AAMC Exams- HOW MUCH DID THEY HELP?

[GreekPre-Med]

To All of you that used the AAMC exams to practice,

I understand that many successful students used the AAMC to practice taking the MCAT. Most say that their AAMC score was closest to their real score. My question is:

1.) Did anyone really IMPROVE their score by studying from the AAMC exams.

2.) A second, unrelated question. Did anyone who was currently taking second-semester physics during the semester of their April Exam feel it was a detriment? Did it help you?

Thank you for your Input

The Greek

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[Elphie]

To All of you that used the AAMC exams to practice,

I understand that many successful students used the AAMC to practice taking the MCAT. Most say that their AAMC score was closest to their real score. My question is:

1.) Did anyone really IMPROVE their score by studying from the AAMC exams.

2.) A second, unrelated question. Did anyone who was currently taking second-semester physics during the semester of their April Exam feel it was a detriment? Did it help you?

Thank you for your Input

The Greek

The AAMC tests are ESSENTIAL!! They give you a very good idea of what the real test is like and also a good idea of where you stand score-wise. Taking them will help you "improve" your score by getting you used to true MCAT-style passages and your timing in each section. Specifically studying from them after you take them may be useful in reinforcing topics, but will not necessarily help you "improve" your knowledge of the test topics.

Buying a couple of the tests and taking them periodically throughout your studying to gauge where you stand is the best advice I can give to anyone preparing for the test. Good luck!

 

[Turkeyman]

The AAMC tests are ESSENTIAL!! They give you a very good idea of what the real test is like and also a good idea of where you stand score-wise. Taking them will help you "improve" your score by getting you used to true MCAT-style passages and your timing in each section. Specifically studying from them after you take them may be useful in reinforcing topics, but will not necessarily help you "improve" your knowledge of the test topics.

Buying a couple of the tests and taking them periodically throughout your studying to gauge where you stand is the best advice I can give to anyone preparing for the test. Good luck!

Yes yes this be true

It might take a little to shell out the money for them...but definitely a well-placed investment.

 

[MeowMix]

I took AAMC 3 before I began to study. Then I did 4, 5, and 6 over the next 3 months, finishing up with 6 the week before the real MCAT (7 wasn't out yet).

I went up 1 or 2 points on each test, and my overall score on #6 was exactly the same as on the real MCAT (+/-1 on 2 sections).

It's not just the improvement you want, it's the confidence that no matter what you see on the test, your score will be within your target range. I went into the MCAT feeling that even in the worst case, I would get an acceptable score. That's a nice feeling.

 

[shuzee]

i wanted to let everyone know that though the AAMC tests give a pretty good feel of the actual exam, you should not expect the MCAT to be according to the same patterns. im saying this because of experience. i took the Mcat earlier and i did all the AAMCs through kaplan. they boosted my confidence, but the real mcat (aug, 2004) was NOTHING like the AAmc tests!!! it was very very different!! so do the AAMCs for the sake of practicing, but DO NOT think that the actual exam would be very similar.

 

[shawty ya'head]

i agree with shuzee

the aamc tests are the best tests to take and guage yourself on
but the actual test will be harder, mine was a lot harder than the practices

but i did better on it than on any of my practices

important to not worry

 

[GreekPre-Med]

If I may ask, How was it that different?

Format?

Difficulty of Questions?

Stuff not covered in Review Classes?

Some tips would be appreciated.

 

[shawty ya'head]

there's so many versions of the real exam, mine was biochem heavy.

biochem is not prepped very much in review courses and i certainly did not touch it as much as i thought i should have after the exam.

the format is the exact same, that would be a trip if they changed that on you.
nevers however play a major factor.

because of nerves, you tend to concentrate and get pissit off if you miss or don't know something so the test intrinsicly seems tougher.

i though my phys was average, verbal was fairly straight forward and bio was insanely hard.

i did the best on bio, ok on phys and good on verbal. so the curve makes a huge difference. people tend to get dishearted through the exam and they crash and burn. remember, it is curved and even though you think you're doing bad, you're probably ok because everyone is trippin' over the same stuff. so just chug through it.

let me know if i can be of help in anyway.

oh yeah and the test prior to mine was genetics heavy so i thought i would hit that really hard. i didn't have any genetics questions.

 

[DieselPetrolGrl]

To All of you that used the AAMC exams to practice,

I understand that many successful students used the AAMC to practice taking the MCAT. Most say that their AAMC score was closest to their real score. My question is:

1.) Did anyone really IMPROVE their score by studying from the AAMC exams.

2.) A second, unrelated question. Did anyone who was currently taking second-semester physics during the semester of their April Exam feel it was a detriment? Did it help you?

Thank you for your Input

The Greek

1)AAMC exams are too easy
2) od made physics so you can ponder the laws of leaves falling or stars shooting across the sky for homework