MCAT Tips + Materials

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LuDeaux

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:: Post is not yet complete. In first draft ::

First, I wanted to preface that I am no more than another pre-medical student that took the MCAT. I didn't score 520+... But I recorded a lot of information along the way and really wanted to share with hope it'll be of some use.

The MCAT requires a highly personalized study process. which will be unique to every individual.

That being said, a a little information about me might be beneficial in seeing if you'll relate (and if the rest of this posted junk will be of aid). I'm a neuroscience/music double major who didn't know I was going to go into medical until my last year in college, and as a result, quite frankly didn't give a hoot about my GPA. I blew over my first two years with a whomping 2.9 avg and started this studying process with really weak general biology/chemistry/organic chemistry knowledge. I've done research which helped a lot with passage reading so CARS was consistently my strongest section.

I have never taken a psychology/sociology class, although my understanding of neuroscience helped with psych a bit.

I'm also horrible with focusing, can't sit down for long periods of time, love learning, but hate relearning.

It's like someone took all my weak spots, threw it together, and called it the MCAT. A recipe for disaster I tell you.

Initial score: Kaplan Diagnostic: 490
(tbh looking back to it now, I think this test was definitely harder compared to the actual AAMC one)

Final Score AAMC: 508 - 127/127/127/127

STUDYING: 6 - 8 hrs/day w/1 day off a week for 10 weeks (2.5 months).
Weeks 1-4: Pomodoro method (I have a super hard time focusing)
Weeks 5-6: Gradually increasing to 1hr intervals with 10 mins break (and lunch of course)
Weeks 7-8: Mimic section times of 1.5 hrs (studying material from each section for this amount of time)
Weeks 8-10: 3hr sections (half test length), eventually to full length exams

This outlines general study times only. I didn't follow it to the dot (as explained later).

OUTLINE OF POST:

1) Books
2) Supplemental Materials
3) Test Scores
4) Study habits
5) Tip
6) My notes

Any questions/comments always welcomed. To those who will scroll on, happy reading!

==========

BOOKS:
Summary

Kaplan: Full breakdown course of everything in biology/chem/physics. For those who do not have as solid of a foundation as they would want. The books offer a really good 'teach yourself' material. However, if you feel like you already have a good grasp on the concepts and are looking for something that's more focused and MCAT geared, I would recommend others. Kaplan will probably suffice as an independent study source.

ExamKrackers: Brief, concise overviews of highly targeted concepts with highlights that really useful on the exam. Friendly looking text compared to Berkeley Review. But I've definitely found problems on the MCAT where EK didn't cover and ctrl + f couldn't locate anything.

Princeton Review: I would personally put Princeton somewhere between Kaplan and EK in terms of denseness. It's definitely concise enough to give you main concepts without distracting from the topic, and the book gives you enough problems to understand the lesson. Depending on the sections it may be too dense for the test at times. Here for more details:
https://www.medschooltutors.com/blog/did-the-princeton-review-really-crack-the-mcat2015-code

Khan Academy: So... I LOVED Khan Academy. And maybe I'm under influence of the placebo effect since they clearly state "partnered with AAMC", but I thought their material matched the actual MCAT best out of anyone else's. Their videos always provided just enough information and were explained in a way that were digestible. There are, however, extra sections where you don't need to know all the info (and I'm not sure why those videos are on the MCAT page), but if you follow the outline that AAMC provided, it's pretty easy to handpick those select few out. BUT, no matter how much I love it... I still wouldn't use this as an independent study source unless you're able to transcribe almost everything in every video.

I don't have reviews for the Berkeley Review since I only had access to the biology portion of it... which I didn't use since Kaplan was a lot more user friendly to me.

What I would recommend:
Biology/Biochem: Kaplan + Princeton (as review); supplement w/Kaplan Subjects tests
Physics: ExamKrackers Physics supplement w/EK 1001 problems
Organic Chemistry: Khan academy videos
General Chemistry: Princeton w/EK 1001 problems
Psychology/Sociology: Khan Academy + passages
AAMC CARS

Kaplan 2015
I mainly used e-books 2015 Kaplan as my initial primary source of content review. I didn't deem it necessary to buy the newer version since Amazon reviewed the 2016 to have only an extra 100pgs added to it. Kaplans are dense with a lot of details you'll find yourself not necessarily needing, but personally I required the extra review since I did poorly in a lot of my general requirement classes.

