UWORLD is excellent for learning how concepts might be tested with valuable explanations, and AAMC is designed by the test makers to give insight into exam design. The two best question banks you can use to prepare for the MCAT are from UWORLD and AAMC. The potential consequences of a poor score make the initial investment worthwhile. If you do score poorly, have to retake and possibly miss the application cycle, or worse yet, go through the cycle with an inadequate score and be rejected, you stand to lose time and money unnecessarily. Although I appreciate that cost can be prohibitive, it’s worth it to invest in the best question banks to increase your chances of a great score. Improved question banks have been developed that provide a nearly comprehensive study resource for the MCAT. Maximize your learning with MCAT practice questionsįortunately for you, it’s been many years since I took the MCAT. This reduces the need for memorization and allows you to move more nimbly through the exam. There are only so many ways the MCAT can test these principles, and by being familiar with the various approaches, you will be able to answer any question thrown your way. You should practice problem solving skills with pattern recognition. You need to see how the concepts are tested, and often get them wrong, to have them to stick.įor example, if you want to master the MCAT physics of Ohm’s law, Bernoulli’s equation, and Snell’s law, it’s better to answer 10 questions testing each principle in different ways than to memorize equations and draw complicated diagrams. Given the massive amount of information you are expected to learn in medical school, it is easier to identify your weaknesses through answering representative questions on the topic than by reading passages about it. I learned the value of using question banks to study actively as a core method during medical school. This realization comes from both my personal experience as well as the experience of students I have worked with in the medical school admissions process. If I could go back in time, I would have spent more time answering questions banks, simulating exam conditions, taking full-length practice exams, and reviewing incorrects with greater attention. While conceptual foundations vary widely from student to student, I think that completing the pre-requisite college coursework and reviewing weak areas with the Kaplan MCAT review series is sufficient. What I needed was a solid foundation across all subjects and dedicated practice with MCAT-specific testing skills. I lost precious time and wasted cognitive capital on achieving a level of understanding that was not advantageous for performing well on the exam. In retrospect, I spent too many hours reading textbooks, re-writing concepts in notebooks, and trying to understand each concept in depth. I still believe that successful applications truly breakthrough in the essays and interviews.Ĭommon mistakes to avoid during MCAT prep I believed that my well-rounded application would support me. This score was good enough for me to not retake, even for MD/PhD programs. I studied hard for about 3.5 months, and I got a 510. I also had access to practice exams across AAMC, Kaplan, and Princeton Review and attended review sessions to make sure I had a strong knowledge base. I had a stack of textbooks from Berkley Review and Exam Crackers the former offered dense, long-form content review, and the latter had colorful pictures and goofy mnemonics to make studying less serious and more memorable. Given how new the exam was at the time, it was unclear what were the best prep resources, so I took a kitchen sink approach. When I studied for the MCAT in 2016, the revamped, 7-hour exam had recently been released. This post will contextualize the importance of MCAT preparation in the overall application to medical school, the most high-yield resources students should use in preparation, and the value of using a dedicated study plan. However, the bulk of competitive students are somewhere in the middle, scoring 505–515, uncertain if their score will be enough to tip the scales in their favor. At its worst, a low score (515) can outshine average grades and extracurriculars. The MCAT exam is an infamous rite of passage required for applying to medical school.
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