how many practice tests?

[nero]

hello,

I was wondering how many practice tests did you all take before the MCAT. I am taking the Kaplan course so I will do the 1st five for sure. I am also planning on doing AAMC III-VI. Is it worth doing kaplan 6-11 or AAMC I and II?

Thanks

Nero

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[Doctor Octopus]

I took the Kaplan diagnostic and did very badly, so I needed a confidence builder. I took aamc #1 and #2 and found them to be very easy. I then took Kaplan 6-9 (they didn't have 10 or 11 yet) and did crappy again. Then I did Kaplan 1-5 when they were proctored and did well. My last three tests were aamc 4-6 which gave me a very close approximation to my real score.

Moral of this story...do as many tests as you can.

 

[lola]

i am taking kaplan so will take kaplan 1-5 as part of the course. i also plan to take the two most recent aamc tests. i've never actually used the kaplan library. do they have the aamc tests? if so, is there competition for checking them out? i'd hate to go and have someone else be using the test all day.

 

[jot]

they usually have multiple copies of them - apparently the week or so before the 'cats is pretty busy.

 

[Mudd]

amazing... for $1300 they won't give you the aamc exams.

for sure, you want to do aamc exams 3 through 6, but more importantly, you want plenty of time to review your performance on those exams. try to find a used copy somewhere, so that you can leisurely review it over a day or more, following your sitting for each one.

also, it might be worth your time to find a couple of exams from other sources as well, so you see passages and exams from many different writing styles. if you can find them, try one or two exams from either princeton or berkeley.

 

[missbonnie]

You should definately do aamc 3-6. 1 and 2 are not that valid since they are too old and I think 1 still has botany on it, and 2 is too calculation intensive. I did aamc 2-6 as my full lengths, they were part of my prep course. I would use these over anything else -- they are the real thing straight from the company who makes the tests, can't get any better than that!

-b

 

[jot]

tehey have the aamc tests in their library. kaplan tests greater than 5 are garbage - i got a 24 on #7 the week before the mcat hah. i didn't even like any of the kaplan tests - i don't think they are on par, but its just worth doing 1-5 just cause. aamc 4-6 are the most accurate i think. i took 9 full lengths before i was done. a bit much - but whatever i above that aforementioned 24.
-jot

 

[relatively prime]

I took about 24, but I have issues... I'd say take at least 5. Good luck

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Originally posted by relatively prime:
[qb]I took about 24, but I have issues... I'd say take at least 5. Good luck

Holy mackerel! I thought I took alot!

I did 13 full lengths. (I am applying to 13 schools-freaky, huh?)

 

[coolwaters]

Unless you're starved for practice, I would only do one or two of Kaplan's 6-11..I'm with jot - after 3 months of intensive studying I scored worse on test #8 than I did on my diagnostic - they aren't scored properly, and the answers weren't always 100% correct. Tests 1-5 are good practice, however. It all depends on your comfort level - the number of tests you take.

I took 6 full-lenghts, however ended up doing about 20 VR sections in all because I felt most uncomfortable with this section. Although I wasn't entirely aware of my improvement until test day, doing all those VR payed off. On the other hand, I could have spent more time on PS because my final score only went up 1 point from my diag (from a 9 to a 10). So what could have potentially been my strongest section turned out to be my weakest because I didn't focus so hard here. Bio was a fluk - scored a 7 on diag. Didn't concentrate too heavily on it - scored a 13 on test day. Moral of the story - know your weaknesses, concentrate on them, however don't neglect your strengths either. That said, I think doing 10 practice tests total would be plenty.

Also, don't be compelled do take an entire test or even section in one sitting every single time. You need some practice doing this, but it can also burn you out. If you're getting sick of timing yourself, to prevent burn out, just work the passages and give yourself that added practice. Just make sure your coming in under the mark on time as test day approaches.