Section 3: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems Section 2: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills Section 1: Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems What’s on an MCAT Diagnostic Test?Ī full length diagnostic MCAT will include approximate proportions of questions for each subtopic in each section. If you didn’t see any official MCAT questions until the month of your exam, you may find that your practice was not as effective as you had hoped, and, at that point, it may be too late to switch gears. Punctuate your MCAT practice with official AAMC practice tests so you can see how you are progressing with the most complex, and true to format, practice materials. In our 6-month study schedule, we recommend taking between 8-10 full-length MCAT exams throughout your study period, with one at the beginning and end, and other regularly scheduled throughout your months of prep to establish your progress on a regular basis. This will give you the means to measure the effectiveness of your study tactics. Saving all of the official AAMC practice tests until the end of your MCAT preparation is a mistake because you will not truly know what you are up against. If the AAMC practice tests are the most representative of the real MCAT, shouldn’t you save them for later in my MCAT practice? Nope! To best determine how to study for the MCAT you’ll need to look at official MCAT questions. Need MCAT study help? Check out our video to learn the strategies we teach our students: This is the best way to ensure that your baseline score is accurate, to see how you cope with the grueling test length, and to ensure that the study schedule you create will effectively address your gaps in knowledge and test-taking strategies. We recommend using one of the AAMC’s full-length practice MCAT exams. Take this practice exam in one sitting with breaks and, ideally, in an environment that mimics test-day conditions. Although “at the outset” is the general rule for when to take your diagnostic MCAT, more specifically you should only take it when you’re truly ready to start preparing. Don’t take it on a whim during your first year of college, nor at any other time before you’ve completed your important introductory-level medical school prerequisites in chemistry, biology, physics, and so on. Think of the diagnostic MCAT as your first day of official MCAT preparation, and only take it when you’re ready to begin the work in earnest.Īs noted, the best diagnostic MCAT is one that matches or replicates the actual test, right down to the ratios of questions per subject. Before you start making study plans, you’ll need answers to basic questions like “ How hard is the MCAT?” and “ How long is the MCAT?”, and the best way to really internalize this information is with a comprehensive diagnostic test. Part of this is also providing yourself with an approximate MCAT score so you know where you stand, allowing you to use a score converter to obtain your scaled score from the number of correct answers. You may feel unready to take a diagnostic test before reviewing content in each of these areas, but this is the wrong attitude. Performing well on the diagnostic is not important-you simply want to know where you’re at now, and then proceed from here with clear and comprehensive knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses. The only truly accurate way to gauge your baseline performance is to do a full-length MCAT that covers each of the MCAT’s sections, which are: With each full-length practice exam taking seven and a half hours to complete, this may seem like an unnecessarily time consuming step, but a good diagnostic test is completely necessary. Why? A proper diagnostic test that mimics the structure and length of the actual MCAT will give you an accurate measure of your current knowledge, without which you’d only be guessing at what you need to review and improve upon. The MCAT is also different from exams you have taken up until this time, both in length and the amount of content it covers, so you should not rely on how you did on other exams as a proxy. However, no matter what your timeframe is or what you need to focus on during your studying, the first step is always the same: a full-length MCAT diagnostic test. When you’re ready to embark on your months of preparation you’ll assuredly wonder where to start. If you are wondering how to study for the MCAT and where to start, you are not alone. Why Should I Take an MCAT Diagnostic Test?Īlthough there are some medical schools that don't require the MCAT, most of them do. Since it’s a grueling, day-long exam, you’ll need to plan your study schedule well ahead of time in order to perform well. Additionally, you want to do everything you can to avoid needing to retake the MCAT, so making sure you optimize your study plan is essential. You don’t want to have to do all this again a few months later!
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