Looking for Advice From Non-Trads (Working Full Time and Weak Content Background)

[sadgeboi]

Hello everyone!

So I will actually be an MCAT retaker. I tested this past March, but did very very poorly and want to start from scratch as I am weak in essentially every subject. My mistake was taking the test with a lot of content gaps in addition to being burnt out from other obligations. I've been taking time off, so I think I am ready to start studying again. I need to do really well this time around and am aiming for a minimum of 515+.

I'm planning to retake in January 2019, but wanted to get some advice from those that did well as non-trads or from those that worked full time, since I will be working 40-50 hours/week and have a very weak background in all of the subjects (especially chemistry and physics). It has been about 3-4 years since I've taken my science pre-reqs.

How long did you study for and what study materials did you use?

I've been searching around and am stuck between using TPR and TBR for content review (maybe I should use both?). I essentially need to start from scratch, and need a resource that will break things down in a way that will be easy for me to understand. I tried using Kaplan my first time around, and personally, I don't think that it was very good for C/P.

I'm also unsure of when to start studying. Realistically, I plan to study 6 days per week and will only be able to dedicate 1-2 hours of studying a day on weekdays and then close to 4-5 hours on weekends. From searching through different threads, there are a lot of mixed opinions.

A lot of people seem to say that 7-8 months of studying, even while working full time, is way too much - so I'm aiming for 6 months of prep time. At the same time though, I'm not sure if that will be enough time to address my content weaknesses either.

Any input would be appreciated! Thank you.

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[Osminog]

What score did you get in March?

 

[sadgeboi]

What score did you get in March?

501 (125/124/124/128). I'm really surprised about CARS and my B/B score because I was average 127-128 in those sections, but it is what it is.

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I'd recommend TBR for the sciences and TPR for P/S and CARS.

 

[Avulse]

I worked 2 jobs, got off work around 6-7pm and studied until around 12AM each night. Spent more time on the weekends. I used TBR for sciences, Kaplan for P/S and anki flash cards I found from Reddit. Improvement showed on my practice exams. However, after discovering my learning style and seeing that I didnt have much time during the day, I skipped doing content review.

For you, I would try and first discover what your learning style is. That will dictate what you use to study, and how long you will need to study. If you are someone like me who learns better through practice, then I would say save your time and don't do traditional content review. I would jump straight to doing practice exams (I used Nextstep which I thought was awesome) and the AAMC section banks. From your practice exams and time with the section banks, you will discover your weak areas and can target them accordingly.

 

[sadgeboi]

I worked 2 jobs, got off work around 6-7pm and studied until around 12AM each night. Spent more time on the weekends. I used TBR for sciences, Kaplan for P/S and anki flash cards I found from Reddit. Improvement showed on my practice exams. However, after discovering my learning style and seeing that I didnt have much time during the day, I skipped doing content review.

For you, I would try and first discover what your learning style is. That will dictate what you use to study, and how long you will need to study. If you are someone like me who learns better through practice, then I would say save your time and don't do traditional content review. I would jump straight to doing practice exams (I used Nextstep which I thought was awesome) and the AAMC section banks. From your practice exams and time with the section banks, you will discover your weak areas and can target them accordingly.

Wow, that's impressive. Can I ask how long you studied for? I feel like I should be spending around 6-8 months prepping since I work full time.

 

[Avulse]

Wow, that's impressive. Can I ask how long you studied for? I feel like I should be spending around 6-8 months prepping since I work full time.

I studied for around 3-4 months...of course everyone's situations are different, but in my opinion I would say make your duration a bit shorter, perhaps 3-5 months if you can. 6 Months is just too long, you may begin to forget things you studied in the beginning if you don't practice regularly.

 

[sadgeboi]

I studied for around 3-4 months...of course everyone's situations are different, but in my opinion I would say make your duration a bit shorter, perhaps 3-5 months if you can. 6 Months is just too long, you may begin to forget things you studied in the beginning if you don't practice regularly.

That is true, I guess I'll have to do a trial week or something like that to get an accurate idea of my pace. Thanks for the input!

 

[Lucky Day]

Two observations:
1) You should have a more extensive remediation.
2) You might be setting yourself too high of a bar at this stage.

Towards the former, are you open to auditing the courses that you're weak in? It would be totally doable to get 4 course audits between now and the end of the year at a community college. It would help you get a better foundation and you could take the test in March/April with a 3-4 month study time. All the while, you could take a long term approach on improving your CARS, which is really the only way to improve on that section.

As to the latter, a 14+ point improvement is monster. For those with your first score, only 7 percent of retests see a score an improvement of 10 points or more ( https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...e533dbc25/retest_gain_2015_and_2016_total.pdf ). It might be wiser to set a more modest goal and modify it if/when you exceed the more conservative goals. Addressing the psyche of MCAT prep is important.

 

[sadgeboi]

Two observations:
1) You should have a more extensive remediation.
2) You might be setting yourself too high of a bar at this stage.

Towards the former, are you open to auditing the courses that you're weak in? It would be totally doable to get 4 course audits between now and the end of the year at a community college. It would help you get a better foundation and you could take the test in March/April with a 3-4 month study time. All the while, you could take a long term approach on improving your CARS, which is really the only way to improve on that section.

As to the latter, a 14+ point improvement is monster. For those with your first score, only 7 percent of retests see a score an improvement of 10 points or more ( https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...e533dbc25/retest_gain_2015_and_2016_total.pdf ). It might be wiser to set a more modest goal and modify it if/when you exceed the more conservative goals. Addressing the psyche of MCAT prep is important.

You make some good points. Statistically, the odds are very much against me and to boot, I'm not very bright. I would totally audit and take evening classes, but money is an issue for me.

Combining the low GPA and low first take on MCAT is the largest reason why I was considering 8 months of prep. I was initially thinking about doing C/P review with TBR, going through that once, and then doing C/P review all over again with TPR just to hammer in the concepts, but it seems like studying for that long is also not a great idea.