Free MCAT practice exam first year of undergrad?

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I'm a freshman in college and I have the opportunity to take a free practice MCAT. Would it actually be beneficial for me to take it?

...if nothing else just to get a feel for the set-up of the test?

...or would it just be a waste of 5 hours?

I understand that my score won't be an accurate prediction of the score I will get when I take it for real because I haven't had physics or o-chem.

Thanks!
 
Don't take it. Some may disagree with me on this forum, but please at least wait until after freshman year to start worrying about the MCAT. Nail your pre-reqs first. Especially if you haven't had physics or o-chem, the only thing you will accomplish is a big demoralization. People who HAVE taken all pre-reqs and not prepared for the MCAT are often very disappointed, let along those who haven't prepared and haven't taken physics and orgo. In a year, definitely beneficial, right now, hold off and enjoy freshman year a little!

Best of luck to you!
 
I'm a sophomore and Kaplan is blowing up my email to give me a free MCAT practice, but it's pointless because I haven't studied, haven't even taken all my pre-reqs, and am nowhere near taking the exam. Why not take a practice USMLE right now too? It's pointless, wait for the time, trust me you're going to end up taking plenty of practice exams when the time comes.
 
oaklandguy said:
[...] Why not take a practice USMLE right now too?
Click to expand...

THIS. 👍

Seriously, though, I was in the same boat as you, thought seriously about taking it, and then slept in that morning instead. It all worked out. Instead of taking the test, if you're really curious, you can just go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and leaf through some of the MCAT books in the Test Prep section.
 
I took one freshmen year...got a 26, doesn't really do anything in preparation for you other than for you to sorta gauge what the test is like, very superficially
 
I took a Kaplan diagnostic the summer between my sophomore and junior years just to see what it looked like. Probably a waste of time if you're a freshman, though.
 
Kaplan's Diagnostic MCAT can also be found under the topic head:

Most Demoralizing and Biased Test Ever.

My diagnostic was 18, and that was on the HIGH end of our class.
 
If you've ever taken a test in your life, then there's no point in taking a diag at this point in time. The MCAT is not the horrific monster that many freshmen think it is.
 
I wouldn't take it as a freshman. You say you just want to get a feel for the setup, but you can easily get an idea of the setup by going onto AAMC's website and reading about the structure of the test.

Representatives from Kaplan and Princeton Review on campus have also been advertising to me to take their practice MCAT. I've just ignored it, although I did enter into their drawing for a free prep course. 🙂

I am just wondering, but when you take these free practice tests, are they also on the computer like the real MCAT or on paper?
 
It's a waste of time for you to take it now. Use those 5 hours to study for your classes or just get some extra sleep or something.
 
schrizto said:
I wouldn't take it as a freshman. You say you just want to get a feel for the setup, but you can easily get an idea of the setup by going onto AAMC's website and reading about the structure of the test.

Representatives from Kaplan and Princeton Review on campus have also been advertising to me to take their practice MCAT. I've just ignored it, although I did enter into their drawing for a free prep course. 🙂

I am just wondering, but when you take these free practice tests, are they also on the computer like the real MCAT or on paper?
Click to expand...

They're on paper/scantron. I suspect they use the exact same testing materials from before computers were invented.
 
schrizto said:
I wouldn't take it as a freshman. You say you just want to get a feel for the setup, but you can easily get an idea of the setup by going onto AAMC's website and reading about the structure of the test.

Representatives from Kaplan and Princeton Review on campus have also been advertising to me to take their practice MCAT. I've just ignored it, although I did enter into their drawing for a free prep course. 🙂

I am just wondering, but when you take these free practice tests, are they also on the computer like the real MCAT or on paper?
Click to expand...

Mine was paper.
 
oaklandguy said:
Why not take a practice USMLE right now too? It's pointless, wait for the time, trust me you're going to end up taking plenty of practice exams when the time comes.
Click to expand...


I was thinking of taking a practice NCLEX, personally. I mean, why waste all the MCAT practice exams now when you have the NCLEX practice exams to practice on? Heck, I thought I'd take a practice LSAT as well since both Kaplan and PR are offering free LSAT days.... then I thought I'd try DNP exam, since it's practically a watered down MCAT to begin with (oh, I'm sorry, was that the "USMLE Step 3" they were going for?)
 
i took my first diagnostic with princeton while watching bleach and naruto.

i got a 20.
 
osumc2014 said:
I took one freshmen year...got a 26, doesn't really do anything in preparation for you other than for you to sorta gauge what the test is like, very superficially
Click to expand...

A 26 for a freshman is very, very good.
 
osumc2014 said:
Thanks...had many many APs
Click to expand...

Please excuse my nosiness, but I looked at your MDApps profile and it says you have a 17 MCAT. How can you get a 26 on a Kaplan/PR MCAT as a freshman and then get a 17 on the actual thing? It doesn't look like it's stopped you... you got some great interviews!
 
schrizto said:
Please excuse my nosiness, but I looked at your MDApps profile and it says you have a 17 MCAT. How can you get a 26 on a Kaplan/PR MCAT as a freshman and then get a 17 on the actual thing? It doesn't look like it's stopped you... you got some great interviews!
Click to expand...

Who cares? He has 4.46 GPA. That's more than enough.:meanie:
 
schrizto said:
I am just wondering, but when you take these free practice tests, are they also on the computer like the real MCAT or on paper?
Click to expand...

Mine was on a computer. It was a slightly shorter version. I took one freshman year just because it was offered and I wasn't busy that day. I didn't do horribly, though I don't remember what I got, but I just kinda wanted to see what I had to look forward to. Then I didn't think about the MCAT til my junior year.

I say take it if you have the time and want to, just don't freak out if you fail miserably or ride easy if you manage to guess really well. The free tests are offered at least twice a year every year at my school, so it's not like the opportunity won't roll around again if you end up having a lot of stuff you actually need to do. It was kinda fun though, since the score mattered absolutely 0 to me.
 
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