Nontrad MCAT study strategy when rusty on pre-reqs!

[QuiSait]

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Hi,

I'm new around here, and am so glad there's a nontrad board!

I'm posting here, instead of on the MCAT board, because I think there's a better chance more people will relate -

Anyway, I took my pre-reqs years ago in undergrad. I did fine, but that material isn't, shall we say, on the tip of my tongue.

I've been looking at the various MCAT study plans on here, but I'm worrying that I can't cover material I need to basically re-learn at a fast enough pace to be ready in 3-4 months.

Everybody seems to say don't take longer than ~5 months to study because you'll burn out and start to forget, but I'm wondering how much that applies when there's so much re-learning to do.

So my question is - did you study for the MCAT after a long time away from the material? What was your strategy?

Thanks!

 

[jissho]

I started studying June/July of last year because I was weak in physics and had to reteach myself everything. I started to include other topics in September. Honestly, I'm not having a big problem remembering the information. The basic concepts stick easily but I do have to put effort into keeping things fresh in my mind. I do this by reviewing my notes on the MCAT topics.

 

[Generici]

Sounds like you're in the same spot I was two years ago. I was a bio major in college, but that had been 5+ years earlier and everything was rusty. I signed up for a review class through one of the big companies (great class, but I'm not advertising for them). You should really consider going this route. At $2000ish, cost might be an issue, but I put mine on a CC and still consider it to be worth every cent as it's only 1% of my likely school costs anyway.

1. Live instructors who help you understand the problems

2. Other students to study with and bounce questions off of

3. LOADS of review materials and practice test

4. Advice from people who know the test at least fairly well

5. A regular schedule to keep you on track

That's my .02

Best of luck!

 

[chrissyxf]

I'm about 5 years out from my pre-reqs and I'm taking the MCAT in May. So far, I'm scoring in the 29-31 range on AAMC tests (this is after 10 weeks of content review and I have 9 more to go, and my bio score and verbal score are what's floating me, PS is killing me-getting 8s). I agree that more than 5 months can be worthless for some people. My strategy:
First, I'm taking second semester o-chem now which allows me access to a professor to ask all chem questions of (she's been super helpful, way more than expected). Second, I'm using examkrackers...but people are completely right about EK- you need to have some idea of the material or you'll struggle with their stuff. I spoke with a friend who struggled with physics like I am (I honestly don't remember anything from physics class in 2003) and she did EK book twice through and worked through about half of the 1001 questions in the topics she struggled most with and ended up with a 12 (which would be a near miracle for me at this point haha).
Soooo conclusion: you need a structured plan of some sort (not just studying a random text book)- this can be EK self study or a taught class (people have good results with both, it depends on your personal learning style), stick to the plan, take practice AAMC exams- you can always take the free one before really studying to see how bad or good shape you're in (warning: it can be really scary! but it's great motivation 🙂) good luck!

 

[Dharma]

2 words: Berkeley Review. If you can get your hands on those books (especially Gen Chem, Phys, and Orgo) you will have plenty of content to refresh that memory plus plenty of practice. If you have the discipline to self-study you would be much better off setting up your own schedule and attacking it with everything. 2000 bucks is a waste of money if you are a good self-learner.

Regardless of what I say, there is a plethora of information here on SDN regarding this topic; any question you can think of regarding MCAT study/prep has been answered ten times over and possibly more. Start with Sn2ed's schedule and take it from there.

And again, only go with those expensive courses if you really need the classroom setting to learn.

 

[QuiSait]

Thank you for all of the responses.

I do have the Berkeley Review books, and they are great for content review. It's nice to see that choice affirmed my some of the posts here 🙂

I have been going off of SN2's 4 month schedule, but I'm already falling behind because it's taking a long time to go through each section.

I'm a bit rusty with those mega-focus study skills too, so I'm going to give it a couple of weeks while I get into the groove and then re-evaluate.

I'm glad to hear too, jissho, that you're finding your earlier review useful. I did some review about a year ago too, and while the specifics are gone, the concepts are still there. That makes me think I'd be okay if I took longer.

How have you all found balancing the non-trad life with intense studying?

 

[Generici]

How have you all found balancing the non-trad life with intense studying?

I was fortunate to do most of my studying while I was laid off for a few months, so work wasn't an issue. Once I got called back and sent to training, I took my study material along for breaks and lunch and filled every open moment with test problems. Socially, I just explained to my family and friends why I wouldn't be around much and when I'd be back. I thought that would do it, but I had to re-explain it to most of them a few times.

If you can cut down your work hours, do it. Get some flashcards to carry around with you as well, so when you've got a few minutes in the middle of non-trad life you're always on task. Overall, do everything possible to make this your number one priority, because knowing you've done everything you could will pay off greatly once you're dealing with the stress of applying, interviewing, and waiting for decisions.

Best of luck!

 

[QuiSait]

Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

 

[JapaneseSakura]

Hi,

I'm new around here, and am so glad there's a nontrad board!

I'm posting here, instead of on the MCAT board, because I think there's a better chance more people will relate -

Anyway, I took my pre-reqs years ago in undergrad. I did fine, but that material isn't, shall we say, on the tip of my tongue.

