MCAT

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Cranjis McBasketball

Cranjis McBasketball

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
1,672
Reaction score
2,183
Did any of you guys feel like time went by miserably slow after you took the mcat? Its literally been 24 hours and I feel like I'm watching paint dry
Members don't see this ad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Wanna make this thread into a random chat thread to help you run the clock? :D

What shoes / footwear did you wear today?

--

I take my MCAT on June 1st and I haven't studied a thing! Is it time to start working on my Caribbean school apps? :(
 
Members don't see this ad :)
dr.phoot said:
Wanna make this thread into a random chat thread to help you run the clock? :D

What shoes / footwear did you wear today?

--

I take my MCAT on June 1st and I haven't studied a thing! Is it time to start working on my Caribbean school apps? :(
Click to expand...
Vans. I need to venture out. Vans are like my go to haha dude i didnt study that much. I work full time and have a pregnant wife. So i probably got 20 hours a week and usually did a practice test or two.
 
I took mine in Philly, after the test I ate a huge philly cheese steak, walked through the park, got a haircut and reevaluated my life. Went back to my ghetto run down motel with questionable stains and knocked out on the toilet watching Bellator from mental exhaustion. Mind you at my motel the fire alarm went off at 3 am before the test and someone kept calling my room... I then drove from Philly(after temple interview) to Ohio and it helped me get my mind off of the MCAT... Temple also put me up in a nice hotel...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Nowehjose said:
I took mine in Philly, after the test I ate a huge philly cheese steak, walked through the park, got a haircut and reevaluated my life. Went back to my ghetto run down motel with questionable stains and knocked out on the toilet watching Bellator from mental exhaustion. Mind you at my motel the fire alarm went off at 3 am before the test and someone kept calling my room... I then drove from Philly(after temple interview) to Ohio and it helped me get my mind off of the MCAT... Temple also put me up in a nice hotel...
Click to expand...

Good stuff. Ever thought of blogging or writing in general?
 
Took mine past summer.

Walked over to the bike store next door to ogle all the expensive cyclocrosses I'd never be able to own. Touched some carbon fiber roadbike wheels just to say I could. Staff looked at me weird.

Drove my girlfriend's car home complete with fluffy steering wheel with the windows down. Laid in bed watching anime in a fetal position until she told me to get up and make dinner with her.

Its like the PTSD after final exams week. Too tired to do anything, too woke to rest.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
DexterMorganSK said:
How it go? I'm cramming all the aamc stuff now for the 5/19 exam! Hope you did well!
Click to expand...
I think it went well. PS and CARS were easier than the AAMC Fl's and Bio and Psych were harder. But I think I did okay. Now it just sucks waiting til May 30th
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
My grades come out in 3 days... :(
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Hey everyone. I am applying for Fall 2018 and am about to get started studying for the MCAT and am shooting to take it on the last date. September 9th. I was wondering if anyone had any study scheduling tips/strategies that helped them. I am thinking of getting at least 2 hours a day for roughly 3 months using a Kaplan course and taking practice tests during those 3 months. Is this strategy/timeline long enough? Enough study hours? What has best helped you?? Thanks!
 
Kaplan/ PR I felt the teaching portions were a good review but essentially useless if you 1) do not pay attention or 2) fall behind and stop bothering.

Rely on the online materials they give you. Practice problems. Section practices. Detailed answers for each option.

2 hours a day would not have been enough for me but if your stats are strong you will still benefit. 2 hours would've only been enough for 1 practice section + studying over wrong answers.

If you work, consider 5 hour sessions in 1 hour blocks on weekends. Give yourself a "me" day in between there somewhere.

Remember, the Kaplan course does not guarantee a competitive score. It is 100% reliant on your work ethic.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Weirdy said:
Kaplan/ PR I felt the teaching portions were a good review but essentially useless if you 1) do not pay attention or 2) fall behind and stop bothering.

Rely on the online materials they give you. Practice problems. Section practices. Detailed answers for each option.

2 hours a day would not have been enough for me but if your stats are strong you will still benefit. 2 hours would've only been enough for 1 practice section + studying over wrong answers.

If you work, consider 5 hour sessions in 1 hour blocks on weekends. Give yourself a "me" day in between there somewhere.

Remember, the Kaplan course does not guarantee a competitive score. It is 100% reliant on your work ethic.
Click to expand...
What was a typal day/week for you studying if you don't mind me asking? Also how many months did you prep for the MCAT?
 
Im studying for the Aug 19th MCAT right now. I bought the Princeton Review content books and the inclass stuff that it comes with if you buy the whole in-person course from a friend who took the course.

I started reading bio content review book and hated it. If you google best mcat prep methods and read on here or reddit....you'll see that the people scoring 510+ don't promote content review. They say its best to hammer out practice problems and full lengths and use the explanations of each answer as your "content" review so to speak.

