17-20 hours + studying for the MCAT?

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northernlights15

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Comment if you've already done this or plan on doing it in the fall?

Unfortunately I will be in this position. And I'm simply learning to brace myself for it.

How did you guys do it? How was your schedule?
 
when are you planning to take the MCAT?

January but I am taking classes this summer and this fall anyway. But I'm hoping spread it out over a long period of time will help. I really don't have any other option.
 
Take a practice test and see how you do and where you stand. There are people who lightly study 2 weeks and end up with 37's. I've seen people study rigorously full time for 8 months take the test 3 times and never crack 24( people with 3.6+GPAs I might add). Your natural ability, natural reading comprehension capabilities and your background knowledge are the key variables. Once you know where you stand and how far away you are from your target score you can get an idea of how realistic your plan is to getting your target score.
 
Comment if you've already done this or plan on doing it in the fall?

Unfortunately I will be in this position. And I'm simply learning to brace myself for it.

How did you guys do it? How was your schedule?
I took 14 (Physics II, Immunology, Spanish Lit, and Sociology) and it was rough. Even with the blow off socio class. Is there anyway to take one of your classes in the summer/online?
I never really believed my friends whenever they told me how tough it was to do school and study MCAT at the same time. I kinda just shrugged it off, like, yeah okay I know I can do it though. Content review takes a lot of time. Full length practice tests can really only be taken on the weekend (and cuts into prime homework/study time for your classes), and reviewing them takes time, too. Even making a study plan is hard because you don't really know how long class assignments might take, or how long you will study for your exams.
I guess overall I wouldn't recommend it but it can be done... its just painful though.
 
January but I am taking classes this summer and this fall anyway. But I'm hoping spread it out over a long period of time will help. I really don't have any other option.
Spreading your review over a long time period is not advisable, I'm afraid. You will likely have trouble with recall as the test approaches and you increase your risk of burnout. A 3 month study period is recommended and would be ideal if you had a free summer over which to do it. I wouldn't think one would be able to cover all the review, practice and skill sharpening while taking a full course load.
 
I took 14 (Physics II, Immunology, Spanish Lit, and Sociology) and it was rough. Even with the blow off socio class. Is there anyway to take one of your classes in the summer/online?
I never really believed my friends whenever they told me how tough it was to do school and study MCAT at the same time. I kinda just shrugged it off, like, yeah okay I know I can do it though. Content review takes a lot of time. Full length practice tests can really only be taken on the weekend (and cuts into prime homework/study time for your classes), and reviewing them takes time, too. Even making a study plan is hard because you don't really know how long class assignments might take, or how long you will study for your exams.
I guess overall I wouldn't recommend it but it can be done... its just painful though.

Your GPA and your MCAT score hold about equal weight and yet you are giving it less than its due. I will just say that MCAT prep should be considered a 4-6 credit class during a term. If you overload with 17-20 AND MCAT prep you risk doing poorly in all. If you are squeezing everything in to make a self-imposed deadline, you may want to reconsider and push ahead to the following cycle. Adcoms don't give any points for trying; only for succeeding

I already delayed a year so I'm very set on applying in 2016.

I will be done with my first overview of content soon. Then from June to January, I basically plan on taking 1-2 practice tests a week and really will spend the rest of the week reviewing them inside out. And I will be keeping track of weak areas so I can go do some more passages on areas I'm particularly weak with. Is this a bad idea…
 
Spreading your review over a long time period is not advisable, I'm afraid. You will likely have trouble with recall as the test approaches and you increase your risk of burnout. A 3 month study period is recommended and would be ideal if you had a free summer over which to do it. I wouldn't think one would be able to cover all the review, practice and skill sharpening while taking a full course load.

I'll mainly be doing practice tests.
 
