Am I approaching MCAT studying all wrong? Taking test on Jan 20th, no practice tests taken yet.

[LebronManning]

Ok so I am taking the January 20th MCAT. So far I am about 40% through the Kaplan 7 book set minus CARS. I plan on reading EK CARS. I have yet to take a single FL because I figured taking it before content review would be useless. I wanted to at least get through the books once through before taking diagnostics; this is because I felt my grasp on the content wasn't all that good due to a lot of cramming while taking the courses. My only practice with questions so far is a couple KA passage questions and questions at the end of the Kaplan chapters? Do I need to be doing more practice concurrent with my content review?

My plan is to finish the set with about 40-45 days to go before the exam. At that point, do 1-2 FL per week along with as many practice questions I can get hands on including all the AAMC material. I plan on keeping the content fresh through this period by reviewing what I've highlighted in a couple chapters per day. I have generally been a good test taker especially with MC tests and honestly have been doing pretty well with KA passages, missing 1-2 tops.

Should I start taking practice tests or doing more practice questions pronto or is this approach OK?

Also, sometimes I feel like I am spending too much time on Content review, trying to learn the content very well by spending 2-4 hours on each Kaplan chapter? I've heard the content isn't as important as the skill of answering passage based questions?

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[663697]

Ok so I am taking the January 20th MCAT. So far I am about 40% through the Kaplan 7 book set minus CARS. I plan on reading EK CARS. I have yet to take a single FL because I figured taking it before content review would be useless. I wanted to at least get through the books once through before taking diagnostics; this is because I felt my grasp on the content wasn't all that good due to a lot of cramming while taking the courses. My only practice with questions so far is a couple KA passage questions and questions at the end of the Kaplan chapters? Do I need to be doing more practice concurrent with my content review?

My plan is to finish the set with about 40-45 days to go before the exam. At that point, do 1-2 FL per week along with as many practice questions I can get hands on including all the AAMC material. I plan on keeping the content fresh through this period by reviewing what I've highlighted in a couple chapters per day. I have generally been a good test taker especially with MC tests and honestly have been doing pretty well with KA passages, missing 1-2 tops.

Should I start taking practice tests or doing more practice questions pronto or is this approach OK?

Also, sometimes I feel like I am spending too much time on Content review, trying to learn the content very well by spending 2-4 hours on each Kaplan chapter? I've heard the content isn't as important as the skill of answering passage based questions?

The best way for you to drill the concepts is to do practice questions. Don't just rely on reading and making notes, it's passive learning.

The content is definitely important to have a base of knowledge to work with but you need to understand that the style of MCAT passages and questions is likely something you haven't encountered before so you need to put more time into getting used to that style.

What FL's do you have access to? If you're using Kaplan/TPR, just start them as soon as you can because they are very content-based and you'll be able to find out in which areas you have content gaps. They'll also help in gaining the endurance needed for such a long test.

 

[LebronManning]

The best way for you to drill the concepts is to do practice questions. Don't just rely on reading and making notes, it's passive learning.

The content is definitely important to have a base of knowledge to work with but you need to understand that the style of MCAT passages and questions is likely something you haven't encountered before so you need to put more time into getting used to that style.

What FL's do you have access to? If you're using Kaplan/TPR, just start them as soon as you can because they are very content-based and you'll be able to find out in which areas you have content gaps. They'll also help in gaining the endurance needed for such a long test.

I bought the entire Kaplan 7 set which I believe comes with 3 FLs and I just ordered the entire AAMC practice bundle with the 3 FLs and question packs, etc. I think I'll do the first Kaplan one this week then because I do need to see where I'm at and focus on content I'm weakest on vs. stuff I mostly know but still am spending hours reading. Then how about slowly going through all the AAMC question packs and stuff along with KA passages until late december/early january when I bust out the AAMC FLs. I was thinking about saving all the AAMC material until after Dec. 15 but I'm thinking that may be too late of a first introduction to actual AAMC material.

How do you feel about Khan Academy passages??

 

[STcmOCSD]

You should definitely start doing questions now. You also want to allow ample time to properly review any full length you take prior to taking another. Each full length will take 2-3 days of study time if done properly. Kaplan gives good information on HOW to review FL’s.

You should also start doing CARS now. Do a passage every single day with test conditions (proper timing per passage, no distractions, no outside help) to begin helping with that. CARS practice should be done alongside content review to become familiar with its format.

