1 year MCAT study schedule?

[technocrat626]

I'm taking the MCAT for the first time next summer. Is it too early to start doing light study for it? If not, can anyone direct me towards a good 1 year MCAT study schedule?

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

You'll likely forget the stuff you studied in the first 6 months by the time you take the test. However there are a lot of good 3-4 month study guide.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

You'll likely forget the stuff you studied in the first 6 months by the time you take the test.

This. Why not do a 3 month study schedule? If you are that gung ho, use the extra time for more ECs.

 

[ShockDoctrine]

There is no point starting 1 year early. If you really want to do some preparations you could start reading science magazines and classic novels to increase reading speed and get accustomed to more challenging passages.

 

[gettheleadout]

Moving to MCAT Discussion.

 

[yjj8817]

but if you start early and learn the material early and then look over the material again maybe 3~4 months before the exam, wouldn't you understand the material better since you have looked at the material before?

 

[UCF]

but if you start early and learn the material early and then look over the material again maybe 3~4 months before the exam, wouldn't you understand the material better since you have looked at the material before?

+1.

Start learning key concepts and then when 3-4 months before mcat you will already know and only review what you don't

 

[mcloaf]

but if you start early and learn the material early and then look over the material again maybe 3~4 months before the exam, wouldn't you understand the material better since you have looked at the material before?

Starting year ahead of time is a waste of time and energy. Keep in mind that the MCAT should be review anyway, since you should've covered this stuff in your prereqs already. I don't know why you'd want to learn it in your prereqs, learn it again to forget it, then learn it a third time when you're actually building up to your MCAT. Cut out the middle review.

 

[technocrat626]

Starting year ahead of time is a waste of time and energy. Keep in mind that the MCAT should be review anyway, since you should've covered this stuff in your prereqs already. I don't know why you'd want to learn it in your prereqs, learn it again to forget it, then learn it a third time when you're actually building up to your MCAT. Cut out the middle review.

I decided to do premed kind of late. I'm finishing up my sophomore year and the only prereq I have done is Principles of Biology. I intend to take the MCAT during the summer between my junior and senior years, and I won't even have orgo finished by then. So I can't rely on my prereqs for MCAT knowledge. If I start studying MCAT material now, maybe it'll help me when I actually take the prereqs? :-D

 

[gettheleadout]

I decided to do premed kind of late. I'm finishing up my sophomore year and the only prereq I have done is Principles of Biology. I intend to take the MCAT during the summer between my junior and senior years, and I won't even have orgo finished by then. So I can't rely on my prereqs for MCAT knowledge. If I start studying MCAT material now, maybe it'll help me when I actually take the prereqs? :-D

Don't take the MCAT without at least being in (and near the end) of the final semester of your remaining prereq(s).

 

[SN2ed]

I decided to do premed kind of late. I'm finishing up my sophomore year and the only prereq I have done is Principles of Biology. I intend to take the MCAT during the summer between my junior and senior years, and I won't even have orgo finished by then. So I can't rely on my prereqs for MCAT knowledge. If I start studying MCAT material now, maybe it'll help me when I actually take the prereqs? :-D

O-Chem can easily tank your BS score. Finish your pre-reqs first.

 

[bajastapler]

Honestly, there's not THAT much material to cover. In my opinion, it's more of a reading comprehension test than an actual, "state the equation and answer for XYZ" type of test.

I think you'd be better off reading research articles published by the social sciences. Look for articles about things like: globalization, ethic rights, gender equality, etc etc.

tl;dr: 1 year of study time is unnecessary. If you have free time focus on reading comprehension.

 

[yjj8817]

Honestly, there's not THAT much material to cover. In my opinion, it's more of a reading comprehension test than an actual, "state the equation and answer for XYZ" type of test.

I think you'd be better off reading research articles published by the social sciences. Look for articles about things like: globalization, ethic rights, gender equality, etc etc.

tl;dr: 1 year of study time is unnecessary. If you have free time focus on reading comprehension.