Overall, I would say Kaplan gives you all the necessary details and information you need to know for the MCAT but not necessary in the MCAT fashion. The books don't tend to pinpoint what you'll be encountering on test day, but rather provides a brief, textbook summary type of material.

Biology/Biochem: I loved, loved, loved the biology and biochemistry from Kaplan. It is dense, but it literally covered everything (almost everything) that had to be known on the MCAT. I only encountered 1 problem out of the 10000000 I did where the concept wasn't listed (exaggerated but you understand me). The only problem with Kaplan was that it's really difficult to review all the material at the end, which is why I ended my studies by reviewing with Princeton Biology/Biochem.

Chemistry: Amazing course review for chemistry. Not so perfect for the MCAT in my opinion. Since the MCAT physics/chem section is generally comprised of a biochemistry/chemistry mixture, you'll never encounter strictly general chemistry problems which is what this book will get you ready for. If you have ample time, it wouldn't hurt to comb through it since it encompasses all topics chemistry. But if you're on a time crunch and you did well in your general chemistry courses/don't need the whole course break down I would say skip the Kaplan and go for the Princeton.

Physics: Another amazing course review... But a waste of time. Too much knowledge that you'll never need or use on the exam.

ExamKrackers 2015:
I used this during my last week of studying for necessary review. I loooveee the series because it's short with narrowed down information that are almost guaranteed to appear on the exam. ExamKrackers particularly has amazing tip boxes which include information that I saw on the MCAT over and over again.

Biology: Didn't look at it since Princeton/Kaplan sufficed.

Chemistry:

Physics:

Princeton 2015:
Chemistry: It seems like everyone else thinks this section was dense, but I thought it was perfect for what you had to know for the test.


==========


SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
Kaplan Subject Tests:

Overall, I recommend the subjects tests to just brush up and see which areas you need more help in. I believe I took these after my initial content review. They don't take that long to complete and can really help you narrow down which sections will hurt you the most on the real thing. While going through these, mark which questions you're 100% sure about, and which ones you're guessing on just so you can go through the answers and look up the ones you guessed on as well. The questions are really straight forward to be honest. I think I was scoring around 85% accuracy by the end. The subject tests are nothing like the real AAMC by the way, they're just multiple choice questions which tests concepts.

(Chemistry) Watch out for wrong answers in the key. Not sure if it's because I used a gippy version of the material though.

(Biology) Similar to AAMC in that in multiple choice responses, you should know the answer instead of what is not the answer. Usually the right answer is something pretty obvious - there's no trick questions. So know the facts and you'll be gucci! Definitely tests the background knowledge you need to know for the MCAT.

EXAMKRACKERS 1001:
Since I lacked quite a bit on content, the EK 1001 series helped me a lot since it really narrowed down what I had down and what I had to study. Looking back at it now, it would've been useful to briefly glance over the problems and see what you can nail down in the beginning before beginning content review. That way it'll save you time and effort rereading what you already know.

(Physics) Tests for understanding of concepts a lot. really drills different aspects of physics topics which is beneficial to understanding. i.e. using the same problem to test for relationships in power, focus, image/object distance, etc. Definitely not as difficult as AAMC, but worthwhile to developing a good backbone for the test. If you understand all problems in the workbook, you should be solid on your concepts for physics. I personally thought that knowing all the equations that were tested in this set would be enough for success in the actual MCAT.

(Chemistry) Watch out for mistakes in the answer books - double check things with the textbook you're using. It'll take longer but the results will be much better. Mark problems that you guessed on so you can read the explanation and understand what you did wrong. Problems in this book approached concepts in different ways and through different relationships so it was really worthwhile combing through it for me.

(Biology) Glanced briefly over the biology section and decided it wasn't as good as the AAMC material so I just didn't do it. Also heard there were a lot of mistakes. Thought the Kaplan Subjects Test were better for this one.

