How many hours a week are you studying for MCAT?

[jdla]

What is good amount of time per week? I have 3 months left.

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[RSAgator]

no one can really tell you how much time to study per week, everyone's different. The best thing you can do is devise a weekly schedule with the topics you want to cover by the end of the week, and make damn sure you're gonna stick to it. Study till you know it =). I probably spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours per weekday, 0-4 hours per saturday, and 4-8 hours per sunday. So from that I study anywhere from 14 to 32 hours a week. Usually falls somewhere in between, but now that I've started organic and I'm doing some bio and physics i'm not as familiar with it'll probably start getting closer to that 32.

 

[J ROD]

I think anywhere from 25-30 hr/wk.

Really depends though.

 

[Vihsadas]

I was 40+/wk when I studied (4 months)

 

[armymt]

I was 40+/wk when I studied (4 months)

Hello Sir, I noticed that you are from GA. I am a Georgia Resident too. I was looking at your mdapps and your MCAT is amazing. I am suprised you haven't gotten in anywhere. My gosh, if you can't get in, what are the chances for us mere mortals?


Just a few questions though, why didn't you apply to other Georgia schools like mercer, or mcg? You'd probably get into one of those easy. Good luck, I hope you get in soon. Thanks

 

[UVAbme2009]

I'm four months out with a heavy course load. I'm doing about 10-15 hours a week now. But when class finishes, I'll do probably around 60 hours a week for a month.

 

[jdla]

Any more examples?

 

[ChubbyChaser]

60-80 hours a week here, I dont think I put in enough time though

 

[jdla]

60-80 hours a week here, I dont think I put in enough time though

Do you work or have a course load?

 

[olemissbabydoc]

About 30-40 hrs a week beefore I started my new classes... now that I have a lighter schedule at school I'm up to 35-50.

I want to kick this thing in its rear this time.

 

[kronickm]

Wow, I work full time, and have an MCAT class for 9 hours a week at night, and I would say that aside fromt the class I study about another 8 hours a week max. I certainly feel like I need to study a bit more as the test appraoches, but 60-80 hours a week . I mean it didn't take nearly that long to learn the stuff in the first place.
Anyways, my test is 4/18 and so far so good on the practice tests.

 

[smeagol]

I take it April 18th but have only been averaging maybe 5 hrs a week for MCAT study :\

Kind of difficult with my courseload, research, volunteering, athletics gahhh...

I managed to average 70 hours over Christmas break, hope to do something similar over Spring break. I've only managed to take 3 practice exams.

 

[MooseKing]

damn i dont know how u guys put in 40+ hours a week. im taking it in april and find it hard to put in half that. props to you guys.

 

[tdjn]

More hours doesn't necessarily equate to more learning. I find it hard to believe that you can be fully efficient for 50 hours straight. You can probably get the same amount done in 1/4 to 1/2 of the time.

 

[tf2medic]

I was 40+/wk when I studied (4 months)

how did you have time to do that? that's nearly 6 hours every day of the week for 4 months. no one realistically has that much time to put into the mcat. UNLESS you are out of school and have no job...in other words you're a bum living with your parents and don't have anything else to do. apparently it paid off tho by looking at your score.

but hey man, i'm pretty sure the reason you didn't get in anywhere is because you only applied to the top schools in the country. i looked at your list and most of them are like Ivies or similar to that. i'm guessing you figured your MCAT score could get you into of those places. the truth is your mcat score with real good grades have a completely random shot at getting into those places. you should have applied to your state school or something and boost that gpa...good luck

 

[tf2medic]

I take it April 18th but have only been averaging maybe 5 hrs a week for MCAT study :\

Kind of difficult with my courseload, research, volunteering, athletics gahhh...

I managed to average 70 hours over Christmas break, hope to do something similar over Spring break. I've only managed to take 3 practice exams.

you already did 3 practice exams?? i'd think you want to finish studying the material first before taking more than onc practice exam. don't use up all your practice exams before you've even finished reviewing all the material!

if it makes you feel any better, i've only taken 1 and my date is april 5th haha. i still have half of physics to review and ochem before i'm gonna start taking any practice tests too. i'm aiming to finish all the review material by the end of this month and then use all march to take practice tests. i should have already been done reviewing but the past 2 weeks had no time with all my midterms from classes. those are over now tho so i have 2 weeks to focus on this...then the next week i have 3 more tests ehhh.then spring break. it's coming up so fast, shiiitt!

 

[bigman225]

...

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Yall I was kidding about the 60-80 hrs a week, i probably put in 6-10, bc I was really busy.

 

[iA-MD2013]

Yall I was kidding about the 60-80 hrs a week, i probably put in 6-10, bc I was really busy.

you scared the **** out of me. yeah, 6-10 sounds about right i have 2 months left.

