How to Interpret FL Diagnostic exam

[Chromium Surfer]

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Hey Everyone,

So I just completed the Next Step half length diagnostic and scored a 498. My breakdown was the following:

125 C/P 126 CARS 124 B/BC 123 P/S

My exam date is May 18 and I would love to score a 512-514, but realistically as long as I hit a 508 I wont retake. With this in mind are my score goals achievable in the next 90 days? Ive been doing some on and off passive studying for the last 3 months but now its time to face the music. I purposefully took a light course load this semester and have only 1 truly hard class so this is the most ideal time for me to study for the MCAT while in school. I think I can dedicate anywhere from 3 to 4.5 hours each day to study, and I can dedicate time to taking a FL every week on Saturday.

I've also already *very passively* gone through the TBR books and at least looked at everything and attempted some problems here and there. So at this point I wouldn't waste my time starting content review from scratch but am rather planning on taking practice exams and then spending the subsequent week hitting weak areas and then taking another exam the following Sat, rinse repeat.

For context: I have a 3.88 GPA but factoring dual enrollment courses taken in high school my GPA is more around 3.7 range. My strengths are definitely in reading and I am hoping to nab a 129 on the CARS and hopefully psych. After reviewing the psych section most of my erros stemmed from not knowing terms and there were about 5 or 6 that I should have gotten correct but then I seconded guessed myself. So once I learn all the terms I should be okay I think. In terms of science classes I would say that am slight to moderate above average student. Ive gotten more A's than B's but have gotten some B's. Usually the B's are mid to high B's and often in the subsequent semester I pull of an A in a two semester course.

I've just heard horror stories from smart kids in my undergrad who ended up not doing well on the MCAT and I don't want that to happen to me!

Any help, advice, or insight is appreciated!

tagging @aldol16 and @theonlytycrane @Roayer since you guys are MCAT gurus haha

 

[Ad2b]

Ignore diagnostics... C-surf, you've been around long enough to know the game that is played with diagnostics.

Did you get all the AAMC materials?

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Ignore diagnostics... C-surf, you've been around long enough to know the game that is played with diagnostics.

Did you get all the AAMC materials?

Haha true that! I did in fact get all the AAMC materials as well as 6 Next step exams. I plan on doing the AAMC sample in about 1 month.

I'm wondering if I should do the section bank now and then a couple weeks before my exam or wait 2 more weeks to solidify my content more and then do the section bank over my spring break and then again a couple weeks before my exam. What do you think?

 

[theonlytycrane]

Don't worry about the diagnostic score, but make a game plan to succeed on each part of the test.

C/P and B/B: Review concepts that you felt shaky on and practice interpreting experiments.

CARS: Keep doing timed practice, daily.

P/S: If you just memorize a lot of terms and stick to the details of the passage you should be able to get this up.

Work through the question packs, section bank, and then re-do the section bank later on. Practice problems should be the bulk of your studying, with content review as needed.

 

[DaAlienist]

Ignore diagnostics... C-surf, you've been around long enough to know the game that is played with diagnostics.

Did you get all the AAMC materials?

What game is played with diagnostic exams? Does the AAMC use this game as well?