Aiming for a perfect score, when should I start studying for the MCAT?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
shahm5 said:
Hi!

So I am currently a rising sophomore in college, and I plan to take the MCAT between my Junior and Senior year. That being said, I do not mind starting studying as early as possible to get the best score possible. I am aiming for a perfect score, which I know is very difficult but I have always been one to have the mindset of aiming for best possible and hopefully doing very well. And I also mention the perfect score because I am hoping for advice in that context, and not only for a "good score". For those of you who have or who have been preparing to take the MCAT, if you were going for a perfect score, how far back would you have started studying? I have gotten word starting studying a year in advance is more than enough, but I wanted more opinions. I know starting too early would be bad because I would forget a lot of what I studied, so whatever advice I could get on a solid timeline, that would be awesome!

Thanks
Click to expand...

Getting a super high score involves a lot more than just studying. Innate intelligence, complete mastery of all the topics in AAMC content guide, very strong test taking skills, and some luck all play a key role in getting close to a 528 (more generally, 520+).

If you were a National Merit Scholar in high school (and thus also demolished the SAT/ACT), it's likely you have the innate intelligence and strong test taking skills needed to destroy the MCAT.
 
There is a lot of study guides on the MCAT subforum, you can start there.

Know that at lot of times the difference between the "100th percentile" scores is basically luck, so dont have your heart set on 528.
 
shahm5 said:
Hi!

So I am currently a rising sophomore in college, and I plan to take the MCAT between my Junior and Senior year. That being said, I do not mind starting studying as early as possible to get the best score possible. I am aiming for a perfect score, which I know is very difficult but I have always been one to have the mindset of aiming for best possible and hopefully doing very well. And I also mention the perfect score because I am hoping for advice in that context, and not only for a "good score". For those of you who have or who have been preparing to take the MCAT, if you were going for a perfect score, how far back would you have started studying? I have gotten word starting studying a year in advance is more than enough, but I wanted more opinions. I know starting too early would be bad because I would forget a lot of what I studied, so whatever advice I could get on a solid timeline, that would be awesome!

Thanks
Click to expand...

519 and above are all equivalent scores in my eyes. You could get a 527 on one and a 523 on another because the second one asked about a topic or two you forget to study a week before.
 
SpectreDoc said:
519 and above are all equivalent scores in my eyes. You could get a 527 on one and a 523 on another because the second one asked about a topic or two you forget to study a week before.
Click to expand...

So true. The AAMC thankfully recognizes this with the confidence band metric.

Also: OP, you must be a blast at parties.
 
Thienyl15 said:
So true. The AAMC thankfully recognizes this with the confidence band metric.

Also: OP, you must be a blast at parties.
Click to expand...
Now if only we could get med schools to acknowledge the existence of that confidence band!
 
SpectreDoc said:
519 and above are all equivalent scores in my eyes. You could get a 527 on one and a 523 on another because the second one asked about a topic or two you forget to study a week before.
Click to expand...

Not even necessarily forgetting a topic. Some of the questions you could be asked are literally just random facts that you either knew or didn't
 
If you've already studied or taken all the prerequisite classes found on the MCAT (chem, biochem, bio, phys, psych/soc) go ahead and take a diagnostic test. See where you land and go from there. Aim high but have realistic expectations


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Isn't taking the MCAT between your Junior and Senior year essentially planning for a gap year? Unless you plan on taking it very early. Not that gap years are bad I hear most people love them once they are done, but I didn't think most people planned on taking any.
 
Gilakend said:
Isn't taking the MCAT between your Junior and Senior year essentially planning for a gap year? Unless you plan on taking it very early. Not that gap years are bad I hear most people love them once they are done, but I didn't think most people planned on taking any.
Click to expand...
May 6 test date this year is after many people's last day of school, and scores are back by June 7 - plenty of time. You're basically fine as long as you take by July, some people even do August without issues.
 
Can we move this to the uninformed freshman thread? I think it would qualify. In all seriousness tho, I hope you the best.
 
Dude. Let the freshman live, the MCAT Is more important than the GPA, its understandable to stress about it and study as soon as possible. I know, IRL,one girl who studied for the MCAT ,like, 6 months beforehand, and scored a 519. Sometimes more prep time is beneficial. This is OP's first post.
On a slightly unrelated note, has anybody gotten a 528 yet? I know there were 45's on the old exams, but has anyone made a perfect score on the new one yet?



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
mwsapphire said:
Dude. Let the freshman live, the MCAT Is more important than the GPA, its understandable to stress about it and study as soon as possible. I know, IRL,one girl who studied for the MCAT ,like, 6 months beforehand, and scored a 519. Sometimes more prep time is beneficial. This is OP's first post.
On a slightly unrelated note, has anybody gotten a 528 yet? I know there were 45's on the old exams, but has anyone made a perfect score on the new one yet?



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
Yes, there have been 528s each year thus far. There were actually some years nobody got a 45 on the old mcat
 
Realistically I think that 5-6 months can actually be a good study plan, especially if you want to pace yourself and have a life. That said, your naïveté is off the charts. Everyone thinks they are THE special snowflake. Good luck
 
This task is extremely difficult to acconplish. I would suggest studying alongside your pre-med courses. So while taking Orgo or physics try to study alongside for physics and Orgo on the MCAT
 
There is a critical thinking section. I wonder if that might be a good place to start very early. I read a sponsored suggestion that just doing a lot of nonscientific reading may be helpful and something a person could do early and casually. Not sure why op got so many trite answers. I read the question as wanting to do as well as possible when the time comes. It is correct to start preparing now. Just a matter of semantics if you call it preparing or studying in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Given your current status, you'd do better focusing on developing long term scientific reasoning and thinking skills and gaining a strong foundation in the pre-req courses. The actual MCAT material should take no more than a few months to review so I wouldn't worry about that right now.

