Yes, it was FL1. I plan on doing the Q packs and section banks before taking the second FL. I'm just not sure if that score means I don't know the content (which I thought I did) or if I need to get faster/better at interpreting the passages. I'm not sure how to adjust my studying, because obviously what I was doing isn't working.
For what it is worth,
I RARELY think the PRIMARY problem for any student is content. The problem is dealing with the passage-based, critical and experimental reasoning the MCAT requires. If there were simple, straightforward questions on scored AAMC 1 that you missed solely because you forgot a memorized fact, then that's easy--you MIGHT get one more point if you go back and learn that content. BUT, your next FLE or the actual exam won't ask THAT piece of content, it will ask a DIFFERENT piece of content, so you probably won't get that point anyway. Only about 10% of the questions are really answerable based on content mastery alone. Rather, a solid, basic, conceptual understanding of the sciences allows you to "speak the language" of the exam. It makes sure that you have some clue what they are talking about, but THEN the real work begins... as you have to skillfully evaluate each answer choice, make predictions, decide which options violate basic science, reason about why a researcher used a certain tool or step in an experiment, read a complicated graph, or decipher a dense paragraph describing a signalling pathway....and it is the synthesis of those things that allows you to actually answer most AAMC questions confidently.
Content review is overemphasized here on SDN, to the students' detriment. Similarly, content review is often frontloaded in a counterproductive way: "Study content for months and months using one of the study plans posted on SDN and then FINALLY get around to taking full-length exams in the final weeks/month before your test date.
I believe it is harmful to separate full-length practice and content review into mutually exclusive study phases. I suggest a nearly 18o degree switch from that approach: Begin with real AAMC questions (SB is good) to familiarize yourself with what is required of you, take one Full-Length exam every 3-4 weeks, analyzing the crap out of it (spending 2-3x as long reviewing/analyzing an FLE as you spent taking it), allow the RESULTS from those FLEs to dictate which content you study, repeat for at least 2-3 months, then take and analyze 2-3 exams per week during the final month. This focuses you on the skills you actually need to score well, rather than wandering in the desert of content review for months and then facing harsh realities when you start taking full-length exams.
