working while studying for mcats - need advice

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Simran1031

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i currently hold a full time position and have been in this position for 6 months. i am planning to take the mcats in april. I am torn between completely leaving my job to pursue this exam vs. working part time and taking the month of april off to study hard core. my superviser is willing to compromise and has said that we can talk about whatever works best for me..ideally i think i would jsut devote myself to the exam for four months..but with the job market i am afraid i wont find another job after the mcats..also if i have that much time i am worried that i would waste it or soemthing.. i am not sure..i feel that i am a hard worker and i would study but part of me feels like if i am working at the same time i will be more propelled to study. mcats has always been a mental battle for me as i have always feared the exam. i have already taken the exam once and scored a 22Q. i realize that my score needs to substantially increase for me to have a chance and i think that this is wihtin my capability. i am thinking of just leaving the job altogether and jsut focusing on the exam..but what do you all recommend? is this a stupid decision for me considering the economy? i dont necessarily need the money direly as i am still living with my parents as co-dependent that makes me sound..but i would really appreciate any feedback..also..another reason i was consdiering staying at hthis positon is becasue my superviser is planning to put me on only medical cleints so i will have exposure to designing online courses for medical studtndes, working wiht continuing medical education credit guidelines as well as working with the abstract management tool..the job involves a mix of conference management as well as working with educational needs of the clients. i think i could really use this dfuring my interview when i talk about my expierence outside of my undergrad years..please let me know what you think...:confused:
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Hi there-- In case it is any relief, I, too, am working full time (~60-65hours a week) and will be studying for this. I think if you can pull both, it will speak highly of you in your application. My advice (from what my friends who were in similar situations) to you is to make a realistic plan and try to stick to it, if in 2 months you realize that the plan is simply not working you can make a decision about the job. Also, there is a whole thread in here on people who were working full time and studying for the test and many did well! I will look for it and send it to you if you need it.

Hope this helps! But don't worry about a low score, many peopel who end up doing well, do so after a not so great score!

Good luck!

the thread:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=566973
 
Last edited:
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Making a plan as stated above is very crucial when you are going to be juggling more than one responsibility. I'm not going to lie; Studying for the MCAT while working full-time or even part-time is no easy task. It can be done, and many students do perform successfully on test day when they've worked while studying. In order to do so, however, you really need to sit down and be realistic about how many hours a day you can put into the exam, and whether, based on your own study skills and efficiency, you'll be able to adequately study for the exam so that you can really do well. You should mark down your calendar week-by-week or day-by-day how you expect to progress (which sections you will cover, which days will be reserved for taking full length exams and reviewing them, etc.) It's a good idea to make a schedule all the way up to your actual test day.

You've already taken the test once, so making a marked improvement the second time (above 30) needs to be your number one priority. It will severely hurt your chances to do badly two times in a row. I'm confident that almost all pre-meds, with the right study habits and the right approach to the exam can score above 31 on the exam. So you've got to really think about how you're going to prepare to do that...because taking the exam a third time is something you should absolutely avoid, at all costs. In reality, you should aim to take the MCAT only once, but if you have to take it again, you should have the same mindset.
It'll be up to you to decide whether you have the time management skills and the motivation to put in 10-12 hours a day (work and study combined). Personally, if I didn't need the money, I would not work.
GL.
 
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Hi everyone,

For those of you that have taken the MCAT....were any of you working part time or full time with a full semester course load? I'm taking the MCAT in June but I usually work around 20 hours a week and I'm taking 18 credits as well. I'm also going to be taking TPR course...is that going to be too much? What was your schedule like when you were studying for the MCAT? Should I take 15 credits instead of the usual 18? The extra 3 credits come from a really cool Bio Organic Chemistry class that I thought would be good MCAT review anyway. I've always taken 18/19 credits per semester, so I'll feel a bit bad if I take 15, but if it'll give me time to study for the MCAT, then so be it. What do you guys think? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Hey Pookiez,

There's a thread that was recently created and still on the front page of the MCAT forum that deals with this topic. I'll merge your post there, so maybe you'll get a few more responses.
 