Princeton Science Workbook
(Biology Section) Problems are comprehensive, passages understanding level similar to those of AAMC. Problem choices, however, are slightly easier. Often has right/wrong answers that are easily distinguishable from one another.

KHAN ACADEMY:

===========


TEST SCORES DURING PREPARATION:
July 1st (three weeks in):
Next Step FL 1: 495 without psych section (untimed)
(NS FLs are significantly harder than the AAMC. Not in material, but just by the way the information is presented... a lot of the questions can be obscure and require several read throughs before fully grasping what they're trying to get across)

July 25: - AAMC Test 3: Physics/Chem section: 71% (untimed)
CARS: 63% (untimed)

July 27:
Princeton Demo Test: 495
Physics/Chem: 122
CARS: 125
Biology: 122
Psych/Socio: 126
(A lot of people seems to feel that Princeton demo is easier than the actual MCAT. Chem/Physics appear to be the same/maybe slightly easier (but no more momentum on the new exam). Verbal appears to be the same since I came across the exact same passage with exact same questions on the AAMC packet questions I just purchased... (thanks AAMC). Bio appears to be significantly easier. So how did I do so poorly... idk)

August 4:
Princeton Full Exam #1: 498
Physics/Chem: 124
CARS: 127
Biology: 123
Psych/Socio: 124
(harder than actual exam. still)

August 13th:
Physics/Chem (AAMC #4) : 65%
Biology: 75%
(much easier than test)

August 18th:
Physics/Chem (AAMC #5): 65%
(much easier than test)

August 19th:
Princeton Third Exam: 496
Physics/Chem: 121
(To be fair, this was the hardest section I've ever taken. Never ever ever have I encountered something like that before omg. Internet seems to agree)
CARS: 126
Biology: 124
Psych/Socio: 125
(Princeton still harder than any of the AAMC material in my opinion. Not in the content that they test on, but in the way they present it. Definitely easier than NS FL's since the text is less obscure, but the way they present it I feel is not as clear.)

August 22nd:
AAMC Problem Set (Chemistry): 78%
(Either at the level of difficulty of the actual test or below)

August 24th:
Biology Section (AAMC Biology Packet 2): 82% ~ 129
(same review as above)

August 25rd:
AAMC Sample Test:
Physics/Chem: 59%
CARS: 81%
Biology: 79%
Pyschology: 76%
(The sample test was harder than expected)

September 3rd:
AAMC Practice Exam 1:
Physics/Chem: 126
CARS: 125
Biology: 126
Pyschology: 125
Total: 502
(Mind you I was getting ready to apply to a masters program at this point if this is the score I'm getting a week before the exam. To be fair, I think the Practice Exam is pretty representative of the actual test. I didn't think it was any harder like most of the internet seems to think.)

September 7th - 9th:
NO MCAT PREP AT ALL.
Just reading over notes here and there.



==========

STUDY HABITS:
What helped me the most with studying was alternating places where I would work at. Home, libraries, Starbucks, at a park, different coffee shops around town, at school, etc. etc. the list goes on. Take practice exams in different locations to mimic the actual test. I figured the more places I could go to the less freaked out my brain will be when I have to take the MCAT in a completely foreign place. As a result, I don't think I got the nerves as much as I could have on the actual test day which was a blessing.

I didn't do just MCAT for 2.5 months. Exercising and extracurricular activities are just as important. Since I had problems focusing, starting small and ended with the full practice exams really worked to my advantage. If you can already focus like a champ then maybe starting with the pomodoro technique would be really useless for you.


Improvements will come with time; the key is to be patient not get frustrated during the studying process. If you feel like your scores aren't improving, nail down the reason why with the questions below.


=============

TIPS:
Honestly, the MCAT is a very, very, personalized test. How you approach it will be completely different from the way someone else approaches it.

Here's some questions to ask yourself:
What's your weakest area in the beginning? - I personally feel like the worst way to diagnose is by using just one "diagnostic exam". All it does it it spits out a number at you that says "okay you scored this in this area" but doesn't really tell you why. Was it the passage? Was it the content? Was it the way something was presented? Was it because I didn't have time? Because I was freaking out?

