MCAT Advice

[Green22]

Hi, I am entering my second semester in my sophomore year (I go to a community college and I will transfer to a 4yr Uni for my junior and senior year). I am wondering a few things regarding the MCAT....

1) When should I start studying? I plan to take the MCAT in 2019 because I am aiming to start med school in the fall of 2020. I am thinking about starting as early as this semester (lightly with maybe Barron or Kaplan flash cards..nothing extreme yet)

2) When I do get into studying for it, what methods are the most useful? I like flashcards...but will they truly help me?

3) (if my first score isn't satisfactory) Can I take the MCAT again and up to how many times? Does taking it more than once do more harm than good?

Thanks.

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[aldol16]

1) 3-4 months of regular studying before the MCAT should be enough. Anything more and you're just going to forget the information you went over at the beginning of the study period. The key to a good score on the MCAT is doing well in the pre-req courses.

2) Flashcards won't help much on the MCAT. The key thing to preparing for the MCAT is getting through content review and doing a lot of practice passages. The MCAT does not emphasize rote memorization.

3) You can take it as many times as you want, but schools see all your scores. So it still doesn't look great if you get a 500 and then a 515. Better to get the 515 the first time around. Go into the MCAT thinking that you'll only take it once. Invest the time into studying for it.

4) Post this in the MCAT forums.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

You can take it as many times as you want

Minor correction: You may take the new exam up to 3 times in a single testing year, 4 times during a two consecutive-year period and 7 times in a lifetime.

 

[HomeSkool]

1) When should I start studying? I plan to take the MCAT in 2019 because I am aiming to start med school in the fall of 2020. I am thinking about starting as early as this semester (lightly with maybe Barron or Kaplan flash cards..nothing extreme yet)

The best preparation you can do now is to work hard in school and implement good study habits so you put as much content in your long-term memory as possible (as opposed to cramming and consequently retaining relatively little). I agree with @aldol16: 3-4 months of dedicated studying is sufficient. More than that and the law of diminishing returns becomes a factor.

2) When I do get into studying for it, what methods are the most useful? I like flashcards...but will they truly help me?

Many people do commercial prep courses. Others buy MCAT prep books. Flashcards may help for some things, but you shouldn't rely too heavily on them. Do lots of practice questions and read/study all the answer explanations: they'll typically explain why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. (That's important because there's no penalty for wrong answers. If you don't know the right answer but you know why a couple of choices are wrong, you can rule those out and guess between fewer remaining options.) As you get closer to the test (like, 4-6 weeks out), do a few full-length practice tests simulating actual test conditions.

3) (if my first score isn't satisfactory) Can I take the MCAT again and up to how many times?

Yes. Up to thrice in a single testing year, four times in a two-year period, and seven times total.

Does taking it more than once do more harm than good?

This is a tricky question. As aldol16 pointed out, most schools will look at the average of your scores. Some may look at just the best or consider the trend; those are the outliers and you should check the MSAR if you really care which ones they are. If you do poorly the first time, you'd be wise to retake it. If you do well but not as well as you'd have liked, many schools would consider it an error in judgment to retake even if you do bump your score up by a few points. aldol16's advice is spot-on: put in the time and energy to do well the first time, planning as if you're only going to get one shot.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

Hi @Green22 -

Kudos to you for thinking ahead to this extent! In addition to the very good advice provided by others on this thread, thought I'd chime in w/ a few perspectives.

1) When should I start studying? I plan to take the MCAT in 2019 because I am aiming to start med school in the fall of 2020. I am thinking about starting as early as this semester (lightly with maybe Barron or Kaplan flash cards..nothing extreme yet)

As other posters have said, 3-4 months of MCAT studying is a pretty standard timeline. The one caveat I would make is that you may want to adjust this based on what else you have going on in your life. For some students who are balancing MCAT study with full-time study and/or work, longer study schedules can make sense, although you do have to be very systematic about it and avoid stretching it out to a point where you burn out or have trouble consolidating the knowledge. As a rule of thumb, I would be very careful about planning for anything longer than 6 months on one end, or shorter than 2.5-3 on the other end.

In the meantime, as others have said, focus on doing well in your prereqs, and on learning the core material in a longer-term, more active way, with an eye towards building connections among the core science areas. (For example, how can physics knowledge help you understand key biochem concepts better?). Even successful cramming in prereq classes isn't really going to build the study habits or long-term knowledge that you will need.