Overall, I would advise you go ahead and start on FL’s. The main thing Kaplan does is show you how to take the test. I never finished content review, but focused mostly on practicing and my score increased 26 points from my diagnostic to my actual exam.

 

[MoDiddy]

Optimally, you should be finishing content review right now and starting FL's 2 months before your test. Some tips to speed up the process ex. if you're good at chem do 1 chapter gen chem and 1 chapter orgo in one day. Try to get as much content done as possible. I think you should be good if you give yourself 45-50 days for FL's

 

[663697]

I bought the entire Kaplan 7 set which I believe comes with 3 FLs and I just ordered the entire AAMC practice bundle with the 3 FLs and question packs, etc. I think I'll do the first Kaplan one this week then because I do need to see where I'm at and focus on content I'm weakest on vs. stuff I mostly know but still am spending hours reading. Then how about slowly going through all the AAMC question packs and stuff along with KA passages until late december/early january when I bust out the AAMC FLs. I was thinking about saving all the AAMC material until after Dec. 15 but I'm thinking that may be too late of a first introduction to actual AAMC material.

How do you feel about Khan Academy passages??

I wouldn't save them until Dec. 15; try to do some Kaplan FL's first to get yourself accustomed to the format of the test and to find out areas you're still weak in. Like @STcmOCSD said, the full lengths take ~2 days to review thoroughly so allot some time for that as well. The AAMC Qpacks are great for content review but are on the easier side, so I guess use them as an extra source of practice. Finish the Qpacks quickly and find time for Section Bank and FL1&2 (and FL3 if that's out yet). These are the most representative.

And Khan Academy is good too but I would use it for just straight up practice rather than substituting it for AAMC.

 

[LebronManning]

Thank you all for the information! Its clear I need to start incorporating practice testing into my routine. I guess I feared for running out of practice tests which is why I was going to save them till mid december, but it seems like it pays off better dividends starting them about 2 months out. I will probably save all 3 of the AAMC FLs for the last 3-4 weeks but maybe do the AAMC sample test before that. Whats the ideal timing for completion of section banks and question banks? Like if I started them soon would that be bad because I'd forget some of the stuff I got wrong or is it best to start early on those too?

I plan on taking my first practice test tomorrow morning in the form of the free Next Step diagnostic half length. That one gives you an actual score rather than percent correct, right?

 

[663697]

Thank you all for the information! Its clear I need to start incorporating practice testing into my routine. I guess I feared for running out of practice tests which is why I was going to save them till mid december, but it seems like it pays off better dividends starting them about 2 months out. I will probably save all 3 of the AAMC FLs for the last 3-4 weeks but maybe do the AAMC sample test before that. Whats the ideal timing for completion of section banks and question banks? Like if I started them soon would that be bad because I'd forget some of the stuff I got wrong or is it best to start early on those too?

I plan on taking my first practice test tomorrow morning in the form of the free Next Step diagnostic half length. That one gives you an actual score rather than percent correct, right?

I'm not sure about Next Step - didn't do any of those. As for question packs and section bank, if you feel you're nearing the end of your content review and would like to test yourself with content practice questions, just finish the Question Packs quickly since they don't take very long, then move onto Section Bank after.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

It is very important to take some real AAMC materials early on. IMO the status quo questions/passages you'll see from most prep companies differ quite a bit from what you'll actually see on test day. I recommend taking some of the Section Bank passages to become familiar with the AAMC question and passage format. Then you can more accurately judge the quality of any other non-AAMC resources. Nearly all my students feel the AAMC1/2 (3) are a tad bit easier than the real exam, and the real thing is more like the Section Bank. It is definitely more experimental and challenging than the average test prep practice test.

The importance of practice with timed, realistic passages cannot be overstated. You only get points on the MCAT for answering questions posed in the unique AAMC passage-based, experimental style. That's it. You won't get a single point for content knowledge--except to the minor extent that it aides you in developing the skill of answering AAMC-style questions.

 

[LebronManning]

Just got a 508 on the Next Step diagnostic. 125/127/128/128. Thoughts and recommendations? I'm about 40% through content review but I noticed I missed a view questions on content I've already reviewed, so certainly lacking content wise. This tells me that content is truly not as important as practicing this damn test repeatedly. I struggled most with understanding and reading the passages and the application of the questions.

This was my first practice test after 40% content review. My goal is 513+, how accurate is the next step diagnostic? I still have about 68 days till MCAT. Any specific suggestions about perhaps limiting content review? I plan on buying MCAT materials and progressively working through those as well as KA and Kaplan materials.