How soon is too soon to start studying for the MCAT??

[MaybeMD]

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I have really been thinking about this a lot. Everytime I go to a bookstore I see the thick MCAT practice books. And at times I pick one up and look through the material. Just the amount of material you need to know scares the **** out of me! I am a freshman right now, is this summer too soon to start looking over the material seriously? Or should I just wait for the summer of my sophomore year? Any suggestions are welcome!😀

 

[Jacobim]

After taking the required courses, a few months of study is more than enough. 🙄

 

[synapse lapse]

I remember exactly how that felt! Only a year and a half ago I was in your position, although I was already almost done with my freshman year, I had just decided to pursue medicine. I remember thinking "how can I learn all this and be ready to take this test in 2 years? Much less how in only a few years could I be trusted to save lives?" Now I am half finished with my prereqs, and have done well at them. the information is truly staggering, but also interesting. To give you my perspective, I am finishing my sophomore year and have taken at the end of this sem Bio 1,2,3 and physics 1 and chem 1 and 2. I have a few classes left and I already study occasionally for the test. I do so mainly because I want this information to remain fresh in my mind over the next year until I take the test . I find this to work well for me. I own multiple practice materials, my favorite being the kaplan mcat complete prep book. I plan on spending about 4-5 months of intense study prior to the MCAT, and am debating on whether I will shell out $1300 for a course or just trust myself andtake as many practice exams as possible. I don't think it is ever too early to start studying, you just won't be able to effectively complete most questions until you finish those courses. I can really appreciate your seemingly tenacious attitude, as I am similar. I am obsessive/compulsive when it comes to this stuff, as I am sure many pre-meds are, and I think it is great to hear your initiative and enthusiasm. Hope my opinion helped, and Good Luck in all your classes.

 

[sacrament]

While it certainly won't hurt to start studying for the MCAT during your freshman year (besides maybe ruining your social life), I'm not sure it will help too much, either. Most people find that studying for 2-3 months before the test is perfectly sufficient. It's good to be motivated, but I really really REALLY think that your studying is quite premature.

 

[jwin]

chill out you crazy gunners!!!

it is good that you want to be prepared, but as mentioned above, there is no need to start studying until a couple months before the test. you are just going to develop test anxiety by starting 2 years before the test.

 

[Adcadet]

here's my advice, for what it's worth:
study for the MCAT along with your classes. As you're covering mitosis in cell bio, cover it in your MCAT book as well. And if you can find practice problems broken down by area (cell bio, genetics, organic chem, etc), do those problems while covering them in your class. Then, review those areas every now and then after you've taken the class - perhaps just doing one practice session per month on the topics you've covered (these could be anything from a full bio section to just a sub-section like genetics). Not only will this help get you in the MCAT mindset, but it will help you do better in your classes.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by jwin
chill out you crazy gunners!!!

it is good that you want to be prepared, but as mentioned above, there is no need to start studying until a couple months before the test. you are just going to develop test anxiety by starting 2 years before the test.

Eh, it sounds like MaybeMD is already well aware of the importance of the MCAT. It think doing a couple dozen full-length tests and seeing that he/she can do well will really help. Like many others, at first I started what's wrong with this gunner. But I too felt the same way six years ago. I see nothing wrong with using some of that eagerness to start getting familiar with the MCAT.

 

[VienneseWaltz]

I have had some professors hand out MCAT practice problems related to the class, so Adcadet's suggestion to be aware of how your material will appear on the MCAT is a pretty good one. But if you do this, limit yourself to reviewing the material in your MCAT book (the large Kaplan book is GREAT) related to your class--don't start intensive study before the Christmas before the MCAT. You do NOT want to burn yourself out about this test 2 years before you take it.

If you are self-motivated enough to study the Kaplan book on a schedule and take every practice test you can get your hands on, you will be fine without the class.

It seems overwhelming, I know, but if you do well in all your pre-reqs and take a couple of upper-level bios (Anatomy & Physiology, Biochem are good ones), the material isn't nearly as scary when you are close to MCAT time.

 

[synapse lapse]

Thanks adcadet, I was trying to say that I can appreciate his position and that I support it. I didn't mean to imply that maybeMD should sacrifice everything and lock himself in a corner closet rehearsing the steps of glycolosis or Ochem reactions. I just wanted to suggest, as you have, that he concurrently study for the MCAT while taking those pre-reqs, and that it is a great idea to familiarize himself with the test structere. You really articulated this well. I think that a realistic assesment of our abilities and situation is important throughout our academic career, and knowing the importance the MCAT holds, I think it is great to begin preperations early. I think that a cursory review of material sporadically is sufficient until about 4 -5 months before the test, in which you case I will study like hell 🙂. ANyhow, thanks for clarifying what I meant to say, even if you did so unknowingly.

 

[Adcadet]

oh, one other reason: there may be topics on the MCAT that you don't get in your pre-reqs. I know I never took my college's upper level dev. bio course, and get next to none in my other classes so I had to study it on my own before the MCAT. Reviewing MCAT stuff while taking the course will make sure that there aren't any gaps in what you've been exposed to.

 

[badger03]

Hey MaybeMD,

Here's advice from personal experience, so take this with grain of salt. Be serious about learning the material in your core courses, and I don't mean just memorizing for the test and then forgetting everything. The best preparation you can have for the MCAT is exercising critical scientific thinking skills, as this will prepare you for grappling with concepts that you may be less familiar with when the MCAT rolls around. That said, there is still the need for a certain degree of cramming/reviewing for several weeks or months before the test. I prepared for about 1.5 months before the test and did quite well. No Kaplan course, just some review books. The Kaplan issue will depend on your personality and whether you can discipline yourself to set aside sufficient time for studying.

