520+ on MCAT

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519 here, don't know if I'm worthy to answer this but I used the 7 book set of TPR, made sure I understood EVERYTHING and did as many practice passages as I could in the books and on Khan Academy.

also Kaplan & TPR sell an "Elite MCAT 528" type book (similar to their "elite SAT/ACT 2400/36 etc. from back in high school) that is very helpful for 520+ hopeful students

don't over do content review, but again don't be doing practice passages if you don't understand the concepts because they won't help you. balance review + practice
 
I got a 520 this past May. I took a MCAT prep class through my school, but the only real benefit I got from that were complementary practice exams at the beginning and end of the course. I studied outside the course on my own a bit that semester, but not much. Mostly going over areas I knew I had trouble with, like physics and parts of psych/sociology that I hadn't learned in the introductory classes I took. I never touched CARS, because I've always excelled at reading comp. This might not be the same for you, but it's important to know what areas you're rock-solid, because you can leave those areas alone (save for on practice FLs) and save yourself a ton of time. It's also important to know where you struggle most. I'm a neurobio major and have always excelled in biology classes, so I could brush over that lightly. I needed a touch-up on gen chem (I used AP credits and went straight to orgo), but nothing serious. But physics, interesting as I found it, was always a battle. So I used Kaplan MCAT practice books for physics. I got help from an engineering friend. I watched Kahn Academy videos on electricity and magnetism.

When I got home from that semester (I took the May 20th date), I spent two weeks studying my ass off on all the things I was still unsure of, and took plenty of practice FLs. It was like MCAT boot camp. It was exhausting. But it paid off.

TLDR: know what you know, and know what you don't. You don't need to dedicate equal time to biology and physics if you've never gotten below an A on a bio exam but physics just throws you for a loop every time. Be smart. Know yourself. Good luck.
 
When did you start casually studying for the MCAT and when did you really start studying?


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521, definitely second the TPR recommendation! I used the TPR books, and all their online practice exams/quizzes, and I felt like it prepared me really well, even for the sections in which I had no background.

TheBiologist said:
519 here, don't know if I'm worthy to answer this but I used the 7 book set of TPR, made sure I understood EVERYTHING and did as many practice passages as I could in the books and on Khan Academy.]
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FaisalShurafa said:
I'm also wondering if mcat classes are worth the money.


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I would say absolutely not. When I took the old MCAT I took a TPR course and got a 28. Fast forward three years to this past September and I self studied using the TPR books and Kahn Academy and ESPECIALLY Anki and got a 520 (130/130/130/130).
Having wasted the money once I would say no. They are not worth the money.
 
FaisalShurafa said:
I'm also wondering if mcat classes are worth the money.


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ScreenName23 said:
I would say absolutely not. When I took the old MCAT I took a TPR course and got a 28. Fast forward three years to this past September and I self studied using the TPR books and Kahn Academy and ESPECIALLY Anki and got a 520 (130/130/130/130).
Having wasted the money once I would say no. They are not worth the money.
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Seconding ScreenName, I would not take the course at my school again if I had the chance to do it over. Even though it was offered at a discounted rate ($300 instead of thousands, such a f****** bargain), it did almost nothing for me. I'd just drop a fraction of the dough for access to the FLs and be on my merry way.
 
-minimal pure content review
-practice tests every 3 days with content review on the entire test in the days in between.
-targeted content review for every question where i didn't understand it 1000%
-only ever studied under testing conditions (studied for 1.5 hour blocks with 10 minute breaks)
-simulated exam day (waking up at 5) for 2 weeks before test day
-did as many FLs as possible (with thorouhg review) + section banks + qbanks
-did 3-5 CARS passages daily for 2 months
 
kb1900 said:
-minimal pure content review
-practice tests every 3 days with content review on the entire test in the days in between.
-targeted content review for every question where i didn't understand it 1000%
-only ever studied under testing conditions (studied for 1.5 hour blocks with 10 minute breaks)
-simulated exam day (waking up at 5) for 2 weeks before test day
-did as many FLs as possible (with thorouhg review) + section banks + qbanks
-did 3-5 CARS passages daily for 2 months
Click to expand...

When did you start this program?


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FaisalShurafa said:
When did you start this program?


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its not a program. just things i decided were important within the first week of studying
i studied for 1.5 months for the test but started CARS earlier.
i worked as a tutor for most pre-med classes for a year, so i was able to afford investing less time into generic, passive (mostly useless) content review
 
In regards to OP, there is the MCAT sub of SDN with a 509+ (or something) study habits thread stickied at the top. Lots of great advice, and where I started when looking for how to approach the MCAT.

519 is the same percentile as a 520.

