Best non-aamc practice tests

[Cerberus]

I need other tests since i am saving the last of my aamc tests for when i get closer to zero hour. I dont know which ones would be best to buy though in terms of beinf realistically close to the real MCAT. What do you think, EK, BR, TPR, KAPLAN?

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[Lochmoor]

Hey, I used TPR for all my practice and I was fine for the sciences. The verbal, however, helped a little, but was different enough to throw me off on the real thing. I retook and did the 4 real aamc mcat practices the last week and a half to get use to real mcat verbal. I think it helped a lot.

I dont think it matters too much if you use any of those 4 companies for the sciences. Verbal will be hard to find good practice.

Here's a tip: Try to work up to doing ~30 questions (4 passages) in 30 minutes with the same accuracy as if you had 40 minutes. Then, the last few weeks slow it down to doing full practice in the correct time.

I did this on accident when preparing for the 2nd time. When I slowed down, my "silly mistakes" were for the most part corrected and I could complete the entire section. My score increased 4 points in verbal.

Good luck, just keep pushing!! Two more months of hard work will be worth it in the long run.

 

[Cerberus]

Thanks

I have taken the aamc 3R and 4 and the kaplan diagnostic (as well as the bio diagnostic from TPR which I think was a bit on the hard side...). I feel that the most improvement i've had has come from finding my weaknesses via test taking. I think I will probably buy a mix of them, probably a few TPR, a EK, and a BR. Clock is ticking so I guess I dont have time to really take more than 4 additional tests.

Does the quality of the TPR exams range at all (such as aamc's 3R being inferior to the rest)?

 

[JohnHolmes]

The Princeton Review, definitely.

CCW

 

[GlcNac]

I found that my scores on the Kaplan tests (#1-5) were fairly accurate predictors of my actual MCAT score (+/- 3 pts) even though the question types were not that representative of the ones on the real exam. I think the Kaplan ones are good to take a few months before the test date if you want to get a rough idea of what your score will be.