Is this too long too study for the MCAT?

[virtualmaster999]

Hi all,

I am an upcoming junior in the fall.

I am taking the following classes:

-Physics 1 w/lab
-Cell bio
-Abnormal psych
-Brain and behavior

Total: 13 credit hours.

I will also be continuing to volunteer at a hospital, shadow, EC's and possible continue my sumer research.

Since I haven't taken physics yet, I am going to take the new MCAT in spring 2015 (sucks, but I'm not stopping my goal).

I am planning to study with the following materials (as of now):
-TPR 2015 MCAT set
-Kaplan 2015 MCAT set (maybe, still not sure)
-Previous verbal reasoning books: EK, previous TPR and Kaplan etc

Now, as the new mcat will commence in spring of 2015, I have a lot of time to prepare (8 months) but I also have plenty of obligations to attend to, such as the ones listed above and my regular classes. Is it reasonable to spread out my studying for this long? Even if it isn't "heavy" studying until winter break, I still want to start learning content, and practicing verbal (which I know I will have difficulty with, as I am not good with with interpreting readings well, especially at a fast pace). Not too mention, the new MCAT will be longer and harder, so perhaps extra preparation for me will be needed.

I mean, I'm the type of person who performs best at exams when I study (at least review) material slowly and continue to review it over a period of time. Plus, I think I could practice a lot from reading verbal sections and practicing passages at the very least, which helps me a lot.

I haven't taken physics yet (only pre req I'm missing), so I have to account for this too, which is why I couldn't study over summer).

What do you guys think? Is this fine (not that I have another choice)? Give me your advice please, and any pros/cons. Thanks in advance!

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[Optimus-Prime]

I studied for about that long. It was important for me though because I was 5 years out from some of the prereqs. I ended up getting a 32.

Pace yourself, and don't spend too much time going over material again and again. My biggest benefits came from practice tests. Don't take the AAMCs until you get closer to your exam date. I used the Kaplan practice tests to build up, they weren't as good as the AAMCs, but with the time your putting in your going to need extra material.

 

[wholeheartedly]

We've had quite a few nontrads do 4-6 month stretches. Some people say that's too long because you start to forget things that you covered early on, others say it's ok as long as you're aware of that and make sure to keep that stuff fresh.

 

[DocConk]

I'm in a similar boat as you. Don't catch yourself letting your grades slip in compensation for the MCAT review you plan on doing. Be reasonable with the time you put into MCAT, especially considering it's so far away. I plan on simply reading and doing practice questions until I reach like the 4 month threshold.

 

[medschoolislife]

This has probably been said before, but given this thread, I'm going to add my two cents, which may or may not be sound advice. I personally think 8 months is way too long to study, but moreover, you yourself know more than anyone how and when you should study. More importantly, if I were you, I'd take the mcat before the changes next year and you've got a lot of opportunities to do so (It doesn't change right as 2015 hits right?). This current test is ridiculously easy compared to what it used to be. I can't imagine having to take the old, longer version, much less with an additional section which no one really knows anything about yet (I'm not saying I would've done worse necessarily, but why go through that 6.5 hour test).

Also, I really want to stress that in my experience, the mcat is definitely a reasoning test, which I'm glad someone I knew going in. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I took the aamc 3 and got a 29 with no content review or previous mcat practice. If you start off with decent reasoning abilities (gauge with your SAT/ACT maybe?), then 8 months is highly excessive and yes, you will probably forget some things if you haven't internalized the concepts fully. Following that 29, I took a few of the other aamcs with some content review over a week long period (8 hours a day) and got a 33 on the real mcat and that was also missing 2 prereqs. The point is, the mcat's material and content is definitely very, very basic compared to how in depth the same content area is covered in a college class. For example, the necessary E&M stuff can be learned from scratch to mcat preparedness in 4-5 days, where a college class would be using 10 hours a week to cover the same topics over the course of a semester.

If I were to do it over again, I would study for 2 months, but only insofar as a couple hours of content review a day and making sure I don't get bogged down on forgetting some random facts. In the end, I'm pretty sure I still would've gotten just a point or two higher at most with the 2 months versus the 1 week. In my opinion, the VR really embodies the whole MCAT, in that you can't get away from having good critical thinking skills, and critical reasoning is something you obtain throughout your life. I studied from a 11 first time try on the VR to a 12 on the real test, and I'm pretty sure in a few years, I could still reproduce that 11/12 without refamiliarizing myself with the test. I also believe (and this might just be laziness talking) that I could spend a year taking VRs over and over again, and I still wouldn't be able to get 13/14/15 on the mcat. I'm just not a 13/14/15 thinker if that makes sense. For a more empirical example, I have a friend who took basically every Kaplan, EK 101 passages and probably some other things over a 6 month period and went from a 7 first try to a 8 on the real test.

Obviously, don't study for just a week, but 8 months is the other extreme. I think the point I'm really trying to put out there is that the mcat is partially an IQ test and not a bijective function of study time and result. This, in my opinion, isn't said enough.

