A good strategy for studying for MCAT?

[xmsr3]

I would appreciate hearing from my peers if the following is a good strategy for MCAT prep.

Exam Krackers review, physics, o-chem, chem, bio, verbal/math strategy

+ 1001 practice problems, all subjects, 101 verbal passages

+ actual practice MCAT exams

I will start studying Jan 13, take test April 17

I plan to study 5 days/week, 8 am-3 pm except Wen when Its 8am -11 am (volunteering at ER)

I plan to study 1 chapter from 2 subjects/day and some of the practice problems from from that chapter.

At end of January I will take EK practice MCAT and after that take an official practice MCAT, from AAMC once/week, (I assume it will take 1 maybe 2 full days to take, correct and review mistakes) while continuing with the review and practice questions.

I want to avoid burnout while maximzing the amount of real MCATs I take and drilling on practice problems until I can recognize which equations and what approach to take to each problem.

Is this a good strategy?

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[SN2ed]

It sounds fine to me. I suggest you take at least two days for your practice FLs. One day to take it, another to review it. Another point, make sure you do tons of practice problems. Content helps you get your footing, but it's the practice problems that propel you forward. Lastly, I think you'd be better served using BR for Physics, Gen Chem, and O-chem. EK Bio and Verbal are great when paired with their respective 1001 and 101 books. In the other sections, EK is a little lacking. Their content review is fine, though not great. What hurts them the most is the absence of a sufficient amount of practice passages. Don't get me wrong, I think the EK 1001 series is a solid asset. Yet, you really need something else to supplement EK in those areas. Grab those three BR books to get both a substaintally better content review AND plenty of practice problems.

Lastly, EK's practice tests are pretty bad. Pick up all of the AAMC FLs (if you haven't, it sounds like you already have). After you get those, buy BR's FLs or Gold Standard's FLs.

 

[DrDre2001]

Sounds good.

And don't be afraid to change around your schedule once you start studying and notice certain things (like if you are really weak in one subject/topic, you can do that for more days than your schedule calls for...or if you need to take 2 days to review a practice test instead of 1, just do it).

 

[Yope]

Be sure you do not get sidetracked when plowing through all the 1001s. There are a ton of problems, so it's easy to waste time doing them all (not saying you shouldn't, just that you should make quick work of them) and not spend enough time on the practice tests.