how do you guys arrange time for MCAT studying

[adillon]

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Hi guys, i'm grad in neuroscience. i wish to take the MCAT next april but i find it is very hard to keep pace in studying because of the lab works. For most of the time, i have to work for 10-12 hours straight in the lab and get home exhausted. I started to read the Kaplan review book in mid July, but till now, i haven't even finished the first time. Sometimes when experiments are going slow, i can have 2-3 hours to study at night, but this doesn't happen so often. So i just wonder how you guys, especially grad students and people who are working, arrange your schedule.

thanks in advance.

 

[relentless11]

There's 24-hours in one day right?...haha..jk. 😉

Well for one, you can take the MCAT in May, and June too so that gives you more options. If you can't devote a lot of time in one day, then you need to spread studying out over a larger time frame. As an undergrad, I found studying about 5hrs/day for the MCAT for up to 3 months is sufficient. With the first 1.5 months being reading and doing some problems, while the latter 1.5 months consisting of doing problems and practice exams.

However given the life of a graduate student, I would model it after studying for a qualifying examination. Do as much as you can early and often. So rather than 5h/day over 3 months, perhaps 2.5h/day over 6 months (or better 5h/day for 6months haha). Find more efficient ways to study too. I found teaching concepts, and answering the questions of others is a good way to STUDY. But to prepare for the MCAT, I would have to say doing problems (successfully) is the big player. Therefore a combination of both is a must.

Lastly, you may need to talk to your PI about devoting some time to MCAT studying. Some PI's are sympathetic, others are not. Hopefully your PI is the former. Thats the problem with being a pre-med in graduate school. Most of your time is dedicated to the program...hence most med schools recommending a post-bacc rather than grad school. Which leads me into the last alternative. Taking the MCAT after finishing grad school. Good luck!

 

[MJB]

This summer, I pretty much went to work at 7 or 7:30am...worked all day until around 5 or so...and was studying most nights from 6-11 M-Thur. Took practice tests on Fridays...

On the weekends, I typically worked on my apps, went to the lake and worked on flashcards, etc..

It really can be a full time job.

 

[Divine Furor]

I was a full time bartender and in two classes with lab while I studied for my MCATS (cough*cough*) and to be frank, it wasn't the best arrangement. I didn't do as well as I would like, but I didn't do poorly either. I managed about four months of solid studying between 3-4 hours a day, in stolen moments and often behind a bar. In retrospect, the best thing I did for myself was discovering that depth, not frequency, increased my performance on the diagnostics. When I dropped to studying 3 nights a week, but a good solid 5-6 hours at a stretch, I felt better and retained more. Since you're going to juggle, try very hard (you have SO MUCH TIME, rellllaxxxx) to pinpoint what study method works best and then stick to it. Don't get frantic, don't break your patterns. Remember that the MCATS is not knowing EVERY SINGLE THING EVER about the skeletomuscular system, but knowing a good portion of all sciences very, very well.

 

[GradTX]

Is anyone else in (or finished with) grad school having problems not getting bored with MCAT studying? Half of it I don't remember at all (most of these classes were 7 years ago for me), and half of it I know in so much detail that the simplicity of the review book makes me cringe. I'd much rather be reading current literature than pushing boxes down inclined planes. *yawn*

 

[mshheaddoc]

I can't study at night, I fall asleep its so boring. I am trying to just study a few pages a night but its really hard at the moment. I am going to be setting aside at least one day a week for 4-6 hrs to focus on it so I have 4-6 months to study.

 

[RxnMan]

Hi guys, i'm grad in neuroscience. i wish to take the MCAT next april but i find it is very hard to keep pace in studying because of the lab works. For most of the time, i have to work for 10-12 hours straight in the lab and get home exhausted. I started to read the Kaplan review book in mid July, but till now, i haven't even finished the first time. Sometimes when experiments are going slow, i can have 2-3 hours to study at night, but this doesn't happen so often. So i just wonder how you guys, especially grad students and people who are working, arrange your schedule.

thanks in advance.

ONe way that I "studied" for the MCAT was to teach. I was an organic and gen chem TA, and I tutored several groups on campus. For me, it was a better test of my comprehension to voice my knowledge and have it questioned (repeatedly) by students. Explaining some concept from several different views also helped.

