12 MCAT Practice Tests: Your Roadmap to Success

You should start taking practice tests sooner rather than later.

As a rough guide to a solid preparation, approximately 1/3 of your time should be completing a content review; 1/3 working on practice questions to confirm your understanding; and 1/3 completing full-length MCAT practice tests under timed conditions followed by a careful review while producing very brief notes which can be reviewed several times each week. Most mock exams should be completed towards the end of your preparation, but the first should be done relatively early to get a deep sense of the knowledge, reasoning and stamina required for this full-day exam.

A summary of the process:

The more practice exams you should take for the MCAT exam, the better. One to two practice tests are unlikely to be as helpful as 11-12, and some students may benefit from more depending on learning style and target score.

Although there are some students who believe that 'more MCAT practice is better', perhaps a more realistic expression would be: 'more effective MCAT practice is better'. There is little value to have extra full-length MCAT practice tests if you don't have the time and motivation to use them as full-length practice which includes a careful review of answers and explanations over 1-2 days per exam.

Frankly, re-taking mock exams is not an efficient use of time for most students. However, taking brief, effective notes from your MCAT practice test experience and reviewing all of those notes several times per week builds knowledge, reasoning and confidence moving forward. Choose the number of practice exams according to your needs, budget and schedule.

It's also important to note that no one company provides the perfect practice test experience. Of course, the AAMC - being the official exam organization - is best but other than that, there are as many opinions as learning styles. Most students with high, official scores have used a variety of reputable MCAT practice tests.

While starting with 6 or 7 practice tests can be beneficial, sufficiency depends on individual factors like study approach and needs. Consider:

Diverse Materials: Use various resources (questions, flashcards, reviews) for thorough coverage.
Diagnostic Test: Begin with a diagnostic test to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Progress Tracking: Regularly assess progress; if progressing well after six tests, additional ones may not be necessary.
Realistic Practice: Simulate real exam conditions for better adaptation.
Target Score: Your desired score determines extra practice requirements.
Flexibility: Stay adaptable and explore more resources if needed.
Review Questions: Thoroughly analyze missed questions.

For comprehensive preparation, Gold Standard offers eight practice exams, with our home study package providing a total of 12. Of course, the AAMC provides 5 scored exams.

The best MCAT practice tests are the AAMC scored full-length tests which include actual questions from real past MCAT exams. When using additional, simulated exams, the best varies depending on individual needs, study style, and budget. The Gold Standard is considered one of the best options because our mock exams provide complete, realistic simulations of the real exam, detailed answers and explanations including videos, instant scores converted to scaled scores, and affordability.

Among the most realistic MCAT practice tests, the AAMC scored exams, AAMC Practice Exam 4 is considered the hardest (most difficult), especially in the CARS and B/B sections. It is also currently the newest. However, please keep in mind that many students consider that the curve for Practice Exam 4 may be more generous than the other tests, meaning that you can get more questions wrong and still get a higher score.

Generally, the newer AAMC tests (3 and 4) may be slightly harder than the older ones (1 and 2), as they reflect the changes and updates in the exam format and content over time.

Determining the hardest MCAT practice test among commercial mock tests can be subjective, varying based on individual strengths, weaknesses, and familiarity with the content. Some students, for instance, find the Gold Standard's mock exams to be quite challenging. These tests closely emulate the official exam's difficulty and format, serving as a valuable assessment resource. Remember that the perceived difficulty of a practice test may change as you progress in your preparation. Tests that seemed hard initially might become more manageable as you enhance your knowledge and test-taking strategies. Taking a variety of practice tests is essential for well-rounded preparation and adaptation to the complexity of the questions.

Effective MCAT practice test review requires time, discipline and focus. Because it is a full-day exam, a few minutes or hours of review would be considered cursory. The equivalent of one or two full days for review would be ideal.

You require a measure of discipline because many students skip reviewing questions when they feel “I knew that one” whether or not they got it right. This can be a mistake. Reputable practice exams are accompanied by more than just answers, they contain helpful explanations. Regardless of whether you got it right, looking at the explanations might give you insight into a similar type of question that may pop up on the real exam.

The entire review requires your focus and concentration as though you were re-taking the exam. What type of passage was it? Did you really need to understand the entire passage in order to answer the questions correctly? Was the question discrete, pseudo-discrete, or a truly passage-based question? What insights can you now have while time pressure has been removed?

Of course, by comparing your total score to previous practice exam scores and by comparing your scores by section to previous practice exam scores by section, you will have a better sense of your progress. However, “progress” is like the stock market: your score may go up and down relative to a few full-length MCAT practice tests but, over time, your scores should improve as long as you continue creating your Gold Notes and that you continue to study from those notes several times per week as the real exam approaches.

No one practice test can perfectly replicate the experience of the real exam. Many mock tests, if completed according to schedule and well-reviewed thereafter, can ensure that you are very well prepared despite the imperfections that any one test may have.

Gold Standard has a full-length free MCAT Practice Test with an online interface that replicates the real exam. The mock test includes free helpful explanations and instant scores for all 4 sections of the exam (thus it can be used as a 'prognostic test' to guide your study priorities). We also have 15 free MCAT sample questions with answers, helpful explanations, no registration is required.

Khan Academy has practice questions but the content is not identical to a real exam. We integrate them into our program in order to help students improve their study efficiency with additional, helpful content. We never count those practice questions into the total number of questions for any programs we offer.

Available exclusively to students who signed up for our free practice test.

How it works:

1. Log in to your member's dashboard using the credentials you created when you signed up for the free practice test.

New student? Sign up here: Free MCAT practice test

2. Once logged in, navigate to the "Products" tab

3. In the Gold Standard MCAT Practice Tests dropdown, locate the specifically priced $10 MCAT practice test and proceed with your purchase.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to boost your preparation at an unbeatable price!