I'd recommend you read this guide and take it to heart. It's a bit demoralizing for those of us who didn't do well throughout undergrad, but you're in prime position to follow this advice and build the foundation that should make a 520+ (for all intents and purposes a perfect score) easier to achieve.

Aldol16's Guide to 520+ on the MCAT

Also keep calm and don't be neurotic 🙂
 
Lawper said:
Getting a super high score involves a lot more than just studying. Innate intelligence, complete mastery of all the topics in AAMC content guide, very strong test taking skills, and some luck all play a key role in getting close to a 528 (more generally, 520+).

If you were a National Merit Scholar in high school (and thus also demolished the SAT/ACT), it's likely you have the innate intelligence and strong test taking skills needed to destroy the MCAT.
Click to expand...
Hi

I did fairly well I think on the ACT (34) but I was not a National Merit Scholar. Its mostly me doing practice tests for those exams, but that being said, I have never considered standardized tests all too difficult. But thank you for that advice! I'll start studying at a reasonable time for my goals and make sure to absorb everything I can from my pre-req classes.
 
bbccpp said:
There is a critical thinking section. I wonder if that might be a good place to start very early. I read a sponsored suggestion that just doing a lot of nonscientific reading may be helpful and something a person could do early and casually. Not sure why op got so many trite answers. I read the question as wanting to do as well as possible when the time comes. It is correct to start preparing now. Just a matter of semantics if you call it preparing or studying in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

Yes, I am only really trying to do the best I can. While a perfect score would be amazing, it's more of me putting my mindset in place for doing very well. I will start looking into what I can do to improve critical thinking and seeing what classes might help in that regard.
 
Gilakend said:
Isn't taking the MCAT between your Junior and Senior year essentially planning for a gap year? Unless you plan on taking it very early. Not that gap years are bad I hear most people love them once they are done, but I didn't think most people planned on taking any.
Click to expand...
Really? I wanted to take mine between my sophomore and Junior year, but I got a lot of advice its best to take between Junior and Senior year, which is when I know A LOT of people do take it.
 
shahm5 said:
Really? I wanted to take mine between my sophomore and Junior year, but I got a lot of advice its best to take between Junior and Senior year, which is when I know A LOT of people do take it.
Click to expand...

Regular application timeline means you start submitting primaries/secondaries summer after Junior year and interviews during Senior year so if you took the MCAT between Junior and Senior year you'd need to take a gap year.
 
One option may be to prepare for the MCAT in the sense of continuously reviewing material from your classes. I've been using Firecracker's pre-med program (it's free), and so far it has helped me remember material that can easily be forgotten.
 
shahm5 said:
Really? I wanted to take mine between my sophomore and Junior year, but I got a lot of advice its best to take between Junior and Senior year, which is when I know A LOT of people do take it.
Click to expand...

Interesting, I was advised to take mine between sophomore and junior year (I'm studying now). But I have all my prereqs done (in 6 week biochem class now that I had to take whether I was studying or not) and a free summer so that's why I'm doing it now. But from what people have said here it seems it doesn't matter. I'm sure it would be easier next year having some more upper level science classes under my belt but oh well. Guess it gives me time to retake it when I bomb it!
 
I'd probably die if I got a perfect score. So hopefully I didn't for my heart's sake.
 
mwsapphire said:
Dude. Let the freshman live, the MCAT Is more important than the GPA, its understandable to stress about it and study as soon as possible. I know, IRL,one girl who studied for the MCAT ,like, 6 months beforehand, and scored a 519. Sometimes more prep time is beneficial. This is OP's first post.
On a slightly unrelated note, has anybody gotten a 528 yet? I know there were 45's on the old exams, but has anyone made a perfect score on the new one yet?



Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
I often look at schools I would like to go to. I haven't taken the MCAT... I agree let people dream... that's what we all are doing trying to become a doctor. However remember what's a dream and what's reality. Most likely OP will burn out early and later pick it up and score better than 70% minutes of others. Sorry but that's the truth. Don't stop dreaming, but don't let your feet take off from earth. 😉 ( I am not talking to you @mwsapphire, you have a good head on your shoulders) 🙂
 
Sometime between finger painting and nap-time. If you don't start studying by middle school consider yourself a non-trad.
 
shahm5 said:
Really? I wanted to take mine between my sophomore and Junior year, but I got a lot of advice its best to take between Junior and Senior year, which is when I know A LOT of people do take it.
Click to expand...
I'd aim to take it April of Junior year. Plenty of time on both sides of that for studying/applications
 
If I was looking for a perfect score I would start by going back to the beginning of the game of life and maxing out my intelligence skill tree.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Should I consider transferring??? - International aiming for MD
Replies
3
Views
339
korean05
K
U
When Should I Take the MCAT? (Non-Trad Plan)
Replies
8
Views
597
g0ldendoodle
G
Rishi Jayanth
Should I drop my hobby to study for the MCAT?
Replies
9
Views
1K
pedneuro6894
P
Z
When can I / should I submit my app for verification?
Replies
1
Views
649
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
I
When to start being worried for not getting IIs?
Replies
3
Views
1K
karaya
K
Top