First time MCAT prep with a target of March, 2024. Please help as I am spending June as a diagnostic period to find my pace, schedule, and strategy!!!

[Blue Pistachio]

Hi SDNers,

I have set my target MCAT date to March 2024. I have spent two weeks of diagnostic period to see the pace at which I can go. I would like to seek feedback and guidance to what I am experiencing. I have been out of school for 10 years and I have so many questions (often complicated)...I apologize if this too long and complicated. I will spend the rest of June to find my pace and fine tune scheduling and strategy. I would really appreciate your input!!! Comment on any questions will be very helpful!

I am determined to loosely follow the three content phase system: Content review / Practice / Full Length Exam. I say loosely because I want to learn more about how strictly I should divide, or how much flexible I can be. I realize that MCAT prep is an iterative process and that the phases are all a part of an end goal of achieving high scores in MCAT. However, I want to hear from people who have gone through this processes ahead of myself.

During the content review phase, I plan on using Kaplan 7 subject books supplemented with MileDown AnKi Deck for OC/GC/Bio/Biochem/Physics. I will use Jack Westin for CARS. For Psych/Soc, I will resort to MileDown AnKi Deck and Khan Academy.
For practice, I am leaning towards using UWorld, Blueprint and AAMC.
For the Full lengths, I want to utilize Kaplan, Blueprint, and AAMC. I will save AAMC until the end.


Questions:

1. What is a good pace for Kaplan chapters? Currently I am spending 2-3 days for a chapter. I am unsure if I am really absorbing the concepts or overspending here.

2. How do I supplement Kaplan with MileDown Anki deck? Once I finish a chapter, I have been reviewing the flashcards daily. Is this a right approach?

3. During the content review, do I stay away from practice questions? When should I incorporate practice questions? I will be using UWorld and AAMC questions for the practice phase.

4. If I separated the content review phase and practice phase, how will I retain concepts for the practice phase given that it will begin after 3-4 months? I find myself hesitating to move faster within the chapters precisely because I wanted to prevent that.

5. How should I content review CARS? This does not really have a content review, rather practices. I was advised to do Jack Westin passage of the day. I guess the pace itself is sustainable until the test date, but when should I really delve into doing more questions?

6. How should I study Psych/Soc? Many people recommend using MileDown Anki deck to study for this section. I have incorporated the decks but how do I know if I am learning the materials by looking through the decks? I recognize flashcards I am getting, and I can recall from description what the term is, but will this be sufficient for the exam contents?

7. StudySchedule offers me a schedule to read through 1/8 of all of Kaplan bio. How is this approach? I think it may be "little bit of everything" approach and not sure if it will be beneficial. What are some ways to control inputs to StudySchedule?

Please feel free to ask me questions, challenge my assumptions, argue my conclusion. As long as it leads me to fine tune my thinking, I would really appreciate them. But also, I would also really like to invite those have taken the MCAT. If you have concrete tips on what worked for you, I ask that you share those. If you are currently preparing for the test, best of luck to us, and hope we will learn from the discussions here. Please feel free to pitch in!

Thank you!
BP

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[karaya]

I just took the MCAT after a few months of study. My aamc FL average is 518. Here are some thoughts.

1. IMO reading chapter by chapter is inefficient. You're probably absorbing a fair bit of material you won't need (looking at you, physics), as well as re-treading material you might still retain from class.

2. Flashcards are good, but they have diminishing returns, so don't spend too much time here.

3. You should incorporate practice questions as soon as possible. Preferably from Day 1 (i.e. your diagnostic). UGlobe and AAMC prep combined have nearly 5000 questions, excluding the FLs. I doubt you'll get through all of them, but regardless, practice is time well-spent. Testing yourself is the best way to gauge your aptitude. And don't be afraid of wrong answers, as so many naive students are. Wrong answers lead to targeted learning. This is very valuable.

