I want to know what I can do now to just get a little head start on the MCAT. I'm a 2nd semester freshman and I know your going to say don't even worry about it. I'm not that worried about it, but I have heard things on SDN about tips. Some people say to read the newspaper every morning and watch the news for the Verbal section and stuff like that. Are there little things I could do, that after 3 years would aid me in the MCAT?
Is there anything I could do now?
- Thread starter Maali
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I want to know what I can do now to just get a little head start on the MCAT. I'm a 2nd semester freshman and I know your going to say don't even worry about it. I'm not that worried about it, but I have heard things on SDN about tips. Some people say to read the newspaper every morning and watch the news for the Verbal section and stuff like that. Are there little things I could do, that after 3 years would aid me in the MCAT?
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1) You posted twice.
2) Focus on your current coursework and activities. One day at a time or you're going to crack like an osteoporotic grandmother under a squat rack.
3) Don't even worry about it.
2) Focus on your current coursework and activities. One day at a time or you're going to crack like an osteoporotic grandmother under a squat rack.
3) Don't even worry about it.
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Do well in your science classes and develop a solid understanding of intro bio, chem, physics, etc. That is the most important thing you could be doing now.
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Enjoy your freshman year, silly goober. Though you could arrange everything you learned into a test and time yourself. One think you can do, is a get MCAT book and study and compare what you know with those questions.
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Reading an article once in a while on The Economist doesn't hurt. That's the extent of preparing for the MCAT you should be worrying about for now. Other than that, just try to really learn the material in all your pre-req. classes.
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Very interesting website. Have you personally used this?
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I would suggest:
1) Take your pre-reqs very seriously, do well in them but dont just learn/regurgitate for the exams to simply get an A in the class... REALLY learn the material.
2) Start looking at old VR passages and question types. Read them, get a feel for the type/tone/points of view/etc. Don't even worry about time - just become a master at knowing exactly what is likely to be asked and what the right type of answers look like. VR is a tough thing to learn if you do not encounter it until you start learning the MCAT. I wish I would have started my VR practice years in advance. People who say "read the economist, Times, blah, blah, blah" are only 1/2 right. Its not just reading those pieces, but learning to critically think while reading. Research what critical thinking really is while reading and learn to do it!
1) Take your pre-reqs very seriously, do well in them but dont just learn/regurgitate for the exams to simply get an A in the class... REALLY learn the material.
2) Start looking at old VR passages and question types. Read them, get a feel for the type/tone/points of view/etc. Don't even worry about time - just become a master at knowing exactly what is likely to be asked and what the right type of answers look like. VR is a tough thing to learn if you do not encounter it until you start learning the MCAT. I wish I would have started my VR practice years in advance. People who say "read the economist, Times, blah, blah, blah" are only 1/2 right. Its not just reading those pieces, but learning to critically think while reading. Research what critical thinking really is while reading and learn to do it!
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No - I didn't know about the MCAT program until after I took the MCAT. It's pricey, but I'm certain it would have been a huge help since I took the MCAT almost a decade after most of my science classes. I plan to give the other version a try during medical school.
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Try to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts in your core science classes rather than memorizing facts for an exam. Learn for keeps: that way you won't have to do much content review come exam time. Take a literary analysis/argumentative class and read voraciously. Other than that stop worrying too much
Thanks for the website. I registered for it since it is free for a month. It is expensive though so I don't think I could pay for it from now until I take the MCAT. I bookmarked it though. When do you advise I start using it? A year before the MCAT? Again thanks for this awesome website.
Sorry guys, how I accidentally posted it twice. Can someone combine it or something?
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I wish I'd have known about that site before I took the MCAT. Going through review books and practice exams was a slog, and this format and large number of questions would have made it more interesting for me.
I considered an Anki/spaced repetition approach, but I didn't have the time and discipline to put together all of the cards. You're basically paying for them plus a question bank. I would probably only pay for the amount of time it takes you to go through all of the questions once or twice, but I honestly haven't looked at the MCAT program all that closely. I'm not sure what stops you from continually registering for a free month using a different email, but maybe they hope you're not shady like that?
I could say don't worry about it and forget about it but that won't change your mind so here is what you should do to prepare yourself
a) Read one or two articles from the Economist ONCE a week (more if you're interested). Then just really think about hte article to yourself. What was the articles theme? What was his tone? What was his overall message? This is all you should do at this point for verbal
b) For your sciences, honestly focus on your classes and focus on the BIG PICTURE. Really understand the concepts. I don't mean understand the tiny details but just understand how things operate. It's great to memorize something but understanding will help you in the long run.