I took 14 (Physics II, Immunology, Spanish Lit, and Sociology) and it was rough. Even with the blow off socio class. Is there anyway to take one of your classes in the summer/online?
I never really believed my friends whenever they told me how tough it was to do school and study MCAT at the same time. I kinda just shrugged it off, like, yeah okay I know I can do it though. Content review takes a lot of time. Full length practice tests can really only be taken on the weekend (and cuts into prime homework/study time for your classes), and reviewing them takes time, too. Even making a study plan is hard because you don't really know how long class assignments might take, or how long you will study for your exams.
I guess overall I wouldn't recommend it but it can be done... its just painful though.
You wouldn't recommend what? The traditional MCAT studying + a normal school semester?
 
I don't understand what you all mean. You guys fooled me into thinking studying for the MCAT with a normal course load of ~15 hours was doable. I thought this was the traditional route. Either that or study and take over summer. You can't put life on pause for the MCAT, at least I didn't think so. EC's, work, and sometimes school must all go on when one studies for the MCAT.
 
I don't understand what you all mean. You guys fooled me into thinking studying for the MCAT with a normal course load of ~15 hours was doable. I thought this was the traditional route. Either that or study and take over summer. You can't put life on pause for the MCAT, at least I didn't think so. EC's, work, and sometimes school must all go on when one studies for the MCAT.

I thought so too 🙁 I mean I truly have no other option. Thankfully I will have two days week where I can take a FL exam and the rest of the week will simply be devoted to reviewing that exam. This is what I've been planning for a while.
 
I thought so too 🙁 I mean I truly have no other option. Thankfully I will have two days week where I can take a FL exam and the rest of the week will simply be devoted to reviewing that exam. This is what I've been planning for a while.
Yeah, it is the traditional route. This is what the majority of applicants do I bet. Not everyone can disappear for a year and study for the MCAT.
 
I took 15 credits this semester (Spanish lit, stats, biochem, physiology & development, and abnormal psych) and studied for the MCAT. It sucked, I wish I hadn't done it. I ended up with a 4.0 this semester somehow, but I have no idea how the MCAT is going to go (taking it on Friday).
 
I took 15 credits this semester (Spanish lit, stats, biochem, physiology & development, and abnormal psych) and studied for the MCAT. It sucked, I wish I hadn't done it. I ended up with a 4.0 this semester somehow, but I have no idea how the MCAT is going to go (taking it on Friday).

Wow good job. I did terrible this semester lol. I'm sure you'll do great! Let us know how it goes!!

What was your MCAT study schedule like?
 
Spreading your review over a long time period is not advisable, I'm afraid. You will likely have trouble with recall as the test approaches and you increase your risk of burnout. A 3 month study period is recommended and would be ideal if you had a free summer over which to do it. I wouldn't think one would be able to cover all the review, practice and skill sharpening while taking a full course load.
I spread mine to a bit over 4mo, because I was working more than full-time.

Two things I'd recommend, OP:

1. Instead of making a day-by-day schedule, map out exactly what you plan to get through. Then simply list out each individual task (my plan, based on SN2ed, had 85 tasks for the 2014 MCAT). This gives you more flexibility. When you have a full day to spend on MCAT, you can knock out 3 or so of your tasks. When you're crunched, maybe you take a few days off, or only do 1 shorter task. It's a way to keep track of your progress without trying to schedule yourself too tightly. It's also useful to have discrete, measurable goals. It's easy to go 'well, I studied for 8hrs today, that's good' - you may have dicked around and gotten nothing done. It's another to say "I accomplished xyz today". Even if it only took you 2hrs, that's a day to be proud of. It's measurable progress.
Keep in mind, though, that your list should include you ideal schedule. It's what you will do if everything goes right and you have all the time you need. When crunch time comes, you may find yourself cutting some tasks. That's OK...it's easier to do this with tasks than with a schedule (I think) because you can look at the big picture instead of just running out of time and cutting off the tail indiscriminately.