4. Don't separate practice phase from content review phase. Practice IS content review.

6. P/S probably benefits the most from flashcards because it has the most memorization. Still, the above principles apply. You have to learn the concepts before memorizing them, so prioritize learning (Wikipedia often suffices).

My takeaways: the MCAT science sections are 40% content knowledge and 60% application and reasoning. The # of concepts is limited, and with enough practice, you will approach that limit. Practice questions are the best way to spend your time because they tell you exactly what you need to improve, be it content knowledge or reasoning and strategy. For greatest effect, you have to review every guess and wrong answer.

Burnout will be a factor. 3 months of study seems to be the sweet spot because I was getting tired/bored at the end. Just remember to keep living your regular life. Exercise and socializing helped me maintain mental clarity. Ultimately, I finished less than 1/3 of UGlobe because I ran out of time, but I don't know if I could've done more anyway. Allow me to be reductive here. I prioritized hitting 90% comprehension with 1 unit of effort, rather than 100% with 2 units. That extra unit of effort I simply spent on my mental and physical health. And in the end I felt okay with a 90%ile score.

Also, 3rd party FLs are deflated. I went from 512 sample --> 504 Altius. Later, I went from 519 AAMC --> 510 Altius. Kaplan and Princeton were even worse, around 500. As predictors, 3rd party CARS and PS are nearly worthless because their logic doesn't match AAMC's. Their CP and BB are ok tho.

Disclaimer: I studied for the MCAT right after finishing my prereqs. Most of the knowledge was still fresh. I took the diagnostic before biochem and scored ~512. YMMV.

 

[Blue Pistachio]

I just took the MCAT after a few months of study. My aamc FL average is 518. Here are some thoughts.

1. IMO reading chapter by chapter is inefficient. You're probably absorbing a fair bit of material you won't need (looking at you, physics), as well as re-treading material you might still retain from class.

2. Flashcards are good, but they have diminishing returns, so don't spend too much time here.

3. You should incorporate practice questions as soon as possible. Preferably from Day 1 (i.e. your diagnostic). UGlobe and AAMC prep combined have nearly 5000 questions, excluding the FLs. I doubt you'll get through all of them, but regardless, practice is time well-spent. Testing yourself is the best way to gauge your aptitude. And don't be afraid of wrong answers, as so many naive students are. Wrong answers lead to targeted learning. This is very valuable.

4. Don't separate practice phase from content review phase. Practice IS content review.

6. P/S probably benefits the most from flashcards because it has the most memorization. Still, the above principles apply. You have to learn the concepts before memorizing them, so prioritize learning (Wikipedia often suffices).

My takeaways: the MCAT science sections are 40% content knowledge and 60% application and reasoning. The # of concepts is limited, and with enough practice, you will approach that limit. Practice questions are the best way to spend your time because they tell you exactly what you need to improve, be it content knowledge or reasoning and strategy. For greatest effect, you have to review every guess and wrong answer.

Burnout will be a factor. 3 months of study seems to be the sweet spot because I was getting tired/bored at the end. Just remember to keep living your regular life. Exercise and socializing helped me maintain mental clarity. Ultimately, I finished less than 1/3 of UGlobe because I ran out of time, but I don't know if I could've done more anyway. Allow me to be reductive here. I prioritized hitting 90% comprehension with 1 unit of effort, rather than 100% with 2 units. That extra unit of effort I simply spent on my mental and physical health. And in the end I felt okay with a 90%ile score.

Also, 3rd party FLs are deflated. I went from 512 sample --> 504 Altius. Later, I went from 519 AAMC --> 510 Altius. Kaplan and Princeton were even worse, around 500. As predictors, 3rd party CARS and PS are nearly worthless because their logic doesn't match AAMC's. Their CP and BB are ok tho.

Disclaimer: I studied for the MCAT right after finishing my prereqs. Most of the knowledge was still fresh. I took the diagnostic before biochem and scored ~512. YMMV.

I appreciate you for taking the time for a detailed response. I see that you highly recommend blending practice and content review phases.