So is that why MCAT is hard? Reading comprehension? not necessarily because of all the science?

 

[shoehornlettuce]

So is that why MCAT is hard? Reading comprehension? not necessarily because of all the science?

MCAT is hard because it's a thinking test and very conceptual. Most people are not taught the sciences in the way the MCAT tests your knowledge of them. In undergrad many people don't learn the material very well. They simply memorize how to do certain problems that they know will be on their exams. You can get good grades doing this but when you see the material in an unfamiliar context (like the MCAT) even though it's the same material, you don't know what to do.

 

[gettheleadout]

So is that why MCAT is hard? Reading comprehension? not necessarily because of all the science?

Check out the MCAT Q&A sub-forum for examples of difficult MCAT-style questions.

 

[chemhead123]

I disagree with everyone saying 1 year is too far in advance. There is so much practice material out there, that if you are dedicated could really benefit you. If you are planning to do content review for a year... yes that is a bad idea, but if you have the time, energy, and money, I would doing your content review with practice problems spread through out. Then EK 1001 books, then you could move on to TPR books and/or Kaplan quizzes/question bank. Then I would do TBR passages, as general thought says these are the best. You could finish all of that in 6 to 9 months and then just take practice tests every other day up until your test for the last 3-5 months, reviewing the exam on the other days.

I think a lot of the negative attention is that a lot of people wish they had studied more but didn't have the time/discipline. This is arguably the biggest test of your life, why not study for it as much as you can. I would sacrifice ECs for it, but if you are doing practice passages for the majority of the time, why not? You will just become more comfortable with the material and get a better score. With the GS exams, coupled with an online Kaplan or PR course, and the AAMC exams, you could slam out 30+ practice exams in your last 3 or 4 months before the exam at a leisurely pace.

My vote is go for it and don't let the naysayers on here drag you down. I wish I had done something like this...

 

[chemhead123]

Oh and reading research articles isn't going to help you at all... you would be much better doing practice passages that mirror the MCAT better.

How is doing practice problems for 6 - 8 months at a leisurely pace going to hurt you? The only thing to be on guard against is burn out, but if you are studying 2 or 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, you should be fine....

 

[gettheleadout]

I disagree with everyone saying 1 year is too far in advance. There is so much practice material out there, that if you are dedicated could really benefit you. If you are planning to do content review for a year... yes that is a bad idea, but if you have the time, energy, and money, I would doing your content review with practice problems spread through out. Then EK 1001 books, then you could move on to TPR books and/or Kaplan quizzes/question bank. Then I would do TBR passages, as general thought says these are the best. You could finish all of that in 6 to 9 months and then just take practice tests every other day up until your test for the last 3-5 months, reviewing the exam on the other days.

I think a lot of the negative attention is that a lot of people wish they had studied more but didn't have the time/discipline. This is arguably the biggest test of your life, why not study for it as much as you can. I would sacrifice ECs for it, but if you are doing practice passages for the majority of the time, why not? You will just become more comfortable with the material and get a better score. With the GS exams, coupled with an online Kaplan or PR course, and the AAMC exams, you could slam out 30+ practice exams in your last 3 or 4 months before the exam at a leisurely pace.

My vote is go for it and don't let the naysayers on here drag you down. I wish I had done something like this...

Disagree 100%. Step 1 is the most important test of your life, as it essentially determines which fields you have open to you.

 

[mcloaf]

I disagree with everyone saying 1 year is too far in advance. There is so much practice material out there, that if you are dedicated could really benefit you. If you are planning to do content review for a year... yes that is a bad idea, but if you have the time, energy, and money, I would doing your content review with practice problems spread through out. Then EK 1001 books, then you could move on to TPR books and/or Kaplan quizzes/question bank. Then I would do TBR passages, as general thought says these are the best. You could finish all of that in 6 to 9 months and then just take practice tests every other day up until your test for the last 3-5 months, reviewing the exam on the other days.

