MCAT Advice from a 521 Non-Trad - its a marathon not a sprint

[907914]

I have had 3 people ask for MCAT advice within a couple months of their test date. As a father who was also in the military reserves for the first 3 months of MCAT study time, I can tell you that I did not have massive amounts of dedicated study time. Mostly 2 or 3 hour sessions every other day. While I cannot give direct MCAT study advice, I’ll just give you my MCAT story and see if there is anything you can parse from it that will help any of you:

I planned out my entire 3 year course schedule about 4 years ago. After my first year of undergrad (Did intro bio series, finished gem chem, finished physics, did ochem series) I took genetics over the summer.

I had Cell bio and Biochem planned for the Fall quarter so I self studied all of that over the course of the summer using a program called Draw it to Know it. The goal with self studying all of that was so that I would have open MCAT study time over fall quarter as opposed to studying for classes (in addition, that way I could ask productive questions in class as opposed to newb stuff).

Over fall quarter I took those two classes and studied MCAT official material 2 hours a day for 3 days a week (I would do a passage in each section on Monday and Wednesday and then thoroughly review each passage on Friday). Also during Fall quarter I also go a subscription to the New England Journal of Medicine and read a couple articles a week to teach myself how to ‘read science’ so to speak (because charts and wording are like 3/4 of the MCAT).

When reviewing passages, you want to make sure you are NOT studying the material. Study the test. Make sure you understand what AAMC is asking for, why they are asking that, and what answer type corresponds to a particular question style. Again, study the test itself 10x more than the material. If you have taken the classes then all of the material is in your head somewhere.

I had scheduled for Winter quarter that I took psych and micro. This was an easy schedule that allowed MCAT study time and was my first time actually touching psych. Over winter break, I self studied all of psych and sociology for the first 2 weeks (Crash Course on YouTube is very good - covers about 90% of what you need to know and is more entertaining than khan academy 100 page doc). Basically watched every video taking notes along the way.

Second two weeks of winter break I just reviewed every single question from all of the AAMC material. Same thing - made sure I understood why what was right was right and what was wrong was wrong. Not only in the context of the material being presented but in the context of knowing what AAMC was asking.

I took my first practice test (AAMC FL1) on the last Saturday of winter break and scored a 510 (129/127/129/125). I spent all of the following Sunday reviewing the test in the same way as I reviewed practice questions: Study the test itself NOT the matierial.

Over Winter quarter I spent all of January and February at 2 to 3 hours a day 3 days a week doing one passage from each section AND reviewing the questions after I completed them. I used strictly Khan academy free MCAT passages for this portion. If I had a passage that I got less than 80% on, then I would redo the entire passage as if it was new the next day (on one of the ‘off’ days). I took a practice test (AAMC FL2) at the end of January and got a 519 (131/129/132/127) and a practice test at the end of February (AAMC FL3) and got a 516 (129/129/130/128).

For the first half of March I continued this, but then from March 15th - March 21st I spent 5-8 hours a day in the library knocking out every single AAMC practice material for the second time just to make sure I was priming myself for AAMC (hadn’t touched it since Winter break). Again, reviewing the test NOT necessarily the material.

Even though Khan Academy is the closest question style to AAMC (and I think it is why I did so well on the MCAT) it still has its differences and the real deal is still the best. I took a day for rest, took my last practice test on March 24th (AAMC Ungraded) and got around 94% of the questions right. I kind of skimmed over the answers I got wrong right after the exam, but no real in depth.

Took another 4 days off to go on a backpacking trip in the deserts of Eastern Washington, came back and got a good night’s sleep. Real deal was on March 29th, got a 521 (131/130/131/129) and I can tell you that I am fairly confident the P/S points I missed were because I put literally zero effort in to memorizing random facts. I hate memorization and would much rather know the concepts than the verbiage.

Whatever you do, have pizza the night before MCAT so you can bring cold pizza in a ziplock to the testing center. Bring sugary drinks, no water. Do jumping jacks and squats on your breaks. Got good and conquer the exam.

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[907914]

Thanks for sharing!

Gladly! Prior to studying for the MCAT, all of the advice I saw on here was to take one to three months and treat MCAT studying like a full-time job and you take a practice test from anywhere you can get it every weekend and that just wasn’t gonna work for me. So I thought I’d share what I did with an audience that I know has some members who are in the same boat or who really don’t have that kind of time.