 

[virtualmaster999]

This has probably been said before, but given this thread, I'm going to add my two cents, which may or may not be sound advice. I personally think 8 months is way too long to study, but moreover, you yourself know more than anyone how and when you should study. More importantly, if I were you, I'd take the mcat before the changes next year and you've got a lot of opportunities to do so (It doesn't change right as 2015 hits right?). This current test is ridiculously easy compared to what it used to be. I can't imagine having to take the old, longer version, much less with an additional section which no one really knows anything about yet (I'm not saying I would've done worse necessarily, but why go through that 6.5 hour test).

Also, I really want to stress that in my experience, the mcat is definitely a reasoning test, which I'm glad someone I knew going in. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I took the aamc 3 and got a 29 with no content review or previous mcat practice. If you start off with decent reasoning abilities (gauge with your SAT/ACT maybe?), then 8 months is highly excessive and yes, you will probably forget some things if you haven't internalized the concepts fully. Following that 29, I took a few of the other aamcs with some content review over a week long period (8 hours a day) and got a 33 on the real mcat and that was also missing 2 prereqs. The point is, the mcat's material and content is definitely very, very basic compared to how in depth the same content area is covered in a college class. For example, the necessary E&M stuff can be learned from scratch to mcat preparedness in 4-5 days, where a college class would be using 10 hours a week to cover the same topics over the course of a semester.

If I were to do it over again, I would study for 2 months, but only insofar as a couple hours of content review a day and making sure I don't get bogged down on forgetting some random facts. In the end, I'm pretty sure I still would've gotten just a point or two higher at most with the 2 months versus the 1 week. In my opinion, the VR really embodies the whole MCAT, in that you can't get away from having good critical thinking skills, and critical reasoning is something you obtain throughout your life. I studied from a 11 first time try on the VR to a 12 on the real test, and I'm pretty sure in a few years, I could still reproduce that 11/12 without refamiliarizing myself with the test. I also believe (and this might just be laziness talking) that I could spend a year taking VRs over and over again, and I still wouldn't be able to get 13/14/15 on the mcat. I'm just not a 13/14/15 thinker if that makes sense. For a more empirical example, I have a friend who took basically every Kaplan, EK 101 passages and probably some other things over a 6 month period and went from a 7 first try to a 8 on the real test.

Obviously, don't study for just a week, but 8 months is the other extreme. I think the point I'm really trying to put out there is that the mcat is partially an IQ test and not a bijective function of study time and result. This, in my opinion, isn't said enough.

I do see what you mean, I'm just concerned because I havent take physics yet, and for me personally, and im sure many others, I don think i would be prepared without having that physics background. If it was orgo 2, I could understand, but I dont think it would work out good for me.

 

[looncat]

There were actually several people in my kaplan course who hadn't taken physics (they did take it in hs however) and they did pretty well (low 30s). I think the advantage of this much easier mcat far outweighs the disadvantage of not having taken physics. If you schedule your test for february or march, you have more than enough time to study and get a good score.

 

[mrh125]

take as long as you need.

 

[virtualmaster999]

There were actually several people in my kaplan course who hadn't taken physics (they did take it in hs however) and they did pretty well (low 30s). I think the advantage of this much easier mcat far outweighs the disadvantage of not having taken physics. If you schedule your test for february or march, you have more than enough time to study and get a good score.

Yeah but the last current exam is in January and I would still have to study during the semester which would still be hard.


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[chaii]

Yeah but the last current exam is in January and I would still have to study during the semester which would still be hard.


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Thats what Im doing actually. Probably will be the worst 5 months of my life

 

[virtualmaster999]

Thats what Im doing actually. Probably will be the worst 5 months of my life

But all your pre reqs are done right?


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[looncat]

My course was also during the semester, it's definitely doable. The new mcat just sounds a ton more difficult, there's also going to be very limited resources to study for it.

 

[virtualmaster999]

My course was also during the semester, it's definitely doable. The new mcat just sounds a ton more difficult, there's also going to be very limited resources to study for it.

I mean, it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to takeover current mcat with no physics experience right?


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[Caffein3]

I'm actually in the exact same boat as you. I have a pretty heavy course load in the fall though, so I'm going to lighten up a bit in the spring, and start studying seriously over winter break. The fall semester I'm just focusing on classes and maintaining all of my EC's--I think starting now is a bit too early and I'll probably forget the information and/or mess up my grades and EC's. But hey, if you think you'll do better that way, go for it!

 

[Aerus]

Unless it's been years since you've taken the prereqs, you should not need more than 3-4 months of semi-intense studying. I highly recommend studying over the summer and taking it at the end of the summer, but if you're dead set on applying next cycle, then you'll have to just go for it.

 

[Optimus-Prime]

At the end of the day base your decision on your average practice MCAT, when it reflects the score you want you will be ready.

The amount of time it takes can be variable

 

[looncat]

I mean, it probably wouldn't be in my best interest to takeover current mcat with no physics experience right?


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If this means you've never taken physics AT ALL, like no high school classes, then yes it'd be more troublesome.

 

[G_Marker]

I wish I had studied longer than weekends all summer. I felt that my biggest problem right before I took the exam was endurance. If I had just worked on that for a couple more weeks by taking more practice exams, I think my score would have been significantly higher. Unfortunately, there was just no feasible way for me to study a couple weeks longer. I should have started earlier.

Also, physics is a big part of the exam. Organic chemistry? Not so much. But you can't take the MCAT without any physics background.