I have no time to study for the mcat??

[hopefulpsychiatrist]

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I am taking organic chemistry, physics as well as other classes. I am in class from 9-AM-6PM some days until 7PM. I have lab three times a week which is usually 4-5 hours long. When I get to my room at 5 or 6 o'clock, I am already exhausted, most days it takes me until 11PM to get all of my lab reports done, homework and studying. Ive tried opening MCAT prep books at 11PM but my brain is just too tired, Im too exhausted mentally and physically. I don't know what to do, would it be bad to start studying in May and take the MCAT over the summer?

 

[deleted781806]

It definitely sounds like you would greatly benefit from taking the MCAT at the end of the summer, instead of during this semester. If you try to take it this semester, I do not think you will be putting your best foot forward due to your studying constraints and general burn-out from a very rough semester. However, this would mean that you would need to delay applying for a year, as trying to work on your primary while prepping for the MCAT would not be a good idea and taking it at the end of the summer would make your applications complete in September, putting you at a significant disadvantage compared to other applicants. While you might not want to hear that, I think that delaying might be the best way forward, short of completely revamping your study habits during a hellish semester.

*Edit*: The advice to delay your application is assuming you are a Junior currently. If you are a Sophomore currently, my advice would be to either take the MCAT at the end of the summer if you are hyper-motivated (one of my close friends did this and did well) or to just wait until the spring of your Junior year (as most pre-meds do).

 

[honey0102]

I am taking organic chemistry, physics as well as other classes. I am in class from 9-AM-6PM some days until 7PM. I have lab three times a week which is usually 4-5 hours long. When I get to my room at 5 or 6 o'clock, I am already exhausted, most days it takes me until 11PM to get all of my lab reports done, homework and studying. Ive tried opening MCAT prep books at 11PM but my brain is just too tired, Im too exhausted mentally and physically. I don't know what to do, would it be bad to start studying in May and take the MCAT over the summer?

I would say for now, focus on your courses-it is a good idea to get a solid foundation on those classes. If your MCAT is in late August or so, then it's totally fine to start MCAT prep in May. I personally think, it's a better idea to give it a solid, focused, dedicated effort in May-August than a spread out effort for a longer period of time. I know many people who studied hardcore May through August and it went well. Make sure this is your priority at that time; you could do some other things like maybe a few hrs a week of another activity but MCAT has to be the priority. And if you do this-and study well, the right way-you can really do well.

I am not sure if this would mean delaying your application. If you are a sophomore likely not but if you are a junior, then perhaps it's best to take the August MCAT and then a gap year. I think it's better to take the MCAT once and do well-and in the gap year you can do activities to enhance your app even more.

 

[Knicks17]

You need to be committed to study for the Mcat and in order to get a good score. Right now focus on absorbing orgo and physic really well so that you don't have to relearn a lot when you do study for the mcat!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

If you're studying that much just for classes then you're doing something wrong

 

[bioboy23]

It definitely sounds like you would greatly benefit from taking the MCAT at the end of the summer, instead of during this semester. If you try to take it this semester, I do not think you will be putting your best foot forward due to your studying constraints and general burn-out from a very rough semester. However, this would mean that you would need to delay applying for a year, as trying to work on your primary while prepping for the MCAT would not be a good idea and taking it at the end of the summer would make your applications complete in September, putting you at a significant disadvantage compared to other applicants. While you might not want to hear that, I think that delaying might be the best way forward, short of completely revamping your study habits during a hellish semester.

*Edit*: The advice to delay your application is assuming you are a Junior currently. If you are a Sophomore currently, my advice would be to either take the MCAT at the end of the summer if you are hyper-motivated (one of my close friends did this and did well) or to just wait until the spring of your Junior year (as most pre-meds do).

Quick thread hijack: is it really that hard to study for the mcat while working on your primary? I mean, mcat study would probably average 5-6 hours a day for 2.5-3 months. If you worked on the primary for 2 hours every 3 days or so, you'd be good to go, correct? I guess I just don't see why you'd have to separate them but I haven't done it yet, so I wouldn't know how time consuming it is.

 

[deleted781806]

I guess I just don't see why you'd have to separate them but I haven't done it yet, so I wouldn't know how time consuming it is.

It is mainly advice that I have picked up from gonnif. In order to maximize your chances of a good MCAT score as well as putting together a solid primary/secondary application(s), it's best to not try to do them both at the same time. The PS takes many, many revisions and re-writes to get to a good quality, and the same can be said of the Activities List. Transcript input isn't that bad, but the main writing component of the primary can be very time consuming and may contribute to burning out during dedicated MCAT study time. I would say that putting together a primary application would be more than 2 hours every 3 days or so, although it would depend on the applicant. It goes without saying that secondaries would be completely out of the question during MCAT studying.

It's possible to do both (primary and MCAT), but you would do better with each if you weren't worrying about the other.

*Edit*: I personally did a good chunk of PS work before my MCAT, but most of my primary work was done *after* taking the exam. Funnily enough, everything I was able to draft up before the MCAT was completely thrown out the window haha.

 

[redsox93]

Quick thread hijack: is it really that hard to study for the mcat while working on your primary? I mean, mcat study would probably average 5-6 hours a day for 2.5-3 months. If you worked on the primary for 2 hours every 3 days or so, you'd be good to go, correct? I guess I just don't see why you'd have to separate them but I haven't done it yet, so I wouldn't know how time consuming it is.

Yeah I've never understood this. I did my primary when I was studying for the MCAT and it was fine. But I did have most of my personal statement done before I really started studying

 

[bioboy23]

It is mainly advice that I have picked up from gonnif. In order to maximize your chances of a good MCAT score as well as putting together a solid primary/secondary application(s), it's best to not try to do them both at the same time. The PS takes many, many revisions and re-writes to get to a good quality, and the same can be said of the Activities List. Transcript input isn't that bad, but the main writing component of the primary can be very time consuming and may contribute to burning out during dedicated MCAT study time. I would say that putting together a primary application would be more than 2 hours every 3 days or so, although it would depend on the applicant. It goes without saying that secondaries would be completely out of the question during MCAT studying.

It's possible to do both (primary and MCAT), but you would do better with each if you weren't worrying about the other.

Well that definitely makes sense. I will keep that in mind! Thanks!

Yeah I've never understood this. I did my primary when I was studying for the MCAT and it was fine. But I did have most of my personal statement done before I really started studying

That's good to hear, I think I'll be in the same boat with having most of it done before mcat prep. I'm sure its very doable unless you have no idea what your PS is going to contain. I could see that getting very overwhelming.