How many hours on average do /did you study for MCAT??

[Optimistic]

I was just wondering how many hours people spend studying for mact on average so I know whether or not I am spending enough time?

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[Resident Alien]

After finishing my basics in winter break (and finishing the topicals), during the regular semester i'd study an hour before the kaplan classes i attended. Often, i'd spend the whole sunday at the kaplan center, doing section tests etc.

Best of luck, and you know you can ask me about anything, at any time

 

[vyc]

the first time around, i took Princeton Review and studied probably like 1-2 hours outside of class every day.

the second time around, i took Kaplan and studied 8 hours every single day. even on the weekends.

yes, i smoke a lot of crack.

 

[Papa Smurf]

I didn't keep a log of my study hours or anything, but my studying habits were dictated by my courseload. As I'm a very disorganized individual, I just studied a bit whenever I had time. My biggest problem was the classes I was taking at the time. It seemed like whenever I wanted to study for the MCAT, there was an exam or project due. With all the other crap I was dealing with, I just tried studying whenever I had some free time. No structure whatsoever, which kinda sucks. Didn't really start the serious studying till the last month though, which is when most people kick it into high gear! You'll be ok, hang in there. Give it your best shot.

 

[Bevo]

papa smurf kinda sounds like me at times. I try and study every day when my course load is minimal. but I spend my mondays, wednesdays and weekends up at the kaplan center. tuesday and thursday I set aside as my school days and friday is a whatever I feel like I need to do day while Im at school. Since last weekend I really havent had a chance to really do any mcat since Ive had 2 midterms this week and one tommorow morning( which I must get back too). Dont feel so bad since my midterm tommorow is stuff that could appear on the mcat. But I still want to finis reading the book(orgo chapters still) and finish the topical tests.

But Ive gone with this philosophy thus far. If Im awake Im doing mcat. I try and minimize my time for my school studies and allot(sp?) more time to mcat. But at times you dont have a choice to put the mcat studying in the back burner while some more immediate concerns are around.

But from here on out, Its all hard core. If you got nothing todo between classes, read. Waiting for your next class to get out, read some more. Thinking of watching something on tv, tape it and save it for the weekend or post mcat. At this point in the game, its all or nothing. And Im going to give it my all until april 20th, after that Im filling my bath tub up with beer and going for a swim!

 

[wolferman]

I spent 3.5 hours per day, 5 days a week, June 1st through August 16, 2001.

 

[Trek]

3 months out- 1 hr
2 months out- 1.5hrs
1 month out- 2 hours
3 weeks out- 3 hours
2 weeks out- 4 hours
4 days out- 12 hours (realized how screwed i was)
0 days out- 24 hours (yep, all night).

YMMV. --Trek

 

[LizardKing]

I studied for 3.5 months leading up to last year's April test. The first two months, I studied an average of 4-5 hours/day. The last 1.5 months, I was freaked because I thought I was way behind, so I put in about 14-16 hours/day, no joke! It was an insane 6 weeks before the test. Oh yea, I went to my classes--occasionally.

I don't recommend studying for more than 8-10 hours/day. It's hard to retain anything beyond a certain point. I also got a bad case of insomnia, which was really really not helpful in the last few days before the MCAT. I became a madman, more or less...and now I'm back to normal, and sleep more than I should.

 

[Optimistic]

Thanks everyone

 

[wolferman]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by LizardKing:
•I also got a bad case of insomnia, which was really really not helpful in the last few days before the MCAT. I became a madman, more or less...and now I'm back to normal, and sleep more than I should.•••••I actually got a prescription for Sonata 3 days before the MCAT to make sure that it'd work and that I wouldn't be drowsy the next day. I took it on the 2 nights preceding the eve of the big day to find out if one or two pills would be necesary to calm me. If you have a problem sleeping, I recommend Sonata. It has the added benefit of not causing next-day drowsiness.

 

[Street Philosopher]

some of your people are freaky
i study like 4 hrs a day max... usually average like 1 hour during the weekdays, 2 hours during weekends.
8+ hrs a day is a little crazy. no, it's insane.

 

[strider]

2 hrs/day for 15 months...(but I hadn't taken those classes for 10 years)

 

[ewells]

I took the August MCAT and my New Year's resolution was to study an hour a day, every day until the exam. I missed one day (I even got in my hour the day my son was born). As the test got closer, I upped to two or three hours, especially on days that I took practice tests. Slow and steady worked very well for me.

 

[pharmer]

Since mid Jan. I have been spending 3 hours at night on Tues and Thurs in prep classes for the MCAT being offered by my school. I am lucky to get in an additional 5 hours beyond that a week. I average about 2 test per week (ahh the joys of pharmacy school) so most of my time is consumed preparing for those instead of studying for the MCAT. I have spring break coming up in a week so I hope to get a lot accomplished then. Good luck to all!

 

[drjo2002]

Wow...you guys are REALLY dedicated! I had no idea people actually studied that much for the MCAT! I went to my kaplan class and that is about all. I looked over my practice tests once I got them back and went threw those flash cards occationally the week before the test. I ended up doing fine...do you guys who spent 8-10+ hours studying per day really feel like you needed to do that much work? Doesn't that say something about what you learned in your science classes? I understand if you are years out of school, but if you just took physics and organic a year or two before why did you need to study that hard for them? Yeah, the test is hard, but not that hard.