MCAT preparation plan for the risk-averse (feeling doubt)

[UCDavispremed92]

Thanks in advance for any input. This post may initially come off as a bit self-involved, but that is just to provide context for a little-articulated issue that I suspect effects many (often extremely successful) pre-med students. In particular, I refer to those students whose approach as undergraduates was largely (or even primarily) informed by their fear of failure and for whom that fear is never more pronounced than as they approach the MCAT.

CONTEXT

I graduated from UC Davis in the spring and would seem to be a strong prospective applicant for med school. Brief overview:

- 3.88 sGPA, 3.95 cGPA
- 2 years of research
- 9 months as ER tech (EMT-certified)
- 3 months as healthcare policy analyst intern for major healthcare lobbying group in Sacramento
- 5 weeks of clinical work in South Africa (same area as research)
- 1 year of clinical work in undergraduate university-associated rural clinic
Current:
- ER scribe
- Continuing research

OUTLOOK

I would attribute my academic success to being highly strategic and risk-averse. I majored in political science (a topic that is exceedingly easy for me as I enjoy writing and the subject matter) and made an effort to bridge it to medicine through some healthcare policy work. I never took more than 3 courses a quarter (did 2 a couple times), compensating with summer school, though taking 5 years to graduate.

This is why the MCAT terrifies me. A single test of importance comparable to the whole of my carefully-crafted academic career - what more is there to say?

I'm taking the MCAT in spring (~April) to apply next cycle - I was never going to prepare for it while focusing on my coursework. Currently I'm doing a little part-time work as an ER scribe as well as a little continued involvement remotely with the undergraduate professor whose lab I was a part of as a student.


MCAT Approach

My MCAT approach is heavily-influenced by my approach to school as an undergraduate: condense virtually every piece of relevant information on a word document integrated with images, transfer it to a a notecard app, and memorize it to the extent possible prior to doing any simulated exams.

I have always been of the opinion that taking practice tests prior to an at least near-comprehensive content review is a bad approach because:

- It weakens confidence by highlighting the vastness of what you do not know prior to your having even attempting to learn/re-learn it
- It uses up simulated exam material (of which there is a limited supply) by familiarizing you with the answer to specific questions before you have completed your content review, making these materials not an effective gauge of knowledge at a later time, when they are most needed

This approach reflects the fact that I am not at all comfortable dismissing any content for it being unlikely to appear on the MCAT, which, in turn, reflects my absolute commitment to achieving a 520+ score.

Specifically, I am taking comprehensive condensed notes from the Kaplan books (excluding CARS) and forming a massive Anki deck with them. I am through Gen Chem and most of biochem with a pace of ~1.5 chapters of notes per day. While this is where he overwhelming majority of my study times goes, I use flashcard apps, MCAT biology/psychology podcasts, and youtube videos when I get tired. I am not inclined to engage in practice tests until maybe 2 months before for the aforementioned reasons.

While it may sound as though I am in a relatively good position, here are some (correct me if I'm wrong) red flags, even at this early stage:

- Retention of requirements (all sci/math requirements including biochem, but no recommended courses) is middling to weak, probably due to the long period of time I was in college as well as their being spaced out
- Never taken/completely forgotten:
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Genetics
• Physiology (under biology section, though the granular details of organ systems, hormones, etc. was never covered in my undergraduate biology series)

YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Is there an existing "risk-averse with abundant available time" prep plan (or specific one you would propose, if you were so kind) that you would suggest given my situation?
2. Should my approach to the MCAT be shifted given my circumstances, perhaps toward emphasis of "high yield" topics?
3. Should my goals for the MCAT (and thus my approach to it) be adjusted considering my circumstances?
4. Am I in a uniquely weak position going into MCAT prep for someone aiming for a high score?

Thank you all so much for your input

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[Zenabi90]

I would attribute my academic success to being highly strategic and risk-averse.
This is why the MCAT terrifies me. A single test of importance comparable to the whole of my carefully-crafted academic career - what more is there to say?

Gotta get over that now. While you can get second, third, and now up to seven chances on the MCAT, you don't get those chances with the Step exams. And in a more real-world scenario, you don't get that with patients. Now is the time to develop your grit and courage. Also note that your unusual approach to college may come up during interviews. I am unsure of the right way to handle that.

