How busy do you have to be during MCAT studying?

[philosonista]

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Hi, SDN --

I once asked our regularly visiting neurosurgery resident on the forum what would be an acceptable workload to have while studying for the MCAT, to which he responded with an answer that struck fear into my heart: no less than a full time course load.

Yet many of you profess the virtues of doing nothing BUT the MCAT for a few months. To me, that sounds sensible.

Do tell, ADCOMs, knowledgable pre-meds. What is the answer?

@Goro @mimelim @LizzyM

 

[einsteinm]

Honestly, if I had an exam that would determine my chances at med school and I only wanted to take once and do well, I would make damn sure that it was my sole priority. Thus, I would take a light course load with gen eds (or preferably no courses, if possible).

I'm sure there are people out there that do just fine with a full course load, but I'd bet they are in the small minority (possibly majority on SDN 😉).

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Why not take it at the end of the summer, just do a light load of extracurriculars or something.

 

[MrLogan13]

Depends on you. Some people need more prep time, others don't.

 

[philosonista]

Depends on you. Some people need more prep time, others don't.

Ideally, your prep time would be proportional to your needs. But my question was more geared toward what ADOCM's would think of a given amount of study time. The neurosurgeon seemed to make it clear that scores for which a student had a lot of prep time to achieve would be looked at as lesser than that of someone who did a lot AND studied.

 

[MrLogan13]

How would they even know when you were prepping for it?

 

[philosonista]

Don't they see when you took the exam? Pretty easy to figure it out then.

 

[amad01]

Ideally, your prep time would be proportional to your needs. But my question was more geared toward what ADOCM's would think of a given amount of study time. The neurosurgeon seemed to make it clear that scores for which a student had a lot of prep time to achieve would be looked at as lesser than that of someone who did a lot AND studied.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Ideally, your prep time would be proportional to your needs. But my question was more geared toward what ADOCM's would think of a given amount of study time. The neurosurgeon seemed to make it clear that scores for which a student had a lot of prep time to achieve would be looked at as lesser than that of someone who did a lot AND studied.

That just seems a bit ridiculous. I wouldn't worry about it, just make sure your app is strong overall.

 

[ZedsDed]

Only you know what is best for you OP. Bottom line? Get the best score you can, however you can.

 

[einsteinm]

Don't they see when you took the exam? Pretty easy to figure it out then.

Lol. Not an adcom, but they definitely don't have time to scrutinize your app that much.

Don't over think it. Just do well.

 

[ZedsDed]

Ideally, your prep time would be proportional to your needs. But my question was more geared toward what ADOCM's would think of a given amount of study time. The neurosurgeon seemed to make it clear that scores for which a student had a lot of prep time to achieve would be looked at as lesser than that of someone who did a lot AND studied.

Well... I guess neurosurgeons don't know everything (I still consider them gods though 🙂.)

 

[efle]

Honestly I think there are seriously diminishing returns beyond a few hours per day of studying, as long as it's a steady pace across a few months. Summer study is best imo because you usually only have one other thing going on (research, summer class, job, etc) so it's easier to keep a good schedule, but you can definitely get maximally prepped while doing other stuff 30+ hours per week. Point is, you shouldn't worry about looking "busy enough" because you can and should have other substantial things at the same time and balance them just fine.

What's the difference between a neurosurgeon and God?

God doesn't think he's a neurosurgeon.

 

[MrLogan13]

Don't they see when you took the exam? Pretty easy to figure it out then.

This is textbook premed neuroticism. Don't worry about this. Prep in whatever manner you feel works for you. Chill out.

 

[House D.O.]

Do absolutely nothing but study and exercise and read for fun (even if u don't read books now)

 

[efle]

Do absolutely nothing but study and exercise and read for fun (even if u don't read books now)

Strongly disagree, it's bad to treat the MCAT as full-time - recipe for low efficiency from fatigue and burnout if you try to do it for a couple months. Much better to take little chunks daily over a summer or semester while keeping up other major activity.