 

[Cornfed101]

OP, now I understand your profile picture... you sacrificed Elmo to the MCAT gods

 

[907914]

OP, now I understand your profile picture... you sacrificed Elmo to the MCAT gods

No. The gods have made a sacrifice to Elmo. And Elmo thinks more blood and fire is necessary.

Although in seriousness, I’d like to think I earned the score through longitudinal reinforcement.

 

[Ultimakey]

No. The gods have made a sacrifice to Elmo. And Elmo thinks more blood and fire is necessary.

Although in seriousness, I’d like to think I earned the score through longitudinal reinforcement.

Can I get your thoughts on how helpful the upper level biology courses were? I might not be able to take micro/genetics/cell bio, and in that case, how much extra work would I have to while studying for the mcat to catch up?

 

[907914]

Can I get your thoughts on how helpful the upper level biology courses were? I might not be able to take micro/genetics/cell bio, and in that case, how much extra work would I have to while studying for the mcat to catch up?

In my experience, Cell biology was probably the single most beneficial class, even more so than biochem. If you do not have time to take the classes in a formal classroom setting, I would strongly recommend doing a self paced program such as Khan Academy or Draw-it-to-know-it (I really benefited from that one). The biggest thing with the Cell bio stuff is not memorization of things, but being able to visualize pathways within the cell. As far as genetics and micro goes, the same program has all of that - or you can just memorize what you need to as there is not much of either (they are both testable materials, but not in much depth).

 

[ARealWorkInProgress]

I took my first FL today, and I just feel like I'm blanking out on the science portions. I got 120/128/121/124. I'm not sure how to retain this information and apply it. I just kinda freak out. My test is in a month

 

[907914]

I took my first FL today, and I just feel like I'm blanking out on the science portions. I got 120/128/121/124. I'm not sure how to retain this information and apply it. I just kinda freak out. My test is in a month

Was it a third-party blank or was it in AAMC full length?

 

[ARealWorkInProgress]

Was it a third-party blank or was it in AAMC full length?

AAMC Full length

 

[907914]

AAMC Full length

Alright, so I am going to get real with you. A 493 a month before the real deal is a solid no-go. You need to cancel your MCAT. If you are URM, then you will want at least a 506 if you want a shot at MD and you need a 500 if you want a shot at DO. If you are ORM, you need a 510 MD or a 504 DO. No matter what, one month is not sufficient to improve that significantly. You should be in full practice questions mode for the last month, however you are at the point where it is very clear that material review is what you need.

You are at the 6th percentile in chemistry, 11th percentile in biology, and 36th percentile in psychology. However, you are at the 90th percentile in CARS, which tells me you have great critical thinking skills. Being that the critical thinking is there, I can only assume that you are lacking a bunch in the content. I would recommend you push your MCAT back to mid-august if you want to apply DO or January if you want to apply MD (In which case a Gap year will be necessary).

For content review, focus on surface level. Literally you do not need to know in depth.

CrashCourse

At Crash Course, we believe that high quality educational videos should be available to everyone for free! Subscribe for weekly videos from our current cours...

www.youtube.com

The above is a fairly entertaining YouTube Channel that is perfect for content review. They have a Biology, chemistry, physics, sociology, psychology, and Anatomy/physiology series. Each one is about 45 episodes of 10 minute videos. Watch all of them. Pause and take in depth notes (Write down any text that appears on screen and draw any diagrams they draw). That should take about 70 hours if you are taking notes. After each and every episode, re-read your notes then answer some khan academy MCAT practice discrete questions. This is NOT to practice question taking - this is to actively reinforce the knowledge.

MCAT | Test prep | Khan Academy

This collection is being developed for the revised MCAT® exam that will first be administered in April 2015. The collection contains more than 1000 videos and 2800 practice questions. Content will be added to the collection through 2015. All content in this collection has been created under the...

www.khanacademy.org

Go to the individual sections of each material and take the practice questions. The reason I say use crash course videos instead of Khan Academy is because KA is boring and too in depth. Crash Course is thorough enough and much more entertaining. For the MCAT you need a surface level understanding combined with critical thinking, and you definitely have the critical thinking per your CARS. But then use the KA questions because a) they are free b) they are easy to search through c) they are pretty close to MCAT intent.

