Mcat HELPS!

[AlbertCPham]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello all.

I am taking the mcat in may and I'm so stress out at so many things. Could someone please enlight me about the mcat cbt. Are we allow to bring scratch papers and pencils with us to the testing center? it seems kinda hard to do physics problems or physical chem problems without papers and pencils.

I've read some of the threads here, and a lot of y'all here are very well prepared for the real mcat by doing tons of practice tests. How much money did y'all spend for all these practice tests? Someone mentioned from one of the threads that it costs $35/practice test for AAMC, does that mean y'all spend around $400-500 for the practice tests on AAMC? Is/are there any alternative(s) to get good practice tests for cheaper price?

I am studying the mcat on my own, and I heard a lot of people praise EK 1001 verbals book is very good for the verbal section. What about Biology and Physical Science, which books are good for me to study from? Can y'all help me leave good recommendations.

Anyone attending Washington State University, Pullman campus this semester?🙂

 

[Vihsadas]

First off, you must read the MCAT PDF file which can be found at:
www.aamc.org/mcat
Click on "MCAT essentials".

This will answer all of your questions about testing center conditions, what you need to bring, and what you should expect.

About studying:

The EK verbal is a good book. General rule of thumb is to get your hand on as many books as you can. That being said, here's what I used:

Kaplan Premiere Program
Princeton 'Cracking the CBT'
EK Verbal
PRP Verbal workbook (Can only find it if you took the course. I got mine from a friend).
Kaplan Qbank
Kaplan FL 1-11, Topical and Subject tests (Also got them from a friend. You can't find the subject and topical tests unless you take their course).
AAMC CBT 1-10
Gold Standard CBT 1-2

I think that's basically everything that I used...
A few people who have done well on the MCAT say that the 'Berkley Review Books' are great too. You might want to try those out.

 

[Mandek]

First off, you must read the MCAT PDF file which can be found at:
www.aamc.org/mcat
Click on "MCAT essentials".

This will answer all of your questions about testing center conditions, what you need to bring, and what you should expect.

About studying:

The EK verbal is a good book. General rule of thumb is to get your hand on as many books as you can. That being said, here's what I used:

Kaplan Premiere Program
Princeton 'Cracking the CBT'
EK Verbal
PRP Verbal workbook (Can only find it if you took the course. I got mine from a friend).
Kaplan Qbank
Kaplan FL 1-11, Topical and Subject tests (Also got them from a friend. You can't find the subject and topical tests unless you take their course).
AAMC CBT 1-10
Gold Standard CBT 1-2

I think that's basically everything that I used...
A few people who have done well on the MCAT say that the 'Berkley Review Books' are great too. You might want to try those out.

1. Where can you get Kaplan QBank? I heard it comes with a course. What if we are not taking a course? Only way to get hands on qbank is through a friend?

2. AAMC CBT 1-10 -> are these different than AAMC pencil/paper exams like 3 (the one available for free) and 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. Are these still available with AAMC?

Thanks.

 

[Vihsadas]

1. Where can you get Kaplan QBank? I heard it comes with a course. What if we are not taking a course? Only way to get hands on qbank is through a friend?

2. AAMC CBT 1-10 -> are these different than AAMC pencil/paper exams like 3 (the one available for free) and 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. Are these still available with AAMC?

Thanks.

The Qbank is available from Kaplan online. You do not have to sign up for a course to buy access to it.

The pencil and paper exams exams (3-9 I think?) Are not different from the CBT versions except that they are longer. AAMC just removed some passages from the paper versions to make the CBT versions. 10CBT is the only test that has been made specifically for the computer and there are no extra passages.

 

[Mandek]

The Qbank is available from Kaplan online. You do not have to sign up for a course to buy access to it.

The pencil and paper exams exams (3-9 I think?) Are not different from the CBT versions except that they are longer. AAMC just removed some passages from the paper versions to make the CBT versions. 10CBT is the only test that has been made specifically for the computer and there are no extra passages.

Oh ok. You did only the AAMC "CBT" ones? Thanks for clarifying. I was under the impression that these CBT ones are in addition to the ones AAMC had available in the previous years.

 

[Vihsadas]

Oh ok. You did only the AAMC "CBT" ones? Thanks for clarifying. I was under the impression that these CBT ones are in addition to the ones AAMC had available in the previous years.

No. They aren't.

The paper and pencil exams do have extra passages though, and I did do those for extra practice.

 

[Mandek]

The MCAT Essentials pdf file says "Please note that each multiple-choice section will include some experimental items that do not count toward your score."

hmm....even with 40 verbal ques and 52 PS/BS ques, they still have experimental questions??

 

[xrevision]

They need experimental questions so they can set a curve for future test takers!

 

[prettyslick]

They need experimental questions so they can set a curve for future test takers!

well what I was saying was...even with ONLY 52 questions, they still have room for experimental ques and still leave question to grade?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The MCAT Essentials pdf file says "Please note that each multiple-choice section will include some experimental items that do not count toward your score."

Where do they state this in the Essentials? What page? Is it in the current version on line?

 

[Mandek]

Where do they state this in the Essentials? What page? Is it in the current version on line?

www.aamc.org/mcat - "MCAT Essentials" on the right

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatessentials.pdf

it says this on page 4 about 3/4 th down

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

www.aamc.org/mcat - "MCAT Essentials" on the right

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatessentials.pdf

it says this on page 4 about 3/4 th down

Thanks 10exp6! I must be illiterate, because I read it twice and both times skipped that sentence. I looked back at a few previous essentials, and it's not in those. I'm glad they post it in that exact wording.

 

[Mandek]

Thanks 10exp6! I must be illiterate, because I read it twice and both times skipped that sentence. I looked back at a few previous essentials, and it's not in those. I'm glad they post it in that exact wording.

I still dont understand how they still have "exp" questions when there are ONLY 52 questions?

 

[xrevision]

I imagine they have 1 or 2 per section.

 

[AlbertCPham]

Everyone, thank you for your replies. Beside buying AAMC tests, are there any other sources that I can buy?