2. Anki, or some other tried-and-true review system. Why is this important for you? Two reasons. One, you're spreading it out over a longer time, so some continual review is crucial. Second, you'll likely have to cut corners when other things come up (say, midterms or finals). I found that the easiest place to cut was always the review days - but they make a huge difference in retention. If you have some sort of cumulative, daily review, those dedicated review days become less important. I ended up cutting out ALL of the 3rd-pass days and a lot of the 2nd-pass days, but I never felt as if I lost track of material because I was reviewing everything I'd learned for the MCAT, at random, every day in Anki. I didn't have to worry about figuring out what I knew and what I'd forgotten...SRS did that for me. If you have enough time to go through and systematically review EVERYTHING in the home stretch before the exam, this isn't as important. If, like I didn't and you likely won't, you don't...and if you also spread your schedule out so the first information you saw was more than 3mo ago? It's a lifesaver.

Just my $0.02. I wasn't doing classes, but I was holding down 2 jobs during MCAT review time, and I met my personal goal for score.
 
I took the test while taking 21 credits. I definitely could have done better had a not done that but I did good enough. You just have to be incredible at time management.
 
You wouldn't recommend what? The traditional MCAT studying + a normal school semester?
I wouldn't recommend 17-20 credit hours + studying for the MCAT
The traditional way of doing classes + MCAT is just that - very traditional. Whether this has changed or if SDN just skews this to make it seem like you need 3-6 months of uninterrupted, full time studying... I don't really know. All I can say is, I wish I would have been able to take one less class and find a better way to set aside 2 or 3 hours a day entirely devoted to the MCAT. Overall, I ended up doing alright (81-91%ile) but part of me thinks I might have been able to do a touch better with more of an idea of a good preparation process. Who knows, everyone is different.
 
Something less mentioned on SDN is that you should give yourself enough pressure so that you are motivated to study for the MCAT. What this means is, having a year to study for the MCAT isn't necessarily a good thing. Some people can motivate themselves to study every day and have retention over a year or six months. But in general, I think it's better to have an amount of time that will both allow you to cover all of the material AND keep you pressured to study. A healthy stress level is good. The worst thing is slacking off while in your "dedicated" MCAT study time. Unless you are markedly poor at standardized testing, I don't think 4+ months is necessary.
 
I don't remember how long I studied for the old MCAT last year. I took it before the fall semester started and really got down to studying after the spring. I took a light load (2 classes and a lab) and working ~30 hrs a wk (not counting volunteering and TAing). I used Examcrackers my friend lent me, but what I think was the most helpful were the practice tests. I had 2 free ones, and they were set up just like the real one. They show you score breakdown so you know what you need to study so you can focus on those topics, and the verbal practice was too valuable. I think I got just below 30 on my practices, but a 35 on the real deal. As others have said, good time management, review what you don't remember, and practice will do it.
 
Then from June to January, I basically plan on taking 1-2 practice tests a week
Good luck finding reliable material. Hopefully all the test groups will make major changes to their practice tests because none of the private tests can give you reliable data, and you will only have two official practice tests, one of which is considered fat to easy compared to the real thing. I would take a light load in spring and hope the materials are better by then.
 
I spread mine to a bit over 4mo, because I was working more than full-time.

Two things I'd recommend, OP:

1. Instead of making a day-by-day schedule, map out exactly what you plan to get through. Then simply list out each individual task (my plan, based on SN2ed, had 85 tasks for the 2014 MCAT). This gives you more flexibility. When you have a full day to spend on MCAT, you can knock out 3 or so of your tasks. When you're crunched, maybe you take a few days off, or only do 1 shorter task. It's a way to keep track of your progress without trying to schedule yourself too tightly. It's also useful to have discrete, measurable goals. It's easy to go 'well, I studied for 8hrs today, that's good' - you may have dicked around and gotten nothing done. It's another to say "I accomplished xyz today". Even if it only took you 2hrs, that's a day to be proud of. It's measurable progress.
Keep in mind, though, that your list should include you ideal schedule. It's what you will do if everything goes right and you have all the time you need. When crunch time comes, you may find yourself cutting some tasks. That's OK...it's easier to do this with tasks than with a schedule (I think) because you can look at the big picture instead of just running out of time and cutting off the tail indiscriminately.