In your case, how did you dive into the practice session/phase? For example, how do you select a set # of questions for a subject? Or for a specific chapters within a subject? I would be curious to know how you tackled the CARS section. Are there some tips that you could provide??

 

[karaya]

I didn't have a rigid method. The only items I scheduled were FLs + review, one per week. I practiced based on what I felt were my weaknesses on the previous test. So one week I did straight CP, another I focused on Bio q-packs. You probably don't need to practice more specifically than that. (UGlobe allows you to practice subsets of questions, but I didn't use that feature because I wanted to simulate test-day randomness.) The most important thing is to just do it. "Dive in." You don't know what you don't know until you get exposure.

No real advice for CARS, sorry. I've always been an avid reader. If you want to improve, I say read often and for pleasure. And hone the skill of eliminating answers.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

We also came out with a revised 100-day MCAT strategy (I think there is a link on the sidebar.)

Those who have recently taken the test, let us know if you have comments.

 

[Blue Pistachio]

I didn't have a rigid method. The only items I scheduled were FLs + review, one per week. I practiced based on what I felt were my weaknesses on the previous test. So one week I did straight CP, another I focused on Bio q-packs. You probably don't need to practice more specifically than that. (UGlobe allows you to practice subsets of questions, but I didn't use that feature because I wanted to simulate test-day randomness.) The most important thing is to just do it. "Dive in." You don't know what you don't know until you get exposure.

No real advice for CARS, sorry. I've always been an avid reader. If you want to improve, I say read often and for pleasure. And hone the skill of eliminating answers.

Thanks, I really appreciate your approach. This is definitely a new perspective for me. Would your recommendation hold if the last time I encountered MCAT content materials was 10 years or more ago?

Using the dive analogy, and assuming it is the water into which I am diving, I think that fact is what keeps me away from diving in and drives me to "learn the techniques" first. I am not sure, but your suggestion has greatly helped me to think.

 

[Blue Pistachio]

We also came out with a revised 100-day MCAT strategy (I think there is a link on the sidebar.)

Those who have recently taken the test, let us know if you have comments.

Thank you for pointing this out! I found it and I will share for others who may be interested : 100 DAY MCAT STUDY PLAN adapted from SN2ed & MCATjelly - EK, TBR, TPRH, Kaplan

Could you please provide some of your feedback to the questions I have raised? I would really like to get perspectives that will help me solidify my plan..Thanks!

 

[lockstitch]

Do you mean the questions like, how do you choose practice questions and how to get started?

Did you look at the 100 day study plan and does it answer any of that?

I think that you should go check out the resources mentioned in the plan and this thread (like AAMC stuff and UWorld)—get a trial, sample questions, Craigslist, whatever is available. Then you can evaluate the resources and see what you can do with them, like, “UWorld questions are organised by subject so I can practice one topic at a time”. From that you can also check which you want to invest in.

At the same time, no harm taking a (possibly half-length) diagnostic test just to see where you are. AAMC sample length or third party is up to you.

 

[Wamuu]

I just took the MCAT after a few months of study. My aamc FL average is 518. Here are some thoughts.

1. IMO reading chapter by chapter is inefficient. You're probably absorbing a fair bit of material you won't need (looking at you, physics), as well as re-treading material you might still retain from class.

2. Flashcards are good, but they have diminishing returns, so don't spend too much time here.

3. You should incorporate practice questions as soon as possible. Preferably from Day 1 (i.e. your diagnostic). UGlobe and AAMC prep combined have nearly 5000 questions, excluding the FLs. I doubt you'll get through all of them, but regardless, practice is time well-spent. Testing yourself is the best way to gauge your aptitude. And don't be afraid of wrong answers, as so many naive students are. Wrong answers lead to targeted learning. This is very valuable.

4. Don't separate practice phase from content review phase. Practice IS content review.

6. P/S probably benefits the most from flashcards because it has the most memorization. Still, the above principles apply. You have to learn the concepts before memorizing them, so prioritize learning (Wikipedia often suffices).

