AAMC Sample or Scored FL First?

[Gilakend]

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Test date is August 19th. Going to be taking my second practice test this Saturday (I tried to just pack as much content review as I could and the last month going to do only practice tests and reviewing what I'm not strong on). Until my test day I'll try to do 2 a week, however, I want to take an AAMC one this weekend to see if I'm on track. I took one practice test about 1 week into content review because I'm very impatient and that's all so far.

I was originally just going to take the unscored sample but read that it's not nearly as predictive of the real MCAT as the two scored ones and is generally easier.

Is 1-1.5 months out too early to take the AAMC material? I know they say take it right before your test and I plan on FL2 (or FL1 whichever is generally more accurate) as the last one before my test but want to use Altius or NS before that since they are considered at the same difficulty or harder.

I want to take one to make sure I don't need to reschedule, as of right now the only indicator of how I'm doing is my NS 1 I took at the beginning of summer. I also want to see what content I need to focus on more.

Is this a good idea? Which one should I take Saturday?

Thanks!

 

[Doctor or bust]

I'll be the devil's advocate here and say that it can't hurt to take one of the FL exams. I'm biased as I took my first FL today and will be taking my MCAT on August 24th. I've read that the sample test is a bit easier than the real thing so by taking one of the FLs you'll get a good idea as to exactly what to expect, where you stand, and what subjects you need to focus on. Are you finished with content review? If so, it'll also show you with the two tests being very similar how much you've improved by doing practice problems and practice FLs. Just my two cents.

 

[Gilakend]

@GregtheTruck @Doctor or bust

Thanks for the responses. I'm almost done with content review, I've gone over most high yield stuff (from what I've noticed at least) such as gen chem, bio, and biochem. Still have quite a bit to review for physics and o-chem which I considered lower-yield but also just took. I am planning to be completed done with content review on or before July 19 giving me a good 30 days to focus on practice tests. I bought the AAMC full package or whatever it is so I have all of the material available I believe and have used exactly 0 of it because I was trying to save it. I have mainly done 2013 TBR passages and that NS 1 exam.

Any advice on how utilize my resources? To recap: ALL AAMC material, and I am most likely going to buy the NS 4 test pack (3 tests I haven't done) and the Altius 5 test pack.

Thanks for the help

 

[Doctor or bust]

I'd start with the question packs out of the AAMC material as they are the least representative, followed by the question sets from the whats in the MCAT book. Section bank is the most difficult material and you should start doing that within the last few weeks of studying. Finish with probably a week of 2 or 3 FLs and then the AAMC FL 1 and/or 2 the last week of studying to see if you are ready for the test. That would be my call though, take it with a grain of salt.

 

[workaholic181]

Test date is August 19th. Going to be taking my second practice test this Saturday (I tried to just pack as much content review as I could and the last month going to do only practice tests and reviewing what I'm not strong on). Until my test day I'll try to do 2 a week, however, I want to take an AAMC one this weekend to see if I'm on track. I took one practice test about 1 week into content review because I'm very impatient and that's all so far.

I was originally just going to take the unscored sample but read that it's not nearly as predictive of the real MCAT as the two scored ones and is generally easier.

Is 1-1.5 months out too early to take the AAMC material? I know they say take it right before your test and I plan on FL2 (or FL1 whichever is generally more accurate) as the last one before my test but want to use Altius or NS before that since they are considered at the same difficulty or harder.

I want to take one to make sure I don't need to reschedule, as of right now the only indicator of how I'm doing is my NS 1 I took at the beginning of summer. I also want to see what content I need to focus on more.

Is this a good idea? Which one should I take Saturday?

Thanks!

I took the scored first and was pleasantly surprised at my score which put me in a good frame of mind for the rest of my preparation. You can also kind of approximate a score from the sample given the percent right you got in each section, so it's kind of a wash. Can't go wrong either way.