Need Help Devising Plan [Sub 490 Retake]

[I'm A Simp For Med School]

Hello All,

I come here frustrated and humbled, and wanted to get some tips so I can overcome the barrier I am encountering and do well on my second attempt at the MCAT. My target score is a 515+, although I would love to go for a 520 (though this is over a 30 point jump from my first score, back in June 2020.)

I graduated from my University back in May 2020, with a 3.56 cGPA and 3.5 sGPA, and have since taken the MCAT once before, which I performed awful on (sub 490). This score was due to a combination of a personal family loss, in addition to a COVID scare & severe testing anxiety. I honestly should have voided the exam score if anything, but I felt seeing a poor score would motivate me all the more to do well on my second attempt. I don't fear failure, but rather embrace it. As an avid Basketball Fan, I like to view my first performance as a similarity to when LeBron James joined the Miami Heat. Although he didn't win a title immediately (got embarrassed by the Mavs in '11 Finals), he came back stronger than ever in '12-13. I'm aware certain medical schools will average my scores or bring it up in an interview, but I have to bite the bullet and move on.

That aside, I took the majority of pre-medical coursework back in undergraduate, with the exception of Physics II and Organic Chemistry II, and made As and Bs in all the courses. I am currently using the Kaplan Books to study every subject except Behavioral Sciences and CARS. For Behavioral Sciences, I am using the KA 86 page document + Anki to study (may switch to the 300+ page doc later), as well as using Jack Westin to do CARS practice (where I generally miss anywhere from 0 to 2 questions per passage). I have purchased all of the AAMC Official Material in the form of their bundle package (4 FLs + 1 Sample, QPacks/SBanks, etc.) in addition to a 180 day UWorld Subscription (which I have not activated as of yet).

Currently, I have completed 8 chapters of the General Chemistry Books, 2 Chapters of the General Biology Book, 2 Chapters of the Biochemistry Book, reviewed some of the chapters in the Physics Book (I was a Math Major in undergrad so Physics comes somewhat naturally to me), and 3 Chapters of the Organic Chemistry Book. Generally, I get anywhere from 7/15 to 12/15 on the End of Chapter Discrete Questions, which can be discouraging at times. My question is, since I am planning to take the MCAT on May 20th, how should I proceed with studying? Should I spend 4-5 weeks Content Review and allocate the rest of the time on practice, or should I spend the remaining ~11 weeks working on UWorld and the AAMC Bundle, to develop my test-taking skills. I feel that reading each Kaplan Chapter takes forever and then I got stuck on minute details that are commonly found in the End of Chapter Discrete Questions.

Any advice would be appreciated. I have not registered for the exam yet, and therefore have no desire to pushback my exam, as I feel 11 weeks is more than enough time to grind for this exam. I am at home the whole day, but really need some help devising a way to help me conquer the MCAT. Thank you all and have a great day.

Edit: I don't plan on purchasing any other third party FLs as I am financially in a struggle right now, and I feel 5 exams are more than enough (counting the AAMC sample). I will be taking the MCAT on May 20th.

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[Blueprint Med School]

It's important to find a balance between content review and practice questions/exams. I usually recommend at least 6 weeks of practice, so that means trying to get your content review done by the beginning of March.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The plan you have looks like you will be reading and watching many things and your eyes will look at a good amount of information. You will spend a great number of hours remembering and recalling information with your current plan. If you were taking a college final on that material, you'd feel ready for it. You will eventually get to a point in your studies where you may complete 2000 questions and then take a few practice exams.

The score is standardized and therefore in some fashion curved. Do you feel your approach will lift you up and make you competitive against people doing a plan centered around practicing rather than passively reading; one that will have them doing over 10,000 practice questions and far less video watching and text reading than you?

If you want to improve, you need to do more practice. LeBron rose to championships multiple times in multiple cities because he worked smarter than others and did what he had to do to be able to beat them. He targeted his training rather than doing generic training. If you want a massive improvement like you are describing, then you need more targeted training. Doing what the average student does will help you reach average status. You get your MCAT score based on your ability to interpret passages, translate sometimes poorly worded questions, and pick the best of four answer choices that may or may not always be clear. Train for that experience!

