MCAT prep attack plan

[Mistress S]

Hello, I am planning to take the MCAT for the first time this April. I was planning to take a Kaplan course, but now I am leaning towards studying on my own. I would really appreciate advice from others who have done this before on what approach worked best for them, and what study materials they found helpful. I am trying to formulate a study plan, but I feel a little unsure where to begin on my own. I was thinking about buying the complete Examcrackers set and all of the AAMC practice tests, and I should probably get some more practice tests and/or books with practice problems in them, but I'm not sure which ones are good outside of those I mentioned.

As far as studying, I am planning to make a schedule to start reviewing in Jan. I was thinking I would start with a practice test to assess where I'm at (any recommendations on which to use?), then set aside 4-6 hours a week that month for study and try to increase the time I spend reviewing each month by about 4 hours a week leading up to the actual test (so in Feb, I would spend 8-10 hrs/wk, then 12-14 hrs/wk in March, and so on). It also seemed like taking a practice test the end of each month and every week in April before the exam would be a good idea. I took a free Kaplan MCAT test (half-length) without studying that was offered at my school and got a 27 (13V, 6PS, 8BS), so I think I need to do the most work reviewing both gen and o-chem (historically my weak subjects) and obviously not as much work in verbal. Any recommendations on which books would provide good chem review would be great.

I know there have probably been a lot of threads on this subject, and I have seen a few, but I am hoping to get some general suggestions about what materials and strategies have worked well for others as well as specific recommendations for my needs if anyone has any. I am concerned about having enough time to study as I will still be taking a full class load (14 credits) and working part-time while preparing for the MCAT, so any suggestions about how others have made this work would be helpful- I was thinking about setting aside weekends and cutting my work hours in Mar and April to spend extra time, but I'm not sure if this will be enough. Basically, if anyone wants to share how they prepared, materials they used, or advise me about what they think would work well in my situation, I would be very grateful.

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[Mistress S]

Nobody has any suggestions or comments about how I could study on my own for the MCAT?

 

[Samoa]

I think you have a good plan. Examkrackers is probably the funnest material out there, and I'm all for making unpleasant things as fun as possible. Plus it's good stuff, and well-suited to self-study. I would use their 1001 questions for organic chemistry and for physics--they both helped me immensely.

I'm not fond of most of the other companies' materials. They're just so dry, voluminous and unfocused.

I personally think that people with high verbal scores have an advantage over other test takers, because if you can learn the basic science concepts, it only takes a little of that knowledge to extract the answer from the passage itself. But if you have difficulty figuring out exactly what the passage is talking about, then you have to know some very advanced science down cold to answer the questions.

Also, I would use AAMC practice tests to gauge your preparedness, rather than any of the others out there. Those were actual MCAT questions, unlike the rest of them. The others are good for practice, but on those, sometimes the answers are NOT in the passage, and the required knowledge IS greater than that called for on the MCAT itself.

Also, unless you are going to take the MCAT in computerized form, take all the AAMC practice tests on paper. AAMC has a website that will let you take the tests online, with immediate scoring and excellent feedback on the specific topics where you performed poorly, which you can't get from the paper version. So there's value in signing up for it. But take the tests on paper first, and then plug in the answers to get the feedback.

Starting early is good. I would also advise you to start with your weakest subjects. Make a plan that will get you through everything you need to study, ending again with your weakest subject the week or so before the exam.

People will tell you not to cram the night before. But don't knock it. No matter how much I studied, it has ALWAYS helped me to review a concept or two that I find particularly difficult to remember, the night before the exam. Or even 10 minutes before the exam.

Anyway, that's what worked for me. I think the key is to know yourself, and study in a manner that will get YOU the best results.

 

[Mistress S]

Thanks so much Samoa! Any other takers?

 

[dpy]

hey,

I studied the mcat on my own...so I can tell you how I approached it. I'm no expert on this stuff...so take it with a grain of salt. (I'll only talk about how I studied for science because your verbal is really, really strong already...not to mention that my verbal score sucks =)) I first started with getting the entire set of the princeton review books (workbooks...review books...practice tests). I then read the entire review books for all the sciences just to refresh my memory and to realize what topics are covered on the test. I made a note of which topics I found myself weak at so I could go back to it later to study it more. I think that took a couple weeks...Right after that, I went through the entire princeton review science workbook (the one that has like hundreds of science passages) That probably took a month or so to do. Once I finished that, I went to the Berkeley Review and Kaplan books for more practice. My main way of attacking was simply do as many passages as I could and making sure I understood everything.