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i was working 30-50 hour weeks, volunteering 4 hrs/week, hitting the gym regularly, hung out every now and then (albeit to a lesser degree had I not been studying) and i found time to study. maybe ~1 hour a day and like 3-6 on weekends. a lot of my content review was on the bus to and from work. like vilshadas said you need to make a plan that works FOR YOU and allocate your time properly. Try to get honed in to your study, don't goof around in front of the TV or at starbucks for example.
 
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I don't think you should ask other people how much he/she studied, b/c other people are different. I know people who barely studied for this test and got 33's and 34's. However, I think majority of people need to study hardcore for this test. When I studied i quit my job and only took one summer class (4 units) with it. I studied for a month and half though, but like 7-8 hours a day. You know your own study habits, and should decide accordingly what you need to do. ***I COMPLETELY agree with the post above regarding making a schedule, I made one for everyday*** I would recommend quiting your job, b/c the better mcat score is gonna pay off way more in the long run.....hope that helps. Last bit of advise, MAKE SURE you study ALL the sections. I completely ignored the verbal section, b/c i felt like studying for that was not important. And it sucks to have to retake the exam when you did well on all the other sections but one screws you over. :mad:
 
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As someone said, it becomes largely irrelevant how much others study because everyone is different. The one common theme I found of people who were successful on the MCAT (vihs is a prime example) is picking a study plan and sticking to it. If you want to juggle work and the MCAT, I'd suggest finding a schedule in which you can study for the MCAT before you go to work, that way you're not too drained from working to successfully study. The most important thing you can do is to be honest with yourself. Be honest with the amount of studying you need to do, with how well you can study while working, and decide on a schedul from there. Don't think that just because someone else can work 40 hours a week and successfully study for the MCAT you can as well.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, recognize that play time is just as important as work time. If you eat, breathe, and sleep MCAT/work, you're going to get to a point where you're not doing a good job with either. Good luck =)
 
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I have decided to leave my job and study for the mcats full time. my last day is jan. 15th. I just decided that right now my priority is to study for this exam full time and I do not want to jeopardize this exam. Here are the things I will do differently than first time around:
1. Focus more on understanding the concepts more than memory- I think before I spent too much time memorizing materials without ever contextualizing it
2. Try to envision all of the different chapters and sections from a big picture scale. I have noticed that a lot of MCAT questions like to mix various topics such as bio/physics or chem/orgo. This means that we not only have to master the one subject alone but we need to understand the relationships that exist overall.
3. To be honest with myself, even though I did study for a long time, I think I only studied with concentration the last month before the exam. This time around I have about 3.5 months to study full time. At this point, I have been going through some of the chapters just trying to understand the content using audio osmosis and going through the EK books and doing EK 1001 questions. during my lunch, I try to go to the kaplan center which is downstairs to do verbal passages.
4. I plan to hopefully end content review by the end of Febuary- which includes taking notes on all EK books, doing all 1001 questions, doing topical kaplan tests, subject tests, in book EK questions, making connections. The month of March, I will focus mainly on test strategy. One of my main weaknesses is that sometimes I feel like I understand the concepts perfectly well until I get an application question and I often struggle, in order to alleviate this problem, I think I will try to focus on doing as many passage based questions as possible( since I tend to get most of the discretes). During this month, I will also not only focus on the passage based questions from the kaplan tests, but I will also go back to the EK 1001 series books to look over and analyze my mistakes. I prefer to make the mistakes now instead of on test day! I hope to practice using the Kaplan Full lengths and AAMC full lengths. The month of April I want to focus soley on the AAMC tests. I will probably begin takin some of these exams in March but I want to spend April taking full lengths and fully understandfing my mistakes. when i took the mcats last time, I noticed that a lot of the questions looked familiar and I had difficulty with similar questions that I had before the exam. I want to go into the exam fully prepared and working on all my weaknesses, I think this strategy will help me gain confidence about the exam which is another weakness of mine.
5. In order to track my progress on studying what I have created an excel chart with various tabs that read, kaplan activites, EK activities, daily schedule, 1001 EK questions, and so on and so forth. Everyday I study, i try to track down my process so that I know exactly where I am in the studying process. My goal is to complete all of the tasks that are currently on the sheet. Last time around I was able to take all of the AAMC tests and Kaplan tests before the exam..including subjects tests but I think the mistake I made last time was that I did not may enough attention to my mistakes and moved on to the next test without really understanding where my concepts were weak. I have also created a tab for weaknesses where I can write down what I feel like my weak concepts are in each subject matter so I can go back to review. I have concepts like negative feedback, and angiotensin-renin there so that I know to go back to them.
5. I have also started a blog at www.mcatdiaries.blogspot.com to help track my process and really to vent about the exam. I think writing can be very therapeutic in approaching a test like this.

