

Will do! Thanks!

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[Blanky]

You are doing fine. CARS is the most difficult to increase and you are on the money (although 128 would be nice)
For CP review all of your mistakes and learn from the section as that section is very straightforward.
For BB you should practice reading the questions and learning HOW they like to ask things as well as graph/ data interpretation. Otherwise its just knowing all the bio-terms.
For PS I would advise using ANKI and premed95s mcat deck from Reddit. I raised my score from 124 PS to 127 in like 3 weeks of playing with the app for a couple hours per day. Also nice that you can play on it at work, dinner, etc and ppl just see you have your phone out.

 

[HopefulErDr]

You are doing fine. CARS is the most difficult to increase and you are on the money (although 128 would be nice)
For CP review all of your mistakes and learn from the section as that section is very straightforward.
For BB you should practice reading the questions and learning HOW they like to ask things as well as graph/ data interpretation. Otherwise its just knowing all the bio-terms.
For PS I would advise using ANKI and premed95s mcat deck from Reddit. I raised my score from 124 PS to 127 in like 3 weeks of playing with the app for a couple hours per day. Also nice that you can play on it at work, dinner, etc and ppl just see you have your phone out.

Will do! Thanks for helping out! I'll look up the Anki deck.

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[HopefulErDr]

So 6 days out, just finished fl3 with a 507 (128/125/128/126. Not sure what happened to my cars as I felt I did well on it. I plan on doing more cars work and completing the section bank this week. Then I'll take Friday off and rest for test day.

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