Straight to practice exams after content

[deleted421268]

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Do most people transition straight after content to practice full length exams or do they other stuff before FL practice exams and after content? How much time should one spend on practice?

 

[theKingLT]

Do most people transition straight after content to practice full length exams or do they other stuff before FL practice exams and after content? How much time should one spend on practice?

I'm assuming your talking about the MCAT. I found it best to inorporate practice at all stages. Starting with content specific qbanks/chapter quizzes early on in content and working up to half and full lengths by the end of content review (like you can do your first FL after 80% of material is covered). Then once you're through all the material start taking 1-2 full lengths a week depending on how much time you have to get through 8-12 FL's. Each full length takes a day to do and a day to review. The days in between can be spent finishing question banks and reviewing material that you're weak on. Basically the idea is to start with lots of content studying and little practice and work up to lots of practice and little content study so that you peak around when you sit for the real thing

 

[Skeletorr]

I incorporated practice passages along the way. That way you reinforce the content, and practice how they test the content. UWORLD was pretty good, but Kaplan and any other company would be fine imo

 

[DameJulie]

I think FLs are a great way to start, even in the middle of content review. At the beginning don't aim to get every question right, but to develop a habit to sit through a 8-hour exam w/o distracted, sleepy, or fatigued.

 

[Woe_is_me23]

^ ditto.

I started doing practice FLs 4 weeks into content review, even though I definitely was not done with content review. I was getting low scores at the time, but the goal is to train your body to take an 8 hour exam. Also, taking the following day to review your exam in detail is very good content review.

Also much respect to @theKingLT but I’d like to caution against taking 2 FLs/week. Considering what’s sustainable, and what type of focus and planning it takes to really mimic test taking conditions (truly taking the test over 8 hours with 2 10 minute breaks and 1 30 minute break)— let me tell you, it’s EXHAUSTING. You will need a week to recover. Additionally, I continued content review right up until the week of my exam, and thought it was productive for me. If I’d taken 2 FLs a week, then that’s 4 days out of my week (2 full days of test taking and 2 full days of review). I think that for MOST student that will be both inefficient and a recipe for burnout.

 

[theKingLT]

^ ditto.

I started doing practice FLs 4 weeks into content review, even though I definitely was not done with content review. I was getting low scores at the time, but the goal is to train your body to take an 8 hour exam. Also, taking the following day to review your exam in detail is very good content review.

Also much respect to @theKingLT but I’d like to caution against taking 2 FLs/week. Considering what’s sustainable, and what type of focus and planning it takes to really mimic test taking conditions (truly taking the test over 8 hours with 2 10 minute breaks and 1 30 minute break)— let me tell you, it’s EXHAUSTING. You will need a week to recover. Additionally, I continued content review right up until the week of my exam, and thought it was productive for me. If I’d taken 2 FLs a week, then that’s 4 days out of my week (2 full days of test taking and 2 full days of review). I think that for MOST student that will be both inefficient and a recipe for burnout.

I agree. I should have been more specific. I only did 2 a week for the 2 weeks prior to test week. The rest of the time was just 1 per week.