2) When I do get into studying for it, what methods are the most useful? I like flashcards...but will they truly help me?

Use flashcards sparingly at best. They tend to foster passive knowledge. At its core, the MCAT is a test of your ability to apply your knowledge, not regurgitate it, so you need to develop a more active knowledge. Doing frequent, realistic practice problems & careful analysis thereof is key. I'm also a fan of the idea that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Study groups can come in handy here, because each person can take certain topics and teach them to the others. Even if that's not doable, a baseline assessment for yourself is to figure out whether you can explain a certain topic clearly and correctly in your own words.

3) (if my first score isn't satisfactory) Can I take the MCAT again and up to how many times? Does taking it more than once do more harm than good?

People do retake the MCAT and get into med schools, but it's not an advisable plan. Plan to take it once and do your best, postpone if needed, and only retake if absolutely necessary. Don't let the possibility of retaking hinder you from doing your absolute best the first time.

Hope this helps, & best of luck on your journey!

 

[Green22]

Hi @Green22 -

Kudos to you for thinking ahead to this extent! In addition to the very good advice provided by others on this thread, thought I'd chime in w/ a few perspectives.



As other posters have said, 3-4 months of MCAT studying is a pretty standard timeline. The one caveat I would make is that you may want to adjust this based on what else you have going on in your life. For some students who are balancing MCAT study with full-time study and/or work, longer study schedules can make sense, although you do have to be very systematic about it and avoid stretching it out to a point where you burn out or have trouble consolidating the knowledge. As a rule of thumb, I would be very careful about planning for anything longer than 6 months on one end, or shorter than 2.5-3 on the other end.

In the meantime, as others have said, focus on doing well in your prereqs, and on learning the core material in a longer-term, more active way, with an eye towards building connections among the core science areas. (For example, how can physics knowledge help you understand key biochem concepts better?). Even successful cramming in prereq classes isn't really going to build the study habits or long-term knowledge that you will need.



Use flashcards sparingly at best. They tend to foster passive knowledge. At its core, the MCAT is a test of your ability to apply your knowledge, not regurgitate it, so you need to develop a more active knowledge. Doing frequent, realistic practice problems & careful analysis thereof is key. I'm also a fan of the idea that the best way to learn something is to teach it. Study groups can come in handy here, because each person can take certain topics and teach them to the others. Even if that's not doable, a baseline assessment for yourself is to figure out whether you can explain a certain topic clearly and correctly in your own words.



People do retake the MCAT and get into med schools, but it's not an advisable plan. Plan to take it once and do your best, postpone if needed, and only retake if absolutely necessary. Don't let the possibility of retaking hinder you from doing your absolute best the first time.

Hope this helps, & best of luck on your journey!

One last quick question....have the 2019 test dates been released? And if so...where can I find them? Also thank you for being so thorough and specific in your reply.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

have the 2019 test dates been released?

No, only 2018s at U.S. MCAT Calendar, Scheduling Deadlines, and Score Release Dates

 

[PlsLetMeIn21]

I'm in your shoes. As a sophomore, there are some premedical honor societies that you can join. I don't know if it's like this at your school, but where I go the one I pledged has a library of old exams for core classes, MCAT books, and some blogs on how to get research. You should start there.

I checked out some MCAT books last quarter and reviewed them while taking organic and physics. The MCAT books were super helpful. You might want to do this too. I'm not sure if I want to do the MCAT this summer or next spring, but I'm definitely not scared about it like I was.

 

[Green22]

I'm in your shoes. As a sophomore, there are some premedical honor societies that you can join. I don't know if it's like this at your school, but where I go the one I pledged has a library of old exams for core classes, MCAT books, and some blogs on how to get research. You should start there.

I checked out some MCAT books last quarter and reviewed them while taking organic and physics. The MCAT books were super helpful. You might want to do this too. I'm not sure if I want to do the MCAT this summer or next spring, but I'm definitely not scared about it like I was.

I won’t be taking organic until my junior year probably. I plan to do the MCAT next year in 2019. I had physics last semester and I’ll finish my physics sequence this semester (I made an a in my physics I class, so I feel like I’ll do a satisfactory job on it). Outside of being a full time student, I work part time too. So, things are quite hectic.