What to do with extra time?

[NeedSomeAdviceGuy]

I'm completing my full-lengths with a crapton of extra time at the end of each section. I'm ending most of my sections with anywhere from 25 to 50 minutes left over, mostly leaning towards the ~40min range. While taking the FLs I've just been going on the next section immediately (unless there was a calculation I wanted to make sure was done correctly).

On the AAMC FL 1 and NS 1-4 I've been scoring in the 511-516 range, so it's not to do with me skipping over things I don't know. On the real exam I know I'm going to use my time to go back and look over my questions, but I don't want to do something I haven't been doing already during my FLs. So going forward, what's the best way to utilize this time? Any specific type of questions I should focus my time on and others I shouldn't (out of fear of over-thinking and switching a right answer for a wrong one).

Any advice would help!

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[NextStepTutor_3]

First of all, sounds like you're heading in the right direction - those are very good scores considering you also have so much time left over. Congrats!

Do you typically mark questions as you go through the exam? With the amount of time you have remaining, you'd be able to spend it going over 10-15 marked questions very carefully. This is generally a much better approach than trying to go back over every single question (which you sound like you already know). I'd recommend marking math-based questions and any questions that require a lot of critical thought (thinking of some in the bio/biochem section where the passage involves multiple interrelated pathways). You basically want to have enough time to fully do the question again.

You're so absolutely right about overthinking, by the way. Students who change their answer later in the test change it from right to wrong significantly more often than they change it from wrong to right. I used to have this problem myself, and it really helped to set up some personal rules. In particular, don't switch your answer unless you know for certain that you had the answer wrong before. For example, if you notice a math mistake or remember a piece of additional content, of course you should switch your answer. If you were 50/50 between two choices and, upon thinking about it a second time, just have a feeling you were wrong, do not switch your answer.

Finally, have you considered trying out an FL (or even just a few sections) where you consciously slow yourself down? Of course, your current strategy seems to be working for you, so you wouldn't want to make any drastic changes. But it could be interesting to see whether slowing down helps or harms you, assuming you have sufficient time to do so before your test date. This way, you're essentially spending your extra time during the first pass-through of the exam, when passages are more familiar, and you're giving yourself enough time to read each question stem extremely carefully.

Good luck

 

[NeedSomeAdviceGuy]

First of all, sounds like you're heading in the right direction - those are very good scores considering you also have so much time left over. Congrats!

Do you typically mark questions as you go through the exam? With the amount of time you have remaining, you'd be able to spend it going over 10-15 marked questions very carefully. This is generally a much better approach than trying to go back over every single question (which you sound like you already know). I'd recommend marking math-based questions and any questions that require a lot of critical thought (thinking of some in the bio/biochem section where the passage involves multiple interrelated pathways). You basically want to have enough time to fully do the question again.

You're so absolutely right about overthinking, by the way. Students who change their answer later in the test change it from right to wrong significantly more often than they change it from wrong to right. I used to have this problem myself, and it really helped to set up some personal rules. In particular, don't switch your answer unless you know for certain that you had the answer wrong before. For example, if you notice a math mistake or remember a piece of additional content, of course you should switch your answer. If you were 50/50 between two choices and, upon thinking about it a second time, just have a feeling you were wrong, do not switch your answer.

Finally, have you considered trying out an FL (or even just a few sections) where you consciously slow yourself down? Of course, your current strategy seems to be working for you, so you wouldn't want to make any drastic changes. But it could be interesting to see whether slowing down helps or harms you, assuming you have sufficient time to do so before your test date. This way, you're essentially spending your extra time during the first pass-through of the exam, when passages are more familiar, and you're giving yourself enough time to read each question stem extremely carefully.

Good luck

Thanks for the advice!

I'll try slowing myself and see where that leads.