Studying for the MCAT over a year?

[theconzumer]

Hi everyone,

I am planning on taking the new MCAT and am off for twelve months from school as I am doing an internship for those 12 months. I will be working typically work hours and will have the evenings to study. Does anyone have a study guide that would be possible to complete in 12 months with a schedule such as mine? Also would you recommend studying for a year or doing it in 4-8 months?

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[Gauss44]

I would recommend going in the order of your favorite MCAT prep book at your most efficient pace possible. Your goal should be to learn the big picture and most of the details. Keep record of anything you don't understand, and check other MCAT prep books, youtube, the internet, and possibly with a tutor to shorten that list. Work your butt off. If you finish early, that's great. But it's more likely that you will need more time than you think. That's why I say give it all you've got and don't let up until you're there.

Here are the resources that I have found most helpful, Examkrackers for all the old science that will reappear on the new MCAT, a cross between TPR and AAMC for verbal, Wyzant as a tutoring source, and have no suggestions for the new 2015 stuff since no one's taken the new test yet. Kaplan is a popular option though.

Good luck!

 

[ConfusedChemist]

4-8 months
1 year is excessive....for 2 reasons
-you will forget the stuff you studied 1 year before
-it puts WAY too much pressure on one exam, aka more nerves=worse performance
there is absolutely nothing you won't have time to learn in 4-8 months
the average is ~3

 

[ProudMD]

4-8 months
1 year is excessive....for 2 reasons
-you will forget the stuff you studied 1 year before
-it puts WAY too much pressure on one exam, aka more nerves=worse performance
there is absolutely nothing you won't have time to learn in 4-8 months
the average is ~3

3-4 months of concentrated, intense, and semi full-time studying is the most common and effective method.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

3-4 months of concentrated, intense, and semi full-time studying is the most common and effective method.

probably, and some people even less
i.e. I had to work ~50 hours per week in the 3 months I studied (to pay tuition/rent and all that fun) so I studied at night and was fine and I'm sure many people do the same

 

[ProudMD]

probably, and some people even less
i.e. I had to work ~50 hours per week in the 3 months I studied (to pay tuition/rent and all that fun) so I studied at night and was fine and I'm sure many people do the same

You, sir, are a BOSS!

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

@Gauss44 nailed it - study at the most "efficient pace" that you can. That does not mean a year. If someone is so busy that the only way he/she can study for the test is to draw it out over a year, then the answer is not to study for a year, but to either decrease the responsibilities that made the person so busy or plan on studying at a later time. A year long study plan is not efficient, pure and simple, for the reasons previously mentioned by the posters above.
3-5 months will be enough to prepare you presuming you study smartly.

Good luck!

 

[DaddyBex28]

I agree with @ConfusedChemist. I, too, had to work full-time to support myself during my studying. I studied for 6 months in the evenings after work and on the weekends. I felt a bit burnt out nearly the last month though.

anything beyond 8 months might be too excessive just for mental, emotional and physical stability honestly.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

I studied with a full-time job, many years out of the pre-reqs. It took me 5 months. I wouldn't have been able to do it in 3 given the hours I worked.

P.S. I recommend getting up early and studying before work!

thats what I did too! I only had 3 months because that was my break from school, but I studied 6-8am before work and then 8-10 afterwards since I worked 9-7pm
I found mornings were great because I wasn't exhausted from working then