Full length practice... or no?

[StringBean]

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So did any of you not take a full length practice test? Did you think you should have? Is it a must... or can I do without? I'm just not sure I can give up a full day of reviewing to take it. Any thoughts/adive? 😳

 

[EctopicFetus]

If you are talking about the Qbank full length exam the advice I could give you are this. The test was incredibly hard compared to the real thing. the competing factors IMO are that I think it is good do do a practice test to understand how to overcome the fatigue of taking a test for 8 hours. That being said if you dont think you can afford the time then I think learning as much as you can is a safer bet especially if you dont think fatigue is an issue. (It will suck more out of you than you think)

 

[Stinger86]

Prior to my step, I had only taken one other 8-hour exam, and that was the obnoxious MCAT. It suffices to say that I really, really don't like 8-hour exams. I hate them so much I won't even spend 8 hours taking a mock exam. So, I just worked question blocks from different review sources as I felt like it, all the while thinking about how if I really was going to spend 8 hours taking the actual step (which I didn't plan on), I only wanted to go through that ONCE.

Looking back, I'm glad I didn't work any full-length mock exam. It wouldn't have helped me, and I really thought working questions at my leisure was much more useful.

 

[AlexRusso]

I did the Kaplan full length practice at the center as well as the one on CD. I did these at a point in my studying when i could no longer stand to look at review books and this was a nice change of pace for me. Both of these exams were extremely difficult. The experience of actual test day is nothing like the practice exams due to the seriousness of the situation and your adrenal glands going into overdrive. The only reason the full lengths were helpful were for the extra questions. Also I went into the real exam knowing that i can sit through 8 hours of questions. But like I said, the actual experience can never compare to the practice exams.

 

[dodo2]

It is exactly like running a marathon. No marathoner runs a "practice" marathon. They practice by running 7-9 miles a day. You can easily triple your endurance on the day of the real thing.