How to Go About Reviewing Practice Mcat Test
Despite testing yous on 3 years worth of undergraduate sciences, the MCAT is not an exam of mere content.
Instead, it's an test that tests your ability to endure, reason through hard experiments, and make a correct conclusion under pressure! All those difficult sciences, with literally seconds to decide answers.
And so, despite all the initial hours invested into content review (can't skip this), the best way to prepare for this exam is by taking Full Length do tests.
In working with hundreds of premeds every year, this is the step where I see many students breakdown. Often misguided, and trying to practice their best, to become full steam ahead, misuse time and resources. The students that follow an endless bicycle of total length testing without improvement find themselves quickly called-for out.
No matter how yous did score-wise, it'due south important to take full advantage of your post-test review. Learning how to review do MCAT exams can aid you zoom in on topics where you can make the biggest improvements.
Think about this for a moment:
What is the purpose of taking a full length practice exam?
Most students reply:
To see where you stand, to measure your progress, see how you rank/score right now.
That is admittedly correct!
Only how you do this makes a difference
Considering this is just the first step.
There are 3 steps to gaining the well-nigh out your total length practise, and to ultimately see your scores rise.
- Examination to meet where yous stand score-wise and how you hold upwardly with endurance
- Total Length review to encounter what questions/subjects toll you points
- Tackle Additional practice passages to isolate and target your biggest weaknesses
Yous tin can broaden your knowledge and improve your test-taking habits immensely if y'all know how to review total-length MCAT practice exams correctly. Unfortunately, the average MCAT student hits ane.five out of 3 of these steps.
Stride 1: Evaluate where you stand up with a Full Length
The outset step is almost crucial. Just the act of taking a full length exercise MCAT under realistic testing conditions will requite yous very of import feedback.
First, numerical feedback:
"How am I scoring compared to my goals?"
Set a target MCAT score and evaluate how shut you are to reaching information technology with each practice exam.
2nd, mental feedback:
Do yous know what to expect (overall) going in every section?
Are y'all comfortable navigating the test?
How do you feel about the timing in each section?
How do you feel about the overall examination duration?
Have you built upwardly your endurance to handle the full 7.5 60 minutes exam?
How can you accurately encounter where you stand?
Treat every practice exam every bit if information technology'southward the real thing.
This means taking information technology under realistic testing conditions.
Are yous starting your practice exams at 8am?
- Go dressed, consume breakfast, and go well-nigh your pre-testing routine (whether that is reading something motivational, writing affirmations, meditation, or yoga/stretching, etc).
- Turn off all distractions especially your cell phone, non just for each section, but for the ENTIRE test elapsing.
- Take the exam timed, taking merely the appropriately allotted breaks (review: full breakdown of MCAT timing ).
- NO food/h2o except DURING breaks. This includes h2o/coffee and gum/mints.
- No digital adulterous. This means no computer on your computer or external, and no 'give-and-take search on screen' help.
- Practice with the right chip paper. The MCAT provides a pocket-sized laminated style notebook with wet erase markers. Suggestion: practice with GMAT booklet
- Take your test in I sitting, in Ane location. (The merely exception is if y'all'll be taking the official MCAT over ii days under approved accommodations . Break it upwardly accordingly.)
Begin every practice exam thinking:
"If this was the existent thing and I tested today, how do I feel? How volition I score?"
And while you may not be able to replicate the intensity test day nerves, your goal is to get everything else as close and realistic as possible. Past the time test 24-hour interval rolls around, a lot of this will feel routine and familiar (dare I say even comfortable?) putting you ahead of some other testers.
Step 2- Getting the About Out Of Your Exam Review
How you lot review makes a HUGE divergence.
Yes, you want to review every unmarried question to understand what you got wrong…
But that'southward not plenty!
Focusing on the individual questions is like holding a microscope over an intricate painting.
Yes, you can evaluate the details,
But are you seeing the big picture?
Continue a 'big pic' listing equally you review the individual questions.
Note WHY you missed each question,
And keep a running tally.
Take a step back once you lot understand what happened on EACH question.
I accept my MCAT Written report Hall Members fill out an exam review table after reviewing each full length.