MCAT Approach: My MCAT approach is heavily-influenced by my approach to school as an undergraduate: condense virtually every piece of relevant information on a word document integrated with images, transfer it to a a notecard app, and memorize it to the extent possible prior to doing any simulated exams.

You have approx 6 months total. 100% doable. But the almost the entire approach is ultimately a waste of time. There are very few things on the MCAT that needs an image representation. Indeed, the MCAT exam itself, while littered with figures and tables for the passage-type question chunks, comes with very few pictures. On my MCAT in September, I remember exactly ONE picture. And it was of something I would never have covered in my review.

Review books are already considered "high-yield." To "condense" them onto a single word document would result in a something that would range from 20-30 pages for physics, to maybe 100 pages for Psych/Soc. Indeed, Reddit has already crowd-sourced a 100pg summary of the Khan Academy videos for Psych/Soc. They have also created an image-heavy version filled with screencaps of the videos that is 300 pages. I would recommend you not to reinvent the wheel, just use someone else's.

Flashcards is a method I would definitely approve of. Its value in memorizing the numerous discretes (bio cycles, amino acids, terms, etc) cannot be overlooked by those who favor such methods.

Brief overview:

- 3.88 sGPA, 3.95 cGPA
- 2 years of research
- 9 months as ER tech (EMT-certified)
- 3 months as healthcare policy analyst intern for major healthcare lobbying group in Sacramento
- 5 weeks of clinical work in South Africa (same area as research)
- 1 year of clinical work in undergraduate university-associated rural clinic
Current:
- ER scribe
- Continuing research

Do you have any non-clinical/research ECs? Since you have time until next cycle, I recommend you expand your breadth a little, since the depth is already strong on the clinical side. Something like tutoring at-risk kids and teens, or volunteering with the homeless in a non-clinical setting. Just my 2 cents.

Also, shadowing. Something like "four hours daily for 4-8 weeks" is a strong start. You don't need 1000s of hours. You just need enough of physician-specific shadowing with the kind of consistency to be able to satisfactorily declare "I understand the life of a physician and yes this is truly what I want." For example, 1 hour a day for 4 years means nothing to me. While that is easily close to 1500 hours, I would personally consider them useless hours. You cannot capture the daily grind of being a physician in 1-2 hour a day. However, if I saw "4-5 hours a day (one afternoon) for 1 month" is a really strong window into the physician life, despite only totaling ~100 hours. Again, my 2cents.

I have always been of the opinion that taking practice tests prior to an at least near-comprehensive content review is a bad approach...

I would tend to agree. Since the change to MCAT2015, there are currently only 2 official AAMC FLs (a third to be released by T-giving), one AAMC Sample Exam, and after that, the general consensus is 5 NextStep and 5 Altius. I too would save them for the last 2 months before your exam.

However, I would suggest you take the Sample Exam prior to your content review, in as close to exam settings as possible. That is, start at 8am, with timed sections, and appropriate length inter-section breaks. This is so that you get a feel for the timing of the test, and you can see how stringent your timing rehearsal must be.

This approach reflects the fact that I am not at all comfortable dismissing any content for it being unlikely to appear on the MCAT, which, in turn, reflects my absolute commitment to achieving a 520+ score.

I applaud your lofty goal, but in reality with your ECs and GPA, aim for 520+ but be ecstatic for 515+. 514 is already 91%ile (top 1 out of 10), and anything above 520 is 99%ile and what I would consider outlier territory. And when I say outlier territory, I would say that for all but the "highest tier" medical schools, a 515 is already satisfactory. Remember, GPA/MCAT gets you in the door. ECs and PS buy you secondaries, which buy you an interview, which buy you a slot for matriculation. MCAT is far from everything, and yet, it can be the most important thing.

Specifically, I am taking comprehensive condensed notes from the Kaplan books (excluding CARS) and forming a massive Anki deck with them. I am through Gen Chem and most of biochem with a pace of ~1.5 chapters of notes per day. While this is where he overwhelming majority of my study times goes, I use flashcard apps, MCAT biology/psychology podcasts, and youtube videos when I get tired.

