MCAT, when should I begin studying?

[MrJosh9788]

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How long before I take the exam do you recommend I begin to study?

 

[dcgirl2007]

6 months.

 

[apricotattack]

start RIGHT NOW.

 

[Aesculapius]

3 months is long enough.

 

[Soggun]

i'd strongly recommend taking a class (i.e. Princeton Review or Kaplan) and spend 2-3 months studying during which you are doing nothing else... Basically, devote a summer to it fully and you should do alright.

 

[154465]

I'm putting you on the ymnCheetos plan:

Worrying: 6 months
Studying: 1 month.

It's been proven the best possible way to ace the MCAT.

 

[Old Grunt]

How long before I take the exam do you recommend I begin to study?

Yesterday.

Seriously, if you are disciplined to put a little bit of time into studying for it each day (as opposed to drinking from a firehose for three months), you'll smoke the test.

If you are just doing your gen science courses, all of that stuff is fair game on the test, so review stuff from your past semester to keep the information current.

Also, you can't use a calculator on the MCAT so practice crunching numbers (rate laws, newtonian mechanics, etc) now to save the hassle later.

That is what I wish I had done, so take it for what it is worth.

 

[brianmartin]

I studied for 2 weeks.

 

[theNEWgirl]

if i get to do mine over again, i would spend 6 months studying and reviewing lightly (2 hrs/day) and 2 months of intense studying. I think it will make all the difference

 

[Phoenix.]

Moving to the MCAT Discussion Forum. Thanks.

 

[Saregamapadanis]

How long before I take the exam do you recommend I begin to study?

depends on you dude. Take a practice test, see how you do, make a study schedule and stick to it.

 

[littlealex]

Typically a long time. If you study intensely, only about 1 month is needed (2 weeks for many people with a strong science background). However, you don't want to push that envelope. Be safe and study for at least 3 months.
The annoying thing is that the second you get your score back and it's a score you like, you'd think "WTF I could had studied for xxxxx (1/3 the amount you spent) and still did well!"

 

[ComicBookDude]

My Plan for Jan 26 '08 Exam:

4 Weeks of Light Studying (10 hours/week)
3 Weeks of Intense Studying (10 hours/day)
2 Weeks of Practice Tests, Review (20 hours/week)
3 Full Days of Rest Before Exam

I figure since I did well in all of my pre-reqs, I don't have too many large gaps in the material. 2 months of QUALITY studying should be enough.

 

[SnoPearl]

I think most people do well with 2-3 months of studying prior to the exam (obviously others have their own style). From what I've gathered from personal experience and from peers, it's really hard to remember things if you learn them too far in advance, even with regular review (which can become frustrating as you see yourself continually forgetting more and more and spending more and more time just reviewing instead of plowing ahead). In the last few months as you are learning the material you will also be doing practice tests to apply your knowledge, and that helps everything stick, if even for a little while. Good luck!!!

 

[SN2ed]

About three months is ideal.