 

[House D.O.]

That's what I personally did (obviously went to work too and hung out with friends occasionally) but I did over a span of 3-4 months. It was concentrated time and not spread out to where I would start forgetting the things I learned first. This way is something comes up (I.e. burnout) then u have a week to recover. If you are taking a 12 hr class load then ur chances of burnout are twice as high I believe! I just like to have little on my plate so I can focus on it and do it right the first time.

 

[efle]

That's what I personally did (obviously went to work too and hung out with friends occasionally) but I did over a span of 3-4 months. It was concentrated time and not spread out to where I would start forgetting the things I learned first. This way is something comes up (I.e. burnout) then u have a week to recover. If you are taking a 12 hr class load then ur chances of burnout are twice as high I believe! I just like to have little on my plate so I can focus on it and do it right the first time.

Wait what? You did it over 3-4 months but also in concentrated time? You treated it full time but also went to work?

Are you saying you did giant bursts of like 10 hour study days followed by a few days off or what

 

[House D.O.]

Wait what? You did it over 3-4 months but also in concentrated time? You treated it full time but also went to work?

Are you saying you did giant bursts of like 10 hour study days followed by a few days off or what

Pretty much, it was 3-4 months of intense studying 8+ hours daily. Not every day of the week though. I worked average 2 days a week (part time) and did other small activities while studying but it was a full time job. There would be no way I could get the same quality of studying if I squeezed in school with that. But that's just me.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Its also more than managable to work full time while studying.
The vast majority of people don't have the luxury of taking months off without pay during the summers of undergrad or otherwise
If you want to do well, you;ll find a way to fit it in
Personally, I think if you can't handle studying and working at least a little elsewhere how on earth are you going to handle med school?

 

[Promethean]

No one is going to look at when you took the test and then compare that to your course load at the time.

As I've recently said elsewhere, if your app is getting that level of scrutiny, you've probably done a lot of things right to get that much attention. And if they have to look that hard to find a flaw, you are going to be admitted.

I was working full time and taking 15 credits both times I took the MCAT. And I was still studying / taking practice exams for at least 24 hours per week for the 2-3 months leading up to the exam. I took vacation from work to free up an extra 40 hours for the final week. Scored low 30s the first time, high 30s the second. Could not have done it with any less focused study.

 

[Promethean]

I think when people say it should be the only thing you are doing, what they really mean is that you should eat, sleep, work/go to school, and study for MCAT. You can't turn off every other responsibility, but you can disappear from your social scene for a few months. On the bus, study. While eating, study. On a work break? Study. When I had any downtime, I had a review book or some other resource open.

 

[Spinach Dip]

I took no classes during my 10 week prep over Christmas break.

The result was a 40.😱

If some med school wants to grade me down because I wasn't taking histology, anatomy, quant analysis, and advanced calc WHILE studying for the MCAT, that is a school I dont want to go to....

 

[efle]

I took no classes during my 10 week prep over Christmas break.

The result was a 40.😱

If some med school wants to grade me down because I wasn't taking histology, anatomy, quant analysis, and advanced calc WHILE studying for the MCAT, that is a school I dont want to go to....

You have a two and a half month long winter break??? That would be perfect for MCAT prep, less expectation of other productive activities like in summers.

Also out of curiosity how frequently in interviews were you asked about your 30 --> 40 score jump?

 

[medic86]

You have a two and a half month long winter break??? That would be perfect for MCAT prep, less expectation of other productive activities like in summers.

Also out of curiosity how frequently in interviews were you asked about your 30 --> 40 score jump?

I only had a month for my break.

I'm sure I'd have done much better if I had 2.5 times the study time. 😛

 

[Spinach Dip]

You have a two and a half month long winter break??? That would be perfect for MCAT prep, less expectation of other productive activities like in summers.

1. I took all classes which were a review for the MCAT (physiology), had no final, or had a written final which I could finish two weeks ahead of time. I started my hardcore MCAT studying 2 weeks before the term ended.

