6 month MCAT study plan January 2016

[gogreenx123]

Hello Guys!

Well first I would like to say to everyone reading this thread, that I can't believe we made it! I can't believe we made it this far to take the MCAT exam. Not only have we survived the notorious premed weeder classes, but we destroyed them to be in the positions we are in now...of being able to take the MCAT 2015.

I originally had a solid 3 month plan for my test date in September 2015, but found it too overwhelming. My study plan was broken up into three phases similar to this: http://tour4diversity.org/brain-train-my-mcat-study-strategy/ (only condensed into 3 months instead of 6 months)

However I found that I was experiencing burnout when reviewing the content. I was basically trying to get through 50 pages a day from EK 9th edition. I found myself spending at least 8 hours a day trying to get through these 50 pages because I take notes, watch videos, draw pictures, which I feel are all essential to my learning. However, about a few weeks into this prep I began to really crash and burn. Where I found myself studying hardcore for a few days, then some days not at all! Unfortunately my schedule didn't offer much flexibility so this made very stressed and nervous since I was constantly behind my own schedule. I began to experience such intense anxiety that my doctor had to prescribe me to medication to be able to sleep at night!

Okay a few things:
1) I know I sound nuts, but I really am working on getting my anxiety under a control. I have made an appointment with a therapist, that I can talk about this with, and I am meeting with her this week. And a solution to help with my anxiety is to expand my 3 month plan to a 6 month plan so I can just be studying 4-5 hours a day (for these last two months of summer) without experiencing burnout. Therefore, if I do 25 pages a day all of my content review will be done by September which is right before school starts. Then when school starts, I will be doing 2-3 hours of just practice passages per day and one full length exam every weekend. I will continue this until my exam date in January. And after finals are done, I can take 2-3 FL exams per week since I have 3 weeks off for winter break. Do you guys think this sounds like a solid plan?

2) When reviewing content, I also want to do a practice passage that correlates to my EK chapter. Does anyone know where to find these? So far I found this:
But it only has TBR for the biology sections. Are these helpful for MCAT 2015 at all? What if I did EK 1001 questions for each of the sections? Anyone found that helpful for MCAT 2015?

3) As far as FL exams, I found this as a helpful thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-2015-full-lengths.1121749/
I plan to purchase as many exams as I can get my hands on. However, I keep hearing that Kaplan has really good FL exams. The problem is that these exams are not sold separately from the prep course. I really don't want to spend $2,000 on a prep course if I only need FL exams, but I guess I will do it if it helps me get a good score. Thoughts?

Please be kind on my post, happy studying!

Thank you,
~Go Green

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[gogreenx123]

@mcatjelly any thoughts?

 

[yeezuswest]

Nice plan. Although I think you should definitely take a quick breather and assess the situation with the bigger picture in mind. While it helps to have an in-depth plan, it helps to just take it easy and look at the bigger road ahead. A lot of the MCAT is not only how well you know the content, but also how good you are at taking the test itself. It's a new test, and not that many people have taken it so far. Just pick a review company, learn everything in the books, and do as many practice problems that you can. I suggest:

- Review content for the rest of the summer (assuming you've already taken all your pre-reqs)
- Around October/November, start working on practice FL's, passages, etc. timing yourself until the exam

Just try and simplify things.

 

[gogreenx123]

@yeezuswest Thank you for your reply! Yes I finished all my prereqs. I actually have physics and orgo lab to take this year, and I know MCAT asks questions about lab techniques but I've at least taken the lectures and heard there are only a few questions they ask anyways.

Yes, my plan is to finish studying the rest of the content from EK 9th edition this summer. Then when the school year starts I will take a FL exam every Friday until my exam in January and review it on Sunday. September/October I will be doing a passage on M and W and leaving T and Th for review (should take about 2 hours every morning).

November I will try to do FL sections but I will have to break them up as two sections per week (2 hours per day for 4 days). And I will continue to do the FL exams this month as well (7ish hours on Friday, review on Sunday).

December, I will have winter break and will try to do about 2 FL exams per week (and be sure to save some time for Christmas, my birthday, new years, etc).

I think I just feel concerned about "forgetting" things since I am doing this study plan over 6 months. And some of my friends say this plan is "overkill" and that I should just try to do it all very intensely over 3 months. Of course I will be trying to reinforce through practice passages and FL exams, but do you think I should do "problems" too? Like EK 1001 series kind of problems, that are stand alone questions?

 

[mcatjelly]

I don't feel all that comfortable giving you advice on your study plan, but it does seem like you've given this good thought.

Because you're spreading this out over 6 months, I highly recommend emphasizing passages to help you retain the material vs. plain content review. Buy as many as you can afford/get your hands on--but don't drop $2,000 just to get some FLs. Ahhh. Kaplan's aren't even all that good; its EK that wins the FL race thus far. You can get a list of all the available FLs in the exam section of the MCAT FAQ in my signature, and then test taker reviews in the commentary on the new exam, also in my signature.