 

[njbmd]

Hi guys, i'm grad in neuroscience. i wish to take the MCAT next april but i find it is very hard to keep pace in studying because of the lab works. For most of the time, i have to work for 10-12 hours straight in the lab and get home exhausted. I started to read the Kaplan review book in mid July, but till now, i haven't even finished the first time. Sometimes when experiments are going slow, i can have 2-3 hours to study at night, but this doesn't happen so often. So i just wonder how you guys, especially grad students and people who are working, arrange your schedule.

thanks in advance.

You need to set yourself an MCAT review schedule and block time for your review. For example, set 30 minutes right after you come home for MCAT study on your long days. Set a kitchen timer and spend 30 minutes reviewing.

Make a list of topics and check them off as your review them. Set longer study periods on Saturday and Sunday and keep them.

If you make a schedule and stick with it you may find that you can cover things more efficiently. Have an alternate time if something unexpected comes up but stick with your schedule.

I am a surgery resident and my average day is 12-hours. I force myself to read 30 minutes every night when I get home. No excuses; book open; reading gets done. I put a check mark as I finish each topic. I have found that once I sit down at my desk, my mind immediately goes into the read/study mode and I get this taken care of for the day.

 

[Quix]

Teaching definitely helps. I taught Gen. Chem labs for the last academic year, so it was great to have the chance to play with the concepts until I felt comfortable enough to teach others. I also studied on evenings and weekends. I thoroughly abused Panera's free coffee refill policy, hunkered down with the comprehensive review book and practice exams. I also bought the biological and physical sciences review cards (with the upside-down printing), and went through them time and time again, snipping the corners of the concepts I felt I knew cold. Whatever concepts remained got extra study time. Definitely do practice exams - the answer/explanations were as helpful as the primary study resources (and even more "kick-yourself-it's-obvious" frustrating).

 

[Dianyla]

It's still a few years away for me, but I'm already plan to take some serious vacation time off of work for at least 2-3 weeks prior to the test.

(Of course, this is be in addition to studying during the week and long sessions on weekends for at least 2-3 months prior, as well as a humanely reduced school courseload that term.)

 

[nouveau007]

I have a fulltime job which requires up to 80 hours a week. I force myself to wake up earlier and review for 1 hours before I go to work. After a long day, I get back to my room, give myself 30 minutes to decompress and start studying until bedtime. What I lack is the energy to get going 👎 ...

 

[Playmakur42]

After a long day, I get back to my room, give myself 30 minutes to decompress and start studying until bedtime.

The old "study until bedtime only to do it all again tomorrow" method is tried, true, and the only time management tool I utilize.

 

[Scottish Chap]

Hi guys, i'm grad in neuroscience. i wish to take the MCAT next april but i find it is very hard to keep pace in studying because of the lab works. For most of the time, i have to work for 10-12 hours straight in the lab and get home exhausted. I started to read the Kaplan review book in mid July, but till now, i haven't even finished the first time. Sometimes when experiments are going slow, i can have 2-3 hours to study at night, but this doesn't happen so often. So i just wonder how you guys, especially grad students and people who are working, arrange your schedule.

thanks in advance.

I feel your pain. I was active in two jobs - one of them pure research for >60hrs per week after graduate school when I was preparing for the MCAT and I did everything the wrong way. You must prepare in earnest for the MCAT - even if that means scaling back your lab hours - because medical schools treat your score very seriously. You want to take this test only once. While a professional prep. course is not mandatory to do well, many people find that the structure (and the money they've forked out!) forces them to study more diligently than they otherwise would. The subject material is basic, but I wish I had taken a prep. course like most of my classmates (I'm an MSII now). Focused, daily study that is consistent is key...and then follow that up with several practice tests right before the exam. Feel free to PM any specific questions. Good luck, and welcome to the ‘other side'.😉

 

[md2011]

Buy an audio CD, such as those from Examkrackers, listen to it when you are walking, eating, or whenever you cannot do anything but listening. This is really helpful to me, and help me get a good score in my scarce 2 month MCAT crash period. My 2-month wasn't like most other people's two month, as I have to learn lots of new stuff about organic chemistry/biology, and refresh my memory of my 15 year old physics. So autio is definitely the way to go.