And after reading the bio book for 2 days, I agree, not worth wasting time. Its gonna take FOREVER reading like 2000 pages or more for content. It will come back to you as you do practice problems. I took the free NextStep full length cold-turkey before any studying and scored 501. I'll be honest, I logically guessed on 95% of the Chem/phys section since I dont remember any formulas AT ALL. I barely knew what a chiral center was lol. Also guessed on ALL the psych/soc since its basically a bunch of definitions and theories of things I've never seen before. Anyways, the moral of the story here is that I scored a decent full length mcat score from one of the more realistic mcat prep companies with NO studying beforehand.
How? Because this test is more of a test on how good you are at taking tests and deriving info from passages than it is on all your undergrad science content. So instead of reading the chem TPR book for content, Im going through the explanations of how to do the questions through Nextstep and keeping notes from their. It's 2 birds 1 stone (content/practice). It might get pricey since you'll have to buy Full lengths from various companies for variety, but it works. There's a reason the people scoring 520's and above preach practice over content studying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
footpainhealer said:
Im studying for the Aug 19th MCAT right now. I bought the Princeton Review content books and the inclass stuff that it comes with if you buy the whole in-person course from a friend who took the course.

I started reading bio content review book and hated it. If you google best mcat prep methods and read on here or reddit....you'll see that the people scoring 510+ don't promote content review. They say its best to hammer out practice problems and full lengths and use the explanations of each answer as your "content" review so to speak.

And after reading the bio book for 2 days, I agree, not worth wasting time. Its gonna take FOREVER reading like 2000 pages or more for content. It will come back to you as you do practice problems. I took the free NextStep full length cold-turkey before any studying and scored 501. I'll be honest, I logically guessed on 95% of the Chem/phys section since I dont remember any formulas AT ALL. I barely knew what a chiral center was lol. Also guessed on ALL the psych/soc since its basically a bunch of definitions and theories of things I've never seen before. Anyways, the moral of the story here is that I scored a decent full length mcat score from one of the more realistic mcat prep companies with NO studying beforehand.
How? Because this test is more of a test on how good you are at taking tests and deriving info from passages than it is on all your undergrad science content. So instead of reading the chem TPR book for content, Im going through the explanations of how to do the questions through Nextstep and keeping notes from their. It's 2 birds 1 stone (content/practice). It might get pricey since you'll have to buy Full lengths from various companies for variety, but it works. There's a reason the people scoring 520's and above preach practice over content studying.
Click to expand...
So it seems the best strategy is practice practice practice if I am understanding correctly?
Would a Kaplan course be a good investment or is there a better option out there?
 
catsfan1 said:
So it seems the best strategy is practice practice practice if I am understanding correctly?
Would a Kaplan course be a good investment or is there a better option out there?
Click to expand...

If you search "are mcat courses worth it", alot of people say no, IF YOU'RE DISCIPLINED with keeping up with your own schedule. Courses are useful because they set the schedule and order to do things. But if you can keep up with studying than no.
Also just to clarify, I am not saying don't do any content review above. I am saying theres enough material from various companies out there that allow you to actively review by doing problems rather than reading content books for the next couple of months and then running out of time to get through all AAMC materials plus other companies Full Lengths. Take a free full length and see what you get. You'll know what you need to work on from it and what you are decent on. The NS one I took breaks down EVERYTHING such as what topic the question covered and whether it was a straightforward question or a critical thinking one etc.
 
I personally swear by Examkrackers, but everyone has a different preference for study methods. Honestly, I did not do one single practice exam, but the EK books somehow carried me to a good score. That, or I just got lucky.
 
catsfan1 said:
What was a typal day/week for you studying if you don't mind me asking? Also how many months did you prep for the MCAT?
Click to expand...

2.5 months, 5-6 weeks of actual study time.

Butt in library 10- 1pm. Lunch. 1-3pm. Workout shower light review 2hrs at lib. Game and sleep.

This was Mon-Fri with summer class + part time job (easy on campus one, studied during work and it was no problem).

Saturday do a full length. Take rest of the night off.

Sunday church stuff. Review full length at lib 7-10pm. Eat sleep repeat.

Do something every day especially during Mon-Fri. Put in at least 3 hours dedicated everyday with 1-2hrs review each night (I liked reviewing at night at the lib).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
smurfeyD said:
The nice way of saying GTHO haha
Click to expand...

lol we are all up for the help, in whatever way, but it's good to look at others opinions/experiences as people are taking the exam.
I, myself, spent countless hours on that forum, before deciding on a schedule and the resources.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
DexterMorganSK said:
lol we are all up for the help, in whatever way, but it's good to look at others opinions/experiences as people are taking the exam.
I, myself, spent countless hours on that forum, before deciding on a schedule and the resources.
Click to expand...
I know im totally joking haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
podowl said:
I personally swear by Examkrackers, but everyone has a different preference for study methods. Honestly, I did not do one single practice exam, but the EK books somehow carried me to a good score. That, or I just got lucky.
Click to expand...
I wanna second the support for EK. I used examkrackers for my weak subjects, internet to brush up on my decent subjects, and took 1 practice exam the day before test day (lol). Happy with my score.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

SoleScholar
Applying without MCAT
Replies
8
Views
902
DexterMorganSK
DexterMorganSK
leiahbabii
Lowest MCAT score acceptance
Replies
32
Views
5K
Weirdy
W
T
  • Question
MCAT Prep
Replies
6
Views
2K
Podiatrymed255
P
I
Low MCAT Interview
Replies
5
Views
3K
SGLT
S
J
Rescheduling MCAT
Replies
7
Views
2K
joshualander
J
Top