10 months out from the exam

[Hospitalized]

Hey, SDN.

Background: I'm a 3.8~ student entering my senior year at a public branch campus university; major in biology with a minor in chemistry. I did my first two years at community college, including general chemistry, biology, psychology and sociology. I took organic last year at university and crushed it, scoring in the 99th percentile for the ACS exam. I also took biochemistry and got an A-. I am yet to take physics (starting this in 1 week). My plan is to take the exam in June of 2015 and submit my application after I get my scores.

I feel that I did not get adequate preparation for the MCAT in my courses at CC. Either that, or I just really do not remember that material. At this point, I try to do at least 1 question daily from either Kaplan, MCAT QOTD, or NextStep; just to get a feel for question styles. I usually get about 60-70% of the questions that I feel I have a shot at answering correct (so that excludes physics, quite a bit of general chemistry, psych/soc).

I have 10 month until the test. What are some things I could start doing right now to get going on content review and/or testing taking ability? Is it futile at this point?

I typically study for undergraduate classes by writing and rewriting notes, making flashcards, and getting my hands on any sorts of practice questions. This has worked well for me, but I'm not sure how applicable this is to a test like the MCAT. I have the 7 Kaplan books on my Mac and was thinking about starting an Anki deck. However, my retention really lacks when I do not write stuff out (but I know the test is on the computer).

I'm sure some of you have been in my situation before. I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

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[basophilic]

Just start reading prep books. See otterxavier's thread about how he (or she) studied little bit over 9 months.

 

[allanMED15]

Yep. Read prep books. That is literally all I did for review and then just practice practice practice. That cannot be overstated. Especially on the Psych/Soc section.

 

[gothicfoxes]

Do some practice full lengths to get a feel for the exam and your stamina.

 

[Hospitalized]

Bumping for more strategies. Thanks all!

 

[Doctor Dream]

Haven't gotten results from my 9/12 exam yet, so can't say for certain that what I did worked well but here's basically what I did...

Jan. -Started making a study plan/looking for one that would work for me, did Q of the days once in a while
March - Started making my Anki deck, going through every bullet point on the AAMC content outline and making flashcards. Used pre-med hq, and MCAT review websites to get the general concepts, also Khan if I wanted more detail. Finished around July. Reviewed these cards every day up until my exam (usually around 100-200 cards/day)
Late may - began my study schedule (used the NS study schedule on here)
Late July - abandoned the NS study schedule, felt it had too much time spent on content review. Instead spent the rest of my time doing nothing but taking FL's every 3 to 4 days, reviewing them, and making flashcards out of things I got wrong or didn't feel totally solid on. Also watched Khan videos for topics that still weren't totally clicking.

Hope that helps! For reference, I took AAMC FL in early June before the majority of my review and scored 82%/85%/77%/66% (~512) and again one week before my exam 92%/92%/92%/90% (~522). That last score is more than likely inflated since it was my second time taking the FL, but I definitely felt like I had improved after my prep.