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

first 4 weeks of content review, including doing Anki deck of your choice. You should ideally have no new cards by the end of the 4 weeks.

anything after should be continuing Anki, doing uworld, and third party exams. For me this was ~10 weeks.

last 4-5 weeks should be AAMC material and maintaining Anki as needed

 

[I'm A Simp For Med School]

first 4 weeks of content review, including doing Anki deck of your choice. You should ideally have no new cards by the end of the 4 weeks.

anything after should be continuing Anki, doing uworld, and third party exams. For me this was ~10 weeks.

last 4-5 weeks should be AAMC material and maintaining Anki as needed

I decided to push back my exam to May 20th. I tried doing some of UWorld earlier this month, but was consistently scoring just about average or below (anywhere from 48-77%), and that concerned me. Is there an Anki Deck that fits well with the Kaplan Review Books? I am planning on spending the remainder of March doing rigorous Content Review and doing practice all of April and the first half of May.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Copied from my response on another thread - it may or may not be useful:

Folks that rely on passive study methods, which you describe above, tend to struggle greatly on the mcat. Most of the students I work with rely on passive study techniques because typically it is how folks study in premed classes that rely heavily on memorization as opposed to reasoning. The MCAT is a critical thinking and reading test that is rooted in scientific concepts. It is very very difficult to memorize one's way to a high mcat score.

I recommend the following:
1. A four month preparation period where the person studies for 3+ hours per day. Goal should be to hit 500+ hours by test day. The vast majority of those hours must be developed to practice and analysis - not content review.
2. Creating a study plan that is roughly 1/3 content review and 2/3 practice passages, questions, and FL exams. Person should aim to complete 10 FL exams by test day. The single biggest mistake most folks say they made after taking the MCAT is spending too much time on content review and not enough time on practice.
3. Person needs to engage active learning strategies instead of passive learning. Passive learning is watching videos, attending class, or reading review books. Active learning is drawing concept maps, writing pathways from memory, answering passage style questions and analyzing correct/incorrect answers for errors in reasoning and content gaps.
4. Person needs to prepare like they will take the test. If the person is going to test in the morning, they need to take practice tests in the morning. Simulated conditions help improve performance and decrease anxiety
5. Person likely needs to work with a tutor - not to explain/teach content - but to provide guidance for test taking strategies and to help keep preparation on track. I worked with a tutor during MCAT prep and it was probably the single best decision I made.
6. Daily CARS practice passages. CARS is the single most difficult section to improve one's score on. Some folks have an easy time with it, others really struggle. Unfortunately, because there isn't "content" for CARS, it is usually receives the least amount of time devoted to it during prep. This is a huge tactical error as the skills developed in CARS permeate all other sections of the MCAT. It is 1/4 of the final score and should be treated as such. Focus on developing reading strategies, analyze how language is used in nuanced ways, and the patterns in which questions and answers are constructed.
7. During the last 4 weeks, switch to only using AAMC material. Use the scores as a gauge of performance. If the person is not scoring within their target range they need to delay the exam. Since this is the 3rd attempt, one should expect some score increase from using the tests before. Factor in 1-2 points per section that can be attributed to recalling info from prior practice with the tests.

Rules for MCAT Questions:
1. Always trust the information in the passage - even if it contradicts a concept. The data is the data. Period.
2. Always answer the question that is being asked and not what you think the right answer is. This is key.
3. Pick the best answer - there are typically more than one answer that is partially correct, but you must identify the best answer.
4. Always pick the answer choice that is one logical step or inference away from the information presented in the passage. Do not select the answer that is more than one logical step or inference away from the information in the passage. This is a very common error for CARS questions.
5. Highlight double negatives in questions and answers. Always. So many points get lost to this mistake.
6. Do not over complicate the question. Remember, the MCAT is a test of one's ability to apply broad scientific concepts to new novel scenarios. Many techniques and experiments will be unfamiliar to the vast majority of test takers. Identify what the question is asking and what concepts are related and go from there.