I am just postingg all of this here just in case if this proves to be helpful to anyone. I am trying to go from a 22 to atleast a 30 and even though that is many points I beleive that with a better strategy, self confidence and focus, this time I will make it! Please feel free to contact me if you would like a copy of the excel chart I made. It has been very helpful to me and I would more than happy to send it to whoever else who would like it.
 
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If you keep that kind of motivation up, you are going to be a super star. Can you taste that score you want? Keep that image of success in your mind as you study for the next 3.5 months. You have a solid plan. It looks like you've identified some important aspects that you did not focus on adequately during your last attempt. Furthermore, it looks like you are developing a plan to correct those weaknesses and come out a winner on the other side. Always keep in your mind the level of determination it will take you. Every little choice you make: Will I go take a 10 mins break right now, or will I get through this last problem. Will I study an extra hour today or instead browse the net? Keep it up, you'll be singing in no time. :thumbup:
 
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thanks for your encouragement. just returned from my lunch break where I was able to get a few VR and science passages in!
 
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i think time management is key in your situation. you probably want to make a solid study plan with everything that you want to accomplish and tick off all of the materials that you have done. that is why i created an excel sheet which has all of the tasks and books..and exams i want to go through and as soon as i am done with a task i mark it down. i also have a page for weaknesses so if there is soemthing u have a special hard time with, u can note it down and come back to it later. because ur on such a busy schedule flash cards might help maybe during your commute? when i leave my house,,and come back its dark so i am unable to do that. and also, if u work out for an hr a day...if u have soemthing like audio osmosis you cold listen to these lectures while u work out or during your commute. im not sure if you get a lunch break but i try to just get in a verbal or science passage in during lunch. you also need to make sure you dont burn yourself out. it is better to study when you are focused instead of stduying jsut for studying sake. after a long day of work the last thing i want to do is study..however..most days i give it a shot and after the first 15 minutes it helps..you need to find what works for you. i am a big fan of wiki and concept maps because i think mcat is more about understand and memory..it may be helpful to outline what you feel like you dont understand and work on those. if you want a copy of my excel chart i would be happy to send it to you. im not sure what study materials you are using but the chart is easily adaplatnle..i think the key to mcat..is persistence..discipline..and...the will to never give up no matter how horrid you feel like you did or are doing..just hang in there..and i am sure that things will work out as so i am hoping. i think if you have a detailed outline of all you want to do and begin marking down everything you are doing...you will feel a sense of accomplishemnet and feel more confident about what you do know..i write down little things like 'read ch', 'listen to audio osmosis' 'read and take notes'...breaking it down into small chunks and checking it off your list really helps..but i feel where you are comngi from and working full time and studying is a pain..thats why i decided to take a few months off..but also make sure you are also taking some time off..u cant just work and study and not do much else becasue that wont lead to productivity either!
 
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Hey Simran, I took the MCAT last Sept and got a 22 myself..but I really wanna do well this time around and feel very motivated to study right now. Can you please send me your excel file! Thanks!!
 