2. Anki, or some other tried-and-true review system. Why is this important for you? Two reasons. One, you're spreading it out over a longer time, so some continual review is crucial. Second, you'll likely have to cut corners when other things come up (say, midterms or finals). I found that the easiest place to cut was always the review days - but they make a huge difference in retention. If you have some sort of cumulative, daily review, those dedicated review days become less important. I ended up cutting out ALL of the 3rd-pass days and a lot of the 2nd-pass days, but I never felt as if I lost track of material because I was reviewing everything I'd learned for the MCAT, at random, every day in Anki. I didn't have to worry about figuring out what I knew and what I'd forgotten...SRS did that for me. If you have enough time to go through and systematically review EVERYTHING in the home stretch before the exam, this isn't as important. If, like I didn't and you likely won't, you don't...and if you also spread your schedule out so the first information you saw was more than 3mo ago? It's a lifesaver.

Just my $0.02. I wasn't doing classes, but I was holding down 2 jobs during MCAT review time, and I met my personal goal for score.

Could you give an example of what some of the tasks on your list where?
 
I took the MCAT in Jan 2014, took a Kaplan prep course that was 4 hrs a week my Fall semester before that. I was taking 4 classes: an upper neuro elective, spanish, Biochemistry, and a research independent study where I was working about 20 hours a week.

It's all about time management, and you'll have to be okay with having no life. I always made it a priority to have at least 2-3 hours a week to review content and try some practice questions. This meant I had to just be super on top of all of my classes/work, studying hardcore for exams at least 2 weeks in advance (maybe some of y'all do this anyways, but it was something I had just picked up that year lol). Kaplan had a schedule for the material to review, and there were times I did fall behind a bit, but always made sure to catch up during extended weekends like Thanksgiving. Actually, that semester I also ended up with my highest GPA, motivation to study the MCAT really straightened me out haha

Once it was winter break, I already had a good review of the content, and was able to focus on practice tests. Seeing my weakest areas in practice tests would then guide me on what to review before taking another one. Just over and over until at one point everything really starts to click. That moment you feel like a science wizard, pretty nice actually. I was studying maybe 6-10 hours a day, if my parents offered to take me out to eat somewhere nice I'd tell them it was a waste of time lol I was a total hermit that month.

When I was back in school in January with a few weeks left till the exam, I didn't study as intensely, but still consistently. Ended up doing well, although it was the lowest score I said I'd be happy with lol. Anyways, I see that your in a somewhat similar situation as I was and things might be different for you, but this is what worked for me. I wouldn't recommend the advice of only studying for 2-3 months, content review will take you much longer if you're taking classes. Even if you consider yourself good at science or whatever, there's really no shortcuts when it comes to preparation.
 
You wanna take as light of a course load as possible to be honest; I took it with a 12 credit load and still felt like I was blowing off my classes. Studying from June - January isn't necessarily the best thing - diluting studying over such a long period of time may actually not be so effective.
 
Could you give an example of what some of the tasks on your list where?
It was literally every task given in the SN2ed schedule, only set out as a discrete list instead of a schedule.
So instead of
Monday: Read TBR Orgo Ch1 and do first 1/3 of TBR Orgo Ch1 questions
Tuesday: Reread Ch1s, do second 1/3 of all TBR Ch1 questions, do 1/3 of EK1001 for all chapters

Mine would just be:
1. Read TBR Orgo Ch1
2. First 1/3 TBR Orgo Ch1 Qs
3. Reread TBR Ch1s
4. Second 1/3 all TBR Ch1 Qs
5. 1/3 of EK1001 for Ch1 subjects

Breaking it down like that just helped me have an idea of my progress and break it down into chunks without getting bogged down in a discrete schedule with little wiggle room.
 