TheBiologist said:
519 here, don't know if I'm worthy to answer this but I used the 7 book set of TPR, made sure I understood EVERYTHING and did as many practice passages as I could in the books and on Khan Academy.

also Kaplan & TPR sell an "Elite MCAT 528" type book (similar to their "elite SAT/ACT 2400/36 etc. from back in high school) that is very helpful for 520+ hopeful students

don't over do content review, but again don't be doing practice passages if you don't understand the concepts because they won't help you. balance review + practice
Click to expand...
 
Full lengths 24/7. Pretty much took every one I could get my hands on. Saved the aamc ones for last.
 
One Word, three times.
Practice, Practice, Practice.


Also OP I hope that isnt your real name.
 
For people that studied in the spring semester before the MCAT (ie Jan->May, May dest date), how many hrs/day were you able to get in and did you need to do anything like cut back on ECs?
 
FaisalShurafa said:
Also one last question, when did you guys/gals start studying?


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5 months before test date but I was working full time which was kind of nice because I couldn't get burned out studying all day since I was working all day. Just studied before and after work, on weekends, and had a full month off before the test when I did just study. Like everyone's saying pick a good plan with lots of practice, stick to it, and take the mcat once your practice scores are in a good spot. Good luck!!
 
I think people who got 520+ would have reached that score regardless of resource used, study methods, attending classes, etc.
 
I'm not familiar with their updated MCAT2015 materials, but I want to plug The Berkeley Review (TBR) for their outstanding quality for the older MCAT. I assume they are still excellent.

Endless practice passages rather than overdoing the content review was key for the old test. It sounds like that still stands.

csdanim said:
I think people who got 520+ would have reached that score regardless of resource used, study methods, attending classes, etc.
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I dunno man, I think if my study method was glancing at my old class notes two or three times it wouldn't have gone so hot.
 
efle said:
I'm not familiar with their updated MCAT2015 materials, but I want to plug The Berkeley Review (TBR) for their outstanding quality for the older MCAT. I assume they are still excellent.

Endless practice passages rather than overdoing the content review was key for the old test. It sounds like that still stands.


I dunno man, I think if my study method was glancing at my old class notes two or three times it wouldn't have gone so hot.
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True, I was trying to say it would take more than simply following how other 520+ people studied to get 520+. I think those high scores with discipline, innate intelligence, tenacity, critical thinking skills, etc that are hard to develop in short time.
 
csdanim said:
True, I was trying to say it would take more than simply following how other 520+ people studied to get 520+. I think those high scores with discipline, innate intelligence, tenacity, critical thinking skills, etc that are hard to develop in short time.
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Agreed. Lots of proper studying and lots of brainpower are both necessary, and neither alone in any quantity is sufficient.
 
Took the MCAT in 2016 and used a mix of new and old TBR + TPR hyperlearning for CARS + khan academy/TPR for psych (this was before TBR released a psych book). Excellent, excellent materials for review and questions. I compared this to a sampling of some new Exam Kracker MCAT books (I received from a friend), and I could see the EK reaching an audience that likes flashy pages and pictures, but TBR was functional with superb explanation of topics and had the best quality questions besides the actual AAMC.

efle said:
I'm not familiar with their updated MCAT2015 materials, but I want to plug The Berkeley Review (TBR) for their outstanding quality for the older MCAT. I assume they are still excellent.

Endless practice passages rather than overdoing the content review was key for the old test. It sounds like that still stands.


I dunno man, I think if my study method was glancing at my old class notes two or three times it wouldn't have gone so hot.
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Chromium Surfer said:
Internal locus of control! Gimme dat 132 on the psych section in may!! Plz and thx God
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If you can keep that enthusiasm from now through the final section of the test you have earned that 132. By the last section I had checked out mentally, and got out of there with 50 minutes remaining.
 
Horse Apiece said:
Took the MCAT in 2016 and used a mix of new and old TBR + TPR hyperlearning for CARS + khan academy/TPR for psych (this was before TBR released a psych book). Excellent, excellent materials for review and questions. I compared this to a sampling of some new Exam Kracker MCAT books (I received from a friend), and I could see the EK reaching an audience that likes flashy pages and pictures, but TBR was functional with superb explanation of topics and had the best quality questions besides the actual AAMC.
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Awesome, they're the same as ever then. The authors for TBR all personally took the MCAT and scored in the 40s, and I felt like I could tell from the books and especially passage quality that they really understood the test. TPR Hyper for Verbal was also the best second only to AAMC, in my opinion.
 
98th percentile - take and retake as many full length tests as you possibly can (mimic real test situation). stamina (physical AND mental) is so important. don't study the day before your test - go pet puppies and cats at an animal shelter.
 
Take as many full length practice tests as possible and time yourself. Just because you understand all the content doesn't mean you'll be able perform under the pressure of the real thing.
 