Getting through in totality of all of crash course with notes and KA discrete questions should take you right at about 3 weeks if you are working 5 hours a day. You should now roughly know all of the material you need to know. If you are going to wait until January, I would highly recommend a program called Draw It to know it. It will help immensely with learning the in depth stuff if you are a visual learner. Basically, learn how to draw every single one of these things off the top of your head (this is what I did) and it will be impossible for you to get less than a 130 in B/B. These also reinforce the concepts in C/P and will be almost impossible to get less than a 128 in C/P with the same principles. I actually worked with them to get them to add about 20 videos covering basic physics and chemistry systems.

Active Learning for the Medical Sciences

Master the medical sciences faster through our active learning approach to anatomy, biochemistry, biology, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and physiology. Ditki is the ideal resource for the flipped classroom: learn from the best tutorials and rapid-fire quiz questions for any basic science or...

drawittoknowit.com

After you do content review (we are looking at near end of June) retake the practice test you got a 493 on. This score will not be reflective of where you are at now, it is to get you reacclimated to the MCAT passage format and to conserve your last 3 practice exams. After you are done with it, review every question (Just as in my original post ^^^^). then 3 weeks on KA passages as opposed to discrete. Do 3 passages in each section of the exam each day. Don't worry about how many you get right and wrong. Review everything in the same way as above. Then take another practice test. If you are not at >500 after this test, then you are not reviewing in the right way. Reach out to me in 6 weeks if that is the case. If you are doing it right, you should be at 502 - 506.

Now we switch to AAMC. go through all of the Qbank questions. This is not to review AAMC style, this is content reinforcement. You don't need to review these as in depth. Review what you get wrong to make sure you know why it is wrong and why the right answer is right. After you get through the AAMC Qbanks except CARS 1 (should take a week) take another practice test. You may not see any improvement since the last one, this is just to reinforce AAMC style. Now we get to the section bank and CARS qpack 1. Do the exact same thing you did with the KA passages - 3 a day in each section and a thorough review. During this time you should also be reviewing the KA 100 page psych notes as there is no psych section bank.

Khan Notes

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Now you should be about a week out from a Mid-August full length. Take your last practice FL. If this practice test is above the thresholds for MD that I listed above (URM or ORM depending) then you can go ahead and consider MD for this cycle. You would be late but not super late for a lot of mid-tier and lower tier. You will be good for DO on this timeline.

Over the last week, review every question AGAIN on every practice full length and on all of the section banks. This should take 5 days. On the 2 off days, go on a hike. Eat well. Rest. Don't stress. You got this.

 

[Ultimakey]

In my experience, Cell biology was probably the single most beneficial class, even more so than biochem. If you do not have time to take the classes in a formal classroom setting, I would strongly recommend doing a self paced program such as Khan Academy or Draw-it-to-know-it (I really benefited from that one). The biggest thing with the Cell bio stuff is not memorization of things, but being able to visualize pathways within the cell. As far as genetics and micro goes, the same program has all of that - or you can just memorize what you need to as there is not much of either (they are both testable materials, but not in much depth).

Are you referring to the $34.99 Bio/Biochem Drawit subscription?

 

[907914]

Are you referring to the $34.99 Bio/Biochem Drawit subscription?

Yes. For me, it was near perfect. And actually there are about 20 videos that I emailed them asking if they could add and they did (The eye, hearing, basic chemistry, functional groups etc.).

 

[Ultimakey]

Yes. For me, it was near perfect. And actually there are about 20 videos that I emailed them asking if they could add and they did (The eye, hearing, basic chemistry, functional groups etc.).

They added those to the collection of videos available to everyone?

 

[907914]

They added those to the collection of videos available to everyone?

Yes. It is only about 20 videos for those ones, but it is a nice refresher. They have PDF templates so you can print it out and physically draw it out, that is what I did.

 

[907914]

They added those to the collection of videos available to everyone?

These are the ones in the program:

I didn't do the genetics one because I tutored and TA'd in genetics and I didn't do the micro one because I worked in a micro lab for 2 years lol

I want to make it clear - I am not trying to advertise this product - it is just not very well known and I really really liked it.

 

[Shotapp]

20 videos covering basic physics and chemistry systems

Where on their site are these videos? I didn't see these topics when I clicked on the MCAT subscription. How long did it take you to draw and cover everything?

