MCAT Retake

[chemistry hahgdgjjhdf]

Hi everyone,
I am planning on retaking the MCAT in May. As I am planning on what to change from the first time the major thing is giving myself more time to study. My questions is, how many practice exams should I do? Also, should I read the review books first or take notes on them and then read them? I plan on reading and going through the notes and books multiple times since I’ll have about 4 months to study, but I wonder which is better. Thank you for your help!

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[Detective SnowBucket]

Literally as many full length practice exams as you can. I did 12 and I credit that with scoring well. I had 4 months to study and that was a great timeline for me.

 

[chemistry hahgdgjjhdf]

Literally as many full length practice exams as you can. I did 12 and I credit that with scoring well. I had 4 months to study and that was a great timeline for me.

Will definitely do a lot more. So were you doing practice exams while doing content review or after completing review?

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

After completing most review, starting like a month and a half out from test date.

 

[Cornfed101]

Also, should I read the review books first or take notes on them and then read them? I plan on reading and going through the notes and books multiple times since I’ll have about 4 months to study, but I wonder which is better.

The goal is to do more active review. Don't just read through the book and hope to gain a bunch of knowledge. Make a flashcard in Anki when you learn something new and do as many practice questions as you can throughout. Make sure you do every single AAMC question at least once before your test.

 

[SleepingPillow]

What I would do after having taken it:

Content review + 3rd party FLs every week or so depending on schedule-> UWorld (all of it)-> AAMC

*Anki everything you learn and miss, I personally wouldnt bother with notes

For me UWorld was when I saw the biggest jump in scoring (510->520+) after I did most of the FLs and even AAMC stuff already except AAMC 2 and 3.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

I'll add that after you finish a practice exam, do some individual sections as you need- if you did the worst on B/B, spend a day and do 2-3 B/B sections.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors