Where does the real value in AAMC FL tests lie?

[yanks26dmb]

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I realize they familiarize you with the test, help you set pacing, etc...

But where are the real benefits/how can I use them most effectively? What I mean is, when I go through and review wrong answers, I find it's either A) I forgot a minute fact that probably will never show up on my real one or B) I didn't "read between the lines" of the passage well enough.

Does the benefit from doing the FL and AAMC assessment simply come from getting your mind used to their way of asking questions? Will simply doing the 2,000+ AAMC problems teach you to become a better MCAT test taker, thus bumping your score? How should I use these tests best??

 

[RedPhys]

If you take several, you'll probably be noticing a trend in scores ... and that you'll constantly be missing a 'minute fact' or not 'reading between the lines' in some part ...

At least for me, it showed me what I was most likely going to get. Lo and behold, my score was right in the range of my practice scores. So there's that.

As some others have said, if you're getting scores all over the place, though ... it means you have some serious knowledge gaps.

 

[mrh125]

I realize they familiarize you with the test, help you set pacing, etc...

But where are the real benefits/how can I use them most effectively? What I mean is, when I go through and review wrong answers, I find it's either A) I forgot a minute fact that probably will never show up on my real one or B) I didn't "read between the lines" of the passage well enough.

Does the benefit from doing the FL and AAMC assessment simply come from getting your mind used to their way of asking questions? Will simply doing the 2,000+ AAMC problems teach you to become a better MCAT test taker, thus bumping your score? How should I use these tests best??

You should space out the time between when you take each aamcs and use each one as a template of what to focus on with the other resources you have. Take a note of the type of questions you miss and just your study routine in general ways to account for that. Like flashcards with intricacies of physiology or doing more VR critical thinking questions. If you take one every few weeks and save your remaining ones until right before it puts you in a place to maximize improvement. Don't blow them too early or that can really mess up your scoring. The AAMC resources are the best resources particularly for VR when most other sources aren't as representative of the real deal as the AAMC FLs practice tests. Also, all AAMC exams should be taken under timed conditions at the time you'll take the real test preferably.

 

[emilymr]

If you take one every few weeks and save your remaining ones until right before it puts you in a place to maximize improvement. Don't blow them too early or that can really mess up your scoring. The AAMC resources are the best resources particularly for VR when most other sources aren't as representative of the real deal as the AAMC FLs practice tests. Also, all AAMC exams should be taken under timed conditions at the time you'll take the real test preferably.

Agreed - I used the old tests infrequently in the beginning and saved some of the more recent ones for the weeks right before my test date. The older/longer tests helped to build up some 'endurance', and the more recent ones were useful for mimicking test conditions.

Edit: sorry, should say that I didn't use any FLs until about mid-way through studying... wasn't worth it when I wasn't familiar with a lot of the material. You might be in a different situation though - I'm a non-trad so a lot of the info wasn't fresh.

What I mean is, when I go through and review wrong answers, I find it's either A) I forgot a minute fact that probably will never show up on my real one or B) I didn't "read between the lines" of the passage well enough.

I did this for every single question/quiz/FL I took. I marked every single question that I got wrong as: S=I didn't know/remember the core science, Q=I was tripped up by the way the question was asked, P=I didn't read the passage well enough, and there was a fourth that I forget. I found that the 'Q' and 'P' wrong answers were where I made the most improvement as I got closer to the test date. Getting used to the style of questions (especially those bleeping I,II,III are NOT true) was half of the struggle. Reviewing the answers I got correct was important too. There were plenty I got that were dumb luck - I learned a lot from reviewing those as well.

Good luck!

 

[yanks26dmb]

I have a month til my MCAT and have taken all AAMC assessments and AAMC 3. Have I waited to long to begin FL's?

 

[medic86]

I have a month til my MCAT and have taken all AAMC assessments and AAMC 3. Have I waited to long to begin FL's?

Seems to be plenty of time! Good luck!

 

[yanks26dmb]

Seems to be plenty of time! Good luck!

Thanks for the encouragement... hope you're right!

 

[Gauss44]

I realize they familiarize you with the test, help you set pacing, etc...

But where are the real benefits/how can I use them most effectively? What I mean is, when I go through and review wrong answers, I find it's either A) I forgot a minute fact that probably will never show up on my real one or B) I didn't "read between the lines" of the passage well enough.

Does the benefit from doing the FL and AAMC assessment simply come from getting your mind used to their way of asking questions? Will simply doing the 2,000+ AAMC problems teach you to become a better MCAT test taker, thus bumping your score? How should I use these tests best??

Best use: AAMC practice MCAT tests are best used to estimate what your score would be on the real MCAT if you took it soon.

2nd best use: After taking an AAMC test, you can go back and familiarize yourself with the testmaker's logic. If you ever have this kind of trouble: "Based on this logic, answer A is right, but based on this other perspective, answer B is right," you can make a point to remember which reasoning the testmaker used and see if it's a pattern. You can also test your strategies to see how well they work on a true AAMC exam. Remember that AAMC practice MCATs use to be real MCATs.

BTW, I wanted to make sure you knew about the MCAT section here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/mcat-discussions.31/

 

[BeancheBlanco]

The AAMC practice tests are very valuable because the questions are the most similar to the MCAT that you take to get officially scored. You can take all kinds of practice tests written by random people/companies, but if the questions aren't testing for the same skills and knowledge, it isn't very useful. Why is having accurate practice tests valuable? Because it is good practice. The more questions you do (accurate practice questions), the more prepared you will be when you take the official test. And like others mentioned, it is the most indicative of what your actual score will be...which isn't necessarily going to help you score better, but it's still pretty interesting and useful to have an idea of where you are at.