So all these passages were done on weekdays. Pretty much on every Saturday, I would do a full length test (minus the writing section) to increase my stamina and to assess on how I'm doing.

Your plan seems very organized, which is good. But the thing that concerns me is the hours that you'll be studying. I think most people will agree that 4-6 hrs/week of studying isn't even close to enough. I personally spent about 4 hrs a day (sometimes more, sometimes less) on weekdays and about 6 hrs on sat. (i took sunday off). Most of my friends also studied about the same as me. Of course, I don't know you so I can't really judge on how much you need to study. You're the best judge for that...if 4 hrs works..then it works.

Like Samoa said, you're in very good shape to be strong in verbal..that really is the hardest subject to improve in. so get as much practice in as you can for science and you'll be starting med school in no time!!

Best of luck to you!

dpy

 

[lil pook]

How important is biochem or micro for the MCAT? Is one more useful than the other? I noticed that they are throwing in some questions from biochem this year.

 

[BushBaby]

I like Dpy's plan. It's very much like my own (I think she/he plagarized my plan ). I am reviewing right now and then I will break into a death match with practice questions. I am done with Physics, gchem and orgo. I will start reading Bio this coming week. By mid january I will be done with all review and just focus on test taking skills.

I work FT and go to grad school FT so I have no time to dilly dally. I do find that the more time I have to study, the less studying I actually do....las procastinas is what I am. But with work, school (when it starts back in Jan) I will be in serious mcat mode. I work really well under pressure. It's just me. I ca't wait for everything to jumpstart.

I have EK stuff and I am taking their class in Feb.I hope it all works out for the best (for all of us).

 

[efex101]

I am also doing what the above posters are doing, studying every day (reviewing all material with EK) for four hours daily this includes VR almost on a daily basis. And then starting mid January I am taking the PR course, where I will focus on doing tons of passages and doing full MCAT exam once-twice per week, my goal is to have done 20 full length MCAT's by the time the real deal comes up! I know this may seem like way to much for some, but for me it is the only way to make sure that I am doing everything in my power to not have to retake this beast in August.

 

[DrLady]

Have you guys subscribed to any magazines for reading material such as Time, Wallstreet Journal, etc? I would like an opinion which magazines are great for Verbal practice.
Thanks.

-DrLady

 

[Mistress S]

Thanks for the responses so far. I was planning to start with 4-6 hours a week or so of studying in Jan, then increase this amount each month as the MCAT approaches, ending with 14-18 hours a week of studying throughout the month of April. Does this still sound like a low amount? I really don't know what a "normal" amount of time to spend studying is- maybe I'll start another thread to find out. I thought I'd start off kind of light and gradually work my way up, because I am a huge proscrastinator and I know I will be more motivated closer to the real exam, which will help me spend 14-18 hours a week studying. I may try to put in additional time if I feel I need it, but based on the diagnostic I took I don' t think I am in such bad shape, I think I just need a good review of all the sciences and plenty of practice. Honestly, 4 hrs of studying a day for the next four months is probably not going to happen for me- maybe if I had nothing else going on besides preparing for the MCAT, but I'm still going to be in school full time trying to finish up my thesis and other graduation requirements and working part time to pay my rent. Hopefully this won't adversely affect my score too much, but that is just not a realistic amount of time for me to put into that. Thanks for the ideas so far, reviewing everything and then going back and focusing on weak spots makes a lot of sense and it helps to have a clear plan of how I am going to make the MCAT my biznatch. Keep those sweet tips coming!

 

[BushBaby]

I don't about everyone else but nothing can hold my attention for 4 straight hours a day. I heard that you need a break every two hours when you study. You brain can only take in soo much info at a given time. 4hrs a day is cool if you break it off but don't see there and bore yourself to sleep.

