Things you wished you had known before studying for/taking the MCAT?

[JoyKim456]

I would appreciate learning from your experiences

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[Dreamstoo]

I would appreciate learning from your experiences

Studying for the Sept. 18 exam.

One thing I regret: not taking enough off days in the beginning. Had the option to go to a wedding for 3 days, didn't take it. Only took off 3 days off in 2 months of studying. I burnt out pretty quickly during content review.

 

[JoyKim456]

&dreamstoo good luck! I heard you should do all studying by the week before and take a couple practice exams the last week because burnout can (most probably will) hurt your score.

 

[Gauss44]

Not to use up all AAMC practice tests too soon.

 

[Make Or Break]

I regret spending 6 months studying. You really get tired after 3. You also end up forgetting some stuff and have to review it all over again. Keep your studying concise, but productive for 3-4 months max.

 

[thatfeelwhen79]

i burnt out every 2 hours

 

[ATPsynthase17]

Not studying during the summer

 

[HinduHammer]

Not studying longer, not studying "seriously" during the beginning parts like content review, not doing enough practice problems...

 

[BeachBlondie]

I wish I had known that MCAT competency is based on BOTH science aptitude AND the ability to unpack question stems. It wasn't until studying for my retake that I started scoring well (read: mid-high 30s). The difference between low 30s and high 30s is, literally, only a handful of questions; being able to interpret EXACTLY what is being asked is absolutely critical.

Also, I was given the opportunity to teach someone for a few weeks prior to my exam. If a friend asks you to help them go over a full-length, to assist them in understanding what they missed, DO IT.

 

[Thoroughbred_Med]

Take all of your prereqs. If you don't, expect to put in an extra month or two of study time.

I tried doing SN2ed 3-month without taking Physics 2.... thought I could teach it to myself.... I did! However, I had to cancel my test date and push back a couple months.

 

[breezy16]

Believing that the AAMC FLs were representative of the actual test. I currently feel like I did well, we'll see how well in three weeks, but do not feel confident in the ways I did during my practice tests. Perhaps it was a bad test for me and my personal weaknesses, but I definitely feel like the AAMC FL PS section was bounds easier than the real deal.

 

[brood910]

Not studying for verbal ahead of time as an ESL student.