Is 3 Weeks/Winter Break of studying enough for January 2013 MCAT?

[kevin2400]

Hey everyone,

So I just took the September 11 MCAT but coming out of the exam, I did not feel like I did as well as I hoped (I remember making stupid mistakes during the exam that cost me a few questions), and now thinking over again, I would be lucky if I got a 29 or 30. So I'm planning to retake, since I feel like I could've done a lot better. So I was wondering if anyone could offer their advice/experience regarding retakes.

My main concern is that I will be very busy this upcoming Fall Quarter. I am heavily invested in extra-curriculars, and I have already signed up for four classes, and I feel like I would not have much time to study for the MCAT. It seems like the only time I will have to study will be during Winter Break which is 3-4 weeks (depending if I finish finals early or not), and probably some light studying in January leading up to the Jan 30 exam.

In terms of how much I have studied this summer. I studied starting about late June until August, about 1~1.5 hours a day (though I did take frequent days off hanging out with friends, etc). I took a class, and studied off all of the Berkeley Review books (except verbal). From August 11 until my test date in September 11, I turned it up a notch and studied a good 5-6 hours a day and by the last 1.5 weeks I was studying first thing I woke up til I went to bed at night. I've done probably 1/4-1/3 of the TBR passages, 4~5 of the TBR CBT's, 7 of the AAMC tests, and I've done 12 out of the 14 tests in EK verbal.

By the end of the summer, i felt like I had most of the content down and studied as much as I could and confident that I could handle anything the AAMC would throw, and all of the AAMC cbts were very doable that I felt confident enough to take the exam in September to get a decent score between 30~34. Just a bummer that I felt the the September 11 test felt harder than the AAMC tests. The content is still fresh in my mind now, and I feel like if i don't forget much during this upcoming Fall quarter, it wouldn't take much to review all my content again, but then again I really don't know since 10 weeks in a quarter is a lot of time that I can forget most of the studying I have done all summer.


So I was wondering if 3 weeks (+ another 3 weeks of light studying in January) is probably enough to refresh my memory take a few practice exams? Does anyone have experience with taking a retake for January and studying during Winter Break? Did you feel like it was enough time to refresh your memory? Did you feel like you forgot of information during the Fall Quarter/Semester? Were you able to improve a certain amount?


I will be applying next June, so unfortunately waiting til next Summer is not an option for me.

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[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Sure, study 10 hours a day.

 

[starlight15]

I also took the 9/11 test. I feel that you won't be doing much studying in the next month (quarter) you should wait until your scores come back to decide. We all come out of the exam thinking we don't do well but I think most people score around their exam averages so who knows?

I think it all depends on how much you can remember by the time winter break rolls around and how much you study during that time. Maybe still do some light reviewing during the fall?

 

[GomerPyle]

3 weeks? Lol you will need at least 2 months. Even 10 hours a day for 3 weeks is not enough...I tried that the first time, and it didn't work.

 

[kevin2400]

3 weeks? Lol you will need at least 2 months. Even 10 hours a day for 3 weeks is not enough...I tried that the first time, and it didn't work.

What about the second time?

 

[GomerPyle]

What about the second time?

The second time was close to 2 more months of studying, where I learned a LOT more and knew a lot more for the exam. I just did practice problems. I still haven't received the score yet.

 

[maybemed2013]

If I were you I would continuously study my weak topics, then winter break study hardcore.

 

[bedelblu]

If you're concerned about reserving a spot and then losing money on the cancellation fee if you're not ready, I would recommend not signing up at all. I know it's strange, but I've almost always seen spots open up a few weeks before test dates because so many people cancel, so you can grab a spot for January if you really are ready. And if you're not, at least you don't have that added pressure of feeling obligated to take it the day you signed up for back in September. Take it when you're ready, and be more concerned about your performance than your timeline

 

[stannislaus]

I'm in exactly the same boat as you. Took sept 11 MCAT and felt like crap. Now retaking in January haha.

For me, I decided that since I've already finished content review when studying for Sept 11 MCAT, the best thing for me is to practice practice practice (when I took the MCAT, I had only done 2 FL's. my fault.)

I'd say 3 weeks for winter break is enough, if you're done with content review. What I'm going to do is to do minimal reviewing throughout fall quarter: a few passages every other day or so (i made the decision to invest in the TPRH workbooks) and spend 1.5-2 hours a day (or every other day) reviewing concepts and making sure the pages of my TBR and EK books still look familiar to me, just to stay sharp and not forget. The three weeks of winter break, I'll just drill myself with practice FL's and passages.

But I dunno. I jumped on the MCAT pretty late in the game (my performance on sept 11 MCAT definitely showed it!). I feel like this plan is feasible, but if I'm giving bad advice to myself and you, someone please let me know!!

 

[stannislaus]

** i also noticed that you've already taken many AAMC's. Since people say its best not to retake, consider other FL's out there! I heard TBR's are good (expensive, but still cheaper than AAMC, if I remember correctly).

I'm in exactly the same boat as you. Took sept 11 MCAT and felt like crap. Now retaking in January haha.

For me, I decided that since I've already finished content review when studying for Sept 11 MCAT, the best thing for me is to practice practice practice (when I took the MCAT, I had only done 2 FL's. my fault.)

I'd say 3 weeks for winter break is enough, if you're done with content review. What I'm going to do is to do minimal reviewing throughout fall quarter: a few passages every other day or so (i made the decision to invest in the TPRH workbooks) and spend 1.5-2 hours a day (or every other day) reviewing concepts and making sure the pages of my TBR and EK books still look familiar to me, just to stay sharp and not forget. The three weeks of winter break, I'll just drill myself with practice FL's and passages.

But I dunno. I jumped on the MCAT pretty late in the game (my performance on sept 11 MCAT definitely showed it!). I feel like this plan is feasible, but if I'm giving bad advice to myself and you, someone please let me know!!