Make sure you have the following squared away:
-Proper sleep schedule
-Proper diet and exercise (healthy body = healthy mind)
-Proper rest days (every Sunday?) where you ignore everything MCAT related, to prevent burnout, especially since you have a long review period (>2 months)

While it may sound as though I am in a relatively good position, here are some (correct me if I'm wrong) red flags, even at this early stage:

- Retention of requirements (all sci/math requirements including biochem, but no recommended courses) is middling to weak, probably due to the long period of time I was in college as well as their being spaced out
- Never taken/completely forgotten:
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Genetics
• Physiology (under biology section, though the granular details of organ systems, hormones, etc. was never covered in my undergraduate biology series)

Retention may be weak, but relearning will be quick as you've learned it before. Just brushing the rust off of the old neural connections.
Having not taken these subjects is not a red flag. Genetics for the MCAT is short. Mostly probability, central dogma, and TSL/TXN. Psych/Soc is covered thoroughly enough in the review books, I did not take Soc and I did poorly in Psych, and yet 5 years later I was able to score a 129. The MCAT does not seem to test the organ systems in huge detail. That is saved for medical school. But you do need to generally know the big players. The review books will cover it fine. I would consider these as yellow flags at worst, meaning you need to spend a little extra time in review on these.

YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Is there an existing "risk-averse with abundant available time" prep plan (or specific one you would propose, if you were so kind) that you would suggest given my situation?
2. Should my approach to the MCAT be shifted given my circumstances, perhaps toward emphasis of "high yield" topics?
3. Should my goals for the MCAT (and thus my approach to it) be adjusted considering my circumstances?
4. Am I in a uniquely weak position going into MCAT prep for someone aiming for a high score?

Thank you all so much for your input

1. No one makes a study schedule for 6 months. I can personally help you, but a general plan is usually not provided as anyone studying for 6 months is only doing so because they are either taking classes at the same time, or are working/non-trad. In these cases, the student knows their schedule the best. They merely search the forum, take a gander at MCATjelly, KoalaT, and SN2ed and adapt it to fit their time constraints and needs. Feel free to PM me if you search all these up and are still lacking the information needed to formulate your own plan.

2. The review books are already high yield. If you wish to get 520+, I suggest getting down every detail and concept in Kaplan and AAMC official materials (incl section banks), maybe switch to TBR, do plenty of Hat Trick and Daily CARS practice, and start praying for a perfect test day.

3. You're no different from any other fresh college grad taking a gap year or two. If anything, you need to work on being less risk-averse if you're going to get anywhere in healthcare.

4. No. Quite the opposite. You have the luxury of a strong sGPA and plenty of time.

Best of luck. Sorry for long post, but since you put one up and seem to favor absolute thoroughness, I thought you'd appreciate a similar post in reply. Hopefully it was of some help. Feel free to PM me as well. I was an Aggie too, Class of '12. Back when UCD still had men's track/field and wrestling.

 

[UCDavispremed92]

First of all, thanks. Great insights.

Review books are already considered "high-yield." To "condense" them onto a single word document would result in a something that would range from 20-30 pages for physics, to maybe 100 pages for Psych/Soc. Indeed, Reddit has already crowd-sourced a 100pg summary of the Khan Academy videos for Psych/Soc. They have also created an image-heavy version filled with screencaps of the videos that is 300 pages. I would recommend you not to reinvent the wheel, just use someone else's.

I see. If the review books are already considered high yield, what, if any, existing resource would be considered comprehensive? It occurred to me to use undergraduate study materials, but I thought the emphasis might not align completely with that of the MCAT. I am aware of the listed AAMC topics, and I realize this is a comprehensive overview of the testable topics, but I mean something a bit more granular - the specific testable information about each of these required topics. I had assumed the Kaplan books served this function, but perhaps it falls a bit short?

Good point on relying on existing condensed resources. I am aware of some of the reddit stuff (though likely not aware of much more). However, I do think there is something to be said for the idea that you learn half of the content you are condensing during the process of meticulously condensing it - but time is limited. Regarding Khan, my sense is that it is nowhere near comprehensive on psych/soc - but definitely useful supplement.