Thank you so much for these tips!

 

[Shotapp]

Draw it to know it sounds like it will be really fun to study with lol. I like to draw and I need to visually see things to understand them.
@Lawper needs to sticky this for real.

 

[907914]

Where on their site are these videos? I didn't see these topics when I clicked on the MCAT subscription. How long did it take you to draw and cover everything?

Thank you so much for these tips!

They are spread between the protein/amino acids one and the nervous system.

I worked on about 5 a day for a month and a half. probably about 2 hours each of those days over the course of a summer. If you do them all back to back then it would probably take around 2 weeks? Then literally just grab a white board and draw it off the top of your head, check for reference. If you draw it three times beyond the lesson then the visualized pathways etc. should be set in stone (at least they were for me).

 

[907914]

Draw it to know it sounds like it will be really fun to study with lol. I like to draw and I need to visually see things to understand them.
@Lawper needs to sticky this for real.

This is what they look like at the end:

You would get to a lesson like this after first going through the structure of the kidney, the structure of the nephron, the function of the nephron, GFR concepts, etc. It really builds on itself. They have a version for medical school as well that I am genuinely considering utilizing.

Obviously yours won't look like that at the end because you will be drawing it separately, however the point still gets across.

 

[907914]

Just wanted to share something that I just shared with another student because this is the best way I can put it:


As far as the MCAT goes, the amount of content you need to know is minimal. The majority of anything detailed you need to know will be provided within the passages. Don't review answers for content. Content review is almost useless (You may increase from a 505 to a 510 on pure content review).

Do all of the AAMC Section banks/Qbanks, Khan Acedemy (they are AAMC style A+), and practice tests. I cannot really explain it because I don't even know. But there are patterns present. You look at the phrasing of different questions and the phrasing of different answers. Particular phrasings are present in correct answers that are not present in incorrect answers (or vice versa). I know I sound really cryptic and it sounds stupid...But trust me. Look for patterns and you will see them.

 

[Cornfed101]

Particular phrasings are present in correct answers that are not present in incorrect answers (or vice versa). I know I sound really cryptic and it sounds stupid...But trust me. Look for patterns and you will see them.

Couldn't agree more. It is hard to explain, but if you are effectively reviewing AAMC materials and FLs then one day it should click what the patterns are. This is the biggest reason why I lost interest in doing 3rd party questions when I got down to the last few weeks of studying. I figured out the pattern and realized that everyone except the AAMC tries to replicate it, but they just don't get there...

 

[907914]

Couldn't agree more. It is hard to explain, but if you are effectively reviewing AAMC materials and FLs then one day it should click what the patterns are. This is the biggest reason why I lost interest in doing 3rd party questions when I got down to the last few weeks of studying. I figured out the pattern and realized that everyone except the AAMC tries to replicate it, but they just don't get there...

This is why I only ever used AAMC and khan for my 6 months lol A lot of people who are 510 scorers probably have a lot more content memorized than I do, but I know the concepts and AAMC style like no other.

Some content is still needed, as my 129 in P/S is likely solely due to questions that I knew were easy but I just didn’t have some factoid memorized. But AAMC style >>>>>>> Content

 

[MyOdyssey]

This is why I only ever used AAMC and khan for my 6 months lol A lot of people who are 510 scorers probably have a lot more content memorized than I do, but I know the concepts and AAMC style like no other.

Some content is still needed, as my 129 in P/S is likely solely due to questions that I knew were easy but I just didn’t have some factoid memorized. But AAMC style >>>>>>> Content

Was reading the NEJM articles helpful? How so?

Did you make it a practice to read any other journal articles to help prepare for the MCAT?

How avid a reader of non-medical/non-scientific books/articles are you?

Is there a discounted way of getting a subscription to NEJM or other journals?

Thanks.

 

[907914]

Was reading the NEJM articles helpful? How so?

Did you make it a practice to read any other journal articles to help prepare for the MCAT?

How avid a reader of non-medical/non-scientific books/articles are you?

Is there a discounted way of getting a subscription to NEJM or other journals?

Thanks.