524 here, I studied throughout the semester prior to the test in May (about 2-3 hours/day). I really liked EK because it was concise, unlike TPR/Kaplan. I knew going in that CARS and Physics would be sketchy for me, so I got the EK1001 and TBR books for physics and EK101/TPRHL for verbal.

As far as FLs go, I did 3 x NS, 3 x EK, 3 x TPR, and the two (at the time) AAMCs. Plus all the question packs and section banks.

Also prep classes are stupid. Don't do it.
 
525 speaking, and here's what I did:
  • I only used EK, TBR, and AAMC's materials.
  • I took practice exams almost every Saturday leading to the exam (studied ~3-4 months).
  • I modified SN2ed's schedule to fit my semester, and used 7Sage's method of blind review.
  • I memorized a handful of equations and all the amino acids (plus a number of their physical/chemical characteristics).
  • Like @libertyyne said, practice, practice, practice.
Stick to your schedule, dedicate at the very least 2-3(-4) hours of meaningful studying a day, and you'll do great.
 
521. Thought I would chime in because unlike most of the people on this thread, I did a large amount of content review. I primarily used TBR and got my hands on some old Kaplan books during the last month of my studying, for a total of about 4.5 months of studying while taking a full course load. I think you should use whatever method you normally use to study for tough science courses to study for the MCAT, whether that is study groups, lots of practice problems, or insane amounts of flashcards (like me!). I took around 8 practice tests total, I believe, but didn't really do practice questions beyond that.
 
TheBiologist said:
519 here, don't know if I'm worthy to answer this but I used the 7 book set of TPR, made sure I understood EVERYTHING and did as many practice passages as I could in the books and on Khan Academy.

also Kaplan & TPR sell an "Elite MCAT 528" type book (similar to their "elite SAT/ACT 2400/36 etc. from back in high school) that is very helpful for 520+ hopeful students

don't over do content review, but again don't be doing practice passages if you don't understand the concepts because they won't help you. balance review + practice
Click to expand...
Pretty much this, except with Kaplan instead of TPR. If you're struggling with verbal like I did use the Examkrackers method and do a passage or two every day (I went from getting 123-125 on practices to 127 on the real thing)
 
524. I used EK, studied 1-2hr/day for 8 weeks, took all the AMCAS practice tests, etc etc normal stuff. However, I think if you're gunning for the 520+ as opposed to 510+ you have to really take into consideration the format of the new test (in addition to content review, which youre obvs going to do anyway). IMO being able to tackle the "critical thinking" aspect of the new test is what separates the top percentiles from the rest.

The new MCAT emphasizes critical thinking and experiment analysis much more than the old MCAT did. If youre doing research in a lab and reading a lot of papers, this will be easier for you. If not, I'd suggest taking whatever is on the front page of Nature/Science/Basketweaving Monthly/whatever interests you and trying to understand the paper by its figures alone (this works better with higher quality journals). What I noticed while studying with other people was that although we had the same understanding of the content, I was scoring much higher because Ive been working in a lab for 5 years and read papers every day. All the passages on the test are basically abstracts, and if youre familiar with understanding how experiments work, why we use controls, and how to read/analyze basic data, you'll actually be able to answer questions you may not know the answer to, and youre less likely to get tripped up by trick questions preying on those who have good memory but didnt really understand the passage.
 
523. Unlike others, I adhor PR. I didn't like their practice tests at all. I liked the AAMC and Nextstep tests. I did a lot of practice tests, and very minimal content review. Like someone above mentioned, critical thinking in the content of research experiments is a central focus of the test. For me, pacing and practice meant everything
 
TheBiologist said:
519 here
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giphy.gif


Look at this pleb
 
hubbsbubbs said:
523. Unlike others, I abhor PR. I didn't like their practice tests at all. I liked the AAMC and Nextstep tests. I did a lot of practice tests, and very minimal content review. Like someone above mentioned, critical thinking in the content of research experiments is a central focus of the test. For me, pacing and practice meant everything
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FTFY

and BTW I did forget to mention I did the AAMC official which I agree I found to be the best practice test.

it was also closed to my real score (518 to 519)
 
I scored 521. I used TPR books and did an online boot-camp as well. My experience was that the boot-camp was a waste of time, but the books were great. My biggest advice would be to do every practice test and passage you can get your hands on. Once you understand the material, the practice questions really help make you comfortable applying it in the standardized test sort of situation.
I began studying over winter break (so late December) and took the exam on April 1st. However, I was studying pretty heavily for that entire period.
 
I've argued it before, but my opinion is that the best way to "prepare" for a 520+ on the new MCAT is to have a strong science foundation. That means pay attention in your classes and look for understanding instead of memorization. You will need real analytical skills for the MCAT and by the time you take it, you'll either have those skills or you won't. They aren't something you can develop in 1 or 2 months. They take time to hone and that's why if you don't do well on the MCAT the first time, you shouldn't turn around and take the very next MCAT.
 
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