Are you saying that, for a given topic, there are reddit resources that are more comprehensive than a condensed version of literally everything in the associated Kaplan book, meaning they incorporate additional information from Berkeley/Princeton? A more concrete way of assessing whether using an existing condensed content resource instead of creating my own would be to ask: Hypothetically, do you think using one of these condensed content reviews as the sole resource for a topic I have a little background in (specifically, much of bio and all of psych/soc) would be sufficient content review for a 90+ percentile score on that topic?

Do you have any non-clinical/research ECs? Since you have time until next cycle, I recommend you expand your breadth a little, since the depth is already strong on the clinical side. Something like tutoring at-risk kids and teens, or volunteering with the homeless in a non-clinical setting. Just my 2 cents.

Also, shadowing. Something like "four hours daily for 4-8 weeks" is a strong start. You don't need 1000s of hours. You just need enough of physician-specific shadowing with the kind of consistency to be able to satisfactorily declare "I understand the life of a physician and yes this is truly what I want." For example, 1 hour a day for 4 years means nothing to me. While that is easily close to 1500 hours, I would personally consider them useless hours. You cannot capture the daily grind of being a physician in 1-2 hour a day. However, if I saw "4-5 hours a day (one afternoon) for 1 month" is a really strong window into the physician life, despite only totaling ~100 hours. Again, my 2cents.

I did a 3 month healthcare policy internship at the California Medical Association - healthcare-related, but not clinical. I was being vague about it to maintain anonymity, but what the hell, I can remove the reference later. I mostly assisted in condensing relevant medical research for White Paper updates. I have a letter form their policy director.

The South Africa clinical work had a global health/community service element - a bit cynical about the extent to which this is a fair characterization of the program, but it looks how it looks.

The student-run clinic was located in an underserved and isolated community and had a community service element within that community that I participated in

I could get shadowing hours from the hospital with which I was formerly employed as an ER tech (had to quit when I transferred, now back) plenty of direct experience around physicians from then. Instead, I am about to start part-time (1-2 times a week) there as an ER scribe there since it's paid - this is comparable to or better than shadowing, right?

There is a medical program to assist the homeless here I will be volunteering for next month, a first for me. I'm curious what frequency or number of hours with with this would be worth something if a specific question about that were to come up.

Also note that your unusual approach to college may come up during interviews. I am unsure of the right way to handle that.

My hope is that the healthcare policy internship highlights an interest in involvement in advocacy on behalf of physicians on the policy side of things. "Physicians should be better represented in the political arena and I want to be at the front lines of bringing that to fruition" - or something to that effect. Also, healthcare policy is just a hot issue right now and even though I have no formal education in healthcare policy specifically - I certainly qualify as a dilettante and can talk up my interest in reform as well as my familiarity with the current state of the healthcare system/proposed alternate frameworks.

I may wade into some involvement in a campaign for a federal congressional seat in a local swing district prior to applying so as to have it to reference for something I was/will be doing before/after the interview. This is probably something I would do anyway and I would hope highlights there's more to me than clinical involvement.

I don't think strength of schedule is actually visible to them, is it? The fact is, I completed all of my major requirements prior to my final year with six pre-med requirements, five of which had to be taken in series, remaining. So I had little choice but to have a weak schedule.

I was a terrible student in high school and have a documented learning disability. I started out at community college, slowly building up confidence and study habits, outworking everyone. I had a 4.0 as an incoming transfer and, despite performing well through college still have that lingering doubt from when I was a teenager - that's much the root of this whole thing. There's an explanatory story in there somewhere, or so I hope.

2. The review books are already high yield. If you wish to get 520+, I suggest getting down every detail and concept in Kaplan and AAMC official materials (incl section banks), maybe switch to TBR, do plenty of Hat Trick and Daily CARS practice, and start praying for a perfect test day

Unfamiliar with Hat Trick and Daily CARS Practice, will look into this.

For the purposes of discussing which prep companies' review materials are ideal for me, let's say that optimal efficiency (limiting content redundancies) and allocation of time are the only considerations, putting aside finances. I already have the 7 book Kaplan set and have access to their online resources through January. I am only now starting to familiarize myself with distinctions between the major prep companies' areas of strength. I'm not all that concerned with style - just substance. So, would you consider TBR a significantly better option than Kaplan for all topics given everything I've outlined?

