No other practice material can match the official AAMC tests as excellent preparation material, making these an essential resource for students of any level.
The four scored AAMC practice exams should be left until near the end of your study period; however, an unscored Sample Test provides less representative results so it can be taken at any time.
1. The Official Guide
This guide features practice questions and full-length MCAT exams written by the American Medical Association College (AAMC), which creates the actual test. As such, this material offers authentic practice material; therefore it should be your go-to option when purchasing any prep book or question bank.
The book itself provides a thorough introduction to all aspects of taking an exam, while question packs contain sets of 30 identical to those found in the Official Guide and should be started a month before an exam with at least once completed per week thereafter. Other methods for practicing for exams may be undertaken at any point throughout preparations such as unscored Sample Tests or Old AAMC tests which do not represent real test experience as accurately; flashcards can also help, though again don’t do too many at once or this could interfere with Question Packs!
2. Full Length Practice Exams
Full-length practice exams are an integral component of MCAT preparation. By familiarizing students with its timing, material, and reasoning skills requirements for testing.
Test-prep exams can also serve to identify areas of weakness and focus study efforts, so the most efficient way to maximize these exams would be taking one on an equivalent test day (i.e. getting up at 7:30 AM and arriving at the library by 8:30 AM).
No matter how many full-length practice exams you complete, what’s really essential is how thoroughly you review each one. Some individuals have reported taking up to 23 full-lengths; I suggest prioritizing quality over quantity when reviewing tests in this manner – the more carefully you go over your tests the higher your scores will be on test day! In addition to full-length practice exams and several full-length AAMC questions.
3. Flashcards
Pre-med students looking forward to taking the MCAT will find that taking practice tests from AAMC, Altius or Kaplan closely mirroring actual MCAT exams are indispensable in getting acquainted with both exam environment and types of questions that may come up on test day. Next Step, Altius, and Kaplan all offer full-length practice exams that have earned top ratings for accuracy and difficulty level.
If you cannot afford full-length AAMC practice tests, I suggest getting question packs and section banks instead. Question packs contain more MCAT-like questions while section banks may require you to dedicate additional time for science practice. Whenever possible, take one practice test early in your studies and another once later; these can serve as gauges to see how you are progressing and whether any additional studying needs to take place.
4. Old AAMC Tests
AAMC provides first-tier practice materials. These include the full-length scaled exam, section bank and question pack.
These tests are by definition the most accurate available since they’re created directly by testmakers themselves and boast an extremely high correlation to real MCAT scores.
Kaplan and NextStep materials also demonstrate strong correlations to the actual MCAT exam, making them good options if time or money are limited, yet you want predictive material. Unfortunately, however, they often reuse passages from other resources; to avoid repeating passages too soon in an exam marathon run by yourself it is wise to start your testing marathon with full-length AAMC exams so as to gain an optimal mindset before sitting for official MCAT test and avoid time wasting on overly difficult Next Step questions which is especially essential when studying the psych/sociology sections of MCAT exam