Caffeine on MCAT day?

[Slide]

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I'm trying to get off coffee and I'm starting to wake up early to get a good morning schedule going at this point. However, when I took AAMC 7, I often kept finding myself beginning to doze off. I don't want to risk that same thing again on test day. Can anyone share their experiences with either dealing with caffeine, or knowing how much to drink on test day?

 

[alex_shimp]

I'm trying to get off coffee and I'm starting to wake up early to get a good morning schedule going at this point. However, when I took AAMC 7, I often kept finding myself beginning to doze off. I don't want to risk that same thing again on test day. Can anyone share their experiences with either dealing with caffeine, or knowing how much to drink on test day?

Its a diuretic, so stay off of it 🙂

 

[stoic]

do what you normally do. if you normally have coffee in the morning, have coffee before the mcat. if you're not a regular coffee drinker, don't start on the day of the mcat. trust me, you'll be nervous enough as it is.

the bottom line is that the day of the mcat is not the time to start switching habbits up.

good luck,
dave

 

[gottalovemilk]

ritalin. mmmmm good!

 

[MediMama23]

stoic, your avatar makes me .

🙁

 

[MasterMD]

stoic, your avatar makes me .

🙁

i agree 😱

 

[ilovehedgehogs]

do what you normally do. if you normally have coffee in the morning, have coffee before the mcat. if you're not a regular coffee drinker, don't start on the day of the mcat. trust me, you'll be nervous enough as it is.

the bottom line is that the day of the mcat is not the time to start switching habbits up.

good luck,
dave

yeah , exactly what stoic said...i am an avid coffee drinker, so when people tell me not to drink it before the test I laugh in their faces-cuz that would be the worst idea ever!!! with that said, i am going to drink it enough time ahead that i can have a nice pee before the test starts so as not to get uncomforable in PS

 

[musiclink213]

Don't change your habits the day of the test. I normally don't drink coffee because I get too hyperactive, so I avoid it. And I don't usually eat a lot of sugar in the morning because I know I'd have a sugar crash. But if you normally drink coffee, then drink it that morning. Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Law2Doc]

Its a diuretic, so stay off of it 🙂

Agree you should do your norm. If you can go a few hours without a bathroom break on caffeine, then its really not going to be a problem for most. Just scope out where the bathrooms are ahead of time as you may be on borrowed time if you miscalculate.

 

[Anastasis]

I drink a couple cups every morning. I think breaking that routine would mess me up more than the coffee.

 

[Nikki2002]

I don't know--I drank like 4 of those starbucks double shot things.

 

[zimmie256]

I usually have a cup of coffee in the morning, but for the past week I've switched to tea which has less caffeine. I'm going to stick with the tea through the MCAT... Just my attempt at a happy medium, but we'll see what happens!

 

[Lanced]

I take 50mg first thing in the morning another 50 before the verbal section, 50 at lunch and 50 after writing = 1-2 cups worth over the whole day (I use Jolt gum and Coke). I definitely think it helps me stay more alert over the long test. There's lots of research on attention and caffeine out there...

 

[Slide]

Wow, so when I got my test graded, I had a 2 point drop compared to my last score. My science score got impacted a bit, but for some reason my VR went up. However, it does look like the caffeine withdrawal did affect the areas where I started to doze off. My pchem lab mate told me the whole caffeine thing is only for those who can't control their pee or can't judge optimal bathroom breaks, so it looks like it's back to the coffeepot for me. Man, Kaplan has done more harm to me than good the past few weeks.

 

[HunterGatherer]

If you are a coffee drinker stick to your routine. Use the restroom before starting the exam and at EVERY break. Try to go right before lunch break ends.

Studies show that the coffee quickly loses its effects as a diuretic if you are a daily coffee drinker. If you are drinking 24+ ounces of coffee it is the volume of water not the caffeine making you urinate. If you drink more than your usual amount then the caffeine will do its thing.

 

[njbmd]

I'm trying to get off coffee and I'm starting to wake up early to get a good morning schedule going at this point. However, when I took AAMC 7, I often kept finding myself beginning to doze off. I don't want to risk that same thing again on test day. Can anyone share their experiences with either dealing with caffeine, or knowing how much to drink on test day?

Hi there,
I did not do anything different on MCAT test day from what I was doing on a daily basis. This is not the time to experiement as it adds to your stress level. If you have successfully decaffeinated yourself then keep with your daily program. If not, have your usual amount and decaffeinate after the test.

You might try stretching or moving around a bit if you are dozing off. The other thing to do is to keep yourself hydrated. Sometimes when you are dehydrated, you become drowsy. Take some deep breaths, stretch and keep doing your daily routine.

Upping the caffeine is just going to make you jittery and will promote diuresis. Both of these things are no fun during an exam.

njbmd 🙂