Hey guys! I'm going to be a junior this upcoming fall and I plan on taking the MCAT in April 2018. I recently ordered the 7-book Kaplan MCAT review and it should come in July since it was a pre-order. Originally, I wasn't going to touch MCAT stuff until the fall, but my advisor recently told me she recommends students begin reviewing the summer before they take the MCAT in the spring. How do I start to study for an exam 10 months away? I was thinking I would start with content review, and once the fall/beginning of winter hit, I would begin actually studying for the exam itself. Does anyone have any advice? I'm at a complete loss of how to even begin tackling this.
Thanks!
Hello Op,
You've got the right mindset. I would strongly suggest getting a leg up on studying by starting during the summer. first and foremost, have you taken all of the pre-req classes? Gen chem 1+2, orgo chem 1+2, 2 semesters of english, Bio 1+2, psy+soc, and biochemistry? If you have, well done. If not, we need to discuss that separately.
The Kaplan 7-set book is OKAY in my opinion. be warned that their psychology and sociology is not comprehensive and you'll need some other materials for that.
In order to study (I also used the Kaplan set the first time) simply read 1 to 2 chapters per day and answer the accompanying questions. Don't worry if you get them right or wrong, Kaplan's end of the chapter quizzes are actually nothing like the real MCAT. For this reason (if possible) I'd suggest you CANCEL your Kaplan book order and purchase the NextStep book series. Much better format, far more inclusive about everything you need to know (although, at times, it does go, a bit, too in depth). With the
NextStep book series, I like the chapter questions because they are passage based, which mimics the MCAT.
In order to really maximize your studying, learn all the content first. Even if you think you know something (for example, all your periodic trends), re-read the chapter and MASTER the content. The exam is 100% based on critical thinking, but the underlying factor to the critical thinking is the content itself. If you don't know, say, all of the glycolysis intermediates, structures, names, and enzymes, answering a question about ATP generation will be difficult.
Learn all your content and begin question and PASSAGE review early. As of now there are some great AAMC resources. I'm going to copy and paste them from another thread that I've posted on
The official guide to the MCAT, 4th edition, was released in anticipation for the brand new 2015 Exams. It represents the oldest preparation for the new exam. The questions on here are extremely easy compared to the current administrations of the new MCAT. This item is available through both the paperback book (linked above), or
digitally.
The next item released, soon after the official guide to the MCAT, was the
AAMC Sample Test, aka, the unscored FL. This exam was, I believe, released in November 2014, to help students get a firm grasp on the new, painfully long exam, that would premier in January 2015. This exam is also, quite easy compared to the current administrations of the MCAT.
Approximately 1 year later, the AAMC had gathered enough data and created a scaled score exam. This is known as
AAMC FL 1. This exam isn't technically the first full length - that would be the sample test, however, this is the first
scored full length. This exam is quite good and relatively representative of current MCAT exams.
Either before, after, or at the same time of AAMC FL 1, the
Section Bank was released (not to be confused with the question packs). These are three 100 question units devoted to the three science sections. 100 phys/chem, 100 bio/biochem, 100 psy/soc. They are both passage based and discrete. These, in my opinion, are the absolute best preparation for the current and future MCATs. Many students (myself included), got obliterated when completing the section bank. You'll notice a completely different style compared to the official guide and sample test questions here. Everything is passage based and extremely difficult. The questions are not easy, and the passages look like a foreign language coupled with endless amounts of data from charts, tables, figures, and mechanisms presented.
Finally, the best absolute preparation for the MCAT is
AAMC FL 2. This is the second FL released by the AAMC that will give you a score. It is based on the latest data by the AAMC and (supposedly) the best indicator of your MCAT test score. Take that with a grain of salt though.
tl;dr
AAMC FL 2 > Section Bank > AAMC FL 1 >>>>>>> Sample Test > Official Guide to the MCAT, 4th edition.
I would suggest that you DO NOT do AAMC FL 1 or AAMC FL 2 yet. stick with the official guide questions, sample test, and section bank for the summer. Really and truly master the sample test and official guide questions. Those will help you really understand what the MCAT is looking for. After doing those, and learning all your content, I'd suggest you being using third party practice exams, both for passage based practice and FL practice. Rule of thumb is your MCAT score will go up with the more practice exams you take. From my above discussion, there is really only 3.5 full lengths available through the AAMC. Kaplan, Princeton Review FL's suck. NS exams 1 to 5 are okay, but the best I've personally done and seen are those by Altius. Altius FL's are 300 for all 10. Its a steep price, but every single exam is high quality along with very detailed answers. you'll see that after reviewing questions certain companies will have explanations that suck (including the AAMC explanations...). for example, A discrete question might ask the following:
Which of the following amino acids would not rotate plane polarized light?
A) Alanine
B) Glutamic Acid
C) Glycine
D) Aspartic Acid
The answer is C. The explanation from bad companies is "Glycine will not rotate plane polarized light." Wow, really? You don't say? That's the dam question just rephrased. Altius explanations are more along the lines of "Remember, what does rotating plane polarized light mean? That means something is CHIRAL. The question states which DOES NOT rotate plane polarized light? Ergo, you're looking for an
achiral amino acid. Remember the side chains: all of the amino acids are chiral, except for glycine, whose side chain is H. So on glycine, the central carbon has 2 hydrogen groups, and is therefore not chiral, because chirality implies four different substituents, and thus, glycine will not rotate plane polarized light."
The other perk with the Altius FL exams is that you can take them an unlimited amount of times. Some days I just want to do 2 passages of every section. With NextStep, the exam quality is lower than Altius (but still alright), but you're only given 5 attempts per exam. Meaning, you can't employ the strategy I prefer to use. Lastly, check out how
Altius differentiates themselves from other third party MCAT companies.
If you use the Kaplan 7 book set or the NextStep Content book set, you'll be fine. then slowly immerse yourself in the Altius exams (not necessarily doing them timed). Then you can really see the critical thinking aspect of the exam and learn how to interpret the charts, tables, and figures you're given with every single passage. This way you can really start training that skill all summer. Then, as you master it, you can begin AAMC FL 1, AAMC FL 2, and the section bank throughout the academic junior year.