My takeaways: the MCAT science sections are 40% content knowledge and 60% application and reasoning. The # of concepts is limited, and with enough practice, you will approach that limit. Practice questions are the best way to spend your time because they tell you exactly what you need to improve, be it content knowledge or reasoning and strategy. For greatest effect, you have to review every guess and wrong answer.

Burnout will be a factor. 3 months of study seems to be the sweet spot because I was getting tired/bored at the end. Just remember to keep living your regular life. Exercise and socializing helped me maintain mental clarity. Ultimately, I finished less than 1/3 of UGlobe because I ran out of time, but I don't know if I could've done more anyway. Allow me to be reductive here. I prioritized hitting 90% comprehension with 1 unit of effort, rather than 100% with 2 units. That extra unit of effort I simply spent on my mental and physical health. And in the end I felt okay with a 90%ile score.

Also, 3rd party FLs are deflated. I went from 512 sample --> 504 Altius. Later, I went from 519 AAMC --> 510 Altius. Kaplan and Princeton were even worse, around 500. As predictors, 3rd party CARS and PS are nearly worthless because their logic doesn't match AAMC's. Their CP and BB are ok tho.

Disclaimer: I studied for the MCAT right after finishing my prereqs. Most of the knowledge was still fresh. I took the diagnostic before biochem and scored ~512. YMMV.

May I ask, then, if I am screwed? I started studying in May and have done 2 chapters per day of reading/highlighting and lots of googling and I am set to finish the kaplan books next week. Since you mentioned do integrate questions on day 1 rather than separating them from the study phase, how would I go about this going forward? I almost feel like what I've done is for naught.

I've made flashcards for all the important equations in physics as well as hormones, enzymes, important anatomy, and some biochem (haven't done the structures of amino acids yet).

The content makes perfect sense to me, gen chem can still kiss my posterior though. I also consistently do well in the chapter pre-quiz, scoring between 10 and 13 out of 15 right, not with gen chem lmao. My MCAT date is set for September 8th and if my score is good, I am sending apps the same day I get the score to MD and the rest to DO since their due dates are much later.

 

[karaya]

May I ask, then, if I am screwed? I started studying in May and have done 2 chapters per day of reading/highlighting and lots of googling and I am set to finish the kaplan books next week. Since you mentioned do integrate questions on day 1 rather than separating them from the study phase, how would I go about this going forward? I almost feel like what I've done is for naught.

I've made flashcards for all the important equations in physics as well as hormones, enzymes, important anatomy, and some biochem (haven't done the structures of amino acids yet).

The content makes perfect sense to me, gen chem can still kiss my posterior though. I also consistently do well in the chapter pre-quiz, scoring between 10 and 13 out of 15 right, not with gen chem lmao. My MCAT date is set for September 8th and if my score is good, I am sending apps the same day I get the score to MD and the rest to DO since their due dates are much later.

You have plenty of time to practice and do well on the real thing. I'm worried about your application timeline. Even if you verify early, prewrite secondaries and submit them as soon as you receive them, you're going to be complete in mid-October. That's late for MD schools. You ought to postpone a year because many of those applications will be donations.

 

[Blue Pistachio]

Do you mean the questions like, how do you choose practice questions and how to get started?

Did you look at the 100 day study plan and does it answer any of that?

I think that you should go check out the resources mentioned in the plan and this thread (like AAMC stuff and UWorld)—get a trial, sample questions, Craigslist, whatever is available. Then you can evaluate the resources and see what you can do with them, like, “UWorld questions are organised by subject so I can practice one topic at a time”. From that you can also check which you want to invest in.

At the same time, no harm taking a (possibly half-length) diagnostic test just to see where you are. AAMC sample length or third party is up to you.

Thanks for the trial and diagnostic recommendations. Are there recommendations regarding UWorld that you could share? Kaplan is my primary resource for contents and I want to check my understanding as I go.