Ample studying time?

[adoniah]

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So I've had a hard time finding time to study for the MCAT this semester. My last tests before finals are Monday, and then after that I have nothing due for 5 weeks, essentially. So this weekend is when I'll finally start having time to focus on the MCAT, and from here on out its probably 3-5 hours of studying everyday. My question, then, is if you think this is enough time to study? And I understand this is a highly subjective question, but generally is 8 weeks of efficient, solid studying enough? I take the MCAT on May 23rd so I'll also have about 3 weeks from the start of finals where I'll spend most of every day studying, presumably.

I just wanted to see what people thought, as I'm really starting to stress out as the time has drawn closer. Though what has really increased my anxiety is that every week I think I'll have a lot of time to study, assignments would come up or a test was the following week and then I no longer have time. Thanks for the advice.

 

[iA-MD2013]

Have you taken any practice tests? It really depends on your diagnostic score...Some people require 1 month of studying, while some study for 6+ months.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I studied for about 2.5-3 weeks, and while I did well, that was definitely not enough. I got creamed by the organic chem passage on my test. I think 5 weeks would have been sufficient.

 

[mdgator]

I studied about 5 weeks. Some people may disagree, but I can't imgagine spending more than about 6-8 weeks studying for MCAT. Eventually it starts to get to you... Then again, maybe that's why some people get 40s.

 

[adoniah]

I got a 20 on my Kaplan diagnostic; I took one practice test maybe three weeks ago and scored a 25. And that was with essentially no studying. So presumably the class improved my critical reading; or at the very least, I was able to approach the questions much more constructively.

 

[adoniah]

I figured I'd bump this thread because I have a new question. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who got accepted to med school this year and we got to talking about the MCAT. Kaplan stresses this whole idea of focus on your weaknesses and don't spend much time on things you are confident about....but both of us agreed that's a bunch of BS. Shouldn't I spend time solidifying what I'm really confident about (BS/VR) as opposed to spending all my time on PS. I mean, practice tests I'm pulling around an 8 in PS...BS and VR im getting 10s. Now wouldn't it make sense to focus on BS and VR to boost those even higher? I just feel like no matter how hard I work on physics I just won't get much past an 8 or 9...I mean cmon, I took physics 4 years ago, this stuff is gibberish to me now. I'm lucky I'm getting 8's. Bio, on the other hand, I've taught for 2 years and I feel really solid about it; I think my time would be more efficiently spent there??

Just curious what people think about that!

 

[wizenedone]

I figured I'd bump this thread because I have a new question. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who got accepted to med school this year and we got to talking about the MCAT. Kaplan stresses this whole idea of focus on your weaknesses and don't spend much time on things you are confident about....but both of us agreed that's a bunch of BS. Shouldn't I spend time solidifying what I'm really confident about (BS/VR) as opposed to spending all my time on PS. I mean, practice tests I'm pulling around an 8 in PS...BS and VR im getting 10s. Now wouldn't it make sense to focus on BS and VR to boost those even higher? I just feel like no matter how hard I work on physics I just won't get much past an 8 or 9...I mean cmon, I took physics 4 years ago, this stuff is gibberish to me now. I'm lucky I'm getting 8's. Bio, on the other hand, I've taught for 2 years and I feel really solid about it; I think my time would be more efficiently spent there??

Just curious what people think about that!

I think it depends on what score you are shooting for. I think if you are shooting for 34+ then yes, you need to keep solidifying your strong areas. If your goal is 28-31 range then you should focus more on your weaker areas.

 

[unsung]

I figured I'd bump this thread because I have a new question. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who got accepted to med school this year and we got to talking about the MCAT. Kaplan stresses this whole idea of focus on your weaknesses and don't spend much time on things you are confident about....but both of us agreed that's a bunch of BS. Shouldn't I spend time solidifying what I'm really confident about (BS/VR) as opposed to spending all my time on PS. I mean, practice tests I'm pulling around an 8 in PS...BS and VR im getting 10s. Now wouldn't it make sense to focus on BS and VR to boost those even higher? I just feel like no matter how hard I work on physics I just won't get much past an 8 or 9...I mean cmon, I took physics 4 years ago, this stuff is gibberish to me now. I'm lucky I'm getting 8's. Bio, on the other hand, I've taught for 2 years and I feel really solid about it; I think my time would be more efficiently spent there??

Just curious what people think about that!

