Has anyone crammed the new MCAT into one month and gotting a 515+? If so, please expand on your study schedule, strategies,etc.
Has Anyone Crammed the New MCAT into One Month?
- Thread starter hugh2012
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my roommate studied for two weeks and I'm pretty sure he got a >520 (we don't really talk about this stuff lol). I think he just read kaplan and took a few practice tests. But he's a genius so this probably isn't very helpful
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It is possible for some to score 520+ with a month (or even a week) of practice and review. The underlying point is the amount of knowledge and reasoning abilities prior to the MCAT prep is different for everyone. Those who are excellent with critical thinking and have a very strong science background may need only little time to prep and score very high. Others with weak background and reasoning skills may need several months to prepare.
I finish my premed requirements this semester so I registered for April, giving me 4 months to study starting the end of December. Do you think this is more than enough? Or should I cram it into one month and take it at the end of January? I want the 4 months, but it may be a little difficult studying during the semester.
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Why plan to cram? It is too late to apply this year and you have months to study until April or May. I studied my spring semester and crammed for two weeks. My 516 landed me in med school. Plan instead of assuming you will do well.
@raiderette you got a 516 with only 2 weeks of studying? How did you do that?
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No, a semester of content review and two weeks of testing nightly. I gave 10 to 15 hours each week then crammed after my semester ended.
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I studied 4 weeks for a 37 on the old MCAT but I think the strategies are still valid.
-Don't reread material that you already know simply for the sake of rereading it. Just skip it, or skim it for facts you didn't know before/high yield info.
-For material that is new, spend 1-2 hours reading the chapter and just understanding it. Ignore the details. Then come back to it later and write down ONLY HIGH YIELD FACTS
-Overall, spend very little time on content review! Make sure to memorize ALL the high yield info so you know it front and back.
-The key to retaining content review info is to do problems! Make sure you're not just doing content review first for everything and then problems the next week. All this has to be interspersed.
-THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP TO DOING WELL IS JUST TO DO A TON OF PROBLEMS. Do at least a full book of problems for each section (like 200+ problems). This should take up most of your study time.
-Leave a week purely for practice tests. You need to get the timing and test taking strategies down.
-Don't reread material that you already know simply for the sake of rereading it. Just skip it, or skim it for facts you didn't know before/high yield info.
-For material that is new, spend 1-2 hours reading the chapter and just understanding it. Ignore the details. Then come back to it later and write down ONLY HIGH YIELD FACTS
-Overall, spend very little time on content review! Make sure to memorize ALL the high yield info so you know it front and back.
-The key to retaining content review info is to do problems! Make sure you're not just doing content review first for everything and then problems the next week. All this has to be interspersed.
-THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP TO DOING WELL IS JUST TO DO A TON OF PROBLEMS. Do at least a full book of problems for each section (like 200+ problems). This should take up most of your study time.
-Leave a week purely for practice tests. You need to get the timing and test taking strategies down.
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My personal guess is that those with the very highest types of MCAT scores often are the ones who study the least.
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MCAT is an IQ test, just like the SAT.
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Do the 4 months. I feel like the people here saying they prepped in a month and did well are more of the exception than the rule. Try to take a lighter course load or something. You don't want to prep for a huge career defining exam in a month if you can help it.
Edit: If you're human like me (lol) I prepped hardcore for 3 months and scored a 514.
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I studied for about 2.5 months for about 20-25 hours per week and got a 520. I wasn't doing much else during this time besides working part-time, writing my med school apps, etc.. However, it had been 4 years since my intro science classes and I had never seriously studied sociology/psychology before. If the material is fresher for you, you might be able to get away with one month.
But as others have said, if you have the time, take more time to study. While I think that stretching the study time too long can be detrimental (if you are studying for 6 months, chances are that you will forget what you studied in month 1 by month 6), 1 month is a bit tight unless you are super confident in your grasp of the material going into that month. With 4 months you'll have a much higher chance of scoring well. Just plan to set aside a few hours each day to study during the semester, and gradually ramp it up as your exam approaches. You'll retain the info better this way.
Also:
The MCAT is definitely not an IQ test. While having a high IQ and good test-taking abilities will help you no matter what, it is definitely a very study-able test.
But as others have said, if you have the time, take more time to study. While I think that stretching the study time too long can be detrimental (if you are studying for 6 months, chances are that you will forget what you studied in month 1 by month 6), 1 month is a bit tight unless you are super confident in your grasp of the material going into that month. With 4 months you'll have a much higher chance of scoring well. Just plan to set aside a few hours each day to study during the semester, and gradually ramp it up as your exam approaches. You'll retain the info better this way.
Also:
The MCAT is definitely not an IQ test. While having a high IQ and good test-taking abilities will help you no matter what, it is definitely a very study-able test.
