How much time did you really really study for the MCAT ?

[FranceLies]

I was in Physics II this summer and spent a lot of time studying in the Medical School library. I saw quite a few students studying for the MCAT over their summer break and I noticed they spent at least half the day on the internet and talking on cell phones.

How much time did you really study for the MCAT this summer ?

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[Broccoli]

I was in Physics II this summer and spent a lot of time studying in the Medical School library. I saw quite a few students studying for the MCAT over their summer break and I noticed they spent at least half the day on the internet and talking on cell phones.

How much time did you really study for the MCAT this summer ?

Honestly, a lot. I'll be conservative and say I studied a good 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2 months (8 weeks) even though I know I studied more. That comes out to 160 hours.

 

[FranceLies]

Honestly, a lot. I'll be conservative and say I studied a good 4 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2 months (8 weeks) even though I know I studied more. That comes out to 160 hours.

I like your name Broccoli !

 

[deleted106503]

Can't say. I started studying July 3rd if that helps. The first few days I'd spend 8+ hours just reading the books non-stop from EK. After that, I'd just go over each book again until I almost had them memorized. Didn't really take too long. The practice exams are what took forever. Each was about 9 hours (including review) and I took 8 total. I wouldn't be surprised if I spent 250-300 hours. Keep in mind I didn't have a job or school.

 

[Broccoli]

I like your name Broccoli !

Thank you!

 

[.surgical.]

I'd like to hear if anyone has religiously followed the Examkrackers 10-week study guide. It seems pretty intense to me.

PS- NOT trying to jack the thread

 

[deleted106503]

I'd like to hear if anyone has religiously followed the Examkrackers 10-week study guide. It seems pretty intense to me.

PS- NOT trying to jack the thread

I did the EK books + 1g + all 3R to 9 AAMCs in about 6 weeks.

 

[solitude]

For 8 weeks (while I was working 60hrs/wk) I spent only 1-2hrs per night, every night, reading ExamKrackers, then re-reading, then outlining, etc. This whole time was spent in study. Then the last 3 weeks before the exam, I took practice tests and reviewed the results and the areas in which I was performing poorly. This was about 10hrs/day about 5days/wk. So I would say 8x7x1.5 + 3x5x10 = 234hrs. This is probably somewhat of an overestimate because I would of course take breaks to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, take a cell-phone call, etc. Thus, I would round down to 200hrs total. This sounds like a lot, but I have read on here of people studying for waaaay more hours than this overall.

 

[.surgical.]

The problem with this thread is...

It doent matter how much you study. 300+ hours could still do poorly, <50 hours could still do well (maybe).

It all depends on who it is. I dont think people would really bother to lie, who are they really tryin to impress anyways?

 

[The Kahuna]

In the first month I studied 2-3 hours every day. The second month I stepped it up to 4-5. The third I was studying 4-7. I definitely put in the effort, hope it pays off.

 

[RAD11]

Guju,

Did you feel that TPR Science/Verbal workbook was helpful?

 

[bananaboat]

a lot of hours!!

anyway, i dedicated my whole summer to this thing. i treated it like it was my day job, with one day off a week. i took it very seriously...and if the returns aren't great, needless to say, i will be disappointed in the very large investment i made. but it was a decision i made, because, i didnt' want to end up having to write this a third time. for example, i didnt' want to make the same mistake of having a full time job and not having another summer to study. i totally underestimated the difficulty of this exam last year. i didn't think it was a walk in the park, but i also thought all you SDNers were crazy when i came on these boards last year, with all your studying. now my advice to people is, if you're going to do it, try and do it right the first time. make the investment in your scores, and make the mcat your number on priority. if you are like most people, you'll have to work for a good score. i totally agree that for some ppl it will come naturally, but the large majority of us must work for it.

last summer, i had a full time job, leaving me exhausted at the end of the day with little time to study. then two weeks before the mcat i had found out my dad had a massive brain tumor. since there was nothign i could do to change that, i decided to write anyway, despite the emotional stress i was under. it was just overall a horrible summer.

this summer must have been 10x easier for me and i feel really lucky that i did not have to work and my family was safe and relatively healthy. i could not have asked for a better situation. now all i can do is hope that my scores will improve with my hard work.

 

[RAD11]

Extremely helpful even last April. The only reason I retook was because that wretched verbal section. I think the science passages in both the ICC and workbook are helpful. i also think that EK's material is good. but for genetics you might need to find outside resources although I didn't have anything too out there this time.

Stinking verbal...been trying to do 2-3 passages every other day . I just hope I get an epiphany soon enough .

 

[RAD11]

Yeah I have EK 101....that's the book I was primarily using for Aug prep, but my scores were like a roller coaster ride.

 

[Pdiddy310]

actual study time: about 30-45 min per day 6 wks prior to the mcat. the 2 weeks before, stepped it up to an avg of 4-6 hrs/day.