I agree with you for the most part in that my strategy is also to keep working on my strong areas. For one thing, it's bad to be too cocky about what you're "strong" at. I feel at home with physics, and the forces section is one of the easiest to understand for me... but I've found that the passages dealing with forces are actually among the most trickiest, and I end up getting more of them wrong, than I do for a section like fluids, which I don't feel as strong in, but do well in.

But, keep in mind that it's MUCH easier to improve your score from 8 to 10, than it is from 11 to 13. So from that perspective, it makes sense to work on your weak areas.

 

[J ROD]

I think it depends on what score you are shooting for. I think if you are shooting for 34+ then yes, you need to keep solidifying your strong areas. If your goal is 28-31 range then you should focus more on your weaker areas.

Not to be mean, I think anybody should shoot for the highest score possible.

I think you have enough time to get "strong" everywhere.

Since you are stronger on BS and verbal, I assume that means you would need to spend more time on the PS. However, it should all equal out in the end because it should take less time to get strong in areas you are already presumably strong in.

I would take 8-10 hrs a day and get there. It is doable with time and hardwork in that time period. Just remember that practice is as important if not more important than learning the info itself. Get a good base and go from there especially with the BS. Alot of the info to answer the questions comes straight out of the passages and little outside knowledge is required besides the basics. You just have to figure out the passage!! 😀

 

[presto530]

I literally had a sort-of assigned "MCAT" semester where I would spend the majority of my time just on that test. To do this I held off of several easy core classes for my major and took a lot of, what you could say, "fluff" classes to make me a full time student, but required hardly any studying. By doing this, I was able to keep my head above water and was to able to study between 15-18 hours a week for the MCAT. I started studying in mid January and took the test on April 5th.

So what I would advise people to do is to not take classes that you know will take up a ton of time.

This sememster the only two classes I really have to study for are physics II and virology. The rest is just fluff/filler.

 

[wizenedone]

Not to be mean, I think anybody should shoot for the highest score possible.

I think you have enough time to get "strong" everywhere.

Since you are stronger on BS and verbal, I assume that means you would need to spend more time on the PS. However, it should all equal out in the end because it should take less time to get strong in areas you are already presumably strong in.

I would take 8-10 hrs a day and get there. It is doable with time and hardwork in that time period. Just remember that practice is as important if not more important than learning the info itself. Get a good base and go from there especially with the BS. Alot of the info to answer the questions comes straight out of the passages and little outside knowledge is required besides the basics. You just have to figure out the passage!! 😀

I agree with you completely. Everyone should shoot for a very 'high' MCAT score. According to me, a 'high' MCAT score would be anything more than 35. Personally, I'd set a goal on a very high specific number and strive to get that score. That is just me. I was speaking for other people. Some people simply shoot for a 30 or above. In the end, it does not really matter what score you get. As long as it gets you in medical school, any score is fine.

 

[drcoxer]

I literally had a sort-of assigned "MCAT" semester where I would spend the majority of my time just on that test. To do this I held off of several easy core classes for my major and took a lot of, what you could say, "fluff" classes to make me a full time student, but required hardly any studying. By doing this, I was able to keep my head above water and was to able to study between 15-18 hours a week for the MCAT. I started studying in mid January and took the test on April 5th.

So what I would advise people to do is to not take classes that you know will take up a ton of time.

This sememster the only two classes I really have to study for are physics II and virology. The rest is just fluff/filler.

haha, i did the samething...literally exactly the samething. except i'm taking 21 hours and have to study for nearly all of them. it sucks...bad decision. of the like 8-10 week-span i had to study, i really only got 5 solid weeks of studying for the mcat. i'd study 2 weeks...then the next 1-2 weeks i'd be swamped by midterms and so on. not to mention taking that many hours always leaves you with at least one test every week. it sucks...haha. i took it just last week too, so i'll tell you if my plan was foolhardy or not. i don't know i was scoring like early 30s before the exam but my goal was 35. another month of studying would have helped A LOT but oh well too late now. i'll tell you know how it goes in a few weeks when i get my scores back to tell you if it worked out or not.

on the plus side, since my mcat's been over, everything is so easy now. before i spent every free hour studying the mcat, now i just screw around haha. even taking 21 hours seems easy compared to handling all that AND the MCAT at the sametime. after doing something like that, it just boosts up your confidence. it's pretty cool haha