Mcat preparation/technique

MexicanDr said:

How early is to early to start studying for the MCAT? A lot of people seem to do it a few months before they take it while other people recommend starting early.

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• It depends on what you mean by study. You can practice multiple choice test-taking on the material the MCAT covers any time you want, because developing those skills is essential and you won't lose them over time. You can put together a summary list of concepts and equations from the top of your head, because it's always a good idea to inventory your knowledge. These are things you can do (and keep doing) way in advance of your MCAT. But actual studying, where you schedule what to reviewand then sit down and consciously start abosrbing information is probably best left for the four months (plus or minus depending on the person) before the MCAT.

MexicanDr said:

1) For example: Some people say its good to start reviewing/studying for the mcat while taking your pre-reqs. Chemistry 1/2 and doing Chemistry problems in the mcat study guides? I guess to get used to the testing/asking format.. The same for physics, ochem and Bio. Using such guides as EK, Kaplan, BR. What are your thoughts on this?

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• If you have the review materials already, it's not a bad idea to try a passage or two while taking general chemsitry, physics, physio, genetics, etc... But that is not studying, that's previewing. That will be good for long term confidence when you realize that the MCAT is easier than the actual course, but it's highly likely you're going to need to review that material as your actual MCAT nears, even if you do perfectly on the passages you try while taking the class.

MexicanDr said:

2) Another thing: Will studying and practicing verbal passages 1 year and a half before you take the actual mcat help you in the verbal section? Again, getting familiar with the questioning and such things?

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• Developing verbal skills over a year and a half is a GREAT idea. There are just a couple issues with doing that. Materials: If you were to collect all of the passages available, from every possible source, you'd exhaust them well before your real MCAT. Quality: For verbal reasoning especially, there's some real crap out there (REA or Barrons anyone?), so you may get a misleading sense of what is essential. You don't want to break out the good stuff until you're ready to study hardcore for the MCAT. So if you opt for this plan, start by doing the AAMC practice items booklet (old and only available used in a paper format, but still excellent) to get an idea of the types of questions they ask. Make a list of five common questions, and then apply those questions to all of the articles you read from everyday sources. Please realize that thousands of people before you had a similar plan that broke down in time, because it's really hard to stay committed for a year and a half. Read everyday as a habit and ease into the questions.

MexicanDr said:

3) My first language is Spanish; I was born and raised in MX until I moved here a few years ago. What type of readings should help me do better on the verbal section and overall in the mcat? Some people have mentioned magazines such as The New Yorker, TIME, and newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal?

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• This is exactly why the AAMC Practice Items for Verbal Reasoning are so helpful. They have a reference for their passages, which is a hint as to where you should seek articles. The magazines and newspapers you have listed are not used in that booklet. Instead it's magazines like Atlantic Monthly, Economist, Smithsonian Newsletter, and so forth. Reading editorials from the sources you listed would be a good idea, but try to diversify and add some less mainstream sources too.

MexicanDr said:

What are your thoughts/advice on these questions from your previous experience on the MCAT?

Thanks...

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• On a personal level, I studied one time for the MCAT. I didn't start looking at anything until the first day of my review class. For three months I went to class, did the questions they had us do in class, did the homework they told me to do, and basically just crammed what I could. It went pretty well. But as a student I always looked at things and asked "why?", which really helped me get into the MCAT mindset. Getting ready for this exam is as much about building confidence and test skills as it is about reviewing content.

loveoforganic said:

I'd like to echo and emphasize one point. Verbal is obnoxiously difficult to improve significantly in any short amount of time. It is also the score that tends to tank what would otherwise be a good MCAT score (i.e. 14/6/12), particularly for non-native English speakers. Preparing very, very early for the other sections would not be significantly beneficial, but reading that literature BRT mentioned steadily starting a year prior to the test, then starting to work in actual passages with the reading at about the 6 months prior point. You'd need to make sure you're ACTIVELY reading though - make sure you're understanding all the nuances. It may be a good idea to do a couple MCAT verbal passages before starting your reading so you get a good feel for what they're generally looking for you to pull out of the passages.

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BennieBlanco said:

The people who get 15s on verbal have no secret formula, they read a lot. Some of them don't have to train verbal very much because they are excellent.

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loveoforganic said:

Philosophy majors typically read a LOT of tough passages with intent to analyze.

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MexicanDr said:

BRT, where can I get the AAMC practice items booklet?

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loveoforganic said:

Or they're philosophy majors

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