How many days to help prevent burnout

[swollcat]

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While I understand that this is as subjective as it gets, I just want to get a feel as to how long you guys typically give yourselves before picking up studying again. Any situation is fine, but I am particularly interested to hear how much rest you decided to take before becoming completely immersed in the solitude of MCAT study.

I just finished my last class of the summer, and im burnt to #$%^ to say the least. How do i know? i keep taking extended breaks in between single physics/chemistry problems even if they take minutes to solve. Moreover, my mind is constantly engaged in anything and everything other than school - I cant stop thinking about the things im going to do after classes are over etc. When I had a lighter load, this was definitely not the case. Good thing I Study days in advance or else id never get anything done.

Anyway, Im set to take the MCAT in 5 months. How many days should i give myself/did you give yourself before essentially buckling down and what did you do with your time if youd like to share.

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

While I understand that this is as subjective as it gets, I just want to get a feel as to how long you guys typically give yourselves before picking up studying again. Any situation is fine, but I am particularly interested to hear how much rest you decided to take before becoming completely immersed in the solitude of MCAT study.

I just finished my last class of the summer, and im burnt to #$%^ to say the least. How do i know? i keep taking extended breaks in between single physics/chemistry problems even if they take minutes to solve. Moreover, my mind is constantly engaged in anything and everything other than school - I cant stop thinking about the things im going to do after classes are over etc. When I had a lighter load, this was definitely not the case. Good thing I Study days in advance or else id never get anything done.

Anyway, Im set to take the MCAT in 5 months. How many days should i give myself/did you give yourself before essentially buckling down and what did you do with your time if youd like to share.

Get all the materials for sn2 method and give yourself 3 to 4 months (recommend 4)

If you can't handle ug without burning out how can you handle medical school?

 

[doreegon]

If you can't pay attention to the work now you need to take a brief vacation and get your head back in the game. Then you need to work around the fatigue and stick to a schedule until test day. You should be taking full length exams (or at least full length sections) if you want to significantly improve your scores.

Some days you're just not going to feel it, and on those days hit question banks instead of passage sections. Make time for the gym or a bike ride and listen to some examkrackers lectures on weak areas.

Edit: we've all been burnt out and fatigued during this process; it's a marathon not a sprint. Good luck.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

I finished my fall semester and graduated. I then gave myself I think 2-3 weeks where I did absolutely nothing but chill and play video games. I then studied for 14 weeks straight at 40-50 hours a week.

I would say the 2-3 weeks break was very good, definitely take a break where you dont think about the MCAT or do anything related to school. It was super helpful.

As for studying, my method (14 weeks) is way overkill and I started to see serious burnout and diminishing returns. I would only do 10-12 weeks max. If I had taken the MCAT at week 12 vs week 14 I probably wouldve done a point or two higher I would argue.

Be consistent week to week, but understand that you are only human... in that 14 weeks of studying I think I had maybe 5 or 6 days where I just said F it and took the day off. It made me a little more behind but if you plan accordingly (for those days in particular) you will be fine. Give yourself 1 day a week where you do nothing related to school or the MCAT. The first 3 or 4 weeks I went way to hard - 7 days a week... I was burning out hard.

So yea... study 5-6 days a week, 40 hours a week, for 10-12 weeks, only AFTER a 2-3 week break in the beginning, and you will be right as rain.