 

[rsa130]

I want to point out an important opinion I have about studying for the MCAT:

Last year:

I studied everyday from mid june all the way through August anywhere from 5 hrs - 8 hrs a day, everyday...I had a medical student studying for the USMLEs say she was impressed by how much I was studying!

I took every Kaplan test except 1

I got a 27

This year:

Starting early June I studied about 2-4 hrs a day then from July on I studied anywhere from 4-8hrs with exceptions here and there. I also took a practice exam every Saturday Morning in July and August. Mid August I did AAMC 3R - 6R.

*This time however I really paid attention to how the MCAT tries to trick you. Everyone knows F = ma or what the ADH hormone does etc. What separates the high score from the low score is preventing yourself from falling into traps or simple calculation errors. My advice would be look at your pratice exams/passages carefully see trends in the errors you make. Also, notwe typical confusing topics (ie the difference anode and cathode in a galvanic vs electrolytic cell). This I feel is what truly helped me.

 

[r2cole1]

I started ~ May 1st and worked on it every day. I took a few days off early june and late july. I worked as a patient sitter 3rd shift every night for 2 months so I really put in some study hours doing that. Overall I'd say betweeen 500 and 600 hours.

 

[EBI831]

studied about 300 hours for august and 50 for april. felt much better

 

[quadmanturbo]

7 months and half.......that comes to 225 days.........so pretty much close to 700 hours of improving some of my weaknesses...........now I'm about 5 times smarter than before.......not that stupid anymore.....

 

[Brandon81081]

first time 200 hrs
second time 500+ hrs

 

[med_malpractice]

personally, the most challenging thing was focusing. I mean i could sit there at a desk for hours on end yet take away only a couple hours of real studying

 

[tracy34]

I went through all of my course notes from my intro physiology and anatomy classes. Personally I feel that there is no substitute for understanding the concepts. Some people find prep materials really useful. I did, however, purchase all of the tests offered by AAMC. I took 1 test every 2 weeks.
~trayce

 

[hadokenny]

Including practice test and TPR classes...about 300+ hrs. Hopefully my results show

 

[akinf]

Honestly, in May, I studied on the off-days of Kaplan for about 1.5 hours for a month trying to review material I had forgotten or study stuff I didn't know. I tried to blaze through the books as fast as possible do I could leave myself July and August for just practice questions. Then during June and July I didn't study very much. Maybe a total of about 30 hours between the two months. Then in August, I realized I had been slacking off so I spent every waking moment studying when I wasn't in the lab. That probably comes out to the same amount of time I spent studying for the previous 3 months. I did practice exams 4R - 9 in a matter of about 2 - 3 weeks. Then I wrote the MCAT.

The one studying I tried to do pretty consistently which I felt helped was 3 passages of EK101 verbal a day. I tried to adhere to it, but I'd miss a day every now and then. This was probably the most valuable studying for me because I started around a 6 in May then by August I was hitting 10/11 on the AAMC tests. I really hope everything pays off. If I had to do it again (which I am really hoping I don't have to) I would concentrate more on writing AAMC tests and looking for patterns in topics tested and answer preferences for questions.

 

[UMP]

i started studying in february... but it was in spurts here or there. EK took me from feb to may to finish, there were two or three days where I did a section or more each day, but then there were spurts where I did nothing for close to two weeks. I think going at this slow pace really helped me solidify everything in my head... from may on I was taking a practice test at a rate of about one per week and looking some things over that weren't completely clear... so on average about 8-10 hours a week in spurts and at a slow pace. Never really got too stressed, and everything got solidified in my head... we'll see how it turns out

 

[Noeljan]

started at the end of may with kaplan. The days I wasnt at kaplan class I had to be in the lab. I dont think I had enough time though.

 

[berkeleyvala]

Including TBR classes and studying...probably 400+ hours

 

[Remiller]

I started Kaplan in May, studied about 5 hours/wk during my lunch (I work full-time) for a few months. I wasted a lot of time, like FranceLies observed, but I also studied a whole lot. I did a total of about 7 practice tests, all the online Kaplan stuff, a little flashcard reading in front of the TV. I'd say a very conservative estimate would be about 150 hours of real studying.

 

[FutureMD07]

Hii..i spent the whole summer studying ... monday wednesday thursday saturday and sunday from 9 to 6 , sometimes to 9p.m. I hope it will pay off at the end

 

[MEG@COOL]

How much time did I really study? Not a ton. Was busy working like 50 hours a week doing a research internship + other related activities. Hope that doesnt hurt me too much.

 

[Nikki2002]

i studied for about 10 minutes right before the exam.

 

[akinf]

Classic...

 

[BigRedPremed]

I studied approx. 6 hours a day (including my 2 1/2 hour prep class) w/ occasional Saturdays sacrificed for practice tests. Started studying mid-may through mid-august.