Tips for full length review

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TSHJB302

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Hi everyone! I’m testing on June 15th and I just took my first full length yesterday (Kaplan FL#1, scored a 501: 125/126/126/124). Does anyone have any tips on how to best review your practice full lengths?

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I always liked to make flash cards on concepts that I missed, and re-review them consistently.

For PBQ's, I would try to see where you went wrong, whether its misreading the question, missing a passage theme, or incorrectly interpreting the answer, and from there learn how modify your test taking from there.

If you are unaware, I will say Kaplan tests are slightly deflated and sometimes tend to be waaaaaaayyy too detail oriented. But its a good way to test your understanding on concepts. So don't be too hard on yourself. June 15th is 2 months out, but I would make sure to allow time for AAMC material as well.
 
Great that you're focusing on reviewing your FLs in great detail. This is how I saw the most improvement in my score. I've attached a couple of screenshots from a spreadsheet template I used in reviewing all 10 of my FLs. This is from a very early one Kaplan FL2 (spoiler alert - only a few explanations per B/B and CARS sections).

I really would try to tease out why you missed the question. Sure, it really could be content, but as you can see in my descriptions, I only considered wrong answers content if I thought a flashcard with a definition would have seriously allowed me to pick the right answer. A lot of the time, I found missed questions to stem from a misinterpretation of the passage, q-stem, or lack of comprehension of the passage itself. I would then assign homework that either entailed content review from another source I haven't already tapped into; or if it was a test-structure issue, would initially go back and outline that entire passage with question headers on a sheet of paper asking the following types of questions: What is the main purpose? What bits of information do I need to know? What is the q-stem getting at? How can I explain the other answer choices as wrong? Finish the entire review guide + homework assignments first, then go back and do the homework assignments.

I found after doing the outlining for several passages later, I started to have - by far - less error due to misinterpretation of passage/q-stem. Continue to adapt as you improve. You may not have to always assign homework if it was just a silly mistake or if you can simply make a content flashcard and move on. Lastly, make flashcards. If it is a simple concept you didn't know - make a flashcard. Formula? Flashcard. P/S theory? Flashcard. Make it and move on. Don't waste too much time overkilling a content area that you will see again, guaranteed.

Feel free to DM if you have any further questions. Good luck.
 

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Great that you're focusing on reviewing your FLs in great detail. This is how I saw the most improvement in my score (517 - 126/129/132/130). I've attached a couple of screenshots from a spreadsheet template I used in reviewing all 10 of my FLs. This is from a very early one Kaplan FL2 (spoiler alert - only a few explanations per B/B and CARS sections).

I really would try to tease out why you missed the question. Sure, it really could be content, but as you can see in my descriptions, I only considered wrong answers content if I thought a flashcard with a definition would have seriously allowed me to pick the right answer. A lot of the time, I found missed questions to stem from a misinterpretation of the passage, q-stem, or lack of comprehension of the passage itself. I would then assign homework that either entailed content review from another source I haven't already tapped into; or if it was a test-structure issue, would initially go back and outline that entire passage with question headers on a sheet of paper asking the following types of questions: What is the main purpose? What bits of information do I need to know? What is the q-stem getting at? How can I explain the other answer choices as wrong? Finish the entire review guide + homework assignments first, then go back and do the homework assignments.

I found after doing the outlining for several passages later, I started to have - by far - less error due to misinterpretation of passage/q-stem. Continue to adapt as you improve. You may not have to always assign homework if it was just a silly mistake or if you can simply make a content flashcard and move on. Lastly, make flashcards. If it is a simple concept you didn't know - make a flashcard. Formula? Flashcard. P/S theory? Flashcard. Make it and move on. Don't waste too much time overkilling a content area that you will see again, guaranteed.

Feel free to DM if you have any further questions. Good luck.

@mmchick - This is great information! Any way you'd be willing to share the excel spreadsheet you used to keep track of your FL mistakes? Also, what does the "WAP" column and additional acronyms in it stand for? It looks like an excellent tool to track where your weaknesses lie.

Thank you!
 
@Dogmeat Sure thing. Attached the one I referenced in my screenshots. Again spoiler - this contains many answers/explanations for questions from the Kaplan FL 2 test.

The acronyms in the headers, WAP and WIMI, are "Wrong Answer Pathology" and "Why Did I Miss It", respectively.

WAP acryonyms:
  • OPP (opposite: answer I picked was opposite in thought than the real answer)
  • FUD (faulty use of detail: answer incorrectly used a small detail to describe something differently than author intended, mis-use of a correctly stated detail in passage applied incorrectly to another idea in the answer
  • OS (out of scope): wrong answer choice completely off-topic, didn't address things in passage whatsoever, inappropriate assumption (no evidence in passage to back it up)
  • DIS (distortion): answer used correctly-mentioned detail in passage to support something else or misuse for another unintended purpose
  • MSC (miscalculation)
 

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