It was very helpful in that, as someone who did not have frequent exposure to ‘reading science’ the NEJM taught me how to read science. The lingo, keeping track of acronymous gene and protein names, reading charts, tables, PCRs etc. It particularly increased my reading of medical social sciences and CARS type reading of opinion pieces within. I am not a very avid reader. I can and do read with some frequency, but mostly online articles no research/journals/fiction/non-fiction - just Facebook feed type articles lol.

It is $50 a year for students.

 

[DrB61686]

I have had 3 people ask for MCAT advice within a couple months of their test date. As a father who was also in the military reserves for the first 3 months of MCAT study time, I can tell you that I did not have massive amounts of dedicated study time. Mostly 2 or 3 hour sessions every other day. While I cannot give direct MCAT study advice, I’ll just give you my MCAT story and see if there is anything you can parse from it that will help any of you:

I planned out my entire 3 year course schedule about 4 years ago. After my first year of undergrad (Did intro bio series, finished gem chem, finished physics, did ochem series) I took genetics over the summer.

I had Cell bio and Biochem planned for the Fall quarter so I self studied all of that over the course of the summer using a program called Draw it to Know it. The goal with self studying all of that was so that I would have open MCAT study time over fall quarter as opposed to studying for classes (in addition, that way I could ask productive questions in class as opposed to newb stuff).

Over fall quarter I took those two classes and studied MCAT official material 2 hours a day for 3 days a week (I would do a passage in each section on Monday and Wednesday and then thoroughly review each passage on Friday). Also during Fall quarter I also go a subscription to the New England Journal of Medicine and read a couple articles a week to teach myself how to ‘read science’ so to speak (because charts and wording are like 3/4 of the MCAT).

When reviewing passages, you want to make sure you are NOT studying the material. Study the test. Make sure you understand what AAMC is asking for, why they are asking that, and what answer type corresponds to a particular question style. Again, study the test itself 10x more than the material. If you have taken the classes then all of the material is in your head somewhere.

I had scheduled for Winter quarter that I took psych and micro. This was an easy schedule that allowed MCAT study time and was my first time actually touching psych. Over winter break, I self studied all of psych and sociology for the first 2 weeks (Crash Course on YouTube is very good - covers about 90% of what you need to know and is more entertaining than khan academy 100 page doc). Basically watched every video taking notes along the way.

Second two weeks of winter break I just reviewed every single question from all of the AAMC material. Same thing - made sure I understood why what was right was right and what was wrong was wrong. Not only in the context of the material being presented but in the context of knowing what AAMC was asking.

I took my first practice test (AAMC FL1) on the last Saturday of winter break and scored a 510 (129/127/129/125). I spent all of the following Sunday reviewing the test in the same way as I reviewed practice questions: Study the test itself NOT the matierial.

Over Winter quarter I spent all of January and February at 2 to 3 hours a day 3 days a week doing one passage from each section AND reviewing the questions after I completed them. I used strictly Khan academy free MCAT passages for this portion. If I had a passage that I got less than 80% on, then I would redo the entire passage as if it was new the next day (on one of the ‘off’ days). I took a practice test (AAMC FL2) at the end of January and got a 519 (131/129/132/127) and a practice test at the end of February (AAMC FL3) and got a 516 (129/129/130/128).

For the first half of March I continued this, but then from March 15th - March 21st I spent 5-8 hours a day in the library knocking out every single AAMC practice material for the second time just to make sure I was priming myself for AAMC (hadn’t touched it since Winter break). Again, reviewing the test NOT necessarily the material.

Even though Khan Academy is the closest question style to AAMC (and I think it is why I did so well on the MCAT) it still has its differences and the real deal is still the best. I took a day for rest, took my last practice test on March 24th (AAMC Ungraded) and got around 94% of the questions right. I kind of skimmed over the answers I got wrong right after the exam, but no real in depth.

Took another 4 days off to go on a backpacking trip in the deserts of Eastern Washington, came back and got a good night’s sleep. Real deal was on March 29th, got a 521 (131/130/131/129) and I can tell you that I am fairly confident the P/S points I missed were because I put literally zero effort in to memorizing random facts. I hate memorization and would much rather know the concepts than the verbiage.

Whatever you do, have pizza the night before MCAT so you can bring cold pizza in a ziplock to the testing center. Bring sugary drinks, no water. Do jumping jacks and squats on your breaks. Got good and conquer the exam.

Thank you for sharing! This is really helpful and seem more realistic for a non-traditional here.