In a MCAT Pickle?

[hubristicphantasm]

A question for you all:

I am somewhat of a non-traditional pre-med student in that I decided to pursue medicine very late into my schooling. I am going to be taking the MCAT late this fall (before the 2015 switch as I haven't taken the new subjects that are being introduced and am graduating with my bachelor's in half a week) and am starting to get the things together that I will need to adequately prepare.

That's where my source of stress comes in- it's been a long, long time since I took many of the prerequisites for the MCAT. Ochem, thankfully, is still fresh and well-worked, but it's been three to four years since basic bio and chemistry and about two since I took physics. As such, I barely remember most of the material and will be starting from scratch, more or less.

What sorts of preparatory materials might help me the most and is there any advice you might be willing to give? I don't have the funds to take a prep class (and have heard mixed reviews about those anyway), so the vast majority of my study will be on my own.

Thanks!

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[MedOldAge]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/breaking-down-the-mcat-a-3-month-mcat-study-schedule.623898/

 

[RC4L]

I was in a similar boat when I started studying for the MCAT! Princeton and Berkeley seem to be the majority favorites and were my favorites as well due to their detail - a must if you need start from scratch. Getting both sources is a great idea because if one of them confuses you in a particular area, the other will almost always clear the confusion. I would also recommend getting the Exam Krackers books as review material. Their books are short and conceptual which is great when you want an easy refresher. I did not take a review course(way to expensive for someone to re-teach you things youve already learned) and honestly they all fall short in some area so if you can really commit to studying you might actually be better off doing it solo and shaping it to your specific needs. The general structure that I followed consisted of starting the day with verbal practice and analysis followed by hours of content review and practice. I wasn't sure where to start so I selected the subjects which I felt most uncomfortable with and started with those. I would read the chapters diligently from all my different sources and make concept sheets for each topic. The most important thing when it comes to learning the material is to practice until perfect. Lets say youre studying acids/bases, you've covered the relevant chapters from all your sources, and you feel like you understand it well. Go to your practice sources and work problems until you know the topic like the back of your hand because if you just read until you understand it and move on, you will forget and have to come back to it. If you work problems until you can do them in your sleep, youre going to retain that info and you will understand it efficiently. Exam Krackers has a series of 1001 question books which are great and Princetons hyperlearning science book is amazing. Those two sources have enough practice to keep you really busy during content review. Once you feel like you've covered everything, do as many practice full length exams as you possibly can before taking the real exam. It really helps to take the practice exams in a manner that will reflect your real test so if your test is schedule for lets say 8 AM at your local prometric center, find a quiet place with computers like university library an take your practice exams at 8 AM. It really helps! Something that was critical with me was keeping a journal throughout my studies. In this journal I would keep note of why I was missing things in verbal, how to avoid them next time, and simple things that I had trouble with in content. When I was taking full length practice exams, I spent a considerable amount of time writing down why I missed certain things in the exams. For example my journal would look something like " Read the damn question and make sure you understand what its asking before looking at the answer choices. " Or, "If the author doesn't say it, it is you opinion and not his." I would look at this journal everyday before practicing again and it kept me progressing constantly. Other than that, never think negatively, stay rested and clear minded with sleep an exercise if you can, and don't be afraid to postpone the test if you don't feel ready when it rolls around. Your practice exams should be a little higher than your ideal score. I hope this helped! Also, the 30 + thread is such an inspirational and valuable resource. Read it! I took the MCAT 3 times between august of 2012 and September of 2013 going from a 21 to a 38. Looking back, it was just a test that happened to be much harder than anything I experienced before.

 

[hubristicphantasm]

Snip!

Thank you so, so much for the advice (and I apologize for the late response- it's been a busy week with graduation and all). I confess, I'm a little scared about this as the test is going to change next year and I would really like to not have to go back and take the new required courses. It's easy to get into the "all or nothing" mindset, and I'm sure that's not helping my mini freakouts! I'm debating whether or not to take the exam in November or January, as I don't want to drag this out longer than it needs to be but I also want to be prepared! I'm thinking of getting the Princeton Hyperlearning set, the Examkracker 1001 question set, and all of the Berkeley Review save the Verbal. I'll probably also get a subscription to CourseSaver (because Chad is awesome). Do you think that might be overkill?

Snip!

Apologies to you as well for taking so long to respond. So five months (give or take) seemed to be a good fit for you to review and relearn material?

 

[RC4L]

I don't think that is too much at all! I remember seeing someone on sdn say this when I was studying for mine and it was totally correct: don't take the mcat until your practice scores are consistently above what your goal is.