How to Use the AAMC Official MCAT Prep Hub

The AAMC's official MCAT prep materials are among the most popular resources for pre-med students studying for the MCAT, and for good reason: they are an essential part of any well-designed MCAT study plan. This guide will explain how to make the most of the AAMC Official Prep Hub as you prepare for test day.

The first step is to decide which materials to buy. You can purchase individual resources, such as question packs and practice tests, or you can purchase a bundle. I recommend the AAMC MCAT Official Prep Online-Only Bundle | 1-Year Subscription.

Most students start by taking one of the AAMC practice exams as a "diagnostic." This gives you a baseline score so you can see which sections need the most work and how close you are to your goal score. Ultimately, it doesn't matter much which practice exam you use as your diagnostic; all of them should provide a good starting-point estimate.

The next step is to begin using the question packs. There are two biology question packs, one chemistry pack, one physics pack, one CARS pack (previously two, plus a diagnostic tool), and an "Independent Question Bank" (essentially flashcards). These question packs offer practice questions tailored to specific subject areas. They help with content review by giving you direct feedback on how well you understand each topic.

After the question packs come the section banks. These provide sets of questions for each MCAT section except CARS. They are more representative of real test questions than the question packs, but slightly less so than the practice tests.

The most important resources as you approach test day are the practice tests. From most to least representative of the real test, they are Full-Length (FL) 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and the Free Unscored exam. It's a good idea to sprinkle a few of these throughout your prep, but they should mostly be concentrated near the end as you peak for the real exam. While these practice exams certainly aren't perfectly representative, they are the closest you'll get to the actual MCAT.

Overall, the AAMC official prep materials are the most important resources to use during your MCAT prep. Although there are other materials I'd recommend incorporating if you have the time, these are the only practice questions you truly need to prepare for the MCAT.