Take a practice test and see how you do and where you stand. There are people who lightly study 2 weeks and end up with 37's. I've seen people study rigorously full time for 8 months take the test 3 times and never crack 24( people with 3.6+GPAs I might add). Your natural ability, natural reading comprehension capabilities and your background knowledge are the key variables. Once you know where you stand and how far away you are from your target score you can get an idea of how realistic your plan is to getting your target score.

Bro, come on. I have never seen a person who actually studied and didn't get at least a 27 on their MCAT. I have however seen many people say they study all the time, when really they're partying every night.

There's no magic to the MCAT. Put the time in, and reap the rewards. This is coming from a retester who was a lazy jackass and then turned it around.
 
OP, I was in a post-bacc period at the time of my application. I took 20 credits the semester before my MCAT. During that entire year, I was working a regular 9-5 (sometimes 9-7 -_____-) job. However, all of my classes I took through an extension school, so the lectures were uploaded online and attendance, aside from exams, was not mandatory. If you can swing something like that it will REALLY help.

Roughly, what I did was:

September - November: Focused on my 20 credits at extension school, worked full time, kept up with my EC's
November - January: Enrolled in a Kaplan Course, started making an MCAT study plan, and figuring out how much time I needed to give myself
January - May: Took another 10 credits, worked full time, and also studied for the MCAT for 3-4 hrs/day, 10 hrs/weekends.

Because my schedule was so jam packed, I did not give myself break days...and honestly I'm happy I didn't.


It was hell. Most days I wanted to just collapse. Life was not fun, and I would literally "treat" myself by taking a long lunch every Wednesday and going watch a netflix movie in a conference room by myself (& my chipotle burrito), because I didn't even have time for TV. This was honestly my only enjoyment. I even studied while doing laundry and working out.



What I'm trying to say is, taking classes + studying for the MCAT is so manageable, if you plan accordingly. Why take the MCAT in January? Take it in Feb or March. Don't rush things. If I could do it with a full time job and course load, you can definitely do it if you're still in college.

Much success!
 
Bro, come on. I have never seen a person who actually studied and didn't get at least a 27 on their MCAT. I have however seen many people say they study all the time, when really they're partying every night.

There's no magic to the MCAT. Put the time in, and reap the rewards. This is coming from a retester who was a lazy jackass and then turned it around.

You don't know too many people then. Seriously.

There's a reason why statistically most people who retake the test rarely do significantly better(3+ points better would be significant). If you wanna make sweeping statements like that have something to back it up dont just spread useless gospel like "oh I've never seen anybody not get at least a 27 who tried"
 
What? Most people knock their credit hours down, not up, when they study for their MCAT
 
You don't know too many people then. Seriously.

There's a reason why statistically most people who retake the test rarely do significantly better(3+ points better would be significant). If you wanna make sweeping statements like that have something to back it up dont just spread useless gospel like "oh I've never seen anybody not get at least a 27 who tried"

The MCAT is not a test of intellect, its a test of preparation. And you're relaying anecdotal information just like me. I see you spray your way through sdn giving horrible advice man.

OP, prepare hard and reap the benefits. There's really no reason why you shouldn't get an acceptable score if you prepare well.
 
What? Most people knock their credit hours down, not up, when they study for their MCAT
Maybe he's a graduating senior who needs to take that many...depending on your major OP it might be rough.

Hope you're not doing engineering 🙂
 
Maybe he's a graduating senior who needs to take that many...depending on your major OP it might be rough.

Hope you're not doing engineering 🙂

Then he needs to not take the MCAT until after he is done with his semester even if he takes a gap year. Many people think they can rock the MCAT.

Most do not.
 
Yeah, it is the traditional route. This is what the majority of applicants do I bet. Not everyone can disappear for a year and study for the MCAT.