I think a lot of the negative attention is that a lot of people wish they had studied more but didn't have the time/discipline. This is arguably the biggest test of your life, why not study for it as much as you can. I would sacrifice ECs for it, but if you are doing practice passages for the majority of the time, why not? You will just become more comfortable with the material and get a better score. With the GS exams, coupled with an online Kaplan or PR course, and the AAMC exams, you could slam out 30+ practice exams in your last 3 or 4 months before the exam at a leisurely pace.

My vote is go for it and don't let the naysayers on here drag you down. I wish I had done something like this...

No...the people who wished they had studied more generally are those who left themselves a few weeks and/or didn't have enough time to focus. I don't think you're going to find many people who actually studied for 3-4 months and wish that they had done it for longer. I studied for 5 months and it was perfect.

And seriously? Taking an FL every other day for 3-5 months is beyond ludicrous.

Nobody on here is trying to drag OP down. We are trying to bolster his application by not having him waste time and energy on an extra 6+ months of studying.

 

[Godric]

I'm taking the MCAT for the first time next summer. Is it too early to start doing light study for it? If not, can anyone direct me towards a good 1 year MCAT study schedule?

I wish someone had told me 6 months ago to start some light brushing up, espically because I have some glaring weakness in physics 2/chem 2. Since I am studying for my mcat now my suggestion to you would be to get a subscription to Chads videos, and start watching them and watch them as if you were actually their and take notes and do the quizzes. Between school and watching all of Chads videos that could easily take 3-4 months if you watch them as you were in a real course. And then about 3-4 months before your actual mcat start SN2eds study schedule or TBR 3/4 month study schedule.

I didnt read through the thread but I've seen people say that studying in advance is pointless because you wont be able to retain the info for more than 5-6 months, but I believe if someone wants to brush up on prereqs and then begin studying the way I described would be ideal. In the end, to each his own, everyone studies differently, so figure out a plan that works for you.

 

[mzblue]

You will forget the material. Take it from me. I prepped for this in 2010 and actually voided my exam and when i picked up the next year in january, i had to read everything again. Granted, doing research at the NIH and working a 36-hr/week night shift job plus school made it more demanding. Even if you start in september and take a 1month break in november and pick up in late december, you'll forget the stuff. I say 6 months should be the max. In that case you can go over content 2-3 times and start your FLs 2-3months early taking your time to review.
That said, i agree with the quoted post. If you're going to start early, get yourself a kindle and start reading everyday. I did that for the GRE and it made my verbal better than my math though I'm usually better at math. Too bad it's been almost a year since and i've kinda stopped reading. Read the boring stuff so you can get used to it.

There is no point starting 1 year early. If you really want to do some preparations you could start reading science magazines and classic novels to increase reading speed and get accustomed to more challenging passages.

 

[chemhead123]

Read: Arguably, which means an argument could be made for it. The argument goes you don't have any fields open to you if you don't get in...and the guy is shooting for Top 10. If he is shooting for top 10 it would seem that he would need a more competitive score on the MCAT than he would need later on for Step 1 in terms of options, maybe if he wants to go into Derm...

Again... I said if it wouldn't damage his ECs. If he isn't doing a lot this summer and wants to hit the books, why not?

@ MCloaf - If he is shooting 40+ I think it is reasonable for him to study that long, or at least in range of it. Also, how is taking a 4 hour exam every other day for 3 -5 months ludicrous. You yourself self said you studied for 5 months and it was perfect... How many hours a day did you study for? I bet a good number of them were 4.5+ hour days. Oh, and since he has spent 6-8 months studying, how long do you think his reviews are going to take on the off days? More than 2 hours?

So this ludicrous schedule is (3) 4.5 hour days a week, (3) two hour days a week, (1) rest day a week for 3 or 4 months, a ludicrous total of 19.5 hours a week of studying time for 3 - 4 months leading up to the exam. What does that sound like? Hmmm.. like the SDN 3 or 4 month schedule minus some.