So, for now just take it easy and forget about the MCAT. You're a freshman which means you should be focussing on classes right now, not a test that you'll take in two years. Enjoy yourself and be sure to round out your resume with less academically-oriented pursuits. These are just as important (if not more so) once you get your foot in the door with a good MCAT score.

 

[MaybeMD]

I know this seems pretty gunner-ish(I wish I had the grades of a gunner!), but I see people on these boards all the time talking about they f*cked up on the MCAT and that they need major help and advice. So I want to be prepared! After all, it is probably the most important test I will ever take in my life! I will never be able to get to the steps of the USLME if I dont' do well on this first! Thanks everyone for the advice, and I will probably take your advice specifically Adcadet and study for it along side my classes. I seen another thread on here about how somebody would make flashcards for everything that they didn't understand, and that sounds like a great idea as well! Thanks again y'all!

 

[moops]

can you walk? can you poop all by yourself? are you beginnnng to speak coherent words?

start studying! you'll fall behind all of the rest of us!

 

[MaybeMD]

^uhhh...okay

Anyway, has anyone, I'm sure there is, taken taken the MCAT the august after the sophomore year? Is that a bad choice though? Would adcoms look down upon that? Thanks for the idea though Slickness!

 

[ChrissyCJ]

Sort of...I decided I wanted to go to medical school the end of my junior year and took the MCAT for the first time that August (so the science would still be fresh in my mind) but then continued on with my original plans for my senior year (studying abroad, picking up a non-science major) and didn't worry about applying till the end of my senior year.... Which in other words is the equivalent of taking the MCAT the august after sophmore year and applying on the normal cycle....

Anyway, I don't feel that having an MCAT from an earlier year has hurt my application at all. (Of the 5 places I applied, I got 4 interviews, 3 acceptances and waiting to hear back from the fourth interview, NU, any day now.) If anything, I think it really helped me because I took the MCAT when I was most prepared for it (right after I had finished all my science pre-reqs plus some advanced courses in biochem- which was definitely reflected in my scores) and I had the whole year before the application cycle free to continue pursuing outside interests (which definitely enhanced my application) rather devoting a whole semester to studying like crazy for the MCAT.

And like others have said, it's a lot less stressful taking the MCAT when you know you have 2 more second chances just in case!

Just my 2 cents, but if you'll have taken all the courses by then, I highly recommend it. 🙂

 

[MaybeMD]

Slickness, how did you score? And have you taken it again since then?

You said that you finished Bio, Chem, and OChem. Isn't there some genetics on the test? How did you do in that area?

 

[ready]

Just my personal opinion, but I would never do well on a test that I knew I could take again. I think that you should take the test when you feel completly ready (when the material is fresh in your mind and you have had time to thoroughly evaluate your ability to answer questions based on this material).

I agree w/ the previous posts in that I really tried to learn and understand the material during class. I didn't find it diffulcult to recall this info when studying for the MCAT because I had really learned it in my coursework. It didn't hurt that I had been tutoring underclassmen in this material. If you have an oppurtunity to do this I would strongly encourage it. Having to explain Organic or Physics to another student really helped me.

As far as studying right now, I would just try to read as much as possible. Many people have trouble w/ the verbal section and have trouble bringing this score up in a short time. I think the best way to prepare for the verbal section is to READ EVERYTHING you come across.

Try not to get too obsessed w/ the test and other admission factors. Try to live your life and have memories of your undergrad other than hiding in the library.

Just my opinion(s).

 

[jwin]

i would like to once again emphasize the importance of having a normal life/college experience. 3 months of intensive studying will allow you to reach your scoring potential. be a freshman, have some fun, of course be a dilgent student, but don't let a test 2 years from now run your life.

additionally, let's put an end to this nonsense of LEARNING FOR THE SAKE OF STANDARDIZED TESTS. you will have 3 months to learn this test. this is like the kids who start taking the SATs in 5th grade. their time would be better spent learning REAL THINGS; there is so much to read and learn why waste your education learning the idiosyncrasies of a standardized test. read some shakespeare, camus, or whatever gets you going but do not spend your valuable time on this test.

don't get me wrong, when the MCAT comes, you should study like there is no tomorrow. but until then, learn for the sake of knowledge/wisdom/bettering your mind. this is what college is for.

 

[lattimer13]

Originally posted by MaybeMD
I have really been thinking about this a lot. Everytime I go to a bookstore I see the thick MCAT practice books. And at times I pick one up and look through the material. Just the amount of material you need to know scares the **** out of me! I am a freshman right now, is this summer too soon to start looking over the material seriously? Or should I just wait for the summer of my sophomore year? Any suggestions are welcome!😀

are you serious? you're going to start putting yourself through that kind of hell during your first summer in college? you're going to ruin your college experience. have fun while you still can. don't worry about some test that you only need a few months of studying for. save that for the next summer. most here studied for a few months on their own or via a MCAT prep company. it only gets more difficult and more stressful as you progress through college. i'd rather work the summer emptying port-a-johns than study for the MCAT (i heard they make bank).

can anyone say GUNNERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR?

 

[care bear]

hey,
as for your question abt taking mcat after sophomore year, i think it's a great idea- first b/c it seems like you might be a lil' bit anxious about it until it's over, in which case best to get it out of the way! and also, at my undergrad a whole lot of people choose that option (there's a lot of score-concious people here!) and do really well, and no, it definitely doesn't hurt their applications. you have that whole summer to study and you also know that just in case, you can always do it again. but it'd also be a great feeling to have it over and done with when you're only halfway thru undergrad. haha- i was the complete opposite; august mcater (sr year!) anyway. . . just make sure you have all your prereqs done by then; plus a physio course ( i personally think physio is the most important non-offical prereq. . . ) . . .so, hope that helps. good luck 🙂