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deleted421268
If I plan to take 8 practice exams before exam would that be enough? 3 AAMC exams and what other exams recommend for other 5 exams? Should I make the 3 AAMC exams my last 3 final exams before my exam?
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I don't think anyone can say how many will be enough for you. It depends on how strong you are in content and how your base level reading comprehension is. Make sure your AAMC practice exam scores are within 1 point of your target score before you take the actual exam. Personally I only took AAMC practice exams as I didn't find the 3rd party exams to be representative of AAMC material. If you do take 3rd party practice exams I recommend saving AAMC material for last. Make sure you do the AAMC Section Banks!
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deleted972488
Technically 4. The sample isn't scored, but it's still better than anything 3rd party, and I highly recommend taking it.
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deleted421268
What’s the point of taking the sample if I don’t know what my score on it would be?
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As the above poster said, there are 4 AAMC tests and the sample is absolutely worth taking over 3rd parties. I also think the section banks are a better use of time than 3rd parties as well. Personally 4 practice exams was plenty for me and I wouldn't have benefited from taking more exams, definitely not 3rd party exams.
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You get a raw score, just not a scaled score. So you still know what questions you got wrong, you just don't know if it's a 512 or 518 or whatever.
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There are conversions tables on reddit that you can use.
Edit: here it is
I just took the AAMC practice tests/section bank and I thought that was plenty. I'd start with the sample test to see where you stand, then take the scored practice tests as you get closer.
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8 is a good number for many people, but like other people have posted that may not be true for you— it varies person to person.
You should do literally everything that the AAMC puts out. As others have said, their practice problems are the most representative and therefore invaluable as practice. It is good to take those exams last so you get an idea of what you might score on the real thing, and then you can better assess if you’re ready. (My 3rd party scores were all significantly lower than my AAMC scores.)
Besides that, it’s good to switch it up a bit if you can. I mostly took Kaplan FLs, but I also did Exam Krackers. I may also have done a TPR exam, but I can’t remember. In any case, I was doing my best to make sure I wasn’t getting used to one 3rd party style of questioning. That said, I like Kaplan in part because they have very good explanations to questions you get wrong.
You should do literally everything that the AAMC puts out. As others have said, their practice problems are the most representative and therefore invaluable as practice. It is good to take those exams last so you get an idea of what you might score on the real thing, and then you can better assess if you’re ready. (My 3rd party scores were all significantly lower than my AAMC scores.)
Besides that, it’s good to switch it up a bit if you can. I mostly took Kaplan FLs, but I also did Exam Krackers. I may also have done a TPR exam, but I can’t remember. In any case, I was doing my best to make sure I wasn’t getting used to one 3rd party style of questioning. That said, I like Kaplan in part because they have very good explanations to questions you get wrong.
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907914
I only did 4. And to be honest, 2 or 3 would have been sufficient for me (I don’t stress over tests). The full lengths are really just to get used to the format and sitting for so dang long. In reality, if you feel comfortable with the pacing of the exam then practice questions and review are sufficient replacements. However, everyone is different. If you still feel uncomfortable with the testing process at 4, take more (Save AAMC for the end or interspersed with 3rd party, however). If 8 still feels uncomfortable then take more. If you are like some of the people on here that do like 12 or 15 practice tests....you may just be having test anxiety issues that you should resolve before taking any more practice tests and certainly prior to the real deal.
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deleted421268
Is that the raw to scaled conversion for AAMC Sample?
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deleted421268
How many passages per section for section bank? Could I use section bank to know my scaled score? So use it by doing 9 passages from each section under timed conditions?
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Yes, as well as the other scored tests.
If I remember correctly, each section bank is 100 passage-based and discrete questions for C/P, B/B, and P/S. These are the most reflective of the real thing, so I would save them until your last few weeks of studying.
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deleted421268
What if I used the section banks to make a full exam like under real mcat conditions.
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907914
You want to use the section bank over a spaced section. Like 2 passages from each one each day. That would take you about 2 weeks.
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deleted421268
No I mean like doing 9 passages from Chemical section, 9 passages CARS, 9 passages Biology/Biochem section, 9 passages psych/section under timed mcat conditions
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907914
I know what you meant. I would not do that with the section banks because you are going to psych yourself out wondering "Is the real thing really that hard?"
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I broke them up into 3 or 4 parts and did them timed. I felt like that was about all I could take before my brain was fried
I took it in April 2018 and from what I remember each section had about 4 section bank-level passages with some easier ones mixed in (besides psych, my psych section sucked and had some passages even harder than the SB)