Honestly that's all you should do especially this early on. Let me know if u have any other questions
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I think I'm going to do the same and give this a try during med school too. Thanks!
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Like other people said, take your pre-req's seriously.
If you're at a solid school, Gen Chem, Orgo, Physics and Biology will cover a lot of what is on the MCATs. So get A's, and also try to really learn and understand it. It'll make it a lot easier come MCAT time.
Also, the MCAT is changing, so take the new social and psychology courses to get in touch with those if you can.
Take Physiology, and Genetics if you can, since they'll help you with the MCATs a lot.
For the Verbal portion, you should read the news since it'll increase your knowledge about the world around you and make you a better citizen. But it won't help your score, since its not really like the verbal at all. I personally think the verbal just means that you can read incredibly nuanced and obnoxiously written stuff and have it make sense. AKA when your a doctor and you have to read a paper laden with jargo.
I think what mostly corresponds to the level of difficult of the MCAT verbal is reading medical journals. Scholar.google.com has a lot of papers, so just think of something you like and search for research about it and read whats up. I liked yoga so I read some research on yoga, and nutrition, and lots of other things. That should help you and also allow you to get exposed to what's going on in the research world.
OH but the most important thing for Verbal is doing practice questions. Do lots of practice questions. AAMC has a free MCAT practice test, do it - it'll help you a lot and your verbal too. You can also do practice questions in other books, and AAMC's own outline book - do them all!!!!!
PRACTICE QUESTIONS!!!!!!! PRAAAACTICEEEEEEEE QUESTIONSSSSSS!
If you're at a solid school, Gen Chem, Orgo, Physics and Biology will cover a lot of what is on the MCATs. So get A's, and also try to really learn and understand it. It'll make it a lot easier come MCAT time.
Also, the MCAT is changing, so take the new social and psychology courses to get in touch with those if you can.
Take Physiology, and Genetics if you can, since they'll help you with the MCATs a lot.
For the Verbal portion, you should read the news since it'll increase your knowledge about the world around you and make you a better citizen. But it won't help your score, since its not really like the verbal at all. I personally think the verbal just means that you can read incredibly nuanced and obnoxiously written stuff and have it make sense. AKA when your a doctor and you have to read a paper laden with jargo.
I think what mostly corresponds to the level of difficult of the MCAT verbal is reading medical journals. Scholar.google.com has a lot of papers, so just think of something you like and search for research about it and read whats up. I liked yoga so I read some research on yoga, and nutrition, and lots of other things. That should help you and also allow you to get exposed to what's going on in the research world.
OH but the most important thing for Verbal is doing practice questions. Do lots of practice questions. AAMC has a free MCAT practice test, do it - it'll help you a lot and your verbal too. You can also do practice questions in other books, and AAMC's own outline book - do them all!!!!!
PRACTICE QUESTIONS!!!!!!! PRAAAACTICEEEEEEEE QUESTIONSSSSSS!
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+1 on taking physiology and genetics.
And unless you're an anxious test taker (which you will need to mitigate, considering how test-heavy medicine is), ingrain the idea that every bio/chem/physics exam you study for is not simply for an A in the class, but future preparation for the MCAT as well -- it can do wonders for study motivation.
I had to prepare very little for gen chem and orgo on the MCAT in part thanks to that mentality. Physics, on the other hand...
And unless you're an anxious test taker (which you will need to mitigate, considering how test-heavy medicine is), ingrain the idea that every bio/chem/physics exam you study for is not simply for an A in the class, but future preparation for the MCAT as well -- it can do wonders for study motivation.
I had to prepare very little for gen chem and orgo on the MCAT in part thanks to that mentality. Physics, on the other hand...
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Merging related threads
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Sign up for a free MCAT question of the day email. There are several websites out there. Keep in mind that you won't be getting many questions right, but over time you will get more and more correct and feel as though you are making progress. The question takes less than five minutes each day, but you get a chance to see the question format, read the short explanations and maybe learn something new, and feel as though you are doing something productive so you don't feel anxious.
I did this for a year before my MCAT, starting about 9 months before serious studying. It was also a great way to identify weak topics - if the question explanation did not make sense but I knew that I should have known the info from a course, I took a couple extra minutes to refresh my knowledge on wiki/google.
Edit: again, notice that I did this a year, not three years in advance...but to each their own 😉
I did this for a year before my MCAT, starting about 9 months before serious studying. It was also a great way to identify weak topics - if the question explanation did not make sense but I knew that I should have known the info from a course, I took a couple extra minutes to refresh my knowledge on wiki/google.
Edit: again, notice that I did this a year, not three years in advance...but to each their own 😉
