Redo AAMC tests?

[thestrokes14]

I am wondering whether there is any value in redoing AAMC tests (particularly verbal sections)? I haven't taken them in a year, and I honestly doubt I will remember specific answers to questions. I want to take them because after taking the real MCAT (I did last summer), I found the AAMC passages to be probably the most similar (and my scores were basically identical).

Anyway, what do you think? Would you avoid retaking them?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SN2ed]

Should I retake FL X?

I don't suggest it for a few reasons. First, your score will be inflated. This alone negates the predictive power of the test. If you don't need it to gauge where you are, fine, retake them. For instance, you could simply be going over the problems again to, as others have mentioned, understand the thinking behind it. However, if you are using it as a practice FL, don't.

One of the most important aspects of a FL is that it's material you've never seen before. It forces you to quickly analyze an unknown passage, tap into your knowledge, and answer questions you've never seen. If you knew exactly what was going to be on the test, it would take away from the somewhat frantic experience of getting that weird passage. It also makes you more relaxed overall because you know what's coming. Unfortunately, you will not have the luxury of either on the test. You will have to deal with weird passages. You will have to get out of your comfort zone of knowing what's ahead.

Then, you get into the timing issues which you MUST get down before the test. When you have prior knowledge of the material, you miss the chance at gaining more experience with the clock. Too many people underestimate the effect of the timer. Again, you have to get used to it and retaking problems won't help.

Think of the whole thing like sports practice. Sure, you go over some standard plays again and again to get a feel for them. However, to practice for a real game, you have a scrimmage match or an exhibition game. The other team doesn't tell you what plays they're going to run. If they did, it would eliminate the usefulness of the scrimmage or exhibition game.

 

[CodeBlu]

I can safely say that the AAMC full lengths that I retook I didn't remember answers or anything. Especially the verbal reasoning section. If anything I would look at those again.

I understand what Sn2ed is saying exactly... but it couldn't hurt to spend a few hours taking one or two verbal reasoning sections over again. I think it might actually be beneficial... did you get the same questions wrong a year later? Can you fix that with the time you have now?

But I would highly recommend that not be all you use... use some EK1001 verbal passages or another companies tests just to give you some perspective...

Good luck!

 

[nuD]

As SN2ed said, how you perform on the tests (in terms of score, timing, quick thinking ability) will not be as accurate a representation as it would have been the first time. Having read the passages just once a year ago will give you a surprising familiarity with the passages, thus removing a critical element of VR.

With that being said, I would definitely redo them for practice in addition to other, new practice. The passages and question types are the closest to what you will encounter on the real MCAT, so even doing them for a second time will be a better representation than any other material. Also, going over the AAMC tests will help you become familiar with the real MCAT question types and help you adopt the proper mindset for answering the questions.

 

[TwoPaddles]

I am wondering whether there is any value in redoing AAMC tests (particularly verbal sections)? I haven't taken them in a year, and I honestly doubt I will remember specific answers to questions. I want to take them because after taking the real MCAT (I did last summer), I found the AAMC passages to be probably the most similar (and my scores were basically identical).

Anyway, what do you think? Would you avoid retaking them?

A year is a long time for you to "not remember" the answers. I don't think it would be a problem as long as you don't remember them. I have a friend who took the AAMCs there times and ended up getting a 42. Of course, I'm not trying to say taking it three times will guarantee you a good score.

Good luck

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I second SN2ed here. It's true that you won't recall the questions verbatim, but the problem is that there will be some tricky questions that you remember reviewing after the fact and you'll know how to handle it faster than had it been a question you'd never seen before. That alone will improve your score the second time you work through the AAMC exams.

I agree with the consensus here that they are great for practice, but don't count on them as tools for predicting how you're doing. Except for 11, which you probably haven't done before.

 

[phltz]

There's no harm in taking them as practice, in an effort to improve your skills/score. If you're taking them as a predictor of your final score, though, take the results with a grain of salt. I retook several AAMC FLs after 4 or 5 months off. My verbal scores on the retests were a few points higher than my ultimate score.

 

[thestrokes14]

Yeah, just to clarify, I am not intending on taking them to get a representative score. Just more for practice so I can get a feel for reading real passages on the computer screen etc.

Thanks for the input guys.