MCAT Studying; Can it be done in 2 months and a week?

[FollowTheMoney]

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I'm signed up for the June 17th MCAT but I'm not going to get any hardcore studying done until about May 1. However, I have no distractions, responsibilities, etc. this summer other than studying for this test. I would like to apply in this upcoming cycle without being too late, realistically. I was thinking about pushing my date back to July 8th so maybe 2 months and a week would be enough time and having all "my stuff" in to schools by the first week in August can't be that bad right? Thoughts?

 

[NYR56]

You can definitely get it done for the July date and the reality is that you could even do the June date if you really wanted to. It depends on how much content review you really need and how dedicated you will be during that time. If you think you just need a once through of the material, you could probably get through it by the beginning of June and then spend the last couple of weeks doing practice exams. Of course, if you end up running into problems or falling behind in the schedule you won't have time to make up for that. As for as the difference between applying, I'll let someone else chime in since I don't really know.

 

[ElliottB]

There was a guy that posted up recently who had scored a 42Q with 3 weeks of studying. Granted, that was 12-15 hrs/day but proves it can be done. Depending on how much review you need 2 months should be enough time.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Isn't that for people who are just amazing test takers and have a solid foundation of the material?

 

[FollowTheMoney]

You can definitely get it done for the July date and the reality is that you could even do the June date if you really wanted to. It depends on how much content review you really need and how dedicated you will be during that time. If you think you just need a once through of the material, you could probably get through it by the beginning of June and then spend the last couple of weeks doing practice exams. Of course, if you end up running into problems or falling behind in the schedule you won't have time to make up for that. As for as the difference between applying, I'll let someone else chime in since I don't really know.

Do you think I could complete SN2ed's 3 month schedule in 2/3 of the time, with a few extra practice tests from TBR?

 

[SN2ed]

Do you think I could complete SN2ed's 3 month schedule in 2/3 of the time, with a few extra practice tests from TBR?

Nope, especially if you add tests.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Nope, especially if you add tests.

What if I don't? Is July 8th possible? If I do, does that mean I can do it by the July 16 date?

 

[SN2ed]

My 3 month schedule cannot be done in 2 months. Heck, it's tough to complete in 3 months. Furthermore, the vast majority of test takers, even if they tried their hardest, wouldn't do great with only 2 months, let alone 1.5 months. The shorter the time frame, the better the student must be to compensate.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

My 3 month schedule cannot be done in 2 months. Heck, it's tough to complete in 3 months. Furthermore, the vast majority of test takers, even if they tried their hardest, wouldn't do great with only 2 months, let alone 1.5 months. The shorter the time frame, the better the student must be to compensate.

Would you say your schedule is for the "average" person or somebody relatively intelligent?

 

[SN2ed]

Would you say your schedule is for the "average" person or somebody relatively intelligent?

Somebody relatively intelligent. Remember, the average person gets a 24-25 on the MCAT. However, some poor scores could be due to other factors, such as, bad planning or a bad schedule/no schedule. On a related note, I think someone has to be fairly intelligent to get mostly As in college which the majority of successful pre-meds obtain.

The key thing is that 2 month or shorter schedules are really only good for people scoring within or close to their desired score. You have no idea how many times we've had 38+ scorers come on here and proclaim a week or month is enough for all. Then you find out, they were scoring 33+ with no studying. That's not to say they don't mean well, but the majority of test takers need more time. Not everyone can take the MCAT cold and score 33+.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Somebody relatively intelligent. Remember, the average person gets a 24-25 on the MCAT. However, some poor scores could be due to other factors, such as, bad planning or a bad schedule/no schedule. On a related note, I think someone has to be fairly intelligent to get mostly As in college which the majority of successful pre-meds obtain.

The key thing is that 2 month or shorter schedules are really only good for people scoring within or close to their desired score. You have no idea how many times we've had 38+ scorers come on here and proclaim a week or month is enough for all. Then you find out, they were scoring 33+ with no studying. That's not to say they don't mean well, but the majority of test takers need more time. Not everyone can take the MCAT cold and score 33+.

Yeah man, I agree with you completely. I'm going to continue to focus on my grades and once my finals end I will proceed in doing your schedule. I'll take it one day at a time and I'm sure I will start to get a feel for when is the most appropriate time for me to take the test. I appreciate all of your help and input though.

 

[wanderer]

If you have yet to take a diagnostic, you should think about how you study for your courses. Do you have to study little (relative to others) to prepare for organic or other hard courses? If yes, there's a decent chance you will be able to complete MCAT study in a short time frame. If not, there's little chance this will be feasible.