Traditional also lands a LOT of people with less than competitive scores.

I worked FT at a semi-demanding job (overtime required), volunteered, shadowed, while taking Organic+Lab, and that sucked for 4 months. I then worked ~30 hours while taking Organic/Biochem/TPR Course over the course of 4 months. That sucked even more. The last month before my exam, when I had NO classes, NO review course, NO obligations outside of ~30 hours of work and studying was when my real learning occurred.

Someone CAN study for the course while taking a heavy course load. I basically had an 8 month primer for my 1.5 months of studying to get a prelim of 86-96%. If I would have taken the exam without 'dedicated' study time, I would have easily scored several points less, I have no question. I also do not believe I would have done as well if I would have tried to cram study time into 2 months.

OP: You can plan for anything, but also plan to be flexible. I was going to take the exam in May, was unprepared, and did well in June. Do not underestimate the exam. Do not go in thinking you can 'just take it again'.
 
Traditional also lands a LOT of people with less than competitive scores.

I worked FT at a semi-demanding job (overtime required), volunteered, shadowed, while taking Organic+Lab, and that sucked for 4 months. I then worked ~30 hours while taking Organic/Biochem/TPR Course over the course of 4 months. That sucked even more. The last month before my exam, when I had NO classes, NO review course, NO obligations outside of ~30 hours of work and studying was when my real learning occurred.

Someone CAN study for the course while taking a heavy course load. I basically had an 8 month primer for my 1.5 months of studying to get a prelim of 86-96%. If I would have taken the exam without 'dedicated' study time, I would have easily scored several points less, I have no question. I also do not believe I would have done as well if I would have tried to cram study time into 2 months.

OP: You can plan for anything, but also plan to be flexible. I was going to take the exam in May, was unprepared, and did well in June. Do not underestimate the exam. Do not go in thinking you can 'just take it again'.

Truth, a lot of people cant handle studying for the MCAT and taking a full courseload in the same semester, or at least do not anticipate what kind of hell it will be. By the time they realize how it was going to be, its too late and they take the Exam and do poorly or just have to push the date back to the summer and apply slightly late.

In retrospect, I've taken more gap years than I'd like, but I still would have taken one. It gives you time to decompress from all those years of hardwork and study for your MCAT/allow you time to do something else/let you get prepared mentally for medical school/etc etc
 
So I took the test in May (522 on the test) and spent around Feb-May studying for the exam while in 18 credits, working 10 hours/week, volunteering, maintaining all my extracurricular commitments and such. Now, during the semester I was taking Cell Bio, Physics 2, and Biochem in terms of classes that were actually on the test, so that was very very helpful in terms of supplementing my studies.

The point that I was able to glean from this is that it is indeed possible to balance the two, most people do (at least at my Uni). It's important to get a daily planer and each week set achievable goals for you to do each day. Do at least one MCAT related thing each day, though. I didn't do that until around April and, tbh, it would have made my studying way better had I done it earlier.
 
So I took the test in May (522 on the test) and spent around Feb-May studying for the exam while in 18 credits, working 10 hours/week, volunteering, maintaining all my extracurricular commitments and such. Now, during the semester I was taking Cell Bio, Physics 2, and Biochem in terms of classes that were actually on the test, so that was very very helpful in terms of supplementing my studies.

The point that I was able to glean from this is that it is indeed possible to balance the two, most people do (at least at my Uni). It's important to get a daily planer and each week set achievable goals for you to do each day. Do at least one MCAT related thing each day, though. I didn't do that until around April and, tbh, it would have made my studying way better had I done it earlier.

You scored a 522 on the test.

You are not the typical student, I'm not sure you should be giving advice about this.
 
You scored a 522 on the test.

You are not the typical student, I'm not sure you should be giving advice about this.

