MCAT studying

[cliff MD]

This might be a dumb question. I am planning on taking the mcat in april, but I just started studying today. Do anyone think that it can be done, or should I wait for the August mcat. I am taking the kaplan course over the summer, but wanted to try my luck by taking the mcat in april without a review course. Any advice will help.

Thanks.

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[stoleyerscrubz]

yes it is possible. Would I try to do that personally? No, but that is because I took physics and chem over 10 years ago.

There are some posts of people not studying more than 3 weeks and doing well on the MCAT.

How did you do on your MCAT diagnostic? If you did not take one yet then at least take the AAMC 3R which is free.

 

[cliff MD]

Thanks a lot stoleyerscrubz. I took the aamc 3R test without studying and my score were BS 6 VR 7 PS 7. It has been 2yrs since I took Biology, so most of the question were new to me. I am planning on purchasing the 4R,5R,6R and 7R today. I ran out of time on the Verbal and the Biological Science part. Any advice on how to study for the mcat in 4 weeks, and most importantly increasing my speed in Verbal part.

Thanks.

 

[tintin007]

I would say go for it. MCAT is more of test taking skill, if you are a natural test taker and can hammer them. It should not be a problem.
Still many of us are scoring in our lower 20s and hope to reach 30+ by April 16th, so you are not behind at all

 

[cliff MD]

Do anyone have any idea of study habit/style. e.g how many hours to study in one day/what material to study the most. I just started reviewing my kaplan Biological science 2 days ago, and it seems like a lot. I seems to be anxious and havent put down the book or left home for anywhere. My plan is to finish it before the 20th so that I can start studying the Physical science part. Do any one that have taken the mcat or about to take it have any idea on what part of the biological science I should focus on the most.
Any suggestion will help.

Thanks

 

[musiclink213]

if i were you, i wouldn't study solely one subject at a time. so you finish bio, and by the time test day comes, odds are you'll forget it all. it's better to do a few chapters from each section once a night. say, monday you do bio, wednesday orgo, friday ochem, sunday physics, or whatever. that way, since you're cycling, the info will be fresher and a lot of the times, the info is being reused so you don't forget it, and you won't be burned out as quick.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

I agree with not studying one subject at a time although I will admit that I studied organic during my winter break because I felt that I did not learn much in Orgo 1 during the fall.

It's going to be tough for anyone to suggest a schedule not knowing if you work, go to school, when you last took classes,what are your strengths and weaknesses, etc.

Be sure that you review material that you have previously studied I am starting that this week and devote 4 hours split over 2 days.

A lot of people seem to have problems with genetics so maybe you want to make sure you do study that well. I think they added 3 genetics questions to the MCAT.

if i were you, i wouldn't study solely one subject at a time. so you finish bio, and by the time test day comes, odds are you'll forget it all. it's better to do a few chapters from each section once a night. say, monday you do bio, wednesday orgo, friday ochem, sunday physics, or whatever. that way, since you're cycling, the info will be fresher and a lot of the times, the info is being reused so you don't forget it, and you won't be burned out as quick.

 

[cliff MD]

musiclinck213 and stoleyerscrubz, you guys have been very helpful. I have all the kaplan books and full access to the kaplan full length tests. I am trying to follow the kaplan schedule which requires you to complete 2 units of BS,PS, and VR before you can take the full length practice test 1. I am planning on doing so once I finish reviewing the units.
I am currently in Physics II and Organic II and I think that I will be able to do ok on it. I am spending more time on Biology/Chem I & II because it has been 2yrs since I took them and I need a major review on it. I am going to follow the style that you guys suggested.

Thanks you guys for your supports, and by God grace I will come out victorious.

 

[musiclink213]

Thanks you guys for your supports, and by God grace I will come out victorious.

hey now, how about a little of His grace over here for one of the people who came up with a study plan for you? i want to come out victorious too.

for anyone else hwo wants to also:

 

[DrMojorisin]

From where you're at, I think you could potentially get about 13s in science sections if you hammer that stuff hard, particularly the physical sciences, cuz there isn't so much memorization there as there is in biology. Verbal is the real wild card. You probably shouldn't ignore it, because many med schools think it is the most important, but you should also know that time spent studying it is the least productive for your score. I'd rather have 3 9s than a 13P-13B-7V, unless I was a foreigner. My advice would be to weight studying heavily towards the sciences, and be sure to get in at least 1 or 2 full length AAMC's (which will be the most efficient practice possible for verbal reasoning).

Don't spend more than an hour or two preparing for the writing section, nobody really cares about it.

 

[fateema368]

How much time have you got to devote to studying everyday? Are you a non traditional? Working? Why did you wait so long to begin?
Your off to a good start btw!

 

[SailCrazy]

I think that it is possible to study and do ok (not great) in a short peroid of time. BUT you would have to dedicate a lot of time.

Taking the full-lengths is time consuming, and reviewing them to learn from your mistakes seems to take almost as long as the test itself!

If you can honestly say that you'll do a very good job of assessing your relative strengths and weaknesses and have the intellectual stamina to apply yourself (not an easy task), then you'll do fine.

If not, just wait...

Just my $0.02

 

[cliff MD]

I have been studying 5-6hrs a day. My score on the aamc 4R test is BS 7 PS 8 VR 9. I am hoping for 27 on the real mcat, but I keep running out of time on the practice test. I was a computer science major, so I only took the minimum classes required for medical school. I was enrolled in the kaplan mcat class that started in January. Thinking that the summer class will be better for me, I rescheduled it for the summer class after the first day of class. I am taking the mcat in april, and if I dont do well I will retake it in August.
Do anyone have an idea on how to score higher on the BS/PS part.