Practise you run into the big picture?
Is there a design in each section?
If you missed 17 questions in the chem/phys department and try to prepare them all before your adjacent full length: yous'll notice yourself splitting your focus, getting distracted, and not putting in enough attempt into the individual causes.
But what if those 17 questions are grouped into 6 different 'bug'.
And of the half-dozen, the majority of lost points come from one Large issue?
THIS is what you must identify.
Of all the questions you got wrong,
And all the reasons that cost you points,
What is the I biggest reason for lost points in each section?
For instance, Phase 1 students tend to miss the about questions due to content or timing issues.
If vii questions were missed due to content problems,
And you lot spent the adjacent few days working on Hard CORE content review,
Would you expect your next full length to be slightly better equally a event?
Now practice this for every section.
Look for the ONE reason that toll you the near questions per section.
Which brings us to #3. THIS is the step missed by most students.
three- Strategic Practice to Target your TOP Weaknesses
One at a time.
Say you identified timing as your biggest outcome.
Say you identified misreading questions/choices every bit your biggest issue.
Now what?
Do you only take another full length and promise to exercise better?
Almost students do,
Only it doesn't work this way.
Another full length means another vii.5 hour exam,
A mentally draining day with manner too much going on at once,
Testing you lot on everything once over again,
Without the instant feedback letting you lot know if you're doing it correctly.
To fortify one weakness, you must isolate the efforts then that you tin can focus on it 100%.
Between now and your next full length:
Get into every study block with I goal.
What is the 1 effect you need to work on for this section?
If content is your biggest consequence , set bated time every 24-hour interval to review the topics that gave you lot trouble. And so set aside Extra time to do at least fifteen minutes of daily Active Writing .
If your stumbling blocks are related to passages ,
What better way to improve than past isolating the result?
Piece of work on,
You guessed it,
practice passages!
How? Small but frequent blocks.
Just three-5 passages at a time,
Where you go into the passage fix with the I focus in heed.
If you lot are 'misreading questions/choices,'
Remind yourself:
"For the next five passages I volition focus on reading the questions very advisedly"
This could mean reading it slowly, mouthing the questions silently, or fifty-fifty reading the questions twice".
Try one method for a block of 3-5 passages,
Review the passages,
Run into if that helped,
Evaluate what did/didn't work,
And brand a program of how to tweak your approach in the hereafter.
Endeavor a slightly new approach the next time you practise passages,
after in the day or the following twenty-four hour period.
By giving yourself small targeted written report blocks, you lot can focus on your issues.
With smaller blocks:
You're more likely to remember what yous are trying to piece of work on,
You get most instant feedback on your approach,
You lot can quickly make a plan on how to suit your approach,
And you have time to practice more/differently to improve even more.
This is why I don't recommend overdoing your full length exercise exams.
I recommend a weekly AAMC full length in phase three,
Just ii total lengths each month in phase 2.
And no more than 1 FL every iv-6 weeks in phase one, ideally every 25-33% content progress.
(Review the three phases of MCAT prep. )
In phase one you get time to progress in content betwixt exams.
In phase 2 you get one calendar week to review your full length in peachy detail,
And some other full week to work on the identified issues.
When you sit down to your adjacent total length you have a much amend understanding of your bug.
You know where you lot lost the most points in each department,
And you've put in targeted effort to ensure your by 'problems' don't injure you equally badly on your next exam.
One week of practice (phase 2) is not enough to completely prepare an issue.
However, this approach will take you much better prepared for your next full-length.
Specially compared to a flurry of back to back full length test taken without a strategic plan to increase your scores.
MCAT study guides, tutorials, and videos
At Leah4Sci, we offer a range of high-quality MCAT report guides and courses that have been carefully produced to aid you with your training. Browse our bachelor topics now:
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With Leah4Sci, you lot'll learn how to review MCAT practice exams, recognize the gaps in your cognition, and reach the best possible exam results.
I want to hear from yous.
What communication take you heard regarding frequency of full length exams?
Allow me know in the comments below.
Source: https://leah4sci.com/3-steps-to-raising-your-mcat-scores-with-full-length-practice-tests/
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