Taking the MCAT as a practice

[alr5039]

I started my preparation for the Mcat. My kaplan course ends in time for the august exam but I am nervous that if I only give myself one chance at taking the exam my nerves will get the best of me. I wanted to take the july exam to get a more realistic practice but I know I will not be ready and most likely not do my best. I don't want this to hurt my application though and I was wondering if anyone had advice on what to do. Will my application be immediately discarded if my score is not high enough or do you think a better august score will be good enough to keep their attention.. ??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thankss

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[TheRealMD]

The MCAT is not to be taken for practice. End of story.

 

[iA-MD2013]

The MCAT is not to be taken for practice. End of story.

Do not take the real thing as practice!!!

 

[iluvpuppies]

I started my preparation for the Mcat. My kaplan course ends in time for the august exam but I am nervous that if I only give myself one chance at taking the exam my nerves will get the best of me. I wanted to take the july exam to get a more realistic practice but I know I will not be ready and most likely not do my best. I don't want this to hurt my application though and I was wondering if anyone had advice on what to do. Will my application be immediately discarded if my score is not high enough or do you think a better august score will be good enough to keep their attention.. ??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thankss

do not take an actual mcat as practice. u dont want that score showing up. if you really want a practice run that gives u more of the experience: make urself get up early and go to a local library/university library or something and take it at one of those little computer terminals. complete it without any notes and all the appropriate timing practices.

also: trust me....u wont be as nervous for the mcat as u expect. several ppl ive talked to were actually pretty happy when they went in to take it (ur so tired of studying by then that its a really good feeling that this may be the end of ur prep work)

 

[Bacchus]

Some admissions committees will average your scores. This could be extremely detrimental, do not take the REAL MCAT for practice. www.e-mcat.com for practice AAMC exams.

 

[45408]

That's a terrible idea, and an expensive mistake to boot. When I took Kaplan (four years ago), we had tons of full-length practice tests that was plenty of practice. You would be making a huge mistake.

 

[Lawliet2008]

You know that AAMC has practice exams just for this purpose right? Pay the $35.00 instead of $200. If you really need to spend the money, send it to me .

 

[evandavidson]

Second the poster above who says not to take the real MCAT for practice. AAMC's 8, 9, 10 and perhaps 6 and 7 I felt were pretty representative of the actual exam. Take those instead.

 

[Ginzo]

To the OP, you could actually take the real MCAT in July and then void it if you want to practice under the actual test circumstances. This is a very expensive way to do it, but it does give you the actual test experience in advance if you're that curious to find out about it. The schools do NOT see your voided test scores and this does not count against you.

 

[gump]

To the OP, you could actually take the real MCAT in July and then void it if you want to practice under the actual test circumstances. This is a very expensive way to do it, but it does give you the actual test experience in advance if you're that curious to find out about it. The schools do NOT see your voided test scores and this does not count against you.

You could do that for the "experience" but you'll never know how you scored. Agree that this is a very expensive way to practice.

 

[TheRealMD]

Second the poster above who says not to take the real MCAT for practice. AAMC's 8, 9, 10 and perhaps 6 and 7 I felt were pretty representative of the actual exam. Take those instead.

Tests 7-10 are the only ones that should be used to gauge your ability to do well on the real thing. Test 3 (the free one) is a joke compared to what the real thing is these days.

 

[Bacchus]

To the OP, you could actually take the real MCAT in July and then void it if you want to practice under the actual test circumstances. This is a very expensive way to do it, but it does give you the actual test experience in advance if you're that curious to find out about it. The schools do NOT see your voided test scores and this does not count against you.

I don't feel this is in anyway more beneficial than simulating conditions. Test centers vary and therefore practicing in one can be different than taking the real exam at a different location.

OP, mimick the testing conditions and use practice exams.

 

[decafplease]

Tests 7-10 are the only ones that should be used to gauge your ability to do well on the real thing. Test 3 (the free one) is a joke compared to what the real thing is these days.

Of course it is. *frowns* I guess I'm not so smart, after all. I was excited that I got a 31 without studying Oh well... that's why I'm paying $1700 for PR.

 

[RoadRunner17]

FWIW, you can't be signed up concurrently for the July and August administrations, AFAIK.

 

[bigman225]

I would just unregister and let someone else take your seat. Without being able to analyze incorrect/correct answers, you'll gain nothing from it. If you're not ready, take more practice exams. If you've already been through all the possible practice material the GS CBTs are acceptable as a last resort.

 

[Ginzo]

I don't feel this is in anyway more beneficial than simulating conditions. Test centers vary and therefore practicing in one can be different than taking the real exam at a different location.

OP, mimick the testing conditions and use practice exams.

I disagree. My MCAT testing center had stronger security than most prisons. I felt that this greatly added to the stress level. There's no way to properly simulate these conditions on your own. And to work around the differences between testing centers you would just take your trial run at the same testing center that you take your real test at.

 

[greg1184]

That's a terrible idea, and an expensive mistake to boot. When I took Kaplan (four years ago), we had tons of full-length practice tests that was plenty of practice. You would be making a huge mistake.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Take Kaplan if you want a buttload of practice.

 

[ryandote]

.

 

[loganhayes]

Two words: BAD IDEA.

 

[DrJD]

Agree with the above, I sure wouldn't do it... but it is possible.

 

[GreenShirt]

No.

 

[premedrod]

I think i went through a similar situation. i was so stressed out over taking the mcat and actually broke down once because the studying was difficult. i was doing about 6-8 hrs a day during the summer and wished i could be spending my summers chillin, but couldnt. not to mention, my practice exams, whcih i made sure i took under similar conditions as the real deal, was horrible bc i would end up with about 17-23 scores (7 practice tests too). because my score was so terrible it was hard to go through with the real thing. in the end, my mom said just try it out and see what happens. i took the day before the test to think about how the test day would actually go. i knew my reading section score sucked everytime so i thought i better think of something different to do. i ended up using a WHOLE different technique to tackle the reading section and got a 9 instead of a 4 like usual hahaha
when i got a 30 i absolutely freaked. i dont know how i did it, but something tells me getting over 12 hours of rest before the test and not having anything to lose by taking the test, really helped me chill out and just do my best. i think this is the most important advice that you can have. just chill out, know you tried your best given the time allotted and that you can always take it again later on. also, dont be weird and study during the morning before the test. i saw some ppl studying and thought it was ******ed. they were nervous and im sure they didnt do as well as they couldve....

I started my preparation for the Mcat. My kaplan course ends in time for the august exam but I am nervous that if I only give myself one chance at taking the exam my nerves will get the best of me. I wanted to take the july exam to get a more realistic practice but I know I will not be ready and most likely not do my best. I don't want this to hurt my application though and I was wondering if anyone had advice on what to do. Will my application be immediately discarded if my score is not high enough or do you think a better august score will be good enough to keep their attention.. ??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thankss

 

[bcat85]

That is quite possibly the singular worst idea I have ever heard.

 

[HumidBeing]

This question is most appropriate for the MCAT Discussion forum. Members may follow and participate in discussions on that board. Moving.