Making Use of AAMC Prep-Hub
- The AAMC MCAT Prep Hub is a big melange, with a diverse array of learning tools and practice exams, so it's difficult to develop a clear strategy for approaching this resource. The table below shows where the various components of AAMC MCAT Prep Hub appear as assignments in the Integrated MCAT Course module by module. AAMC Prep Hub is crucial. The clear plan we follow in this course provides a rational, structured approach to this resource.
- If you are retaking the exam, it is likely you have had prior experience with many of these resources. Prior utilization does not mean anything is "used up". It may be the second or even third time working through an MCAT passage that you can finally see the method of it. If you have already done extensive work in AAMC Prep Hub with prior MCAT preparation, however, you will need to substitute a few 3rd party resources for some tasks, especially full-length practice (see Things We Like).
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CARS Question Pack I | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CARS Question Pack II | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CARS Diagnostic Tool | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Online Flashcards | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Physics Question Pack | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Chemistry Question Pack | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Biology Question Pack | ||||||||||||||||||||
| PS Section Bank | ||||||||||||||||||||
| BS Section Bank | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Psy-Soc Section Bank | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Official Guide Passages | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Full Length Sample Test | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Practice Exam 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Practice Exam 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Practice Exam 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Practice Exam 4 |
- When the new MCAT was introduced in 2015, many companies in the MCAT prep field adjusted to the new test with simple addition and subtraction applied to their old MCAT teaching methods and materials. There was a race to be first. However, the difference between the old and new exam is much more extensive and consequential than addition and subtraction. The industry adjusted in 2015 without any teaching experience to guide the process, and it turns out that the old exam model for content review does not work for the new exam. There is now the idea in wide circulation to forego serious content review and place focus instead on practice testing from the start of MCAT preparation. In our opinion, this is so wrong-headed as to be mind-boggling. Although you definitely do want to begin full-length practice well ahead of test-day, many students (and MCAT courses) start full length practice too early.
- We begin practice with passages towards the beginning of this course, but we do not begin actual full-length exam practice until content review is largely complete and we have made significant progress towards understanding the exam. This approach comes from a great deal of teaching experience, and it is srongly held. If content review is not complete, the new MCAT has a way of seeming much more difficult than it really is. The test seems to be brutal. Those who do well on the new MCAT must be brilliant. This sense of the exam and the strength of the competition can be impossible to overcome later. After good content review, you can actually see the exam for what it is.