6 weeks for the MCAT?

[Postictal Raiden]

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Hello everyone,

I have registered to take the MCAT on July 16. Initially, I thought that I would be studying lightly all spring semester, and then dedicate all June and first half of July for the MCAT. However, I am now half way through the semester and still haven't touched the books due to my college course load, volunteering and personal stuff.

Therefore, I thought if I just leave the MCAT studying till I finish this semester, and then start the boot camp studying; with this plan, I'll have approximately 6 weeks.

Will I have a reasonbly enough time to study, knowing that my biology and ochem backgrounds are very solid and so-so with physics?

I know that similar questions have been asked abundantly here, but I appreciate your input on my situation.

thank you,

 

[tttgo]

I think most people would say no.

 

[385127]

I'm giving myself a full 3 months minimum to study. Start first week of May and go all the way through July. I plan to take the MCAT probably towards the end of August.

 

[Jlaw]

Unless you have a very strong science background you are going to feel very overwhelmed when you crack those books and realize how much you have forgotten since you took gen chem, physics, organic, etc. Just doing a thorough review of everything, memorizing all the formulas you will need, and getting comfortable with the math tricks will probably take you a month at least.

Assuming it wont screw up your whole application cycle I would recommend you push it back to August or September...youre gonna need all the time you can get.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Unless you have a very strong science background you are going to feel very overwhelmed when you crack those books and realize how much you have forgotten since you took gen chem, physics, organic, etc. Just doing a thorough review of everything, memorizing all the formulas you will need, and getting comfortable with the math tricks will probably take you a month at least.

Assuming it wont screw up your whole application cycle I would recommend you push it back to August or September...youre gonna need all the time you can get.

Thank you all for your responses.

As I stated earlier, I have solid biology and ochem background. However, my gchem and physics knowledge is shaky. I am considering pushing the mcat date to 07/29 to give myself additional two weeks of preparation, would that be do the trick?

Having a low gpa already (3.3), I don't want to apply late. Also, I am not too thrilled about delaying my application another year because of my social and financial situation.

I want to apply to only osteopathic schools, so with my gpa, I figured that I need to score 28+ to have a reasonable shot at any school. Do you guys/gals think that 8 weeks of DEDICATED preparation are enough to get me the 28?

 

[Jlaw]

Thank you all for your responses.

As I stated earlier, I have solid biology and ochem background. However, my gchem and physics knowledge is shaky. I am considering pushing the mcat date to 07/29 to give myself additional two weeks of preparation, would that be do the trick?

Having a low gpa already (3.3), I don't want to apply late. Also, I am not too thrilled about delaying my application another year because of my social and financial situation.

I want to apply to only osteopathic schools, so with my gpa, I figured that I need to score 28+ to have a reasonable shot at any school. Do you guys/gals think that 8 weeks of DEDICATED preparation are enough to get me the 28?

My advice would be to take a practice test (one of the AAMC full lengths) as soon as you can. See how you do. If your Organic and Bio knowledge is strong enough to have you scoring at least 23-25 without any prep then getting to 28 or 30 with 6 weeks is doable. If you score lower than that its not looking so hot. Either way take, go over the practice test, identify your weaknesses and fix them. You dont have time to get a great understanding of everything so just work on the areas that will give you the biggest points boost. Take a full length practice test every 5-7 days as you study, if you are scoring 30 or better by test date you are ready.

Not trying to be a dick or anything but with your GPA you should be aiming for a much higher MCAT score, even for DO. I have a similar GPA and wouldn't be comfortable applying with a 28.

 

[flodhi1]

My advice would be to take a practice test (one of the AAMC full lengths) as soon as you can. See how you do. If your Organic and Bio knowledge is strong enough to have you scoring at least 23-25 without any prep then getting to 28 or 30 with 6 weeks is doable. If you score lower than that its not looking so hot. Either way take, go over the practice test, identify your weaknesses and fix them. You dont have time to get a great understanding of everything so just work on the areas that will give you the biggest points boost. Take a full length practice test every 5-7 days as you study, if you are scoring 30 or better by test date you are ready.

Not trying to be a dick or anything but with your GPA you should be aiming for a much higher MCAT score, even for DO. I have a similar GPA and wouldn't be comfortable applying with a 28.

👍

 

[NickNaylor]

I second the advice advocating taking some AAMC tests to get a feel for where you are. The last thing you want to do is take the test before you're ready and/or averaging scores that you're happy with.

 

[backsideatk]

Remember that SDN is comprised with very different premeds than normal ones.

6 weeks is lots of time to go over everything and do quite decently, unless your science background is minimal, or you seriously need to go over test taking tips.

I agree with the idea that you should take one of the practice tests to see where you are. If you score >23, with no section below 7 then you should have no problem bringing that to 30+ in six weeks if you're actually studying thoroughly.

Quality of studying is much more important than how long you spend doing it. I finished all of my content review (granted It's been a less than a year and a half since my prereqs) in 3 weeks, while it took a friend of mine 4 months. It depends on you.

The best advice I can give you is: Start studying as though you're going to be taking it within the 6 week time limit, if your score doesn't go up to ~27-28 by three weeks before the test, then push it back, since it's unrealistic to expect a >2 point increase in that amount of time post content review.

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah, uh you need to shoot for a 28++++ not a 28+

 

[Rom1pd]

I wouldn't push back the MCAT date to late August/September, because that's close to a late application. You want to maximize your chances so you want to apply early. It makes a difference. I am in a similar situation as you and I'm also planning to take the MCAT on the July 16th date (about 6 wks of studying). I am doing MD/PhD though and need a 36+ but I have strong science background so basically only need to work on verbal and review some bio. But I know a lot of friends who scored 35+ and who only studied for this much. I definitely thing it's doable and my friend who did really well after only studying for 1 month said it's ok if you study like 10+ hrs a day. It depends if you can do that.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

Thank you all for responding.

I have couple more questions. I am planning to use EK101 for the verbal section. How many passages should I do each day if I am planning to study 8 hours everyday for the whole six weeks?

If I do 7 passages/day, to mimic the real mcat, I will run out of passages in just 14 days. What should I use to study for the verbal for the remaining 28 days?

 

[chidoman]

.

 

[ridethecliche]

Thank you all for responding.

I have couple more questions. I am planning to use EK101 for the verbal section. How many passages should I do each day if I am planning to study 8 hours everyday for the whole six weeks?

If I do 7 passages/day, to mimic the real mcat, I will run out of passages in just 14 days. What should I use to study for the verbal for the remaining 28 days?

I wouldn't take a 101 every day. I normally take one once a week and unfortunately I'm stuck at the same score but trying to make that budge.

I would look at TPR hyperlearning for more verbal prep.