MCAT through the night...

[believe <3]

Okay, so I am really behind on my MCAT prep and it's freaking me out. I just have to finish reviewing physics tonight or otherwise, I think I'll go crazy sick with worry…

I'm planning to stay up the whole night until 6 am (so 7 hrs of straight studying) and then wake up tmrw around 12 pm to take a practice test at 1 pm.

Now, I've nvr done this before, so I'm wondering if anyone can give me some pointers…assuming I still get 6-7 hrs of sleep, will this affect my practice test tmrw? Or will I be okay?

Also, if I drink coffee every three hrs, will that keep me awake and alert? Any other methods to keep me awake?

If anyone has ever done this before, I'd rly appreciate any input on potential consequences of doing this etc.

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[tima]

Studying the night before rarely makes a difference on standardized exams. People usually take that day off or do some light studying.

If you don't feel you are ready, postpone it or take and void it.

 

[GomersGoToGround]

Get off SDN, study sooner, go to bed sooner, and get more rest.

There are so many factors that influence your test tomorrow. You could have a nightmare, an upset stomach, loud neighbors, have too many equations in your head that you can't stop thinking about, or simply not be tired yet.

You are throwing off your normal sleep cycle, so I would certainly expect some consequences. Good or bad, it can go either way. Trial and error! Be thy own guinea pig. Err, maybe that's not solid advice. Too much coffee will also negatively affect you.

Perhaps it'd be better to take the practice exam on another day. You need sleep to retain information. Do not waste a practice exam.

 

[believe <3]

Get off SDN, study sooner, go to bed sooner, and get more rest.

There are so many factors that influence your test tomorrow. You could have a nightmare, an upset stomach, loud neighbors, have too many equations in your head that you can't stop thinking about, or simply not be tired yet.

You are throwing off your normal sleep cycle, so I would certainly expect some consequences. Good or bad, it can go either way. Trial and error! Be thy own guinea pig. Err, maybe that's not solid advice. Too much coffee will also negatively affect you.

Perhaps it'd be better to take the practice exam on another day. You need sleep to retain information. Do not waste a practice exam.

Thanks for the advice! But I am still planning to get 7 hrs of sleep…won't that be enough not to affect my practice exam tmrw? Regardless of the time I sleep at?

 

[believe <3]

Studying the night before rarely makes a difference on standardized exams. People usually take that day off or do some light studying.

If you don't feel you are ready, postpone it or take and void it.

I am only taking the practice exam tmrw…my real MCAT is on Jan 15th.

 

[Ismet]

Would it be the end of the world if you take the practice exam at 8am on Tuesday?

 

[GomersGoToGround]

Thanks for the advice! But I am still planning to get 7 hrs of sleep…won't that be enough not to affect my practice exam tmrw? Regardless of the time I sleep at?

Well, it depends.

Sure, at absolute value, knowing yourself, that could be sufficient. As long as your body feels rested. But if you've never done it before, you can't know how the change in sleep time will effect your ability to take a long standardized test.

In medicine, sleep schedules get screwed up often, sure.

Like I said, everybody is different, and there are so many variables that go into your test performance.
Isolating this based only on your sleep amount, sure, you may not see a significant difference.

But you're not in a vacuum. There are plenty of confounding factors, and I don't know all of them. I do very much hope you do well, and do not waste a practice exam.

I'd like to know the outcome of your experiment.

Like @Ismet said; would it kill you to just study, get some rest, and take it bit later?

 

[believe <3]

Would it be the end of the world if you take the practice exam at 8am on Tuesday?

Okay, so if I did that then (meaning I would have to review it the same day), would it still be okay to study the entire night today? I just want to make sure that this one day of no sleep will not prevent me from getting back to my normal studying routine starting on Tuesday…it would rly suck if this all-nighter caused me to feel extra tired during the week, preventing me from studying properly =/ I'm not sure when the effects of an all-nighter usually wear off...

 

[Ismet]

Okay, so if I did that then (meaning I would have to review it the same day), would it still be okay to study the entire night today? I just want to make sure that this one day of no sleep will not prevent me from getting back to my normal studying routine starting on Tuesday…it would rly suck if this all-nighter caused me to feel extra tired during the week, preventing me from studying properly =/ I'm not sure when the effects of an all-nighter usually wear off...

Why don't you just go to sleep at a normal time tonight and then hit the books hard tomorrow?

Cramming and all nighters don't make up for lost time. You're just going to be tired, and stuff isn't going to stick. And you'll throw off your sleep cycle. I fail to see why you need to pull an all nighter right now...

 

[believe <3]

Why don't you just go to sleep at a normal time tonight and then hit the books hard tomorrow?

Cramming and all nighters don't make up for lost time. You're just going to be tired, and stuff isn't going to stick. And you'll throw off your sleep cycle. I fail to see why you need to pull an all nighter right now...

I've been telling myself that I will finish stuff in the morning for a while now, but I just can't seem to get everything I want to get done throughout the day…things keep getting pushed off. And now, honestly, I can't sleep with this much worry and knowing that I haven't reached my study goal for the day yet again! Thats why I thought that maybe if I just spend one all-nighter to get all the delayed stuff done, I can get back on track with my schedule...

 

[Ismet]

I've been telling myself that I will finish stuff in the morning for a while now, but I just can't seem to get everything I want to get done throughout the day…things keep getting pushed off. And now, honestly, I can't sleep with this much worry and knowing that I haven't reached my study goal for the day yet again! Thats why I thought that maybe if I just spend one all-nighter to get all the delayed stuff done, I can get back on track with my schedule...

Like I said, cramming doesn't make up for lost time. That time has already been lost, and all you can do is learn to be efficient with the time you have. And studying on fumes is not efficient.

If pulling an all nighter tonight will give you peace of mind, then go for it. If you won't be able to sleep tonight, then might as well do something productive. But I would try to get sleep and study tomorrow. Maybe that means training yourself to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. Also maybe make a more doable study schedule. It sounds like you're planning to study more than you can efficiently get through in a day.