How good is the AAMC self-assessment package?

[rolliespring]

Ok I did do a search before posting. From what I know they seem to pull a lot of material from AAMC 6 and old tests. I just want to ask how indicative is it compared to the current MCAT administered? Is it worth investing?

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[Uafl112]

I posted the same question the other day. According to 2 out of the 3 people who replied, it was indicative of their current Verbal skill and worth investing

 

[GodComplex]

The verbal is worth it IMO, but the rest of it was just meh. I didn't even look at the Gchem though so I can't comment on that. The physics, from what I remember, was about half and half (half of it felt similar to current testing and the other half not even close).

 

[Jepstein30]

Ok I did do a search before posting. From what I know they seem to pull a lot of material from AAMC 6 and old tests. I just want to ask how indicative is it compared to the current MCAT administered? Is it worth investing?

It's named the "self-assessment" for a reason.

It's not supposed to be used to correlate to what you would score on the real thing. It's supposed to be used to assess where you have content weaknesses so you can properly address them.

They are old AAMCs so they are just as indicative as the early (i.e. low numbered) AAMC FLs... if not moreso.

IMO, they are an insanely awesome study tool. I would only buy AAMCs 8-11 before I buy the SA.. meaning I would cut out some of the early FLs if it meant I could buy the SA.

Think of it this way: you're job studying is to fish for weaknesses so you can eliminate them. Practice passages are miniscule nets.. they are only good for one type of fish. Not very helpful in this function. Practice exams are larger.. but still.. you barely cover all the fish in the sea. The SA is a damn huge net... it catches virtually everything. Which would you use to identify weaknesses? Granted, the main function of practice passages/tests is NOT finding weaknesses but considering the importance of doing so.. the SA is invaluable.

The fact that you then get a ton of verbal passages is just gravy. Don't use these as a SA. Divvy them up and take a few a day as practice.