Advice for Aug 2013 MCAT

[NKaur92]

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So I have decided to take my MCAT on August 16 and I have yet to begin studying.

I am hoping to apply for the class of 2014, not too sure how the chances look. I was busy finishing finals last week, and been working 40+ hours this week, so have not looked at any MCAT prep.

Has anyone tried Princeton's one month ultimate online course?

I was thinking of studying on my own using Berkeley Review and Exam Krackers from now till July 8th, and then using Princeton's 5 hour courses for 5 days a week till Aug 5.

Not too sure what I should do for those 11 days before the MCAT.

Is there any ideal self study schedule for 6 weeks using those 2 companies?

Not too sure if this is a good way to go about for preparing the Aug MCAT.

Please let me know your thoughts and any advice.

Most importantly is it wise for me to take the MCAT on Aug 16 if I haven't started studying yet. Also I will be completely free until I take the MCAT so I can dedicate as much time to study during these 12 weeks.

Thank you 🙂

 

[Euxox]

August is way too late if you are planning on applying for entry in 2014. A huge part of med school admissions is applying early, early, early. If you take the August 16th MCAT, you will have to wait three weeks for your scores to come back. That means that your primary will be complete by mid September at the earliest. That is very late and you will be shooting yourself in the foot if you do this.

The other thing you don't want to do is rush into the MCAT before you are ready, so if I were you I would take the August 16th MCAT and then wait until the next cycle (2014 - 2015) to apply.

As far as MCAT prep, six weeks is not enough for most people. It might be enough if you really mastered the prereqs. Sn2ed has a nice study schedule that you can find in the MCAT forum, but it assumes twelve weeks.

I don't have any experience with Princeton Review's online course, but I took the in class course and it was pretty useless. The teachers were great but the lectures moved way too quickly to be helpful. If I were you, I would by the Princeton Review self study package and the Berkeley Review set and just study from those. Examkrackers books are too easy to be helpful, IMO.

The last 11 days before the MCAT should revolve around taking practice tests. I took one every other day for the last two weeks before my test. The days that you are not taking practice tests should be spent reviewing errors from previous tests.