Right now I do about 3hrs straight sometimes but that's because I travel 1.5hours to the library and once i get there I can't do anything else but read my book. If I were home, then I can take a TV break or whatever.

You know how your study and you are the best person to judge what is too much and too little studying. Some people are into 8hr a day studying and others can get by with just 2hrs. It all depends.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Originally posted by DrLady
Have you guys subscribed to any magazines for reading material such as Time, Wallstreet Journal, etc? I would like an opinion which magazines are great for Verbal practice.
Thanks.

-DrLady

Hi DrLady,

I'm taking the MCAT in April so I have not tested any of this out yet... so probably take my opinion with a grain of salt....

The Princeton Review gave me free subscriptions to Time and WSJ. I also get the NY Times every day. Maybe it is because I grew up reading the NY Times but I think it is by far the superior of the three in terms of coverage of news and the level of writing. The Science Times on Tuedays is great for coverage of medical and science news. It's free online... www.nytimes.com

I find that Time is usually much easier than any passages I have seen for any tests... MCAT or GRE. I think they tend to simplify and summarize things very clearly in a way that the passages will not. The WSJ is definitely more challenging and usually has some good articles each day on health. But I find the business focus of everything to be somewhat distracting and sometimes find the articles are not well written. In the end I think reading anything extra and getting quick at picking out main ideas of passages will help you on verbal. I think I am personally going to stick with glancing over Time and WSJ and reading my NYT everyday. I'm also going to make an effort to look over scientific journals when I get a chance and maybe some slightly "heavier" news magazines like The Economist or The New Yorker. Hope that helps. Anyone else have any opinions on this?

 

[Samoa]

Most of the passages I recall sounded like they came from social science books from upper-level classes. Definitely NOT newspapers or newsmagazines. Scientific American maybe, Economist, maybe. Not really Wall Street Journal either.

 

[efex101]

The four hours a day are not all in a row, meaning I do two in the morning and then two later at night. I am finding that the huge amount of volume for the MCAT is what is making me do the four hours a day. These hours include review, sample passages, and VR every day. Maybe I am stupid or something but there is no way that I could get by with less than that to review all subjects and get used to the beast...

 

[uffda]

The WSJ is definitely more challenging and usually has some good articles each day on health. But I find the business focus of everything to be somewhat distracting and sometimes find the articles are not well written.

sounds like MCAT passages to me - somewhat distracting and sometimes not well-written

I'm also going to make an effort to look over scientific journals when I get a chance and maybe some slightly "heavier" news magazines like The Economist or The New Yorker. Hope that helps. Anyone else have any opinions on this?

yes, The Economist is a good one, as are Literary Criticism, History Journals, etc. that you can find in a univ library. Editorials from NYT, Wash Post, WSJ also good.

 

[DrLady]

Thank You for all of your responses.
I had taken PR and had gotten Time magazine as well, but I had an inkling that Time magazine's passages are quite simple. I know that nytimes will be too expensive to subscribe. It is just that reading on internet for vast amount of time, makes my eyes strain. Oh well..I will read nytimes and other magazines online..it is, i hope, only for next 4 months.

 

[DrLady]

I have one more question.

I was taking EK exam 1 for chapter one in biology book and I had a few questions. There are no strategies given on how to do the science passages, can someone tell me if the strategies are the same as EK verbal? As in no underlining or mapping?

 

[efex101]

I do not remember any strategies for the science passages, just to read the passage, because some folks try to answer the questions w/o the passage and sometimes something in the passage negates what we would think to be the right answer. I am also reviewing Bio and Physics now with EK...

 

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Mistress S
I took a free Kaplan MCAT test (half-length) without studying that was offered at my school and got a 27 (13V, 6PS, 8BS), so I think I need to do the most work reviewing both gen and o-chem (historically my weak subjects) and obviously not as much work in verbal. Any recommendations on which books would provide good chem review would be great.

From my experience tutoring chemistry and physics, I would say that Berkeley Review chemistry books are a must for you. They have passages, review and strategy. I have been through books from the big five sources and for chemistry, BR is the best. I'm not sure I would endorse their other sections, but definitely get their chemistry books.

There is a thread that isn't too old where general chemistry books were compared. Look at that thread too.