How hard should a pre-med study for MCAT?

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DrFelix

DrFelix

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I study for at least six hours each day. I spend many sleepless nights studying my pre-med material, even though I am bipolar on meds. I really want to have a good ranking in MCAT. If I am taking Biology, Physics, Chemistry as undergrad material, how hard should I study to be in the top 10%?
 
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You need to study as hard as YOU need to in order to achieve a top 10% score. Many people your age feel like they can accomplish this until they take the real one once lol It is great that you want to be in the top 10% and I once even found myself with that confidence too but as you do practice tests and all you will be able to assess your abilities and they you can make goals for yourself. Nothing can really be established until you get baseline scores.

Please make sure your bipolar symptoms are under control before you get to med school though. Thats not something that you will want to have to deal with later.
 
DrFelix said:
I study for at least six hours each day. I spend many sleepless nights studying my pre-med material, even though I am bipolar on meds. I really want to have a good ranking in MCAT. If I am taking Biology, Physics, Chemistry as undergrad material, how hard should I study to be in the first hundred or so?
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This is a very vague question.. What do you mean by "be in the first hundred or so"??


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PossibleDOC? said:
I think he meant top 10% usually premeds all want to score that high when they first studying lol (admirable though as always)
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Lol I hope he meant top 10% and not the top 100, because anyone who has to ask how hard to study for the MCAT is probably not going to be one of the top 100 scorers.
 
Huggy said:
Study very hard throughout all of your undergrad courses. Continue this work ethic into your MCAT studies when you have time to dedicate to it. Focus on understanding. Couple hundred hours of content review, several practice tests, and you'll be fine
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How many hours should I put to my weaker subjects?
 
Generally, people study after their pre reqs are done. The summer between sophomore and junior years is a good time to study (assuming you completed the pre req classes). Most people take 3-4 months during their summer breaks to study for the MCATs. I don't personally think there's all that much value in studying for the MCATs prior to finishing the pre req classes which it sounds like is what you are doing.

Finish your classes, and once summer starts, begin studying. Different people need different amounts of time to prepare for the MCAT. Some people study for a month, some for three months, and others study for even more (which was the case for me namely because I have a full time job).

Devote three-four months prior to your planned MCAT date, and intensely study then.
 
Everyone is different. I studied around 2.5 months and achieved top10%. However I have a degree in biochem which helped a ton. I'd say give it at least 3 months and take practice tests throughout. If you aren't achieving within 5% of what you want..push it off until you do.
 
As much as any other career-deciding, high stakes exam.

This is a question that only you can answer.


DrFelix said:
I study for at least six hours each day. I spend many sleepless nights studying my pre-med material, even though I am bipolar on meds. I really want to have a good ranking in MCAT. If I am taking Biology, Physics, Chemistry as undergrad material, how hard should I study to be in the top 10%?
Click to expand...
 
Everyone is different. I studied quite a bit (~9 months) for my 'top 10%' score but I wasn't studying for more than 2 hrs a night and I took the weekends off (I was also studying for the biochem subject GRE so it helped with some topic reinforcement). Find out what works for you but more importantly don't burn yourself out. And the key is tons of practice exams. Good luck!
 
eteshoe said:
Everyone is different. I studied quite a bit (~9 months) for my 'top 10%' score but I wasn't studying for more than 2 hrs a night and I took the weekends off (I was also studying for the biochem subject GRE so it helped with some topic reinforcement). Find out what works for you but more importantly don't burn yourself out. And the key is tons of practice exams. Good luck!
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I am unfortunately, currently facing the symptoms of burnout. I think I need to take a few days off from studying.
 
I am currently studying about 3-6 hours a day, depending on subject matter. I am in content review right now, should be done here in the next month or so then I will be starting on FLs.
I'll report back my score on September 10th 🙂
 
DrFelix said:
I study for at least six hours each day. I spend many sleepless nights studying my pre-med material, even though I am bipolar on meds. I really want to have a good ranking in MCAT. If I am taking Biology, Physics, Chemistry as undergrad material, how hard should I study to be in the top 10%?
Click to expand...