More generally, is there a particular topic for which you would consider Kaplan to not be comprehensive and, if so, what would be the book to supplement it for that topic?

I realize I"m far from the first to essentially ask which book (or combination of books) is truly comprehensive for each topic. If you don't have experience with all of the different MCAT review book series on various topics, is there a recent and widely-accepted consensus on this that you know of or forum on this topic you could refer me to that sums this up well?

Thanks again for your helpful response

 

[Zenabi90]

what, if any, existing resource would be considered comprehensive? ... However, I do think there is something to be said for the idea that you learn half of the content you are condensing... Regarding Khan, my sense is that it is nowhere near comprehensive on psych/soc - but definitely useful supplement. ... Are you saying that, for a given topic, there are reddit resources that are more comprehensive...

TBR is widely considered to be the most thorough and in-depth of all the review books, to the point that there are many who consider TBR Bio to be overkill. You might prefer it that way. EK is considered the least, Kaplan and TPR are somewhere in between. You can find success with Kaplan, but perhaps TBR would be worth a look. There are usually used copies readily available here on SDN.

I personally did my own condensation of the TBR materials, so I totally understand what you mean. However, my condensation was about 3 pages per TBR chapter. When I finished the book, I rewrote what I had condensed and got it to be 2 pages per chapter so that when I opened my book, everything was laid out without having to turn a page.

As for Khan, many will state that it is enough to get a 132 on the MCAT. This is why so many currently recommend the use of the Reddit 100pg KA P/S summary (300pg if you want screencaps). Personally I have a hard time reading the format presented, so I combined TBR depth of Psych with TPR, since TBR is still working on their Socio book.

AFAIK the only reddit doc is the P/S doc. It arose from a need for faster to digest review materials since no test company had done a proper version yet and Khan Academy videos was the only resource.

I could get shadowing hours from the hospital with which I was formerly employed as an ER tech (had to quit when I transferred, now back) plenty of direct experience around physicians from then. Instead, I am about to start part-time (1-2 times a week) there as an ER scribe there since it's paid - this is comparable to or better than shadowing, right?

There is a medical program to assist the homeless here I will be volunteering for next month, a first for me. I'm curious what frequency or number of hours with with this would be worth something if a specific question about that were to come up.

Depends on who reviews your app. Some adcoms love scribe, some don't care, some care (in a bad way) if it's your only clinical experience.

I would still recommend some kind of non-clinical/healthcare-related volunteer experience, since you have the time. A lot of public libraries provide after-school tutoring, perhaps that would cover it.

I don't think strength of schedule is actually visible to them, is it? ...

I was a terrible student ... here's an explanatory story in there somewhere, or so I hope.

It absolutely is. When you do your AMCAS, all your classes are listed with units, grades, and quarter taken. They also get your official transcripts. So when I said "unusual approach," that's what I was referring to. Taking 2 courses is technically part-time. Personally I wish I had done what you did (killed myself and my GPA taking 5 in winter quarter of freshman year) but it is on you to explain it to the adcom. You sound like you have a good story to weave into your personal statement, but it will require finesse to balance with the main topic.

Unfamiliar with Hat Trick and Daily CARS Practice, will look into this ...
If you don't have experience with all of the different MCAT review book series on various topics, is there a recent and widely-accepted consensus on this that you know of or forum on this topic you could refer me to that sums this up well?

Thanks again for your helpful response

Check the following thread for Hat Trick:
Breaking Down the MCAT: A 3 Month MCAT Study Schedule

TBR has the most depth of material out of all the companies, and yet manages to maintain a same book thickness as the other companies due to their no-nonsense formatting (black and white, no silly analogies that treat you like a grade schooler) and concise writing. If you want pure depth of content, this is it. I like TPR to cover the Sociology material that TBR has yet to release a book for (a rep told me via email in August that their socio book should be out by late next year, too late for you).

EK is the least in-depth. A lot of breadth, not much depth.

Kaplan/TPR is generally the middle ground.

What I see a lot of the time:
-C/P: TBR >>> TPR/Kap > EK
-Bio: EK (most are already strong in bio from undergrad, thus don't need the depth) > TPR/Kap > TBR (its too long for many)
-P/S: TPR > Reddit > TBR (lacks Sociology content)