Also, I do think EK1001s would be good for your situation.

My last piece of caution is that: don't think this schedule won't also involve burnout, because it's very possible that it's still going to happen--you're studying for the MCAT, maintaining your GPA, keeping up with ECs, and giving yourself enough free time to maintain your sanity. That's nothing to brush off, so just be careful. I also have been struggling with anxiety for a long time and get how it can interfere with your plans, but you've clearly been working things out with a therapist so that's good.

 

[gogreenx123]

@mcatjelly I just read through all of your contributions to the premed community! Very impressive!!! After taking the MCAT exam, do you feel that matching up TBR passages to the EK lectures prepared you well? If so, I may have to look into that instead of EK 1001 because I do think you are right that passages are the way to go to always refresh my memory.

Since there are 37 FL (thank you for telling me not to waste my time on Kaplan!) I could even take a FL but just do a section per week (as indicated by my own schedule). I hope this would be at least somewhat or more representative than the TBR. But am I even allowed to do that with FLs? Or with FLs is it that once I start the test, there is no way of saving the rest of the sections later because I must complete the FL all in one sitting?

 

[mcatjelly]

@mcatjelly I just read through all of your contributions to the premed community! Very impressive!!! After taking the MCAT exam, do you feel that matching up TBR passages to the EK lectures prepared you well? If so, I may have to look into that instead of EK 1001 because I do think you are right that passages are the way to go to always refresh my memory.

Since there are 37 FL (thank you for telling me not to waste my time on Kaplan!) I could even take a FL but just do a section per week (as indicated by my own schedule). I hope this would be at least somewhat or more representative than the TBR. But am I even allowed to do that with FLs? Or with FLs is it that once I start the test, there is no way of saving the rest of the sections later because I must complete the FL all in one sitting?

I think that using EK1001 for the purpose of keeping old content fresh in your mind would be beneficial in addition to practice passages.

I did find my method of EK + TBR very helpful, and if I had stuck to my guns a bit more I know I could have scored more highly on those sections.

Each FL has their own set-up, but at least for EK you could definitely do them section by section.

 

[baughlieve]

I'm doing the same thing OP, I'm pushing my test back from September to January so I don't go insane trying to work 55 hrs a week and study 8 hours a day. I'm just gonna do what I can this summer and then give it my full attention in the fall when I only have 2 classes

Has it been confirmed for sure that there are January test dates?

 

[mcatjelly]

I'm doing the same thing OP, I'm pushing my test back from September to January so I don't go insane trying to work 55 hrs a week and study 8 hours a day. I'm just gonna do what I can this summer and then give it my full attention in the fall when I only have 2 classes

Has it been confirmed for sure that there are January test dates?

Yes

 

[Supernatural17]

is there anyway OP can save the google sheets schedule you provided as a file or provide the link of where you found it? Thanks

 

[mcatjelly]

is there anyway OP can save the google sheets schedule you provided as a file or provide the link of where you found it? Thanks

Look in my signature.

 

[supremus]

..

 

[Supernatural17]

Thank you mcatjelly

 

[Tiffafi]

I am actually considering doing the same. My scheduled test date right now is august 6th and I went through a pretty big burnout trying to do so much each day since I have to read, take notes, watch videos, read again, revise notes, make notecards (I know its ridiculous, but it really helps me learn). I also struggle big time with my anxiety so I need to figure that out haha. But I think the best idea for me is to take the test in January at this point as well.

 

[hopfeful]

I am in a very similar situation that you are in and I currently making my study plan. I would first take a diagnostic test to see how much material you really need to review. Secondly, do not even attempt to take the MCAT until you have all of the prerequisite courses complete.

 

[autumn0408]

Hi!, I read the link you posted http://tour4diversity.org/brain-train-my-mcat-study-strategy/

I'm also studying MCAT for 6 months, taking it in Jan 2017. When you divided your study into 3 phases, did you not do any practice passages on your first phase? I think it would be more productive if I keep practicing from the start rather than doing passages 2 months after I finish reviewing.

Hello Guys!

Well first I would like to say to everyone reading this thread, that I can't believe we made it! I can't believe we made it this far to take the MCAT exam. Not only have we survived the notorious premed weeder classes, but we destroyed them to be in the positions we are in now...of being able to take the MCAT 2015.

I originally had a solid 3 month plan for my test date in September 2015, but found it too overwhelming. My study plan was broken up into three phases similar to this: http://tour4diversity.org/brain-train-my-mcat-study-strategy/ (only condensed into 3 months instead of 6 months)

However I found that I was experiencing burnout when reviewing the content. I was basically trying to get through 50 pages a day from EK 9th edition. I found myself spending at least 8 hours a day trying to get through these 50 pages because I take notes, watch videos, draw pictures, which I feel are all essential to my learning. However, about a few weeks into this prep I began to really crash and burn. Where I found myself studying hardcore for a few days, then some days not at all! Unfortunately my schedule didn't offer much flexibility so this made very stressed and nervous since I was constantly behind my own schedule. I began to experience such intense anxiety that my doctor had to prescribe me to medication to be able to sleep at night!

