Correct Strategy in MCAT studying?

[jarednogeek]

I know there's tons of MCAT threads. I've researched for hours on solid MCAT study strategies and haven't made much ground. I'm shooting for an insane score. (shoot for the stars, land on the moon). Is this a viable strategy for a JANUARY MCAT?
I bought the Kaplan review set, I plan on studying them cover to cover this Summer
Once the Fall semester starts I plan on taking a practice test every 1-2 weeks then going over those cover to cover, going over missed and foggy correct concepts. (Review the tests by using Kaplan review set, Khan videos, Wikipedia...)

Any flaws in this? Any advice?
Thank you!

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[Skydive Fox]

You mean January 2017? If you start preparing now, you'll be solid. The only advice I'd have is to just make sure you have some form of flashcards/quicksheets you go over regularly so you keep everything fresh in your head. Your plan seems good; kudos on prepping this far ahead.

My MCAT is in May 20th, a week after my finals, and I've been periodically studying since February 1st using Kaplan's Self-Paced online course. Luckily, a lot of the courses I'm currently taking at uni (biochem, biostats, anatomy, etc.) are doubling as MCAT prep for me.

Godspeed, fellow pre-med.

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

Everyone is different, but I know your approach wouldn't work well for me. I wanted shorter period of more intense studying, so I studied for an entire summer (~30hrs/wk) with the last month dedicated to several practice tests every week, and then the real test in early Sept. If I waited longer for my test I would start forgetting material, and I knew I wouldn't have time for much studying during the school year.

Your approach might be fine, and you definitely have enough time to prepare before January (assuming you've taken most of the prereq courses).

 

[Jsor20]

Hey man! I'm on the same boat as you. I'm getting everything nailed down for a January mcat where I can just kill that. I've been looking over many mcat threads and have talked to a couple friends who have done well on the mcat. The best things I have found so far are the following:

Take a practice test every week for 12 weeks leading up to your mcat.

For psychology and social sciences use TPR and khan academy.

Certainly memorize all of the amino acids and know biochem extremely well.

And then just practice everyday is the fundamental approach to success.

I have seen people who have gotten 520+ and they love notecards. As for me, I have received an A in all pre med prerequisites and my approach has been to only study things I don't know. If I know something the first time, I will not come back to it. It saves so much time and effort and then you can focus on what you truly need. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on this thread. I'm super interested in what I can do to prepare for the January mcat and do extremely well.


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[jarednogeek]

Awesome guys, we're going to kill this thing. A couple things I'll add to my approach, if I find the Kaplan review books are lacking in an area I'll do some more Khan on it, also as I go along I'll make a huge sheet of the fuzzy material so I can continue looking over it weekly because I'm starting so far in advance. Also, I'm done with all the pre-reqs so I have no excuse not to start now, I wanna kill it!! The best strategy for me is just layers upon layers over extended time. Also I've taken the Chemistry biochemistry and am taking the bio biochemistry next semester (basically the same course.) So here is one of my biggest things I want to do before MCAT/Medical school. I want to know the Amino Acids, Nucleic Acids, Kreb's cycle, gluconeogenesis, basically all the fundamentals of biochem like the back of my hand. Yeah some of it can get confusing but i want to know them like I know how to add and subtract or do simple math you know? Let's kill this MCAT, forget shooting for average, shoot for a 528 and see where it takes you.

 

[jarednogeek]

Also I had a relative take the MCAT and studied 6 intense weeks, also a friend who studied a brief amount of time and they both killed it. However, I haven't taken physics/gen chem in a few years so I need a big refresher. Everyone's different but long term studying is what I'm doing! Also, I have an app on my phone called Read and it's full of research papers I plan on reading for fun/a way to study. And plan on reading tons of interesting books to help with the reading parts.

 

[eteshoe]

Your plan sounds doable - just don't push yourself too hard in the summer. I studied for ~9 months at 2 hr/night/5 days/wk (I was a non-trad and could not devote hrs upon hrs w/o negatively affecting other parts of my life), since I also wanted an insane score and it worked out. Though at the end I was getting absolutely sick of MCAT crap.

 

[jarednogeek]

Eteshoe, very valid. I'm taking a Summer course/visiting family/shadowing so this Summer won't be too intense. Between 2-4 hours a day 5days/week for the duration. I don't want to study 8+ hours a day nor to I have time to. I'm taking a gap year after I graduate next year so I have some motivation to study as hard as I can during that time. Thanks for the replys, continued insight would be awesome!

 

[MrLogan13]

Do lots of times practice exams.


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