How tough are the MCATS?

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harkkam

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This might be a difficult question to answer but how many days do you guys spend staying up studying till the morning or how many months in advance do you prepare?

On an average how many hours do you need to study a day to score well on the MCATS?

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depends when you take them!

I took in April, it was easy, I tool it in Aug, it was fuked up!
 
while the mcat is not an easy exam, it is not the hardest by far either. the mcat is harder than the GRE, but the GRE subject exams make the MCAT look like a joke (I took the regular, chemistry, and math GREs before taking the MCAT). i have never seen more ludicrous exams than the gre subject tests. some people need to study 100 hours per week for 10 months to do well while some people only need to study 10 hours per week for 2 months. it really depends on you. just make sure you are familiar with alll the concepts that could potentially be on the mcat.
 
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i read some where that most students who do well on the exam study between 200-300hrs total for the test. It may require more for you. It required roughly 500hrs for me. But then again...im one of those people that has to read each section multiple times to realize whats going on.
 
Totally easy, you shouldn't need to study more than a week. These people are just trying to scare you.
 
Varies from person to person.

I'd suggest that you purchase some AAMC exams and make your own conclusions.
Good luck.
 
It's tough. Probably not the toughest thing you will ever do though.
 
This might be a difficult question to answer but how many days do you guys spend staying up studying till the morning or how many months in advance do you prepare?

On an average how many hours do you need to study a day to score well on the MCATS?

Umm, I'm sure there are plenty of geniuses out there that would disagree with me, but not being one of those, I found the MCAT this August surprisingly tough beyond my expectations. And I did study, but probably not hard enough nor comprehensive enough though, in retrospect. I'm guessing that I probably threw about 4-6hrs every other day on average for about three months into it, and I took about 6 full length tests. Now I regret that. I wish I had spent more time preparing. If I were you I'd study like there was no tommorow. And I say this not to scare you, but to tell you this test is tricky hard, especially if you are not good at taking standardized tests, like me. There's a lot more involved than mere knowledge.

I'd suggest putting as much actual time as you can afford, however much that is, into your study efforts. That way, no matter how smart you are, you leave nothing to chance. The key to the MCAT, IMHO, is to be very comprehensive with the basic knowledge/material (leave no stone unturned because you never know what you are going to get come test day) and to know how to manipulate all the concepts and formulas well enough to apply them in extremely unfamiliar situations under time pressure. I mean knowing them isn't enough, you have to be able to be a Shaolin master with your equations. That means doing as many practice tests as possible and analyzing the mistakes that you made each time. Get comfortable with scientific articles and interpreting complicated charts, etc.

If I were to retake the test, which I very, very sincerely hope I won't need to, I wouldn't measure the amount of elbow grease I needed, I'd simply throw everything and the kitchen sink into my studying. If I even began thinking about considering hours, it's probably not enough.

Good luck with your studying!
 
while the mcat is not an easy exam, it is not the hardest by far either. the mcat is harder than the GRE, but the GRE subject exams make the MCAT look like a joke (I took the regular, chemistry, and math GREs before taking the MCAT). i have never seen more ludicrous exams than the gre subject tests. some people need to study 100 hours per week for 10 months to do well while some people only need to study 10 hours per week for 2 months. it really depends on you. just make sure you are familiar with alll the concepts that could potentially be on the mcat.

I just want to emphasize how much harder the MCAT is than the GRE. Words cant explain how easy the GRE is compared to the MCAT.
 
Best post on this thread. Like anything it is an obstacle you overcome. The MCAT is no more impossble then anything else, and once many of you are in med school and look back after taking the USMLE step 1, you'll think it looks like a cake walk compared to the step 1, 2, and 3.

I've heard that from many a people.

:thumbup:
 
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