2. When classes started in Jan, I essentially ignored them (yes, I attended), in favor of studying for the MCAT. It clearly paid off.

3. So no, I did not have 10 full weeks of break. But I did study for the MCAT 6 days a week for 10 weeks. On Sundays I reviewed notes. (The only day I took completely off was Dec 25.)

Also out of curiosity how frequently in interviews were you asked about your 30 --> 40 score jump?

Practically never. They are more interested in my overall score than the increase, and why my MCAT and GPA don't really match.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Most premeds take it during the summer. Your neurosurgery resident is probably very stressed out and is saying things to scare premeds.

 

[gettheleadout]

Practically never. They are more interested in my overall score than the increase, and why my MCAT and GPA don't really match.

I thought you only took the real thing once? Your thread about it states the 30 was a practice exam.

 

[gettheleadout]

For what it's worth OP, I studied the whole summer after my junior year, living at home with no other obligations. My priority was to maximize my scoring potential, and it paid off. Additionally, my thought on the matter is that med students get dedicated study time for Step 1, so why shouldn't premeds be justified in taking dedicated time to study for the MCAT? If you have solid extracurricular experiences and your app won't be missing out on anything by foregoing them during prep time, I see nothing wrong with prioritizing the test. That said, scoring highly was also very important to me because I saw the test as a chance to prove myself, coming from a school with no prestige. I'm sure an applicant from HYPSM could comfortably afford to set their score goal lower than I did, but that's something you have to decide for yourself.

 

[mimelim]

#1 Only take the exam once. Do your homework on how YOU should prepare, make a plan and stick to it.
#2 MCAT prep is different for everyone. Some people need to take more time than others, some need to learn material that they never learned the first time around in their pre-reqs.
#3 I expect that someone applying to medical school can adequately study for the MCAT while taking a normal course load in undergrad. Not 20+ credits, not while doing their normal ECs, but 15 credits? Yes. Other than Step 1, every other exam I have taken since the MCAT (Step 2 CS/CK, Step 3, in service exams, RPVI, etc) have been while I was working 70+ hours/week, which is NORMAL for medical students and residents.
#4 There are diminishing returns on the amount of studying that one does in a single day. This is all about time management.
#5 All of this having been said, the only thing that matters is your score at the end. Nobody will dig deep into what you were doing while preparing for the MCAT. If you know that you need dedicated, focused time to study, then do it. By FAR the most important asset you can have when entering medical school is knowing who YOU are as a student. If you know what your relative weaknesses are and the basics of how to counter them, you will be way ahead of the game.

 

[cactus8910]

Ideally, your prep time would be proportional to your needs. But my question was more geared toward what ADOCM's would think of a given amount of study time. The neurosurgeon seemed to make it clear that scores for which a student had a lot of prep time to achieve would be looked at as lesser than that of someone who did a lot AND studied.

The only way I could see that looking bad is if someone has graduated and takes a full year to do nothing but study, or if someone only takes one class for a semester. Otherwise, a slight drop in number of credits is going to go entirely unnoticed.

 

[Spinach Dip]

I thought you only took the real thing once? Your thread about it states the 30 was a practice exam.

True

 

[efle]

True

Oh lol that changes things, obviously nobody would comment on rapid improvement if all they saw was a single 40

 

[mehc012]

Wait what? You did it over 3-4 months but also in concentrated time? You treated it full time but also went to work?

Are you saying you did giant bursts of like 10 hour study days followed by a few days off or what

That sounds like what I did...4mo of working more than fulltime + MCAT studying. Usually that equated to 2 loonnnngg workdays/wk and 5 short workdays+8-10hr study days, except that after too many of those you'd get a bit burnt and take some unscheduled break days.
I didn't finish the 3mo SN2ed in my 4mo, but I covered all material at least once (meaning it was in my Anki deck, which imo made it less necessary to do the second/third passes) and I got through what I needed to in order to hit my goal score.