 

[I'm A Simp For Med School]

Copied from my response on another thread - it may or may not be useful:

Folks that rely on passive study methods, which you describe above, tend to struggle greatly on the mcat. Most of the students I work with rely on passive study techniques because typically it is how folks study in premed classes that rely heavily on memorization as opposed to reasoning. The MCAT is a critical thinking and reading test that is rooted in scientific concepts. It is very very difficult to memorize one's way to a high mcat score.

I recommend the following:
1. A four month preparation period where the person studies for 3+ hours per day. Goal should be to hit 500+ hours by test day. The vast majority of those hours must be developed to practice and analysis - not content review.
2. Creating a study plan that is roughly 1/3 content review and 2/3 practice passages, questions, and FL exams. Person should aim to complete 10 FL exams by test day. The single biggest mistake most folks say they made after taking the MCAT is spending too much time on content review and not enough time on practice.
3. Person needs to engage active learning strategies instead of passive learning. Passive learning is watching videos, attending class, or reading review books. Active learning is drawing concept maps, writing pathways from memory, answering passage style questions and analyzing correct/incorrect answers for errors in reasoning and content gaps.
4. Person needs to prepare like they will take the test. If the person is going to test in the morning, they need to take practice tests in the morning. Simulated conditions help improve performance and decrease anxiety
5. Person likely needs to work with a tutor - not to explain/teach content - but to provide guidance for test taking strategies and to help keep preparation on track. I worked with a tutor during MCAT prep and it was probably the single best decision I made.
6. Daily CARS practice passages. CARS is the single most difficult section to improve one's score on. Some folks have an easy time with it, others really struggle. Unfortunately, because there isn't "content" for CARS, it is usually receives the least amount of time devoted to it during prep. This is a huge tactical error as the skills developed in CARS permeate all other sections of the MCAT. It is 1/4 of the final score and should be treated as such. Focus on developing reading strategies, analyze how language is used in nuanced ways, and the patterns in which questions and answers are constructed.
7. During the last 4 weeks, switch to only using AAMC material. Use the scores as a gauge of performance. If the person is not scoring within their target range they need to delay the exam. Since this is the 3rd attempt, one should expect some score increase from using the tests before. Factor in 1-2 points per section that can be attributed to recalling info from prior practice with the tests.

Rules for MCAT Questions:
1. Always trust the information in the passage - even if it contradicts a concept. The data is the data. Period.
2. Always answer the question that is being asked and not what you think the right answer is. This is key.
3. Pick the best answer - there are typically more than one answer that is partially correct, but you must identify the best answer.
4. Always pick the answer choice that is one logical step or inference away from the information presented in the passage. Do not select the answer that is more than one logical step or inference away from the information in the passage. This is a very common error for CARS questions.
5. Highlight double negatives in questions and answers. Always. So many points get lost to this mistake.
6. Do not over complicate the question. Remember, the MCAT is a test of one's ability to apply broad scientific concepts to new novel scenarios. Many techniques and experiments will be unfamiliar to the vast majority of test takers. Identify what the question is asking and what concepts are related and go from there.

I don't have four months, I have just over 2 at this point in time. I have mastered General Chemistry and most of Physics, except for some of the harder Fluids and E&M stuff. It's mostly the Biological Sciences and Behavioral Sciences that I will need to improve more on. But I appreciate the advice.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I don't have four months, I have just over 2 at this point in time. I have mastered General Chemistry and most of Physics, except for some of the harder Fluids and E&M stuff. It's mostly the Biological Sciences and Behavioral Sciences that I will need to improve more on. But I appreciate the advice.

Completely fair. As an aside, when I work with students I encourage them to set a time frame because it can be a huge motivating factor but to not be beholden to it. As one approaches test day I think it is important to be pragmatic about where one is at relative to one's goals. For this reason, I tend to not place much emphasize on arbitrary timelines, which is something I an open about with my students.

In your case, I would ignore the 4 month part since it seems you are well into your preparation. There are Anki decks that can help with B/B section and to help ensure that you don't lose some of the concepts and facts one needs to memorize in physics and gen chem. That being said, focus on points 3, 4, 6, and 7 above. Active practice is key. Anki is somewhat in between active and passive learning. Certainly good to build into one's routine but not the bulk of one's day to day studying. I personally would not recommend spending one month dedicated to content review but would build content review into the practice you are doing as well as other FL exams.

