31 days of content review - too little or too much?

[Systemic]

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Hello, I am new to the forum (friend told me about the site a month ago, but I never bothered to register until about 5 minutes ago).

My friends have been enrolled in the Kaplan MCAT course at my school for the past few months. I decided against it. For one, I didn't have the money, and if I did, didn't want to spend it on this course, and two, I (initially) felt like stretching out content review over the course of a few months would be inefficient and ineffective, since you would need to be continually re-exposed to the topics retain the information anyway.

I registered for the June 17th MCAT a while back, and my books, which I ordered about two weeks ago, have all finally arrived (was waiting on the TBR books, which came in earlier today).

EK Bio, Ochem
TBR Physics and G. Chem.


I have not yet flipped through the books, but made a schedule, and it looks like I will be complete around May 21st / May 22nd, leaving a little over 3 weeks to take practice exams (which I plan to take every other day).

Now to the point of the post - is this too much content review? I will have, at the least, 5 hours a day to devote to studying, with up to 8-9 hours available on Tuesday, Thursday, and weekends if needed.

I don't want to breeze through these topics in 2 weeks, and not retain anything. Then again, I don't want to bog myself down with reviewing content for over a month.

For those who usually do well on the MCAT, how much time do they spend reviewing content? I honestly don't know what is considered too little or too much, or how much you really need to know.

Comments are appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Pisiform]

Spending 47 hours (5*3 = 15 + 8*4=32) in one week for a month is not a bad preparation time. At the same time, its not too much. It is OK. Assuming that you have a good grasp of undergraduate Bio, Chem, Physics and these subject are still fresh in your mind, I think you will be fine in taking the MCAT.

But still MCAT is not just a test of rote knowledge. It is more of a concept and practicing than just a month content review preparation. I assume that you will do just fine on your MCAT (if have good knowledge of undergrad sciences) but still would not be able to show your full potential on the exam day.

Good Luck

 

[Systemic]

Spending 47 hours (5*3 = 15 + 8*4=32) in one week for a month is not a bad preparation time. At the same time, its not too much. It is OK. Assuming that you have a good grasp of undergraduate Bio, Chem, Physics and these subject are still fresh in your mind, I think you will be fine in taking the MCAT.

But still MCAT is not just a test of rote knowledge. It is more of a concept and practicing than just a month content review preparation. I assume that you will do just fine on your MCAT (if have good knowledge of undergrad sciences) but still would not be able to show your full potential on the exam day.

Good Luck

But if I finish around May 21st / May 22nd, I would still have over 3 weeks to do nothing but practice exams (I plan on doing one every other day).

Is that still not enough?

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Dude I'm in a similar situation but I'm not starting until May 1. I took a Kaplan course and it was pretty worthless so good call on your part. I don't know how you are going to be able to cover all of TBR Physics and Gen Chem, along with EK Bio and Orgo in 4 weeks. I initially signed up for the June 17 date as well but realized there was no way I was going to be able to be ready in such little time. Content review is only a part of the process, it also involves test taking ability, strategy, familiarity with the style and objectives, practice, and timing. You do NOT want to rush this test by any means, trust me. I moved my MCAT date to July, but if you feel like you'll be ready in time more power to you man. You should definitely devote 1 month to practice exams before your test day, regardless. I'm going to loosely follow SN2ed's study plan and I'm definitely using TBR. My schedule is: Content/Practice Passages May 1 - June 16, Practice Passages/FLs: June 17 - July 15. I'm aiming for a 35 on this test and if I achieve my goal and get my primaries and secondaries in to schools before the end of August I'll be in good shape. Remember: schools screen you based on your MCAT score so you definitely want to do well on this test. It could determine how soon you get an interview.

 

[Pisiform]

After content review, I would suggest you to do practice exams and go over your mistakes. Every weekend of these three weeks, try to go over the content (superficially, not in detail).

Once again, practice problems esp. passage based and go over your mistake.

Take a good note of your timing too while taking practice test.

You will be fine.. 🙂

 

[DrSmday]

a month of content review seems reasonable... only make sure to do at least a few problems after each chapter just to know that you understand the material and didn't just read the chapter for nothing...

as you move along your study plan, you may find that you know some topics better than the others this will give you a better understanding of how much time you will need for review and you can alter your schedule accordingly... either way, my suggestion is do some problems as you go... then concentrate on doing passages/practice exams/target weak areas the last 3 weeks..

one more thing, i wouldn't recommend using TBR alone for physics content review... it seemed to vague to me (unless you already have a very strong physics background)

best of luck!