How similar are AAMC material to the actual MCAT?

[12thMan]

How good are the AAMC practice questions and full length exams in comparison to the real MCAT? Most specifically, how accurately do they resemble the actual test in terms of passage length and question difficulty?

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[PlsLetMeIn21]

I thought my test was harder than the AAMC practice exams, but they were still great practice. The scores are a good predicter of how you'll do.

 

[12thMan]

Thanks!

 

[Cornfed101]

I felt like the difficulty was most similar to the section bank questions. Maybe a little easier than the harder SB passages, but not much. Like @PlsLetMeIn21 said, the scores for the FLs are the best predictors of where you are currently at.

Edit: CARS from AAMC is far and away better than any 3rd party resource. Make sure you are drilling AAMC questions throughout. I did SB and CARS Qpacks 2x.

 

[FutureSurgical]

Mine was about as hard as the FL practice tests. Though some sections were easier and one was way harder than what the FLs tested.

I'll say using UWorld is what got me 5+ points on my real test. Idk why people don't talk about it in regards to MCAT prep, but it helped. Especially with CARS.

 

[Cornfed101]

I'll say using UWorld is what got me 5+ points on my real test. Idk why people don't talk about it in regards to MCAT prep, but it helped. Especially with CARS.

It's pretty new for MCAT, and it takes people time to adopt new things. I agree that it is great, especially for P/S.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I felt like the difficulty was most similar to the section bank questions. Maybe a little easier than the harder SB passages, but not much. Like @PlsLetMeIn21 said, the scores for the FLs are the best predictors of where you are currently at.

Edit: CARS from AAMC is far and away better than any 3rd party resource. Make sure you are drilling AAMC questions throughout. I did SB and CARS Qpacks 2x.

Exactly right in terms of section bank difficulty. Those were a pretty good indicator of my exam.

Your comment about CARS is so true. AAMC practice materials are the closest to the real deal by far. You are better off doing them a second time than materials from anywhere else. I wish I would have done that. I can't even say what is second place, because they all seem like a blur. I was pleasantly surprised by TBR practice exam CARS sections and EK practice exam CARS sections, but neither can touch AAMC.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

Mine was about as hard as the FL practice tests. Though some sections were easier and one was way harder than what the FLs tested.

I'll say using UWorld is what got me 5+ points on my real test. Idk why people don't talk about it in regards to MCAT prep, but it helped. Especially with CARS.

We each have our preferences, and UWorld gets plenty of love. I'd say it gets more than it deserves, but that's my opinion. They have really good explanations, but to me their questions were not realistic or that helpful except for P/S. Then again, I started with TBR to study for the sciences so by the time I got to UWorld I was already set in those subjects. The TBR explanations are even better than UWorld and they have better strategies (different than anything I sww in other materials.) So I stopped using UWorld for the sciences about halfway, because it wasn't the best use of my time. Instead, I used EK because at that point in my prep I needed rapid fire review, and that's what the 1001 books offer. My best guess is that without TBR I would have probably gotten 127-129 in the C/P and B/B sections, so TBR was good for 6 to 10 points for me. They are the biggest reason I got 132s.

 

[12thMan]

Exactly right in terms of section bank difficulty. Those were a pretty good indicator of my exam.

Your comment about CARS is so true. AAMC practice materials are the closest to the real deal by far. You are better off doing them a second time than materials from anywhere else. I wish I would have done that. I can't even say what is second place, because they all seem like a blur. I was pleasantly surprised by TBR practice exam CARS sections and EK practice exam CARS sections, but neither can touch AAMC.

How about the Biology/Chemistry/Physics Question Packs? Were those similarly accurate?

 

[star-lily]

The currently available AAMC material for P/S generally doesn't seem to have enough of the "weirdness" a lot of people are finding on more recent administrations of the test which is catching them off-guard... now, I don't know if AAMC FL4 provides some more of this, since most people haven't taken it yet (I imagine more people will take it leading up to the January test).

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

How about the Biology/Chemistry/Physics Question Packs? Were those similarly accurate?

No. They were easier than the actual exam. They felt kind of outdated.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

It's pretty new for MCAT, and it takes people time to adopt new things. I agree that it is great, especially for P/S.

This. UWorld has a sterling reputation for Step 1, 2CK, and 3 (besides CCS). Give it some time and I can only imagine it will rocket to the top.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

This. UWorld has a sterling reputation for Step 1, 2CK, and 3 (besides CCS). Give it some time and I can only imagine it will rocket to the top.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

The MCAT and step exams are drastically different beasts. I know some people love them, but I personally didn't find them that helpful for the MCAT. Their questions were not realistic compared to my exam and while some people like their explanations, I much prefer explanations that explain the logic to eliminating wrong answers and getting a right answer by intuition over tradition school type of explanations.

I'll guess that their surge in popularity from being new and shiny will wear off and they'll fall to second or third place.