May 20 MCAT what/how to study

[ronnicus]

I'm just starting to study now so I have a bit less than 2 months to study. What should I focus on? Just do practice tests or skim some content review first?

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[weanprednisone]

Maybe do one practice test to see where you are at, and do content review. I think practice test will give people a punch in the face to tell them, like **** i need to study lol.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

If you only have two months to study for the MCAT, then you need to base it completely on doing questions and blow off content review unless you absolutely don't know the material. You may need to go back and review areas where you get worked by the homework, but if the passages for a subject are going well, then forget reading about it. What is more important than anything given your limited time is getting as much as you can from answer explanations. That is where you will be getting all of your content review and test strategies. You have to use materials with thorough and helpful explanations.

Break each topic into three phases of passages, one where you go slowly and pick up information, a second where you focus on timing, and the last one where you go all out. If you do poorly on Phase 1, go back and read the material. If you get at least 67% correct, move on to Phase 2. Spend a month doing nothing but practice passages with questions, NOT free standing questions. It must be from passages!!! Once you have done this, then it is time to take some practice exams. Again, the most important thing is the answer explanations, because while many people think these exams are actually giving them a score that is reliable. that is often not the case (and shouldn't even be the hope). Your goal from your first few practice exams should be to get exposure to the timing and the level of thinking you need to do. It will also tell you what you need to change in terms of your approach to the exam.

Save your AAMC exams for the end, because they are by far the best. Keep in mind that there are some commercial exams out there that have errors (as many as 5 in some sections), so when you answer a question correctly it will say you missed it. You must have the confidence to know that you are correct and they made the mistake. If you average 128 on the first three BB sections you take and then suddenly get a 125 on an exam from a different company, it is likely that the issue is with their exam (errors in the exam or a poor curve) rather than your test readiness. These errors in some of the popular (non-AAMC) FL exams have been killing people's mojo. Don't let it affect you mentally.

Good luck!

 

[ronnicus]

If you only have two months to study for the MCAT, then you need to base it completely on doing questions and blow off content review unless you absolutely don't know the material. You may need to go back and review areas where you get worked by the homework, but if the passages for a subject are going well, then forget reading about it. What is more important than anything given your limited time is getting as much as you can from answer explanations. That is where you will be getting all of your content review and test strategies. You have to use materials with thorough and helpful explanations.

Break each topic into three phases of passages, one where you go slowly and pick up information, a second where you focus on timing, and the last one where you go all out. If you do poorly on Phase 1, go back and read the material. If you get at least 67% correct, move on to Phase 2. Spend a month doing nothing but practice passages with questions, NOT free standing questions. It must be from passages!!! Once you have done this, then it is time to take some practice exams. Again, the most important thing is the answer explanations, because while many people think these exams are actually giving them a score that is reliable. that is often not the case (and shouldn't even be the hope). Your goal from your first few practice exams should be to get exposure to the timing and the level of thinking you need to do. It will also tell you what you need to change in terms of your approach to the exam.

Save your AAMC exams for the end, because they are by far the best. Keep in mind that there are some commercial exams out there that have errors (as many as 5 in some sections), so when you answer a question correctly it will say you missed it. You must have the confidence to know that you are correct and they made the mistake. If you average 128 on the first three BB sections you take and then suddenly get a 125 on an exam from a different company, it is likely that the issue is with their exam (errors in the exam or a poor curve) rather than your test readiness. These errors in some of the popular (non-AAMC) FL exams have been killing people's mojo. Don't let it affect you mentally.

Good luck!

Thanks I appreciate the detailed response. When you say "break the topic into three phases of passages," you mean take 9 passages and use 3 passages for each phase right? Also, any recommendations for where to buy passages?

 

[maydaymalone]

@BerkReviewTeach I took the TBR prep course last summer, however, I got a 503 with my breakdown being C/P:127 CARS: 123 B/B 126 Psych 127. I have been focusing on CARS by reading slower and practicing as much as I can. The course was great, however, I found that in my 2.5 months over the summer that I did content review for 1.5 months then 1 month only for tests. I am retaking on May 20th and I was just wondering if you had any other advice for a retaker from your course.

Also, my MCAT is May 20th when should I take the AAMC Unscored and Scored tests?

Thanks!

 

[mcatmatt]

I'm just starting to study now so I have a bit less than 2 months to study. What should I focus on? Just do practice tests or skim some content review first?

@ronnicus I agree with what @BerkReviewTeach said above, although I advocate for integrating the AAMC materials sooner rather than later, because they will give you the most realistic idea of what is on the test and, just as importantly, the AAMC's particular style of passages and questions. It might not be worth it to jump straight into the AAMC materials "cold", so to speak, but I think it would be a good strategy to integrate the Question Packs and the Section Bank early while working your way through other practice passages (like Berkeley Review's), and then I would recommend doing the AAMC's Official Sample Test and the Official Practice Test as your first two practice tests.

Have you purchased any practice materials?

 

[ronnicus]

@ronnicus I agree with what @BerkReviewTeach said above, although I advocate for integrating the AAMC materials sooner rather than later, because they will give you the most realistic idea of what is on the test and, just as importantly, the AAMC's particular style of passages and questions. It might not be worth it to jump straight into the AAMC materials "cold", so to speak, but I think it would be a good strategy to integrate the Question Packs and the Section Bank early while working your way through other practice passages (like Berkeley Review's), and then I would recommend doing the AAMC's Official Sample Test and the Official Practice Test as your first two practice tests.

Have you purchased any practice materials?

I have a set of EK books 9th ed and the AAMC materials. I was thinking of purchasing the EK full lengths or even the Next Step ones if I have time. Not sure how helpful doing practice passages will be by themselves especially if they are unrepresentative of the MCAT (heard the BR passages are too hard).

 

[Gulliver Dark]

Not to hijack... The MCAT is coming up quickly for me, and I am tempted to move it back to the May 20 date because I feel so unprepared. I've been preparing, got a 4.0 in the prereqs and I still feel like I have a huge gap in my knowledge base. Practice tests haven't been stellar, though not totally disconcerting since I am probably mostly shooting DO anyway (and Texas schools). Any tips? Should I stop panicking and forget about delaying so I can apply early? (Texas resident so I can apply in May, but I already will be a tad late to that)