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Simran, I like your plans and focus! I am interested in your excel file as well. I am so stressed out studying for this thing.
 
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Hi, i just joined SDN, I took the MCAT last year and did not do well. Any advice on how best to study. I used the EK study package the first time and thinking of using either kaplan or princeton the next time. Any suggestions? Desperately in need of help.:confused:
 
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Hi guys,

I'm thinking of taking the MCAT this summer and have been offered a job in a lab. I think the lab job could really help me get into med school but I'm afraid of the toll it may take my score. I will most likely be working from 9 to 5. Please help me with any suggestions you may have.
 
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the excel file is attached! sorry i didnt do this earlier. didnt realize we could do that on here! =) please let me know if you have any questions about it! it has helped me and i hope it offers some help for you!
 

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Simran1031 said:
i currently hold a full time position and have been in this position for 6 months. i am planning to take the mcats in april. I am torn between completely leaving my job to pursue this exam vs. working part time and taking the month of april off to study hard core. my superviser is willing to compromise and has said that we can talk about whatever works best for me..ideally i think i would jsut devote myself to the exam for four months..but with the job market i am afraid i wont find another job after the mcats..also if i have that much time i am worried that i would waste it or soemthing.. i am not sure..i feel that i am a hard worker and i would study but part of me feels like if i am working at the same time i will be more propelled to study. mcats has always been a mental battle for me as i have always feared the exam. i have already taken the exam once and scored a 22Q. i realize that my score needs to substantially increase for me to have a chance and i think that this is wihtin my capability. i am thinking of just leaving the job altogether and jsut focusing on the exam..but what do you all recommend? is this a stupid decision for me considering the economy? i dont necessarily need the money direly as i am still living with my parents as co-dependent that makes me sound..but i would really appreciate any feedback..also..another reason i was consdiering staying at hthis positon is becasue my superviser is planning to put me on only medical cleints so i will have exposure to designing online courses for medical studtndes, working wiht continuing medical education credit guidelines as well as working with the abstract management tool..the job involves a mix of conference management as well as working with educational needs of the clients. i think i could really use this dfuring my interview when i talk about my expierence outside of my undergrad years..please let me know what you think...:confused:
Click to expand...
where the schedule...i could not find it ...my e-mail id is [email protected]
 
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Simran1031 said:
the excel file is attached! sorry i didnt do this earlier. didnt realize we could do that on here! =) please let me know if you have any questions about it! it has helped me and i hope it offers some help for you!
Click to expand...
i just have 2 day classes ....i have left my job ..... and i have princeton preview and kaplan material and flash cards.... now, can u tell me what should i do ...i think problem with me is focussing ....and right now i dont have any study group...it seems that i am preparing alone on my own ....can u tell me what can i do? thank you.....
 