I fail to see why my success on the exam precludes me from giving the advice that helped both me and several of my close friends succeed on the exam. While I may not be in the same boat academically as OP, the point in my post is to say that some people can do it with a ton of extra stuff being juggled around at the same time. For me, it wasn't that I was smart that got me that score. No, it was that I developed the academic resilience to balance multiple demands and made time management a priority. Those are lessons that anyone can take with them in studying for the MCAT, 528 or 505.
 
I think it's definitely doable to study while there are other obligations

I was working full-time in a lab (40 hrs/week) when studying for my mcat and did pretty well on it
 
I fail to see why my success on the exam precludes me from giving the advice that helped both me and several of my close friends succeed on the exam. While I may not be in the same boat academically as OP, the point in my post is to say that some people can do it with a ton of extra stuff being juggled around at the same time. For me, it wasn't that I was smart that got me that score. No, it was that I developed the academic resilience to balance multiple demands and made time management a priority. Those are lessons that anyone can take with them in studying for the MCAT, 528 or 505.

Because someone who can handle a courseload like yours and still make a 522 on the MCAT while studying during the semester is not typical. Of course OP may not be typical pre-med either. Who knows.


You say you arent smart to get that score.... I beg to differ. There is only so much effort one can put in to increase their score. Time management only gets you so far. Hard work and time management alone are not enough to get a 522 IMHO.

Edit: I never said it wasnt doable... but taking a 17-18 credit courseload while studying for the MCAT doenst work for most people.

But then I always forget this is SDN. I'm like the only average Joe on here.
 
Because someone who can handle a courseload like yours and still make a 522 on the MCAT while studying during the semester is not typical. Of course OP may not be typical pre-med either. Who knows.


You say you arent smart to get that score.... I beg to differ. There is only so much effort one can put in to increase their score. Time management only gets you so far. Hard work and time management alone are not enough to get a 522 IMHO.

Edit: I never said it wasnt doable... but taking a 17-18 credit courseload while studying for the MCAT doenst work for most people.

But then I always forget this is SDN. I'm like the only average Joe on here.
Well I guess that's your opinion then!

FWIW, I had a 500 diagnostic from Kaplan before I started my studying, so I would attribute the increase in my score (i.e. the increase off of my base knowledge of material) to how hard I worked.
 
Well I guess that's your opinion then!

FWIW, I had a 500 diagnostic from Kaplan before I started my studying, so I would attribute the increase in my score (i.e. the increase off of my base knowledge of material) to how hard I worked.

But Kaplan tests are extremely hard compared to the new MCAT though according to that giant excel chart that is being made over in MCAT discussions.

Just curious... did you take the Princeton Demo Exam. I have a close friend who scored a 508 on it. Just wanting to see where he is at relative to other people? I want him to do well
 
But Kaplan tests are extremely hard compared to the new MCAT though according to that giant excel chart that is being made over in MCAT discussions.

Just curious... did you take the Princeton Demo Exam. I have a close friend who scored a 508 on it. Just wanting to see where he is at relative to other people? I want him to do well
Nah, I didn't have the $$$ to buy anything after Kaplan because it was so dang expensive to get the online class (which was pretty useless).
 
Edit: I never said it wasnt doable... but taking a 17-18 credit courseload while studying for the MCAT doenst work for most people.

But then I always forget this is SDN. I'm like the only average Joe on here.
Quite the contrary from my experience. I took it at the end of summer after working fulltime while studying, which a few people I know also did. But many others took it during the school year with a full courseload
 
The MCAT is not a test of intellect, its a test of preparation. And you're relaying anecdotal information just like me. I see you spray your way through sdn giving horrible advice man.

OP, prepare hard and reap the benefits. There's really no reason why you shouldn't get an acceptable score if you prepare well.

There's nothing anecdotal. Look up info published by the AAMC. People who retake rarely score outside of 2 points from their initial range. Whatever your talking about is based off a sample of your friends. What I'm talking about is based off thousands and thousands of people over a number of years. Case closed.
 
