Starting college this fall. What is the best study method of the MCAT for someone who's not good at taking standardized tests?

[habbohomer]

I personally had a rough time with my ACT/SAT tests and was wondering how I can prepare for the MCAT.


Some have said I should study long and hard two months before test day and others have said I should study all throughout college.


Any ideas?

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[Blueprint Med School]

Why not a mixture of both? If you have free time one weekend, spend a few hours going over past content you might not have looked at in a while. Do this until a couple months until test day, and then really crack down. If standardized tests is hard for you, be sure to take a lot of practice exams.

Do not study all throughout college. I wouldn't even start until 6 months before test day. A sample schedule might be if you were to take your exam in June, you would start doing light content review in January throughout the semester, and then spend all of May and June on MCAT.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[readmypostsMD]

If your SAT/ACT was that low, might want to practice reading actual book as a way to increase your reading speed and comprehension, as this may be a huge limiting factor on the mcat because it’s a lot of text that you have to read fast

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

If you're just about to start college, the best way to prepare for the MCAT is to not. The MCAT is way too far off in the distance for you to be worrying about it.

 

[lanzhou_lamian]

SAT/ACT are very different than MCAT, largely because MCAT is content-based. Doing dedicated MCAT prep from day one of university is probably not the best strategy, since you won't have any of the content foundation. I think the best thing you can do for yourself now is do well in your premed classes and make sure to take classes that will help you learn MCAT-relevant information well.

Beyond that, I'll second @readmypostsMD's suggestion of reading a lot, particularly scientific articles. A lot of the MCAT is being able to read scientific writing quickly and accurately, so if you already have that habit, it will make the test easier.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Transitioning to college level work is challenging enough. For now, I would focus on your class work as this will be the foundation for your mcat content knowledge. More importantly, learn about how you learn best.

 

[JimKimSlim]

Why try to make your college experience more stressful by worrying about the MCAT this early. Take your time. Get some shadowing and research experience early. Maybe take a gap year to focus on the MCAT exclusively for 3 months. Just have fun and make the most out of college experience, or you’ll regret it later in life

 

[KnightDoc]

I personally had a rough time with my ACT/SAT tests and was wondering how I can prepare for the MCAT.


Some have said I should study long and hard two months before test day and others have said I should study all throughout college.


Any ideas?

You'll study long and hard, for more than two months and less than three years!

Don't overestimate the importance of the MCAT. Grades are equally important, so you also need to focus on doing well in all your classes.

Studying more than 6 months or so before the exam is more likely to cause burnout than to positively impact your performance. As you get closer, you'll figure out how much you need to study based on how well you mastered the tested topics in your classes, how quickly you can review, and whether you will do better studying on your own or taking a review course. It's a total waste of time to even think about it this far out.

 

[dial1010usa]

Just focus on your college classes and try to get A's. Once you done with your pre-reqs then spend some time to study for MCAT.

 

[Girl on the Move]

Echoing the advice above, I wouldn't worry about starting to actively prepare now. What's important is that when you take your basic pre-req classes that you actually learn the material. Taking good notes and having a good foundation in those classes will make studying MUCH easier when you start (and will allow for you to focus more on HOW to take the test than what is on it). Also starting to read some difficult/higher level articles (any subject) and books will help prepare for the monotony of the passages in CARS.