at what point in studying do u start full-lengths?

[JoeNamath4Eva]

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i've looked through other threads and i thought i'd find this, but if anyone has advice, i'd apprish... especially from those who've done well

should i get a firm grip on the majority of the material or should i learn while i'm taking the fl's?

(kap diag:low 20's, 8R:27- but i feel pretty lucky w/ that one)

 

[JoeNamath4Eva]

also, if it helps- been studying for about 1 mo. lightly... have until mid-may to *hopefully* get 30+...

 

[Mila]

My opinion is start taking full lengths now and space them out so that you take them more frequently as you get closer to test day. A lot of doing well on the MCAT is about endurance which you'll really only build by taking full lengths under timed conditions in one full sitting. On a side note, they're also pretty tedious to go over...

 

[HippocratesX]

I had the same question. I've heard other people say its good to start test taking as soon as possible. But there are only a limited number of full-length MCATs out there, so wouldn't it be a better idea to save them for the last month or two for practice? But then again....there must really be something to that advice of taking as many practice tests as possible. So maybe I am not really understanding the importance of full-lengths. Should we spend a lot of time reviewing each and every question and analyzing how we did on each test? If that is the case, then maybe it DOES take a pretty long time to go through all the practice tests in such a manner of reviewing and re-reviewing each and every test to see what we got wrong AND what we got right and the reasons why. I dont know, I'm still pretty confused on the matter. On one hand, I'd like to take full-lengths as early as possible, but on the other hand, I dont want to miss a whole bunch of topic problems which I haven't reviewed yet ( since my final score wouldnt be indicative of what i should get after studying all the material)?

This is a good topic though...any other thoughts on the matter?

 

[Mila]

I had the same question. I've heard other people say its good to start test taking as soon as possible. But there are only a limited number of full-length MCATs out there, so wouldn't it be a better idea to save them for the last month or two for practice? But then again....there must really be something to that advice of taking as many practice tests as possible. So maybe I am not really understanding the importance of full-lengths. Should we spend a lot of time reviewing each and every question and analyzing how we did on each test? If that is the case, then maybe it DOES take a pretty long time to go through all the practice tests in such a manner of reviewing and re-reviewing each and every test to see what we got wrong AND what we got right and the reasons why. I dont know, I'm still pretty confused on the matter. On one hand, I'd like to take full-lengths as early as possible, but on the other hand, I dont want to miss a whole bunch of topic problems which I haven't reviewed yet ( since my final score wouldnt be indicative of what i should get after studying all the material)?

This is a good topic though...any other thoughts on the matter?

Start taking them now. You can always retake them later if you finish all your full lengths. I guarantee you won't remember answers or anything like that. You may remember a question, and you might even getting that question wrong before, but you probably won't remember which wrong answer you put, or what the right answer it - that is unless you've learned this topic since then.

 

[HippocratesX]

Okay, thanks Mila. I think that is pretty solid advice. Is there any particular order to take the tests in? I mean, the AAMC full lengths.

 

[Mila]

Okay, thanks Mila. I think that is pretty solid advice. Is there any particular order to take the tests in? I mean, the AAMC full lengths.

Yep, I think a good plan is to take them in order, because for the most part, they increase in difficulty as you go along. The last few are pretty indicative of the current MCAT you'll be taking, so it's a good idea to leave some of those for the end.

 

[killinsound]

I think you should take them once and only when you have all your concepts down.

 

[HippocratesX]

I prefer Mila's advice on this one. I think there's more to getting a high score, then just ONLY knowing the concepts backwards and forwards.

 

[EMH]

Early and often.

 

[UoCfin]

Early and often.

bump:

So what do you guys think about this...

Am on the SN2ed plan....but am wondering about this already....

 

[Yoyyy]

As soon as you can (especially if you have a decent grasp on Content review). With practice tests, it's great that you can practice test techniques/strategies while reviewing material. I would say, don't do practice tests if you absolutely have no idea about more than a few important topics such as "Solubility" or "Energy" or "Acids and bases", etc.

 

[UoCfin]

As soon as you can (especially if you have a decent grasp on Content review). With practice tests, it's great that you can practice test techniques/strategies while reviewing material. I would say, don't do practice tests if you absolutely have no idea about more than a few important topics such as "Solubility" or "Energy" or "Acids and bases", etc.

thanks....

 

[kmp0410]

I was pretty cold on a lot of content, so I am waiting till I finish my content review to start them. But I am leaving myself about 2 months before test.

 

[UoCfin]

WOW...that sounds like what i want to do...As a non-trad *short of time* i feel like i need 2 months of full lengths...need lots of time for post analysis...

 

[Gauss44]

there are only a limited number of full-length MCATs out there, so wouldn't it be a better idea to save them for the last month or two for practice?

There aren't that many AAMC practice tests.

There should be enough non-AAMC practice tests to take full lengths before the one month mark. The full lengths I can remember right now:

-Gold Standard (not sure how many)

-Berkeley Review 4 or 5 est.

-Princeton Review - at least 4? (TPR says they have 20 or so, but I think some of those are AAMC exams that they offer. So, not really TPR tests.)

-Kaplan - Not sure how many. If you pay for the course, you get a lot.

-Columbia Review - about 3

-ARCO - about 3

-Examkrackers - about 3

Again this is a very quick estimation.

 

[osprey099]

There aren't that many AAMC practice tests.

There should be enough non-AAMC practice tests to take full lengths before the one month mark. The full lengths I can remember right now:

-Gold Standard (not sure how many)

-Berkeley Review 4 or 5 est.

-Princeton Review - at least 4? (TPR says they have 20 or so, but I think some of those are AAMC exams that they offer. So, not really TPR tests.)

-Kaplan - Not sure how many. If you pay for the course, you get a lot.

-Columbia Review - about 3

-ARCO - about 3

-Examkrackers - about 3

Again this is a very quick estimation.

I think it's:

GS: 10
TBR: 7
TPR: 9
Kaplan: 11
EK: 2

These are all computer based tests. I have never heard of anything about Columbia Review or ARCO.