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Yes and no. Have a high schooler who aced the SAT take the MCAT and I guarantee you they bomb it (except maybe CARS).
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How much content review you need to do depends entirely on how much you remember from your prereqs.
You could be near a 515 right now if you remember most of your chemistry and biology classes.
You could be near a 515 right now if you remember most of your chemistry and biology classes.
L
LoveBeingHuman:)
I personally have not taken it yet. However, most people who were successful with it tell me that there are two things you need to follow that will really help you. The first is that you need to start studying for the exam itself 3 months before. Not more, not less. You do less than that and you won't be prepared. You do more than that and you'll forget what you learned in the beginning. The second thing is that when you start your 3 months of studying, you should ALREADY have all the content and knowledge that is required memorized like the back of your hand. The three months should be about increasing problem solving skills and getting familiar with answering questions. For the critical analysis section, however, you need to starting reading heavy material well in advance (minimum of 6 months) and start thinking deeply about their composition. Good luck!
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Well that's because the SAT doesn't test sciences. Maybe try someone who got a 36 on the ACT?
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I spent a bit longer than that lol. I think for an investment in your future it is worth spending as much time as you think you need to do well on it.
I was planning on taking three months to study for it, but due to all the spots in every center within a 8 hour drive from me being full, I ended up taking it in June (School ended for me late April, with no MCAT studying being done during school). I ended up with about 6 weeks of studying, but I worked full time (Anywhere from 40-60 hours a week). I ended up scoring a 522 (132/131/130/129), which is a lot better than I was expecting (highest TPR test was a 515, and that was redoing one I'd already done). My suggestion is to make sure you're actually having meaningful time to study and prepare. For me this meant every morning waking up two hours before work, eating a good breakfast, and then playing some hardcore EDM while i grinded through the TPR notebooks. I'm a chem major and had recently just taken physics and biochem, so those books I could breeze through. I started by 6 weeks of studying by reading all the books in the set front to back, as especially in the biology book I found that some of the information required some information from later chapters to really be able to get a firm grasp on the material. Therefore I read through all the books and I think that took me about two weeks. The next month was used to re-read all the books, this time with a pen and a notepad, rewriting all the important things (this seems to be the best way for me to remember things). I did this with all the books once, and then re-read them again about a week and a half before the test. I did practice tests every Saturday, and then used what I did wrong on the practice tests to study Sunday.
Overall if you're focused it should be very doable. I only had about 2-3 hours on the weekdays to study, and then my weekends were studying friday to sunday nonstop. It wont be a fun time, but if you really study (put away your cell phone, log off facebook, shut off the tv, really put the effort in) you can do it. If you have any questions or anything feel free to drop me a pm.
Best of luck,
Hush
Overall if you're focused it should be very doable. I only had about 2-3 hours on the weekdays to study, and then my weekends were studying friday to sunday nonstop. It wont be a fun time, but if you really study (put away your cell phone, log off facebook, shut off the tv, really put the effort in) you can do it. If you have any questions or anything feel free to drop me a pm.
Best of luck,
Hush
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Lol no. There's a reason it's recommended you do all the pre-req's before testing. My freshman brother got a 33 on his ACT, he's a super smart guy but he'd bomb the MCAT at this point. You could have an IQ off the charts, but there's content you just need to know in order to do well.
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Why don't you test your hypothesis and post the results here?
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I strongly recommend that anyone considering a career deciding, high stakes exam to take it only when they are 100% ready. A month of cramming sounds like a recipe for disaster, and Adcoms are shy of people who make poor choices.
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If you're good at verbal and "analyzing research" (basically the non-recall heavy parts of Bio and Psych/Soc) then you can probably do it. Start by zooming really fast through the Psych/Soc content review in TPR or Kaplan or Khan.
Bio depends on how much bio coursework you've been through. If you've taken biochem or physiology or cell bio then don't study those for the bio section. If you haven't taken a physiology class for example, then do content review for that and not the others.
Spend one or two days memorizing Amino Acids and Hormones through brute force.
Spend the rest of your time cramming Chem/Phys and pray your Physical Sciences passages are about stuff you studied. It's ridiculous how out of all the different content areas of Physics there are like 2 or 3 passages only in the Physical Sciences section so there's some luck unless you're comfortable in all areas.
Bio depends on how much bio coursework you've been through. If you've taken biochem or physiology or cell bio then don't study those for the bio section. If you haven't taken a physiology class for example, then do content review for that and not the others.
Spend one or two days memorizing Amino Acids and Hormones through brute force.
Spend the rest of your time cramming Chem/Phys and pray your Physical Sciences passages are about stuff you studied. It's ridiculous how out of all the different content areas of Physics there are like 2 or 3 passages only in the Physical Sciences section so there's some luck unless you're comfortable in all areas.
