Electronic Test Taking Strategy

[danny89]

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For those who have taken the MCAT already, are CBT FL practice exams the only way to prepare in order to adapt to the computer based nature of the test?
In other words, are people who prepped online( TPR online, Kaplan online, etc) generally more comfortable when taking the MCAT than those who studied off of books?

 

[mr chievous]

For those who have taken the MCAT already, are CBT FL practice exams the only way to prepare in order to adapt to the computer based nature of the test?
In other words, are people who prepped online( TPR online, Kaplan online, etc) generally more comfortable when taking the MCAT than those who studied off of books?

Definitely. A friend of mine that took a ton of paper copy practice tests was averaging 37s. When he took the real thing, he got a a 31 because he wasn't familiar with the format. I think after about 2-3 tests, you get comfortable with it. The more the better in my opinion. I've taken about 11 CBTs and my stress levels have decreased dramatically.

 

[BABSstudent]

If you do practice problems on the computer, you prepare for the test in the same situation as you will take it. For example, I tend to circle things in the passage if I have a paper test, or I write in the margins, or I underline things in the problems... but you can't do that on the test.

Looking at a computer is a strain on the eyes, is difficult to do problems because you have to look at the screen and then copy it to a blank piece of paper, you cannot write in the margins, etc. Sure you have scratch paper, but that just isn't the same.

You can read books offline to do content review, but nothing quite cuts it like doing the practice problems on the computer.

 

[nancy mcgunter]

If you do practice problems on the computer, you prepare for the test in the same situation as you will take it. For example, I tend to circle things in the passage if I have a paper test, or I write in the margins, or I underline things in the problems... but you can't do that on the test.

Looking at a computer is a strain on the eyes, is difficult to do problems because you have to look at the screen and then copy it to a blank piece of paper, you cannot write in the margins, etc. Sure you have scratch paper, but that just isn't the same.

You can read books offline to do content review, but nothing quite cuts it like doing the practice problems on the computer.

Ditto. CBTs are fine, but I like paper tests because they're more manipulable and you can underline, asterisk, denote, cross out, etc. whenever you need to. So you should definitely take some computerized practice tests.

Note: If I break 30 on the MCAT (I'll know in about a week), I'll be selling three of the AAMC CBTs right here on SDN! So that's one option for you, assuming I do okay. 🙂

 

[darkjedi]

The absolutely best materials to prepare for the MCAT are the actual AAMC practice exams. They were by far the most predictive on how I actually did on the real deal. Most of my friends performed similarly to how they did on those AAMC tests.