Hey, guys I'm planning to retake the MCAT on January 8. My school term just finished. Starting from today, I have roughly 22 days to study with no other commitment. I took it the first time on Sept 6, and scored a 12/8/10. Verbal is definitely my weak section. I plan on reviewing bio + orgo in 1 day, and phys+chem the next day. Leaving me 20 days to do practice problems. Throughout the 22 days, I'm also planning to do 6 passages per day from EK verbal (have half left) and TPR.
I'm not sure how I should prepare for the sciences. Should I do practice passages or just start doing full length practice tests?
What should I do for FL practices? For my first take, I went through all of the AMMC practice tests in August. Should I retake them?
I also have Princeton Review practice tests and Kaplan practice tests available.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks!
In my experience, the following works well for most students:
1. SCIENCE - EK lecture books for all 2014 science topics. (Not the 1001 questions books, just the lecture books. And don't just go through the motions, make a point to learn everything in there or come as close to that as you can efficiently.) EK is the most concise MCAT prep book and I believe that it mentions every single topic you need to know. I used EK alone and got 12's in both science sections. The trick is to move along and not to get stuck. Whenever I got stuck or needed more info, I would either go to youtube, the internet, other MCAT prep books, or a tutor for assistance. My personal favorite tutoring company is Wyzant. I would not let any topic waste my time. I would efficiently try to figure something out and if it was not getting resolved, I would write it down for later, and MOVE ON. For efficiency, also make sure you stick to MCAT level stuff. It will not help your score to learn anything above MCAT level. When in doubt see AAMC's master list of topics. Chad videos are also very helpful and are a great supplement to EK books.
2. VR - No company even comes close to replicating AAMC's VR style. For this reason, do an AAMC passage on a regular basis. Passages can come from AAMC's Guide to the MCAT, the Self Assessment, and you can reuse them if need be. Just stay familiar with AAMC's style. So that you don't run out of passages, TPR is a second best. I would not use EK VR because in my observation, their passages are 1-2 paragraphs shorter than AAMC's passages on average, EK's VR has many answer key errors that worry some test takers, and EK's VR style is way off IMO. (To be fair, EK VR does teach some good lessons with their questions, but you don't have time for that at this point. Stick to AAMC and TPR, and consider getting a tutor.) VR can be the most resistant subject when it comes to improving a score. Tutoring may be an option. Try to study VR every single day in addition to whatever else you do.
3. OVERALL - Take one full length a week. Alternating between TPR and AAMC is fine. In the meantime, if I were in your position, I would use the table of contents in EK to determine the order of subjects, and just give it my all. I would work tirelessly and as efficiently as possible with the goal of reading and/or skimming every one of those (EK lecture) books and doing every last question in the Lecture books (not the 1001 question books). I have observed that some people try to set a schedule where they limit themselves to doing a certain amount each day. I warn that that method can backfire once you get to a day, or several days, where you cannot finish what you planned to accomplish, or when you realize that electromagnetism is a much larger topic than originally presumed. For this reason, I say, do it in order, but work HARD. If you finish early, great! But I think you will agree that this is not the time to finish late!!!!
Good luck!
