Good score for a diagnostic exam?

[kisabella99]

I am starting to study for the MCAT, the goal is to take it mid August. I was told to take a diagnostic exam to start before I begin studying. I took the Blueprint 1/2 length diagnostic and got a 492. C/P: 121, CARS: 125, B/B: 123, P/S: 123.
I've taken all the pre-med classes over 3 years. I feel discouraged with this score, how should I go about studying? I have the AAMC pack, Kaplan books, UWorld. The end goal is I'd like a 515, how realistic is this? Thanks.

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[Blueprint Med School]

I wouldn't care about your first diagnostic score at all. The diagnostic test I use with my students is the NextSteps half-length exam, and I have had students starting out with scores like ~480 end up with 515+, while I've also had students with scores closer to 500 see only minor improvement. As long as you're willing to put in the effort, a 515 is realistic. A general study plan should have mainly content review in the first half, and then tons of practice in the second half. I would say that the average student should spend ~300+ hours total studying for the exam, but if you have more time to spend, then more practice will only lead to better results.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

These places deflate your score soo much, these practice - and especially the diagnostics - exams are much harder. Once they scare you into thinking you can't get a good score with just the classes you've taken, they'll sell you on their course. I'm not saying that getting the course is bad (though I've never heard of Blueprint...), I'm just saying there's business in it for them to deflate your score.

No way to evaluate how realistic a 515 is without an AAMC FL score (or all 3 would be better). The AAMC pack is good and the kaplan books are also quite good (I used both) but the biggest asset you have is full-length practice exams. I did 12 FL's and attribute my success to that. PM me if you want to know more.