Personally, I have been able to succeed in my coursework with little studying (except in memorization-heavy coursework such as most bio courses), and for the MCAT I only had to prepare for a couple of months. I got a score of a little above 30 on my AAMC diagnostic (after only a little content review) and ended up scoring >35. I likely would have scored a few points higher if I studied more, but I don't think it would have made much of a difference in the long run.

 

[lejeunesage]

I was in a similar situation a year ago. I had only 2months to study for the MCAT, during most of which I also had to dedicate time to study for the biochemistry class that I was taking, so that my MCAT-only study time was less than 2 weeks. Needless to say that I didn't get a super high score... but I got a 32Q, which proved enough to get into med school. So, you can definitely do it, although I wouldn't necessarily advise it. Is there any way you could postpone taking your test?

 

[pelliper]

I'm signed up for the June 17th MCAT but I'm not going to get any hardcore studying done until about May 1. However, I have no distractions, responsibilities, etc. this summer other than studying for this test. I would like to apply in this upcoming cycle without being too late, realistically. I was thinking about pushing my date back to July 8th so maybe 2 months and a week would be enough time and having all "my stuff" in to schools by the first week in August can't be that bad right? Thoughts?

thats totally fine. i studied for 5 weeks, studying 4 hours tops per day, and got in the high 30s.

 

[studyingfordat]

I am also operating with a similar time frame. If anyone has a schedule for this time frame, please share! I would be forever grateful!

 

[MT Headed]

I am also operating with a similar time frame. If anyone has a schedule for this time frame, please share! I would be forever grateful!

If you already have the complete EK package, there is a 10 week study program on their website. The tenth week is a break week (I went on a road trip and followed my favorite baseball team around the country for week 10) so you could probably skip it. I think week 5 is also a break week.

EK worked for me. Well, except for the writing portion I suppose.

 

[SLC]

If you know the material well enough to reason through the questions then you can get the studying done quick. The thing is, the answer is always right there in the body of the passage, the trick is to be able to spot it.

I took my MCAT in September of 2010, studied for 6 days by taking 6 of the practice exams and scored a 30. I don't say that to brag, I just want to share my formula for success. Basically, I guess I just read very critically so I could spot the subtle hints that were given in the body of the passages.

I know it wasn't a stellar score, but still far above average and more than enough for my ambitions. I'm no genius, or academic all star either. Just someone who tends to lock onto the big picture when I'm learning, and someone who tends to be low stress and a thorough reader. If you're this type of person, you shouldn't have to study super hard.

Best of luck!

 

[levodopa]

I hope it can be done, because that's my plan. I'm signed up for the April 5th exam and I've been studying here and there, but I work FT so it's hard to be consistent. I've been scoring 9-11s on verbal and 8-12s on bio (haven't tested PS yet because I'm still reviewing), so I hope I can get all three scores up in time for a 30+. It's not an ideal situation but I think that if I'm 2 weeks away from the Big Date and not confident in my abilities then I will just postpone a month.

 

[Postictal Raiden]

If you already have the complete EK package, there is a 10 week study program on their website. The tenth week is a break week (I went on a road trip and followed my favorite baseball team around the country for week 10) so you could probably skip it. I think week 5 is also a break week.

EK worked for me. Well, except for the writing portion I suppose.

I'm also planning to do the EK 10-week plan but was somewhat skeptical about it; I've read somewhere on this forum that the EK bio is not on par with the level of difficulty of the real test. However, I see on your MDapplicant profile that you did extremely well on the bio section.

I was wondering if you did any extra studying/prep, especially for the Biology section. I also would like to know if their estimated prep time was sufficient for you (I noticed that, for most of the days, one would spend only 2-3 hours studying).

My final question is about if you took only the five aamc mcat full lengths, or if you did additional ones?

thank you,

 

[vayntraubinator]

I had a month and a half with excess materials--EK + all the TBR books.

My 2 biggest problems were 1) procrastination and 2) making an efficient study schedule.

If you use EK with just 2 months of study and don't procrastinate I think you can get 30+ easily.

On my first practice test on aamc3 I hit 30 but 21 with the sciences because I felt pretty comfortable. Every improvement from then on was because I was focusing on my weaknesses and test-taking abilities.

The only thing you don't have so much control of is Verbal, so make sure you practice every day so that you stay sharp, because I feel it's more of a skill set than a content and experience gauge since the materials varies so much.

You can definitely do it with EK and a timely practice test/review. Good luck! 👍