Is this completely unreasonable or realistic?

[tijames]

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If I am working full time (40 hrs/week), can I adequately prepare for the MCAT in 4 months? I'd likely work on it two hours a day, plus 4 hours on an off day.

Can I get away with that schedule? My goal is to get a 35.

 

[NTG98]

Do you succeed in school because of hard work, or are you just a good test taker?

 

[tijames]

Do you succeed in school because of hard work, or are you just a good test taker?

I'm a hard worker. I never mastered the pre-reqs, I studied mainly to get the grades, so there is some re-learning to be done. Not a big deal, just additional info for you all to consider.

 

[AlphaMagnum]

If I am working full time (40 hrs/week), can I adequately prepare for the MCAT in 4 months? I'd likely work on it two hours a day, plus 4 hours on an off day.

Can I get away with that schedule? My goal is to get a 35.

That quite honestly depends on where you are academically/intellectually, imo.

I didn't take an AAMC before I started studying, but my study habits spanning the last 3 months went something like this:

Stage I: Approx. 1 hour per day, often less (30-45 minutes) for 2.5 months. All I did in this time was read the often poorly reviewed Kaplan Premier Program 2010-2011 textbook without any notetaking. I got through the book once in 2.5 months.

Stage II: 3-5 hours per day (more on practice exam days, less on other days) for 3 weeks. Schedule like this: Exam on one day, review it and any subjects I had difficulty with over the next two days. Rinse and repeat.

My practice exam average is 35 and I've only scored less than that once.

The issue is that I have no idea as to my preparedness level before studying, so I don't know how much my meager habits actually did for me. I do know that I've taken two semesters each of Physiology, Organic Chemistry, Physics, and General Chemistry along with some classes in Biochemistry, Anatomy, and Cell/Molecular Biology.

Everyone in the 30+ habits thread here seemed to work much harder to get scores like this, so I think a great deal of your study requirements originate from how much you know beforehand in addition to your analytical and critical thinking skills.

 

[NTG98]

Yeah, I mean, the content review is one thing, but make sure you take a bunch of practice tests. The MCAT tests test-taking ability, so don't go overboard on content review. Three hundred hours or so is more than enough time.

 

[sha15]

its very much possible bro; just gotta make sacrifices for a few months and just focus while you study - funny how a typical 4 hours worth of studying can be done in 1 hour if you're efficient

 

[circulus vitios]

I worked 3 or 4 days a week this summer (36 or 48 hours a week, mostly 48 hours) and tried to study on my days off. I can get in 3 hours of studying in a good day before I have to stop. Since the second week of May I've put in 100-120 hours of studying. It's hard for me because I want to sit around and do nothing after working all week. You might fare better if you have an office job or a more resolute personality, who knows.

 

[riddler]

I worked ~35 hours a week for a month this summer and studied MCAT at night. It was definitely tough. It's tiring to work after having worked a full day.

That said, I'm sure it is possible to pull it off. If you work 2-3 hours a night after work and work 3-5 hours on the off days, I think you can manage learning the material and practicing sufficiently. I don't think using TBR would be a good option here, since it would simply take too much time to read, but EK would work well.

 

[vin5cent0]

My friend studied for a week on his spring break and got a 38. I studied for a ~month and got a 21 on my first attempt (practice). It all depends on how good you are at taking the test, as well as how fresh the underlying sciences are in your mind.

I think that's more than doable, but please, make sure those 2 hours a night you study MEAN SOMETHING. I've been studying for my August MCAT since June, but I must sadly say that none of my studying up until about a week ago meant anything. I was just reading to memorize, not really seeking to understand, and it has only netted me a 5 point gain so far (26). Now I'm studying diligently every night, and don't move on until the concept is nailed into me. I'm anticipating a much higher score next attempt, but we'll see. I know it seems so common sense, but I really thought I was studying by reading. Apparently that wasn't the case. Make sure you understand exactly what is being talked about in each section you study.

Good luck 👍

 

[notbobtrustme]

If I am working full time (40 hrs/week), can I adequately prepare for the MCAT in 4 months? I'd likely work on it two hours a day, plus 4 hours on an off day.

Can I get away with that schedule? My goal is to get a 35.

I've been finishing up my PhD research, which is basically from 8:30 to 4:30 everyday, then I volunteer from 5 to 7 or so then go home, study for 2 hours. On the weekends, I study about 6 hours after volunteering. I take the test on the 12th but I've been killing the official AMCAS tests.

 

[DrDotooMuch]

Don't ask. Just do. Only person who knows if you can do it is yourself. It depends on how quick you pick things up.

"Some call it a dream. I call it a goal. So stop sleeping and start doing."

Study 2-4 hours everyday for 2-3 months should be enough. That's how I am doing it. That's how all my peers are doing it. That's how all the older heads I know did it. The test will test you on some pretty simple concepts. You just need to get over how convoluted the questions are.

 

[salim271]

2-3 hours for 3 months going through content review then passage practice and practice tests in the last month was my basic strategy.