Yeah ludicrous...

 

[technocrat626]

I've read all of your responses and taken all of your opinions into account. Thanks for the vigorous discussion. My plan is to start extremely light MCAT studying now. When I say extremely light, I mean leisurely. Maybe 30 minutes or so a day of reviewing concepts, plus some if I find myself with extra time and nothing to do. If I experience even a tiny bit of burnout, I'll just lay off. This will give me some exposure to the concepts, but won't affect my willpower when the heavy studying starts 3-4 months before the exam. Who knows, maybe the early exposure to the concepts will even help me in my prereqs. I won't go overboard, though. I'll just study lightly, not expect much from myself, and then start setting concrete study goals closer to the exam date. 🙂

 

[SN2ed]

Disagree 100%. Step 1 is the most important test of your life, as it essentially determines which fields you have open to you.

I could see it either way. The MCAT is important because it helps get your foot in the door and once you get in an MD school, you have a VERY high chance of making it. It's good to keep in mind that only ~30% of test takers score 30 and above and the majority of people that apply to medical school, don't get in. On the other, Step 1 is important because it can close the door to some specialties. However, in both cases, there are other factors that can alleviate a poor MCAT score or a sub par Step 1.

 

[nabilesmail]

Lol 1 guy in the 30+ mcat thread started studying like 1-2 yrs in advance, or WHILE taking each prereq with light review/passages. Dude got a 43... THERE IS ALWAYS MORE you can do. Whether it is worth it is up to you. I think 1 Year of studying (light in the begin, heavy in the end) could possibly get anyone over a 36++. This is also ample time for VR/Science Experiment comprehension

 

[mcloaf]

Read: Arguably, which means an argument could be made for it. The argument goes you don't have any fields open to you if you don't get in...and the guy is shooting for Top 10. If he is shooting for top 10 it would seem that he would need a more competitive score on the MCAT than he would need later on for Step 1 in terms of options, maybe if he wants to go into Derm...

Again... I said if it wouldn't damage his ECs. If he isn't doing a lot this summer and wants to hit the books, why not?

@ MCloaf - If he is shooting 40+ I think it is reasonable for him to study that long, or at least in range of it. Also, how is taking a 4 hour exam every other day for 3 -5 months ludicrous. You yourself self said you studied for 5 months and it was perfect... How many hours a day did you study for? I bet a good number of them were 4.5+ hour days. Oh, and since he has spent 6-8 months studying, how long do you think his reviews are going to take on the off days? More than 2 hours?

So this ludicrous schedule is (3) 4.5 hour days a week, (3) two hour days a week, (1) rest day a week for 3 or 4 months, a ludicrous total of 19.5 hours a week of studying time for 3 - 4 months leading up to the exam. What does that sound like? Hmmm.. like the SDN 3 or 4 month schedule minus some.

Yeah ludicrous...

I had very very few 4.5+ days. To be honest, I don't think I had any days much over four hours--and almost the only four hour days I had were my FL's, during which I took a 45 minute lunch break between VR and BS. The majority of my days were around 2-3 hours. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this approach to everyone, but it led to a 40+, so the idea that you need (or should pursue) a year of studying to get there isn't true. Maybe I am an outlier, but I don't think the majority of people scoring 40+ necessarily have many extra months of study time over those scoring mid-30's. And as for Nabilesmail, I really hope you wouldn't base your study schedule on one (internet) person's results.

As for four months of FL's, I think it is misleading to assume that the stress and intensity levels are the same between review reading/practice passages and taking e-mcat FL's with strict timing.

I am not trying to be a dick, so I apologize if my last post was confrontational; I just think it is wise to temper the pre-med mentality that more is always better.

Anyway OP, good luck with your studies. I hope you surpass your goals.

 

[chemhead123]

In reading my response... I think I was a "Richard"... handshake to you mcloaf.

