Bad score on TPR practice test :(

[Lolaaa]

Guys I feel so discouraged! I'm planning on taking the MCAT in Jan 25th and I just took my second practice test from Princeton Review and I scored 493 . I've taken the AAMC sample test a long time ago (scored 495) and I've been studying since then. I did all AAMC section bank and questions and I also did all Princeton Workbook (about 90 passages for each subject) and used Anki. I don't know if I'll be ready for the Jan 25 exam. I wanna buy the Uworld questions but I don't wanna waste money and buy the 3 months subscription and end up not taking the MCAT by then. What I realized is that I hard time staying focused for7 hours and got tired so that might be one of the factors but still it's so low. I was expecting to pass the 500 this time. Any advices I would really appreciate it.

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[BoondockBandit]

Don't feel discouraged! TPR tests are incredibly deflated, and you can typically expect to score a number of points higher on an AAMC-provided test than anything you get from TPR. Exactly how many points varies by person, but in my case my actual MCAT was 10 points higher than my highest TPR score. You should really just use TPR results to review concepts you struggle with by looking at answers you got wrong after the fact. January 25th is still a very long time away. What helped me greatly is routinely taking practice tests, then reviewing what I got wrong. I found that to be a lot more effective than general study. If you haven't yet, try MileDown's Anki decks from Reddit.

 

[Lolaaa]

Don't feel discouraged! TPR tests are incredibly deflated, and you can typically expect to score a number of points higher on an AAMC-provided test than anything you get from TPR. Exactly how many points varies by person, but in my case my actual MCAT was 10 points higher than my highest TPR score. You should really just use TPR results to review concepts you struggle with by looking at answers you got wrong after the fact. January 25th is still a very long time away. What helped me greatly is routinely taking practice tests, then reviewing what I got wrong. I found that to be a lot more effective than general study. If you haven't yet, try MileDown's Anki decks from Reddit.

Thank you so much! I'll definitely check the Anki decks and I'll try to do a practice test every week hoping to get a better score

 

[Blueprint Med School]

You've got a lot of time before your MCAT, don't worry! Most students only study for 3 months anyway. You should take all third party MCAT scores with a grain of salt because they're usually inaccurate. Use them for content review and practice. When you're about 4-6 weeks from taking your exam, begin taking AAMC practice exams to gauge your score.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Lolaaa]

You've got a lot of time before your MCAT, don't worry! Most students only study for 3 months anyway. You should take all third party MCAT scores with a grain of salt because they're usually inaccurate. Use them for content review and practice. When you're about 4-6 weeks from taking your exam, begin taking AAMC practice exams to gauge your score.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

Thank you! It's just that I work 35 hours a week which makes me abit concerned about the time (I probably should've mentioned that earlier sorry). My plan is to take a practice test each week before my actual exam which totals to 12 tests. Hopefully I'll have the time to improve and be ready by then

 

[deleted895369]

I took a TPR full length after a month of somewhat serious MCAT studying and got a 491. I studied for another month and got a 512 on the real deal. Don't let the TPR tests discourage you, they want to freak you out so that you buy their study materials lol.

 

[Lolaaa]

I took a TPR full length after a month of somewhat serious MCAT studying and got a 491. I studied for another month and got a 512 on the real deal. Don't let the TPR tests discourage you, they want to freak you out so that you buy their study materials lol.

Wow congrats on your score! May I ask how you studied to improve in one month? Did you use Uworld, Anki or any other 3rd party material?

 

[star-lily]

Keep in mind that you can also always consider postponing until March or so!

 

[deleted895369]

Wow congrats on your score! May I ask how you studied to improve in one month? Did you use Uworld, Anki or any other 3rd party material?

In the month leading up to my test, I primarily used the AAMC section bank, Jack Westin passages for CARS, and Khan Academy passages. I also took two AAMC FL tests and reviewed those questions to death. Anything I got wrong I would go back and not just refresh on that specific topic but also on anything related to that topic that I was shaky on. I also kept a notebook of all the questions I got wrong or wasn't sure about and identified what was holding me back.

But before studying further or postponing your test, I would recommend taking an official AAMC practice test to see where you actually stand.

 

[FrameshiftAndrew]

In the month leading up to my test, I primarily used the AAMC section bank, Jack Westin passages for CARS, and Khan Academy passages. I also took two AAMC FL tests and reviewed those questions to death. Anything I got wrong I would go back and not just refresh on that specific topic but also on anything related to that topic that I was shaky on. I also kept a notebook of all the questions I got wrong or wasn't sure about and identified what was holding me back.

Just want to underscore how correct and important this is—80% of the benefit of taking practice tests, if not more, comes from reviewing them carefully and getting as much insight as you can in terms of areas you need to study more, how to approach processing the information in the passage, how to solve the questions given passage information, and so on. This kind of in-depth analysis is especially important for AAMC material, it makes more sense to use third-party tests as a way to practice pacing and get comfortable w/ the overall flow of the test. But your goal should be to really understand everything from the AAMC inside and out.

OP mentioned working 36 hours/week—especially for people juggling multiple life obligations, there actually can be a such thing as too many FLs, and that boundary is basically when you're trading off the time needed to review. Generally it's better to take just the AAMC FLs and learn them inside and out (plus, of course, the Section Bank etc.) than to take 10-12 FLs but not have time to review them well.