For people taking the mcat for the first time

[luckylee3]

take at least 6 months to take it. do not listen to people who say oh you gonna be fine after 2 months, 35+easy. trust me. u want to only take this once and not regret or keep on starting over after getting a bad score

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[1TB4RKSB4CK]

I want a 43 so I'm gonna take three years.

 

[IlyaR]

I want a 43 so I'm gonna take three years.

Diminishing returns dude. 2 years max

 

[doktorcardinal]

Diminishing returns dude. 2 years max

You didn't see his sarcasm..

 

[Person0715]

You didn't see his sarcasm..

I don't think you saw his sarcasm...

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

But who was sarcasm

 

[natg101]

Disagree. By the time you take the test most of the information should just be review from previous classes. 2-3 months is plenty if you're taking it seriously

 

[daleader]

take at least 6 months to take it. do not listen to people who say oh you gonna be fine after 2 months, 35+easy. trust me. u want to only take this once and not regret or keep on starting over after getting a bad score

+1

I agree with you on the fact that users on SDN are not a well representative of the entire pre-med population. When using this forum for advice and suggestions, you need to be smart and not be blind. An example would be the fact that TBR books here are considered the 'golden' set for PS while Kaplan is the worst prep company in the world - I don't think neither of them are true, so don't accept whatever is being said in this forum. A lot of great advices are available, but be smart when reading them.

A lot of people mentioned that a 2-3 months of study would lead to a 35+, that can't be true, looking at the percentiles. When coming up with a prep schedule (specially if its your first time), consider your own strengths and weaknesses and how you think you can best study and prep. For some people, it could be 2-3 weeks, for some people it could be 5-6 months.

I appreciate the fact that you took the time to post this.

 

[gettheleadout]

take at least 6 months to take it. do not listen to people who say oh you gonna be fine after 2 months, 35+easy. trust me. u want to only take this once and not regret or keep on starting over after getting a bad score

So your response to someone else posting an unhelpful generalization is to post an equally unhelpful generalization?

 

[daleader]

So your response to someone else posting an unhelpful generalization is to post an equally unhelpful generalization?

+1 the truth

 

[mcloaf]

So your response to someone else posting an unhelpful generalization is to post an equally unhelpful generalization?

What else is there?

Nobody has ever made the same score on the MCAT without studying the exact same way. You've been around here long enough to know that GTLO, sheesh.

 

[gettheleadout]

What else is there?

Nobody has ever made the same score on the MCAT without studying the exact same way. You've been around here long enough to know that GTLO, sheesh.

wow I fail

 

[aspiring20]

for people taking the MCAT the first time, don't neglect verbal! i can't say much about the sciences, but for verbal, you need to get in a habitat of doing passages EVERYDAY.

do 2-3 passages a day, 6 days a week in addition to all of your scheduled full-lengths.

also, reading good material such as the Economist, etc. can help indirectly, via increasing your reading speed/comfort level with foreign material.

lastly, when tackling the verbal section, never spend more than 2-3 minutes reading the passage. you want to get to the questions as soon as possible because that's where the points are. quite often, you don't need to understand every single paragraph (or even the majority of the passage) in order to miss fewer than one question on each passage.

and lastly, having a confident, positive attitude will do wonders for you in this grueling process. when i took mine this july, i went into the exam not really caring much about the outcome. i was very relaxed and just approached the test like any other practice exam i've done.

good luck

 

[pietachok]

i can't say much about the sciences, but for verbal, you need to get in a habitat of doing passages EVERYDAY. do 2-3 passages a day, 6 days a week in addition to all of your scheduled full-lengths.

Studying advice is not one size fits all. If I'd spent this much time on verbal at the expense of sciences, I'd have been in bad shape. Everybody has their own strengths, weaknesses, and study "habitats" p couldn't help it) that work for them. I never studied for verbal and got a good MCAT score -- I don't walk around telling all the other students to follow my lead, why should you?

 

[daleader]

Studying advice is not one size fits all. If I'd spent this much time on verbal at the expense of sciences, I'd have been in bad shape. Everybody has their own strengths, weaknesses, and study "habitats" p couldn't help it) that work for them. I never studied for verbal and got a good MCAT score -- I don't walk around telling all the other students to follow my lead, why should you?

wow chill .. he is not telling anyone to follow his lead, he is just giving an advice.. its obvious that its only his opinion.. and good for you that you didn't need to study much

 

[karayaa]

take at least 6 months to take it. do not listen to people who say oh you gonna be fine after 2 months, 35+easy. trust me. u want to only take this once and not regret or keep on starting over after getting a bad score

Could you qualify this a bit? Eg does this apply to people who took their pre-med classes 3-4 years ago, who took them at a JC, who got B+'s and A-'s or lower rather than real A's, who have no reseach experience, who know English as a 2nd language, who have full-time jobs, who have a family...

Who are you trying to give advice to? How do I (or anyone else) know what it's relevant for my particular case?

 

[aspiring20]

Studying advice is not one size fits all. If I'd spent this much time on verbal at the expense of sciences, I'd have been in bad shape. Everybody has their own strengths, weaknesses, and study "habitats" p couldn't help it) that work for them. I never studied for verbal and got a good MCAT score -- I don't walk around telling all the other students to follow my lead, why should you?

fair enough.

but my verbal studying plan got me a 15 on the verbal, though luck definitely played a role on the actual exam.

so i guess i should have clarified somewhat: if you want a really high verbal score (13+), then it might be somewhat helpful to at least consider what i did. and i speak english as a second language, so it should be a motivation to others that it is possible to succeed on the verbal section.

 

[RC4L]

Six months is extreme in my opinion. I took it once with a petty review of exam krackers and zero practice which got me a 21. Did it again a year later with two months of study and made a 30 with a 7 point increase in VR. Took it a third time a few weeks later which Ill know about Tuesday but pretty sure I bumped up a few points. Don't mistake quantity for quality. If you study correctly and diligently you really shouldn't need more than 3 months. It is very easy to waste time while studying for the MCAT. Do your research, get a plan together, and dedicate yourself to it.