Separate content and passage first. CARS and just general content. Which do you score better on? Which parts of content? Is it concept content or details? If it's details, maybe it's time to review all the Kaplan material. If it's concepts, maybe it's better to look at EK/Berkeley reviews. If it's in CARS, just read, read, read, and read. Pick up Nietzsche (I swear after you read him you can read anything), or may be a 1950s nonfiction from the library. Getting used to the wording and gaining familiarity with obscure topics is a good way to get better at this section.

Now that you know your weak point, you can start. Then take another exam when you're ready. Was this exam timed? Not timed? What's the difference in your score if it's timed vs. not? Because that might mean you're freaking yourself out with the clock. So start pacing yourself.

What am I still weak in? - Keep refining and questioning yourself. I recommend at least half a test every three days if not more during the study process.

Are you focusing through your whole study time? - If not, what can you do to make yourself focus more? Maybe cut down the sessions so you're being 100% productive for 30mins instead of 50% productive for an hour. It'll give you the same result. Rewards are always good. I left myself some food after 1.5 hours and treated myself to chocolate every break.

But I keep taking breaks and I still can't focus... - Maybe it's time to cut down the studying hours and take a breather for a couple of days. It's not bad to let yourself unwind and come back to it. All your neural circuitry's still at work even when you're not. Go hiking. Being outsides helps.

No... I'm just struggling with content review ... Do some EK 1001/Princeton subject tests and see which areas you're struggling in. Then pinpoint those and study from there. Locate the symptoms first before hashing through all your notes wondering what you're missing points on.

Do you know what you're lacking in the MCAT? Content wise, things like NSFL, Princeton, Kaplan, AAMC all cover the same material (with some covering more than others). Passage wise, NSFL > Princeton + Kaplan > AAMC just via obscurity and way of presenting. Look at your scores across the board. See what you're scoring the lowest in and in which tests. Heavy passage readers might score evenly across all field (albeit low) because the comprehension of all passages are there. Content heavy students might score lower in harder passages merely because of passage difficulty.

hint: If you're scoring really high in CARS and really low in biology/chemistry, it's probably a sure sign you're missing the content but you're reading the passages just fine. Go do some EK 1001.

Are you anxious about the test? - This may bite you in the butt on test day. Your mindset matters. Why are you taking it? To be a doctor? Do you really want to be a doctor? Yes? Okay. So do your best to improve wherever you're at and never, ever, settle for less. But that doesn't mean you need an absolute 45. You'll always be learning as a physician and there will be times where you fail and times where you succeed. What will keep propelling you through those failures? People aren't critically numbers. Yes, it's what the medical schools are looking at, yes it's important. But, what's more important right now is how much you're able to improve from beginning to end. If you have to retake, retake. If you don't, great. But for pete's sake you don't even know your score yet so how can you be anxious about something that hasn't even happened.

That being said. be realistic.

===========

I'll update this as time goes on and if I remember anything else. If you made it this far, thanks for reading <3

NOTES:
Here's my notes incase y'all wanted them:
KHAN ACADEMY PSYCH/SOCIO NOTES (Videos transcribed pretty much):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xOLX53usedbYjhr0WPqpnmpTUd3td3AKn36YBiiJ9r8/edit?usp=sharing
BIO/BIOCHEM/CHEM/PHYSICS:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nyPa9UlHfXr-xfV-6Hohbn6eIk6sk3CSfBx9rFr8zyI/edit?usp=sharing

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Thank you for this! So helpful! If you don't mind me asking, how did you do on the real exam?
 
Thank you for this! So helpful! If you don't mind me asking, how did you do on the real exam?
I got a 508! 127/127/127/127 distribution. Really glad you found this helpful. Let me know if I could be of more help!
 
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Hey guys! If you are interested, you can easily connect to current medical school students at https://thrivespace.herokuapp.com It's a website i helped build and partially inspired by the challenges I went through. Hope it helps someone!
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And feel free to let me know if you have any feedback/questions/concerns!
 
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