 

[mcloaf]

In reading my response... I think I was a "Richard"... handshake to you mcloaf.

 

[Kentobari]

There is no point starting 1 year early. If you really want to do some preparations you could start reading science magazines and classic novels to increase reading speed and get accustomed to more challenging passages.

I could not disagree more with this. However, this could be because I'm a nontraditional student, which means old, and as you get older, a year feels shorter and shorter.

Look at it this way: There are different kinds of knowledge you need for the MCAT, and certain kinds of knowledge are good to expose yourself to repeatedly over the course of a long time: the rote memorization stuff. A lot of this is found in the Biology section. How many ATPs are produced by cellular respiration? On which chromosome will you find sex-linked traits? Which structures develop from the mesoderm? These are questions you can make flash cards from and review periodically over the course of a year.

Having a long period of study time is a resource, but leverage it in the right way. Strategically make a set of flash cards or study materials that you can set aside to look at every weekend for a year, and yes it will help, especially when you get to the pre-test 3 month study period.

This test is important, and deserves to be treated as such.

 

[MedicusScientia]

I'm taking the MCAT for the first time next summer. Is it too early to start doing light study for it? If not, can anyone direct me towards a good 1 year MCAT study schedule?

I am definitely into studying light for one year before my 3-4 months heavy studying. I guess, train rides to and from school will only be for reading The New York Times 🙂 Shooting for a super VR score!!!

~The fear of failure pushes me beyond my sky's limit~ MedicusScientia

 

[plukfelder2017]

I disagree with everyone saying 1 year is too far in advance. There is so much practice material out there, that if you are dedicated could really benefit you. If you are planning to do content review for a year... yes that is a bad idea, but if you have the time, energy, and money, I would doing your content review with practice problems spread through out. Then EK 1001 books, then you could move on to TPR books and/or Kaplan quizzes/question bank. Then I would do TBR passages, as general thought says these are the best. You could finish all of that in 6 to 9 months and then just take practice tests every other day up until your test for the last 3-5 months, reviewing the exam on the other days.

I think a lot of the negative attention is that a lot of people wish they had studied more but didn't have the time/discipline. This is arguably the biggest test of your life, why not study for it as much as you can. I would sacrifice ECs for it, but if you are doing practice passages for the majority of the time, why not? You will just become more comfortable with the material and get a better score. With the GS exams, coupled with an online Kaplan or PR course, and the AAMC exams, you could slam out 30+ practice exams in your last 3 or 4 months before the exam at a leisurely pace.

My vote is go for it and don't let the naysayers on here drag you down. I wish I had done something like this...

-Pretty much what I am doing right now. I will be taking my MCAT June 2016. With work, class, and my athletic endeavours I find that I have very little time. However, an hour a day has been working well for me. I am currently finishing off TBR's G-Chem in conjunction with my P-Chem class. I will be knocking out Nova's physics since the weight on that section has been reduced drastically. As I take bio, I will knock out TBR's Bio and Bio-Chem books. The goal is to finish all the TBR books (not including physics, VR), the Next Step Psych, the Princeton Review Science Workbook, and start purely covering tests/AAMC material 3 months before the exam. At that point, I will identify additional weakness and peak out for the exam.
-Friend of mine studied for a year and pulled out a 41 on the old exam.

 

[rohanw]

I don't think you will forget it if you keep on doing spaced periodic repetition. In fact I think you will internalize the concepts better over a longer period of time provided you keep on doing elaborate rehearsals and also testing yourself(very imp). The longer the better for me, but then again everyone works differently.
However I also think a big part of the new MCAT is mental stamina. I would say don't quit working or going to school, instead learn to work the whole day and then still come home and study for a few hours. Because when you doing the 4th passage in verbal and your like "God my brain just isn't working anymore" its this mental stamina that will come in handy.
This is just my 2 cents, take it with a grain of salt.

 

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