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Simran1031 said:
I have decided to leave my job and study for the mcats full time. my last day is jan. 15th. I just decided that right now my priority is to study for this exam full time and I do not want to jeopardize this exam. Here are the things I will do differently than first time around:
1. Focus more on understanding the concepts more than memory- I think before I spent too much time memorizing materials without ever contextualizing it
2. Try to envision all of the different chapters and sections from a big picture scale. I have noticed that a lot of MCAT questions like to mix various topics such as bio/physics or chem/orgo. This means that we not only have to master the one subject alone but we need to understand the relationships that exist overall.
3. To be honest with myself, even though I did study for a long time, I think I only studied with concentration the last month before the exam. This time around I have about 3.5 months to study full time. At this point, I have been going through some of the chapters just trying to understand the content using audio osmosis and going through the EK books and doing EK 1001 questions. during my lunch, I try to go to the kaplan center which is downstairs to do verbal passages.
4. I plan to hopefully end content review by the end of Febuary- which includes taking notes on all EK books, doing all 1001 questions, doing topical kaplan tests, subject tests, in book EK questions, making connections. The month of March, I will focus mainly on test strategy. One of my main weaknesses is that sometimes I feel like I understand the concepts perfectly well until I get an application question and I often struggle, in order to alleviate this problem, I think I will try to focus on doing as many passage based questions as possible( since I tend to get most of the discretes). During this month, I will also not only focus on the passage based questions from the kaplan tests, but I will also go back to the EK 1001 series books to look over and analyze my mistakes. I prefer to make the mistakes now instead of on test day! I hope to practice using the Kaplan Full lengths and AAMC full lengths. The month of April I want to focus soley on the AAMC tests. I will probably begin takin some of these exams in March but I want to spend April taking full lengths and fully understandfing my mistakes. when i took the mcats last time, I noticed that a lot of the questions looked familiar and I had difficulty with similar questions that I had before the exam. I want to go into the exam fully prepared and working on all my weaknesses, I think this strategy will help me gain confidence about the exam which is another weakness of mine.
5. In order to track my progress on studying what I have created an excel chart with various tabs that read, kaplan activites, EK activities, daily schedule, 1001 EK questions, and so on and so forth. Everyday I study, i try to track down my process so that I know exactly where I am in the studying process. My goal is to complete all of the tasks that are currently on the sheet. Last time around I was able to take all of the AAMC tests and Kaplan tests before the exam..including subjects tests but I think the mistake I made last time was that I did not may enough attention to my mistakes and moved on to the next test without really understanding where my concepts were weak. I have also created a tab for weaknesses where I can write down what I feel like my weak concepts are in each subject matter so I can go back to review. I have concepts like negative feedback, and angiotensin-renin there so that I know to go back to them.
5. I have also started a blog at www.mcatdiaries.blogspot.com to help track my process and really to vent about the exam. I think writing can be very therapeutic in approaching a test like this.

I am just postingg all of this here just in case if this proves to be helpful to anyone. I am trying to go from a 22 to atleast a 30 and even though that is many points I beleive that with a better strategy, self confidence and focus, this time I will make it! Please feel free to contact me if you would like a copy of the excel chart I made. It has been very helpful to me and I would more than happy to send it to whoever else who would like it.
Click to expand...
what is mcat audio osmosis? i
 
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Simran1031, I was wondering if you are also using Kaplan books for your content review in addition to EK. I noticed that your excel sheet included Kaplan chapters but above you mentioned that you are only reading and taking notes from EK and doing the Kaplan tests. Did you use both Kaplan and EK books for the first time you studied for the mcat?. Which one did you find most helpful? Are you studying solely from EK books and using kaplan material for practice or also studying and taking notes from Kaplan books?
 
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sorry for not posting sooner!
1. audio osmosis are lectures made by EK that you can purchase from EK directly or on amazon
2. I have listed kaplan in my study sheet just in case. i plan to use ek for content and kaplan for practice..but if there is soemthing i particularly have a hard time understanding i am planning to refer to the kaplan..i tried to make the study sheet as inclusive as possible.
3. the first time around i only used ek.
 
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dear patvim,
focusing is difficult. i think that the key is coming up with a workable study schedule that is realistic. i think noting down the progress you have made is key to making you feel like you are getting somewhere. i would start with reading the kaplan lectures..for ek the way i am doing it is.
1. read EK lecture and listen to audio osmosis
2. take notes on lecture and audio osmosis
3. do 1001 questions
4. review 1001 questions
5. read and listen again.
for kaplan..you could read, take notes...and listen to their lectures online. u have to find what works for u best. i am not sure when you are planning to take the exam but u want tomake sure you are giving yourself enough time to study and prepare for it..for me..i hope to be done with content review by the end of feb..so march and april i can concentrate on strategey and so forth.
6. i think studying with someone def. helps. i think i may try to head to the local public library toi maintain my focus through out this whole process.
7. sometimes you need a break too so its jsut important to be honest with yourself and determine when you can be most productive.
 