 

[smeagol]

you already did 3 practice exams?? i'd think you want to finish studying the material first before taking more than onc practice exam. don't use up all your practice exams before you've even finished reviewing all the material!

if it makes you feel any better, i've only taken 1 and my date is april 5th haha. i still have half of physics to review and ochem before i'm gonna start taking any practice tests too. i'm aiming to finish all the review material by the end of this month and then use all march to take practice tests. i should have already been done reviewing but the past 2 weeks had no time with all my midterms from classes. those are over now tho so i have 2 weeks to focus on this...then the next week i have 3 more tests ehhh.then spring break. it's coming up so fast, shiiitt!

I mean I did 3 practice exams after covering almost all of the material (I'm hesitant to say all b/c of the absolute nature of the word). I studied over winter break and I was feeling okay in January but my test isn't until April.

Since then, my mind has been rusting. I'm doing problems more slowly because equations and concepts aren't as fresh. I haven't been able to focus on MCAT lately because of classes and other stuff

 

[MossPoh]

you already did 3 practice exams?? i'd think you want to finish studying the material first before taking more than onc practice exam. don't use up all your practice exams before you've even finished reviewing all the material!

if it makes you feel any better, i've only taken 1 and my date is april 5th haha. i still have half of physics to review and ochem before i'm gonna start taking any practice tests too. i'm aiming to finish all the review material by the end of this month and then use all march to take practice tests. i should have already been done reviewing but the past 2 weeks had no time with all my midterms from classes. those are over now tho so i have 2 weeks to focus on this...then the next week i have 3 more tests ehhh.then spring break. it's coming up so fast, shiiitt!

Using up practice exams is the least of your worries. By the time you go through 7 or 8 exams, I doubt you'll remember the first one that well. If all else fails, you can throw in a kaplan or examkracker one for kicks.

 

[MossPoh]

Yall I was kidding about the 60-80 hrs a week, i probably put in 6-10, bc I was really busy.

Thank god you were kidding...My friends say I study a lot. I try to get 3-4 hours in a day of true studying and then when I'm sitting around before class I do kaplan qbank a lot.

I find that if I read more than 2 or 3 chapters of kaplan stuff, I just forget what I read.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Thank god you were kidding...My friends say I study a lot. I try to get 3-4 hours in a day of true studying and then when I'm sitting around before class I do kaplan qbank a lot.

I find that if I read more than 2 or 3 chapters of kaplan stuff, I just forget what I read.

Lol sorry for the confusion, I figured you guys knew I was being sarcastic, but I guess its hard to show emotion online.

One word of advice I have for you, dont do what I did. I started out with a really really good diagnostic. 8ps, 13 vr, 10BS. I figured with a little bit of studying I could pull that up to a 35 and coupled with my GPA I could be competitive for everywhere I wanted to go. So after a couple weeks when i started hitting the 34-36 mark, i really let up and didnt put much effort into it. I guess I got overconfident, and I paid for it. Now im pretty much stuck with an average MCAT score, and I know I could have done better because there were probably 3 or 4 questions on PS that i remembered reading about in my studies but just couldnt remember the specifics and I missed them, same thing with Bio. You have to realize that once you get into 10s, 11s, 12s, the difference bw the next level is usually 1 or 2 and at most 3 questions. (and for ppl like Vihsadas..once you get into the 13+ range the difference is pretty much 1 question, but usually once your that high it is more of a luck thing),but I am pretty confident that if I would have put in just a little more effort I probably would have atleast scored 11s across the board possibly even better.

So I ramble, but take home point... dont get complacent, keep at it even when your practice tests are at or above your goal, and do your best or you might end up paying for it later.

Good luck all!!

 

[RSAgator]

hah didn't think you were being sarcastic but was definitely going to call you out.

I think 2-4 hours a day is a good amount of studying if you can keep it consistent, but at the end of the day it's not about how long you study but how well you study. Study till you know it, not till you think you've studied it long enough.

 

[Je Suis Banane]

how did you have time to do that? that's nearly 6 hours every day of the week for 4 months. no one realistically has that much time to put into the mcat. UNLESS you are out of school and have no job...in other words you're a bum living with your parents and don't have anything else to do. apparently it paid off tho by looking at your score.

No one has time for 6 hours a day? Do you realise that medical residents can put in 80 to 100 hours of work per week? LOL maybe consider a different profession

 

[----x----]

by this point they probably did, or you're messaging a physician

 

[Chimichica]

I work 20 hours a week, broken into 2 days. I can't study at my job, because of bio hazards but I study all day min 10hrs/day that I don't work and about 2-4hrs/day when I do.

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[Chimichica]

Here is my study layout

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[Chimichica]

I'm a deep and thorough learner/reviewer so I usually take alot of time studying. Also, i graduated 2010 so it's been a while since prereqs. If I'm studying or go or physics I usually take the extra time for reviewing and will end up using it re-reading the chapter.

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[YellowfinGuy10]

When did people start studying? I still have to take a few science classes but want to start ASAP