Hey folks, I took my MCAT in early 2016 but figured my plan may be useful to some by at least saving some time with spreadsheet building if nothing else. I did not get a 520, but I am now a medical student at a US MD school. This post goes to those frantically google searching for guides and sifting through materials in preparation for the next series of tests, and I hope it helps you more here than it does just sitting on my hard drive.
As mentioned in the title, this guide is not so much original as it is an adaptation of the many great guides out there. Specifically, I looked at (and recommend you look at):
@Next Step Tutor - Breaking Down the MCAT 2015: 100 Days to MCAT Success
@_Nymeria_ - Forum Members - MCAT STUDY PLAN adapted from SN2ed & MCATjelly - EK, TBR, TPRH, Kaplan
@mcatjelly - My MCAT 2015 Study Schedule
Exam Kracker's Home Study webpage, which may no longer be available to the public on their website
Brief description:
103 day plan focused around ExamKrackers for review and practice, and NextStep for even more practice. The Lessons Learned technique is utilized and scheduled (described below). There is 1 off day a week, and the schedule is a staggering of review, exam, review exam, with CARS practice daily and some sort of exam practice weekly, with review of Lessons Learned sprinkled in. There are then Full Lengths scheduled towards the end.
Resources:
ExamKrackers 10th Edition Set
NextStep Strategy & Practice Books
ExamKrackers 101 Passages
NS 108 CARS Passages
Honorable mention - Khan Academy videos
Question banks (outside of above resources):
Khan Academy Passages
AAMC Official Guide Online Questions
AAMC Official MCAT Question Pack
AAMC Official MCAT Section Bank
Practice tests:
AAMC Official Sample Test
AAMC Official Practice Test 1
AAMC Official Practice Test 2
Next Step free half-length diagnostic and full length test
Next Step Full Lengths 1-6
(I know, there is a lot here - keep reading)
Other:
@Next Step Tutor has another guide, NextStep's 100 Days to MCAT Success, which discussed the Lessons Learned technique. All I did was have a Word document with bullet points of missed concepts, tricky concepts, or otherwise anything that I tended to stumble on. This came out to being 5 pages long without having even completed my full study plan, and was extremely helpful.
Notes:
I recommend adjusting the dates on the left to match your schedule.
Personally I used color coding to track my progress. Apparently I had a few colors going, but the gist of it is that I used the green filler to indicate completion and yellow if I knew there were EK errata notes for that section. For the sake of time, if a particular section, page, or paragraph had me concerned, I kept track of it in a Word document that I used later for targeted review of weak topics. I did this to avoid any unnecessary re-reading.
Real talk:
I did not keep up with my study schedule and I am confident that I would have done even better if I had. The content review and exams are fine, but the schedule becomes dense when you consider all of the practice that is thrown in. If you are in school full-time and doing extracurriculars, as I was at this time, I recommend either reducing the amount of practice or increasing the number of days in the plan and therefore spreading things out and allowing for more practice each week. That said, when my days started running out I finished all of the content review and EK exams and skimped on the NS practices, which allowed me to see everything at least once and know what I was weakest on and should therefore focus on (using the Word document as mentioned).
I have listed many half- and full-length practice tests because that is what everyone else recommended at the time. I think I did 2, again due to time constraints that I inflicted upon myself.
Disclaimer:
Unfortunately I am posting this in late 2018 after testing in early 2016, so my resources may be slightly dated. However, I am sure the concept is still appropriate.
Thanks to the community for helping me get to where I am today, and thanks for reading. Best of luck!
As mentioned in the title, this guide is not so much original as it is an adaptation of the many great guides out there. Specifically, I looked at (and recommend you look at):
@Next Step Tutor - Breaking Down the MCAT 2015: 100 Days to MCAT Success
@_Nymeria_ - Forum Members - MCAT STUDY PLAN adapted from SN2ed & MCATjelly - EK, TBR, TPRH, Kaplan
@mcatjelly - My MCAT 2015 Study Schedule
Exam Kracker's Home Study webpage, which may no longer be available to the public on their website
Brief description:
103 day plan focused around ExamKrackers for review and practice, and NextStep for even more practice. The Lessons Learned technique is utilized and scheduled (described below). There is 1 off day a week, and the schedule is a staggering of review, exam, review exam, with CARS practice daily and some sort of exam practice weekly, with review of Lessons Learned sprinkled in. There are then Full Lengths scheduled towards the end.
Resources:
ExamKrackers 10th Edition Set
NextStep Strategy & Practice Books
ExamKrackers 101 Passages
NS 108 CARS Passages
Honorable mention - Khan Academy videos
Question banks (outside of above resources):
Khan Academy Passages
AAMC Official Guide Online Questions
AAMC Official MCAT Question Pack
AAMC Official MCAT Section Bank
Practice tests:
AAMC Official Sample Test
AAMC Official Practice Test 1
AAMC Official Practice Test 2
Next Step free half-length diagnostic and full length test
Next Step Full Lengths 1-6
(I know, there is a lot here - keep reading)
Other:
@Next Step Tutor has another guide, NextStep's 100 Days to MCAT Success, which discussed the Lessons Learned technique. All I did was have a Word document with bullet points of missed concepts, tricky concepts, or otherwise anything that I tended to stumble on. This came out to being 5 pages long without having even completed my full study plan, and was extremely helpful.
Notes:
I recommend adjusting the dates on the left to match your schedule.
Personally I used color coding to track my progress. Apparently I had a few colors going, but the gist of it is that I used the green filler to indicate completion and yellow if I knew there were EK errata notes for that section. For the sake of time, if a particular section, page, or paragraph had me concerned, I kept track of it in a Word document that I used later for targeted review of weak topics. I did this to avoid any unnecessary re-reading.
Real talk:
I did not keep up with my study schedule and I am confident that I would have done even better if I had. The content review and exams are fine, but the schedule becomes dense when you consider all of the practice that is thrown in. If you are in school full-time and doing extracurriculars, as I was at this time, I recommend either reducing the amount of practice or increasing the number of days in the plan and therefore spreading things out and allowing for more practice each week. That said, when my days started running out I finished all of the content review and EK exams and skimped on the NS practices, which allowed me to see everything at least once and know what I was weakest on and should therefore focus on (using the Word document as mentioned).
I have listed many half- and full-length practice tests because that is what everyone else recommended at the time. I think I did 2, again due to time constraints that I inflicted upon myself.
Disclaimer:
Unfortunately I am posting this in late 2018 after testing in early 2016, so my resources may be slightly dated. However, I am sure the concept is still appropriate.
Thanks to the community for helping me get to where I am today, and thanks for reading. Best of luck!