You'll probably retain the material better if you sleep more
 
eteshoe said:
Everyone is different. I studied quite a bit (~9 months) for my 'top 10%' score but I wasn't studying for more than 2 hrs a night and I took the weekends off (I was also studying for the biochem subject GRE so it helped with some topic reinforcement). Find out what works for you but more importantly don't burn yourself out. And the key is tons of practice exams. Good luck!
Click to expand...
MaxPlancker said:
As much as you need to get what you want. Could range from 0 seconds to years (lol yes I have heard of crazy people studying years for the MCAT). Note: 0 seconds is not recommended.
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Yeah i agree. Interestingly enough, i noticed that those who scored really high (>99th percentile) on the MCAT usually studied less (or few hours over several months). It could be due to many factors such as innate intelligence, prior content mastery during coursework, test taking skills. But there are still a few cases (including some famous SDNers and few friends) who scored >99th percentile with a lot of studying + practice passages. So time is poorly (if any) correlated with MCAT scores.

I really think that spending a lot of time and effort on practice passages + practice tests are the key to achieving a strong score. Content review can be learned during the practice phase + error analysis. But it's up to the individual in the end.
 
Lawper said:
Yeah i agree. Interestingly enough, i noticed that those who scored really high (>99th percentile) on the MCAT usually studied less (or few hours over several months). It could be due to many factors such as innate intelligence, prior content mastery during coursework, test taking skills. But there are still a few cases (including some famous SDNers and few friends) who scored >99th percentile with a lot of studying + practice passages. So time is poorly (if any) correlated with MCAT scores.

I really think that spending a lot of time and effort on practice passages + practice tests are the key to achieving a strong score. Content review can be learned during the practice phase + error analysis. But it's up to the individual in the end.
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So you mean if I study moderately (avoiding the symptoms of burnout), I can still be in the top 10%?
 
DrFelix said:
So you mean if I study moderately (avoiding the symptoms of burnout), I can still be in the top 10%?
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Stop worrying about the top 10% cutoff. Study your heart out (while remaining physically and mentally healthy) and do the best you can. Some people can study a little and do well. Some people study a lot and do poorly. You won't find any answers about how much you specifically need to study on here. Only you can answer that.
 
Burnout is never good. It's okay to take a day off here and there to prevent burnout. You're not a machine, and to be at your best, you need to take care of your well being. Do content review, take a couple FLs, review, and if you need more time to study, delay your MCAT date. Take it when you feel ready. Don't stress over hours. Look up some study schedules/plans on SDN (mcatjelly, Sn2ed, etc. come to mind) if you want some more structured guidance.

We don't know if you specifically can make the top 10%. We know nothing about you, your content mastery, your discipline, the resources you have, your intelligence, work ethic, summer schedule, and other countless details. But getting in the 90th percentile is definitely doable with hard work and consistent effort.
 
DrFelix said:
So you mean if I study moderately (avoiding the symptoms of burnout), I can still be in the top 10%?
Click to expand...
No one is going to guarantee that you will be in the top 10. Like people have said, some people could take it with no studying and score that high while some may study for a year and not break 500.

The fine folks of SDN can't speak to your academic aptitude.


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Lawper said:
Yeah i agree. Interestingly enough, i noticed that those who scored really high (>99th percentile) on the MCAT usually studied less (or few hours over several months). It could be due to many factors such as innate intelligence, prior content mastery during coursework, test taking skills. But there are still a few cases (including some famous SDNers and few friends) who scored >99th percentile with a lot of studying + practice passages. So time is poorly (if any) correlated with MCAT scores.

I really think that spending a lot of time and effort on practice passages + practice tests are the key to achieving a strong score. Content review can be learned during the practice phase + error analysis. But it's up to the individual in the end.
Click to expand...

I think the most important advice that I got was wait until you have completed all of your classes so that content review is minimal and the exam is all about test taking skills. I studied for 6 weeks total prior to the exam the last 3 weeks 10- 12 hrs a day. I had the content down pat and just took a practice exam every 2-3 days in actual test conditions. I was scoring at my target score on all of my FL test the last 2 weeks and ended up getting a few points higher on the real thing . Don't rush the exam because you want to take it once, and don't take it until you are confident that you are getting your target score consistently.
 
DrFelix said:
I am unfortunately, currently facing the symptoms of burnout. I think I need to take a few days off from studying.
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A few days off can definitely work wonders.

DrFelix said:
So you mean if I study moderately (avoiding the symptoms of burnout), I can still be in the top 10%?
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Yes, absolutely. Though you'd have to make sure you start with enough time to do so.
 
I dont think you should focus on hrs but rather how much you study.
I got 513 which is exactly 90th percentile. I did content review + section bank + 2 aamc tests + 4 EK + 4 NS + 3~4 old mcat tests + flash cards. I think if you are aiming for 513+ study until you score around 509 to 510 on NS, 506~508 on Kaplan, 75%~80% on EKish. Real one is easier so if you do around this much consistently you should hit 90th percentile +.


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