The MCAT is not a test of intellect, its a test of preparation. And you're relaying anecdotal information just like me. I see you spray your way through sdn giving horrible advice man.

OP, prepare hard and reap the benefits. There's really no reason why you shouldn't get an acceptable score if you prepare well.
It's a test of intellect (well, I would say test-taking ability) that also happens to require a certain threshold of preparation in order to be able to use that intellect.

Preparation by itself will get you an OK score.
Preparation plus test-taking ability will get you a good score. It's possible to boost test-taking to this level via practice.
Meticulous preparation plus exceptional test-taking ability will get you a great score.
 
On SDN there are a number of people who work very hard and do not achieve a 99th percentile score (522). There are also people who work less hard and perform very well. The problem with hypotheticals (like the OP is posing) is we do not know anything about them. We have people come through all the time saying "I'm a good test taker, so let's assume I get a 35, what schools can I apply to?"... maybe it's because SDN has so many scores at the top end, they don't realize what the score actually means in terms of the pool of applicants. If they're on SDN and see that so-and-so followed some study method to get a great score, they figure "let's replicate it and I'll get the same great score!" Maybe, but maybe not.

Maybe I'm being a bit of a pessimist, but saying you can is not the same as you should. The OP could take the exam immediately following a standard course load without dedicated study time and do fantastically. They could also be burnt out and do poorly. Is that worth the risk? Planning months in advance is fine, but hinging your plan on each step going perfectly is unwise. OP: try it, but don't be blinded by your 'plan' or what others have managed (without your own proof) and head into the exam underprepared.
 
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/271680/data/retestertotalscorechange.pdf

Let's actually use data for how people do on re-takes. Real data not something your friend did.

For people who scored a 21-32 on their first attempt: Around 36% scored more than 2 points better the second time around on average. 24% scored worse the second time around(which is definitely somewhat of a red flag) on average. So the chance of doing significantly better isn't outweighed much by the chance of doing worse.

For those who scored 21-23: To get to the DO average(27) would require scoring 5 points better(on average) the second time around: 18% did this.
For those in the 24-26 range: To get a 30 would require a 5 point swing on average. 15% achieved this.

Keep in mind in both cases the impact of a 27 or 30 would be diluted to some extent by having a poor score on their record from the first time around.

Bottom line: These significant improvements that actually make a difference happen less than people think. It's not just a matter of suddenly "Working hard" or "Trying".
 
https://www.aamc.org/students/download/271680/data/retestertotalscorechange.pdf

Let's actually use data for how people do on re-takes. Real data not something your friend did.

For people who scored a 21-32 on their first attempt: Around 36% scored more than 2 points better the second time around on average. 24% scored worse the second time around(which is definitely somewhat of a red flag) on average. So the chance of doing significantly better isn't outweighed much by the chance of doing worse.

For those who scored 21-23: To get to the DO average(27) would require scoring 5 points better(on average) the second time around: 18% did this.
For those in the 24-26 range: To get a 30 would require a 5 point swing on average. 15% achieved this.

Keep in mind in both cases the impact of a 27 or 30 would be diluted to some extent by having a poor score on their record from the first time around.

Bottom line: These significant improvements that actually make a difference happen less than people think. It's not just a matter of suddenly "Working hard" or "Trying".

Exactly, often times the first poor score happens because of some drastic circumstance including illness, family issues, other life problems, only doing content review, etc etc.

But if someone studied a lot and got that score the 1st time, I"m hesitant to suggest a retake to someone.
 
Exactly, often times the first poor score happens because of some drastic circumstance including illness, family issues, other life problems, only doing content review, etc etc.

But if someone studied a lot and got that score the 1st time, I"m hesitant to suggest a retake to someone.

That on top of the fact that they've likely used up all the good materials for studying the first time around. (and with this new MCAT good study resources that resemble this new MCAT in any way at the moment are few and far between)
 
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