Best of luck to you

 

[doyinDO]

I'm here for the lebron comparison. Wish you the best man!

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Copied from my response on another thread - it may or may not be useful:

Folks that rely on passive study methods, which you describe above, tend to struggle greatly on the mcat. Most of the students I work with rely on passive study techniques because typically it is how folks study in premed classes that rely heavily on memorization as opposed to reasoning. The MCAT is a critical thinking and reading test that is rooted in scientific concepts. It is very very difficult to memorize one's way to a high mcat score.

I recommend the following:
1. A four month preparation period where the person studies for 3+ hours per day. Goal should be to hit 500+ hours by test day. The vast majority of those hours must be developed to practice and analysis - not content review.
2. Creating a study plan that is roughly 1/3 content review and 2/3 practice passages, questions, and FL exams. Person should aim to complete 10 FL exams by test day. The single biggest mistake most folks say they made after taking the MCAT is spending too much time on content review and not enough time on practice.
3. Person needs to engage active learning strategies instead of passive learning. Passive learning is watching videos, attending class, or reading review books. Active learning is drawing concept maps, writing pathways from memory, answering passage style questions and analyzing correct/incorrect answers for errors in reasoning and content gaps.
4. Person needs to prepare like they will take the test. If the person is going to test in the morning, they need to take practice tests in the morning. Simulated conditions help improve performance and decrease anxiety
5. Person likely needs to work with a tutor - not to explain/teach content - but to provide guidance for test taking strategies and to help keep preparation on track. I worked with a tutor during MCAT prep and it was probably the single best decision I made.
6. Daily CARS practice passages. CARS is the single most difficult section to improve one's score on. Some folks have an easy time with it, others really struggle. Unfortunately, because there isn't "content" for CARS, it is usually receives the least amount of time devoted to it during prep. This is a huge tactical error as the skills developed in CARS permeate all other sections of the MCAT. It is 1/4 of the final score and should be treated as such. Focus on developing reading strategies, analyze how language is used in nuanced ways, and the patterns in which questions and answers are constructed.
7. During the last 4 weeks, switch to only using AAMC material. Use the scores as a gauge of performance. If the person is not scoring within their target range they need to delay the exam. Since this is the 3rd attempt, one should expect some score increase from using the tests before. Factor in 1-2 points per section that can be attributed to recalling info from prior practice with the tests.

Rules for MCAT Questions:
1. Always trust the information in the passage - even if it contradicts a concept. The data is the data. Period.
2. Always answer the question that is being asked and not what you think the right answer is. This is key.
3. Pick the best answer - there are typically more than one answer that is partially correct, but you must identify the best answer.
4. Always pick the answer choice that is one logical step or inference away from the information presented in the passage. Do not select the answer that is more than one logical step or inference away from the information in the passage. This is a very common error for CARS questions.
5. Highlight double negatives in questions and answers. Always. So many points get lost to this mistake.
6. Do not over complicate the question. Remember, the MCAT is a test of one's ability to apply broad scientific concepts to new novel scenarios. Many techniques and experiments will be unfamiliar to the vast majority of test takers. Identify what the question is asking and what concepts are related and go from there.

This is seriously awesome advice. I've been teaching for a while and can say without a doubt that people who do this basic approach do great. It is focused on doing questions and learning through the painful process of working through explanations to question you got wrong. It really is the only way to improve your score. Memorization makes you feel good and gives you a false sense of security that you are ready. If you feel like you know your content, your ARE NOT ready. If you feel like you can react well to when they present weird passages and weird questions, you ARE ready.

The formula for doing well on the MCAT is no secret. Practice doing what gets you points on the exam, not what makes you feel good.

OP, you want another LeBron analogy. If all LeBron did was practice uncontested threes, because it made him feel like he was practicing, he wouldn't be as great. He practices game situation skills, such as shooting with a defender in his face and working through a crowded paint. By going back to doing more content review, you are practicing uncontested shots. Good luck being game-ready when you need to be. You have two months, and that is plenty of time if you drop the Anki and text worship and start doing passage after passage after passage.