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Hey guys, I just wanted to resurrect this thread for some advice...I was originally registered for the June 18th MCAT but postponed to July 30th...I originally stopped volunteering for a while, during the month of May because I was studying for the June test but now that I've rescheduled, I'm back to volunteering. I was thinking of working about 12-13 hours per week since I want to study hardcore for the July 30th test...would that be looked down on by adcoms? Or is this okay? I just don't want to mess this up...I'm already getting my scores back on Sept. 1st as it is, which will leave me no time for a retake. Thoughts?
 
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pookiez88 said:
Hey guys, I just wanted to resurrect this thread for some advice...I was originally registered for the June 18th MCAT but postponed to July 30th...I originally stopped volunteering for a while, during the month of May because I was studying for the June test but now that I've rescheduled, I'm back to volunteering. I was thinking of working about 12-13 hours per week since I want to study hardcore for the July 30th test...would that be looked down on by adcoms? Or is this okay? I just don't want to mess this up...I'm already getting my scores back on Sept. 1st as it is, which will leave me no time for a retake. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hey Pookiez88, I think you will be fine as long as you take your exam with full confidence that you will get your target score, since you can't retake for this year. I don't know your situation, but if you already have enough volunteer and clinical experience, you should just put a hold on volunteering. I feel like a high competitive MCAT score is always better than an extra 100 hours of volunteering. This again is taking in account that you already have enough experience. You have to decide for yourself whether you can use that extra 12-13 hours to study. I don't think the adcoms will look down upon that as long as you do well on your MCATs. However, if you don't then I'm sure they will not care as long as you have a good explanation and plan to retake and do better. You shouldn't have to regret volunteering after you receive your score. If you feel that you have adequate time to study and can volunteer at the same time, then do it. If you feel that you can use that extra time to get a better score, then either put a hold on it or cut down your hours. I am currently taking the exam July 17 and am volunteering about 5 hours a week and that's been working out for me so far. It's all a personal choice on how much time you require and how prepared you will be.
 
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Hey Pookiez88, I think you will be fine as long as you take your exam with full confidence that you will get your target score, since you can't retake for this year. I don't know your situation, but if you already have enough volunteer and clinical experience, you should just put a hold on volunteering. I feel like a high competitive MCAT score is always better than an extra 100 hours of volunteering. This again is taking in account that you already have enough experience. You have to decide for yourself whether you can use that extra 12-13 hours to study. I don't think the adcoms will look down upon that as long as you do well on your MCATs. However, if you don't then I'm sure they will not care as long as you have a good explanation and plan to retake and do better. You shouldn't have to regret volunteering after you receive your score. If you feel that you have adequate time to study and can volunteer at the same time, then do it. If you feel that you can use that extra time to get a better score, then either put a hold on it or cut down your hours. I am currently taking the exam July 17 and am volunteering about 5 hours a week and that's been working out for me so far. It's all a personal choice on how much time you require and how prepared you will be.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your response, I really appreciate it. I think I will focus more on the test, as I already have a lot of clinical experience. Thanks again, and good luck on your MCAT!
 
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i actually quit my full time job to study for 3 months 12-14 hrs a day..

even thouhg im not so happy iwth my score i am glad i took the time off

i went up 4 points but was hoping for a bit more!!

first time: 8PS 8BS 6 VR
second time: 10PS 10BS and 6 VR

what i do know that i am glad i took the time off because if i hadnt i would have always wondered what my score woudl be like giving a lot of time to the test!
 
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i actually quit my full time job to study for 3 months 12-14 hrs a day..

even thouhg im not so happy iwth my score i am glad i took the time off

i went up 4 points but was hoping for a bit more!!

first time: 8PS 8BS 6 VR
second time: 10PS 10BS and 6 VR

what i do know that i am glad i took the time off because if i hadnt i would have always wondered what my score woudl be like giving a lot of time to the test!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I think I will do the same (thanks to this thread). Nice improvement on your second take! Your MDApp profile is amazing, btw. Best of luck this cycle! :)
 
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