Okay a few things:
1) I know I sound nuts, but I really am working on getting my anxiety under a control. I have made an appointment with a therapist, that I can talk about this with, and I am meeting with her this week. And a solution to help with my anxiety is to expand my 3 month plan to a 6 month plan so I can just be studying 4-5 hours a day (for these last two months of summer) without experiencing burnout. Therefore, if I do 25 pages a day all of my content review will be done by September which is right before school starts. Then when school starts, I will be doing 2-3 hours of just practice passages per day and one full length exam every weekend. I will continue this until my exam date in January. And after finals are done, I can take 2-3 FL exams per week since I have 3 weeks off for winter break. Do you guys think this sounds like a solid plan?

2) When reviewing content, I also want to do a practice passage that correlates to my EK chapter. Does anyone know where to find these? So far I found this:
But it only has TBR for the biology sections. Are these helpful for MCAT 2015 at all? What if I did EK 1001 questions for each of the sections? Anyone found that helpful for MCAT 2015?

3) As far as FL exams, I found this as a helpful thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-2015-full-lengths.1121749/
I plan to purchase as many exams as I can get my hands on. However, I keep hearing that Kaplan has really good FL exams. The problem is that these exams are not sold separately from the prep course. I really don't want to spend $2,000 on a prep course if I only need FL exams, but I guess I will do it if it helps me get a good score. Thoughts?

Please be kind on my post, happy studying!

Thank you,
~Go Green

 

[alice.white]

Hello Guys!

Well first I would like to say to everyone reading this thread, that I can't believe we made it! I can't believe we made it this far to take the MCAT exam. Not only have we survived the notorious premed weeder classes, but we destroyed them to be in the positions we are in now...of being able to take the MCAT 2015.

I originally had a solid 3 month plan for my test date in September 2015, but found it too overwhelming. My study plan was broken up into three phases similar to this: http://tour4diversity.org/brain-train-my-mcat-study-strategy/ (only condensed into 3 months instead of 6 months)

However I found that I was experiencing burnout when reviewing the content. I was basically trying to get through 50 pages a day from EK 9th edition. I found myself spending at least 8 hours a day trying to get through these 50 pages because I take notes, watch videos, draw pictures, which I feel are all essential to my learning. However, about a few weeks into this prep I began to really crash and burn. Where I found myself studying hardcore for a few days, then some days not at all! Unfortunately my schedule didn't offer much flexibility so this made very stressed and nervous since I was constantly behind my own schedule. I began to experience such intense anxiety that my doctor had to prescribe me to medication to be able to sleep at night!

Okay a few things:
1) I know I sound nuts, but I really am working on getting my anxiety under a control. I have made an appointment with a therapist, that I can talk about this with, and I am meeting with her this week. And a solution to help with my anxiety is to expand my 3 month plan to a 6 month plan so I can just be studying 4-5 hours a day (for these last two months of summer) without experiencing burnout. Therefore, if I do 25 pages a day all of my content review will be done by September which is right before school starts. Then when school starts, I will be doing 2-3 hours of just practice passages per day and one full length exam every weekend. I will continue this until my exam date in January. And after finals are done, I can take 2-3 FL exams per week since I have 3 weeks off for winter break. Do you guys think this sounds like a solid plan?

2) When reviewing content, I also want to do a practice passage that correlates to my EK chapter. Does anyone know where to find these? So far I found this:
But it only has TBR for the biology sections. Are these helpful for MCAT 2015 at all? What if I did EK 1001 questions for each of the sections? Anyone found that helpful for MCAT 2015?

3) As far as FL exams, I found this as a helpful thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/mcat-2015-full-lengths.1121749/
I plan to purchase as many exams as I can get my hands on. However, I keep hearing that Kaplan has really good FL exams. The problem is that these exams are not sold separately from the prep course. I really don't want to spend $2,000 on a prep course if I only need FL exams, but I guess I will do it if it helps me get a good score. Thoughts?

Please be kind on my post, happy studying!

Thank you,
~Go Green

Hi! and Good Luck! Studying for the MCAT is super stressful. I found that taking as many practice tests as possible helped me the most. I tried a few different companies, each one has its own strength and weakness. I liked Next Steps and the Berkeley Review but the one I found that had the best explanations was Lenox Hill Premedical. They only have one test right now but when I contacted them they said that two more are close to being released. I recommend taking the practice tests both timed and untimed, seeing where your struggles are working on those specific areas, then retake exams.

 

[dboyhaaan]

When reviewing content, I also want to do a practice passage that correlates to my EK chapter. Does anyone know where to find these?

Would this help? It has the 2015 TBR chapters correlating with EK 9th? Credit goes to @Saigon