Thoughts on AAMC Question Packs for MCAT prep?

[Jony770]

Howdy folks,

First off, sorry if this has been covered elsewhere on the site; I searched and couldn't find anything, but I'm also relatively new to SDN.

I'm going to take the MCAT May 19th and I'm about to dig into my study. I bought the 6 book Kaplan set but after doing a bit of work out of them they just seem way too detailed and don't have any passages for practice. I feel like they're just not very efficient, and after some research it appears that many others feel the same.

I'm deciding on what route to take with my materials, and was thinking about using Khan Academy for content review and buying the AAMC Online study set with question packs for actual practice. I was wondering how they're organized i.e. mix of questions on random topics vs. several discreets and passages in a row about the same material. I also have the 8th edition Exam Crackers books.

Also, I'm happy to hear any advice on other recommended materials, or if this isn't a good approach. My second choice is The Berkeley Review, but it's damn near impossible to find any used sets for a decent price.

Thanks!

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[aldol16]

I used the Kaplan series, Khan Academy practice passages, and AAMC materials. I recall the Kaplan series came with three free FLs online. They're as good as any other test prep company's FLs (i.e. not so good for modeling on real MCAT but good to test your understanding at a basic level and to simulate timed conditions). I would recommend getting through the content review as quickly as you can without sacrificing quality. Don't worry if you get several questions wrong in the end-of-chapter practice questions. Those are way more content-oriented than the MCAT and so you'll find that you might have gotten a question wrong because you forgot some minute detail. On the real MCAT, minute details are really low yielding and so it's not too concerning. Get started on your FLs/practice passages right after content review. That will tell you what areas you need to focus on - you can always come back and revisit content. In other words, you should focus your practice on the areas you need the practice most.

In terms of FLs and good practice, the AAMC is your best bet. Quality goes something like this: Section Bank > FLs > QPacks in terms of how well the passages prepare you for the real thing. Next best in my opinion are the Khan Academy practice passages.

 

[Jony770]

Thanks aldol. Do you mind if I ask how you scored on the exam since you've been accepted into med school?

 

[Ad2b]

The only thing I would switch from Aldol is the CARS q-packs, I would do them earlier and often (just realized Aldol was commenting on quality, not path).

Do q-packs, then SBs, then practice UNscored AAMC exam, then SBs again, then CARS q-packs (again), and the scored AAMC tests. Also, get the flashcards from the AAMC.