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Critique my schedule!
- Thread starter ikillmcatz
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There's no way you can do SN2ed's schedule AND an MCAT prep class at the same time (unless you substitute the Kaplan materials for SN2ed's recommendations, which I wouldn't recommend doing), much less while working full time and engaging in a hobby. Honestly I'm surprised you can even do the class while working full time.
As a guy who also studied for the MCAT while working full time in a lab in a new town, my advice is to take it slow. Put in 2-3 hours a day (more on weekends) and just study for 4-6 months instead of the usual 3-4 that gets recommended. You'll just need to organize your studying such that you go regularly review material you've already studied so it stays fresh (as a bonus this will also help you retain the information a lot better than just covering it once or twice in a short period of time). Doing your studying this way will give you time to explore your hobbies, focus on work, and study effectively.
The downside is that you'll probably have to drop the Kaplan class. If you think it'll really help you (you learn a lot better from lectures, you have terrible self-discipline and need someone to push you along, etc.) then take the class, but if you're capable of studying well on you're on I'd say save yourself the stress, burnout, and $2000 and just self-study instead. Also, there's no way to do SN2ed's schedule putting in that amount of time per day, so you'd have to use your own schedule instead. You can choose to put in more time per day, but realize that this won't be easy and that the more time you spend studying per day after putting in an 8 hour workday at a lab increases your risk of burnout. It's much better to get 2-3 hours of solid, quality studying in per day than 5-8 hours of barely conscious, burnt-out studying.
As a guy who also studied for the MCAT while working full time in a lab in a new town, my advice is to take it slow. Put in 2-3 hours a day (more on weekends) and just study for 4-6 months instead of the usual 3-4 that gets recommended. You'll just need to organize your studying such that you go regularly review material you've already studied so it stays fresh (as a bonus this will also help you retain the information a lot better than just covering it once or twice in a short period of time). Doing your studying this way will give you time to explore your hobbies, focus on work, and study effectively.
The downside is that you'll probably have to drop the Kaplan class. If you think it'll really help you (you learn a lot better from lectures, you have terrible self-discipline and need someone to push you along, etc.) then take the class, but if you're capable of studying well on you're on I'd say save yourself the stress, burnout, and $2000 and just self-study instead. Also, there's no way to do SN2ed's schedule putting in that amount of time per day, so you'd have to use your own schedule instead. You can choose to put in more time per day, but realize that this won't be easy and that the more time you spend studying per day after putting in an 8 hour workday at a lab increases your risk of burnout. It's much better to get 2-3 hours of solid, quality studying in per day than 5-8 hours of barely conscious, burnt-out studying.
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Last edited:
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Sent you a PM.
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anyone else have critiques/advice?
