MCAT Overkill?

[UT2226]

I know MCAT prep courses are becoming increasingly popular. Here at BYU it is very unusual not to enroll in one (Kaplan, Altius, BYU, ACE, etc.).

To those of you who have taken the MCAT with or without a prep course: Do you think spending $1800 and studying for 12 hours a week for 8 months is overkill? Let's hear some thoughts.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[typicalindian]

I know MCAT prep courses are becoming increasingly popular. Here at BYU it is very unusual not to enroll in one (Kaplan, Altius, BYU, ACE, etc.).

To those of you who have taken the MCAT with or without a prep course: Do you think spending $1800 and studying for 12 hours a week for 8 months is overkill? Let's hear some thoughts.

It depends on your personal learning style. I personally didn't like the prospect of a class so I just followed the MCAT schedule proposed by SN2ed over in the MCAT forums on this forum and it worked well for me. That being said, 12 hours a week for 8 months is nothing...I'm pretty sure I studied 8-10 hours per day for 4 months straight when I was studying for mine. Not sure if that was 'overkill' or not, but like I said, it worked for me. In the end it comes down to what you think will prepare you the best. Do you need instruction and to be held accountable for your work? If so, it might be a good idea to take a prep class. Are you very self motivated and able to keep yourself on a schedule? If so, you'll probably do fine on your own. However, taking a class just because everyone else at your school does is a pretty poor reason for doing so.

 

[A Nony Mouse]

I know MCAT prep courses are becoming increasingly popular. Here at BYU it is very unusual not to enroll in one (Kaplan, Altius, BYU, ACE, etc.).

To those of you who have taken the MCAT with or without a prep course: Do you think spending $1800 and studying for 12 hours a week for 8 months is overkill? Let's hear some thoughts.

12 hours a week for 8 months? No it is not overkill. Last month it should be around 2-6 hours a day. But my advice is only study content for the physical sciences section and for the rest just do practice questions. You don't have to spend $1800 just learn how to study effectively. At a certain point you realize their is a pattern to solving problems, and you don't need to do much math at all.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Probably the highest yield time you can invest. Do whatever you can to get that 40+ and laugh your way into to the best med schools.

 

[Bangersandmash]

Tutoring classes have always been a waste of money for me, but I've always been a diligent, independent worker. I'd say save your money, buy a few review books and practice tests and if you stick to it, you'll be fine.

I personally spent about 3 months before hand with no set "hour per day" kind of deal. I did about 4 AAMC full lengths, 4 online Princeton Review tests (from a review book) along with going through Examkrackers and a TPR general review book twice within the three months.

I'd say there is only so much you can do before a diminishing return sets in on luck of the draw for passages and guessing ability. My score would range in between 2-3 points on practice tests, but I could never see myself getting any higher than a 36 without some genuine luck.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

I took a course and found it very helpful. The course fee usually includes all the AAMC practice tests ($200-300) and about $200-300 worth of study books, which you would have to buy anyway if you didn't do a course. So if you factor in the $400-600 you save from that, and use a $300 off online coupon, the course itself doesn't actually cost that much more.

But to comment on your study plan, studying for 8 months is a bit long in my opinion. Your better off increasing study time over a shorter period of time.

 

[Renaissance Man]

I think MCAT prep courses are mostly a racket. You are paying someone a lot of money to teach (reteach?) you information that you have largely already learned in high school and college. You also only get materials from that one prep company. Take a look at the MCAT forum, IMO some companies are good at certain subsections and I mixed and matched my prep material. If you have always studied fine on your own, than please save your money.

Also as someone else mentioned, I would probably try to study for more hours a week over a much shorter time period.

 

[mcloaf]

my advice is only study content for the physical sciences section and for the rest just do practice questions.

I really hope you're not serious, unless you're actively trying to sabotage OP...


OP, if you have the money and think the course would help you then go for it, but don't feel that you need to do it just because others think you have to do so. I self studied and did great, as do many others.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Also depends on how solid you feel your undergrad classes were.

For instance, I was a bio major so bio was mostly a joke review (probably true for whatever section you're majoring in if you're a science major), I had a solid o-chem and gen chem classes and I was just coming off of taking physics that last semester before I took the MCAT in May. So overall I felt pretty solid on the sciences even before I started studying

All I used for studying was basically Kaplan's (?) MCAT review book and that Kaplan MCAT 45 book for practice questions. Then did all the AAMC practice tests I think and any other practice questions I could get my hands on. I also only put in between three and four dedicated weeks of study time (12 hour days) for the MCAT even though people are gonna yell and scream at me on here for saying that. Like I said though, if you had solid undergrad classes and did well in them, you might find yourself not needing to study as much as you think.

 

[railgun]

I also think courses are a waste as long as you can self-study. Most of my friends enrolled in courses, but I didn't and ended up doing better than them. The amount of studying depends on how strong you already are in the subjects. I ended up spending about 250 hours for prep in three months and did really well. Another person I know spent about 300 and he did really well so I think overall about that much time should be enough. Yours is about 384 which is not overkill because you'll have to review the older stuff several times. Just make sure you do all the practice tests.

I would try not spreading out my studying over 8 months... you'll prob forget the bio/phy/chem. I guess if you're struggling with the concepts, having more time to absorb the material would help. Bio and vr would probably benefit the most from early studying though (not the memorization part of bio, but the application/reading research papers)

 

[Josh7]

I think it all depends on learning style. I'm going to be studying for the MCAT over the summer so it will be more like 3-4 months of 4 hours a day.

 

[sector9]

Thread moved to "MCAT Discussions"

 

[ReadyToRumble]

I ended up spending about 250 hours for prep in three months and did really well. Another person I know spent about 300 and he did really well so I think overall about that much time should be enough. Yours is about 384 which is not overkill because you'll have to review the older stuff several times. Just make sure you do all the practice tests.

I've always wondered, when people write about how many hours they spent prepping is that all inclusive? That is, when you kept track of your hours did it include time for content review, time for taking full lengths, time for reviewing full lengths, time for attending class (for the people who did take class), etc. If not, what is/isn't included? I know hours logged isn't the end all be all but I'm curious.

 

[railgun]

I can't speak for others, but I pretty much spent total 250 all inclusive - practice, studying, tests... it's just an estimate though - but my estimates are usually accurate
I didn't include the undergrad pre req classes cuz that would be absurd, idk about whether you include mcat prep classes in there (I think you would).