I've been looking at the various MCAT study plans on here, but I'm worrying that I can't cover material I need to basically re-learn at a fast enough pace to be ready in 3-4 months.

Everybody seems to say don't take longer than ~5 months to study because you'll burn out and start to forget, but I'm wondering how much that applies when there's so much re-learning to do.

So my question is - did you study for the MCAT after a long time away from the material? What was your strategy?

Thanks!

Welcome!! Yes, I've graduated in 2008 and I was extremely rusty on my premeds! I agree with you, I think 3-4 months is enough time and I don't quite agree that more than 5 months means you will burn out. I think you will burn out depending if you are working, going to school, etc. But if you are taking a year off, more than 5 months is okay and I don't think you will burn out like people said you would. Anyways, I was laid off for a year and that really geared me into studying. When I've found a job (at the hospital), they actually had a library up there so I could sneak my books/notecards up there to study quietly. I worked a lot and had to go back to Japan for personal reasons so I didn't have too much time to study! When I came back here, what I did was to read what material I sucked at (mainly all of it 😛) and did a lot of practice exams and quizzes. Whatever I stunk at still, I focused mainly on that. I did Kaplan course. The materials were great but I got so bored with the class then stopped going. I did examkrackers too! Those really helped. Just do that, and you wil be good to go!!!!! So, get cracking, yaaay! (^*^)

Start with Sn2ed's schedule and take it from there.

And again, only go with those expensive courses if you really need the classroom setting to learn.

Isn't that the long schedule? It's great! Unfortunately, it's not for everyone. I could not do it :S.

 

[fizzgig]

fwiw, another experience. probably what you'll need to do will depend a lot on how well you did in the classes to start. i took prereqs 2001-2003 and i took the exam in late 2010.

i used EK only. people will tell you EK is good if you know the stuff and need a review, and bad if you need to learn it from the ground up. i felt it was perfectly fine for most, but didn't like the orgo book. orgo was probably my weakest prereq though, and that connection is likely not coincidental.

i did intensive studying in probably july/aug, took it sept11. i must have dabbled in the earlier summer and late spring bc i found threads i commented in while i was cleaning house today in my 'subscribed threads' section.

because the prereqs were so long ago, i did content review twice. i went through all EK books, doing the lecture questions after each section. that was pretty humbling. i looked up things online (hyperphysics, khan academy, biochem sites, whatever) and asked questions here when there was anything i felt i didn't comprehend fully. i went back through all the books again, just as comprehensively as the first time. i outlined everything in notes. after i had finished review2 i had a much better handle on things that i had assumed i understood the first time (but really hadn't). i did all of the lecture questions all at once (the same ones i'd done before). i recopied my notes, condensing them some. i made an even shorter form of just equations/rules/etc to glance over.

then i did the 30min exams at the end of the EK books. this was pretty close to exam time. for verbal i read the EK short book on math/verbal tricks and did a few passages out of V101 but i didn't spend much time doing verbal passages. i started taking full lengths a week and a half or so before, which is not ideal, i just screwed up my timing. my scores were very consistent, though, so i went ahead with the test. i took 5 AAMC full lengths total.

lots of people will say content review is a very far second to doing problems. problems are VERY important because they will let you know that, no, you are wrong, you did NOT understand that section like you thought. but when that happens, for ME personally, just doing more problems isn't helpful. i need to really understand how stuff works to use it well, hence my high level of content review. you need to know something about how you learn and how you process to try to make the best decisions, i guess. i will note, though, that during my second content review in particular, i was stalking the MCAT q&a forum here, figuring if they were questions from any prep company, i should be able to answer them. lots of good stuff there, and more humility lessons too of course.

 

[Limetime]

I was in the same boat. I reviewed with a Kaplan book (no real preference for this one, I got it for free). I reviewed the sections and did the problems. I also made notes of formulas I needed to memorize for quick reference. I probably averaged review for several hours a day for 3 months. (I had a baby 6 weeks before my test day, so it was a lot of random studying, and not the ideal way to go.) I agree that the practice problems let you know if you truly understand the section or need more review. About two weeks before, I started taking full practice tests and reviewing my short notes. I personally wouldn't go back to the original texts unless you absolutely have to. I did not formally study much for verbal, but I definitely had done tons of technical reading for work, which was good prep in itself. Focusing on the high yield info was helpful for me. I know that is really vague, but let me know if you have specific questions.

 

[joeydoc2b]

2 words: Berkeley Review. If you can get your hands on those books (especially Gen Chem, Phys, and Orgo) you will have plenty of content to refresh that memory plus plenty of practice. If you have the discipline to self-study you would be much better off setting up your own schedule and attacking it with everything. 2000 bucks is a waste of money if you are a good self-learner.

Regardless of what I say, there is a plethora of information here on SDN regarding this topic; any question you can think of regarding MCAT study/prep has been answered ten times over and possibly more. Start with Sn2ed's schedule and take it from there.

And again, only go with those expensive courses if you really need the classroom setting to learn.

What schedule did you follow for TBR materials? can you please share ?
Thanks!

 

[Reno]

fwiw, another experience. probably what you'll need to do will depend a lot on how well you did in the classes to start. i took prereqs 2001-2003 and i took the exam in late 2010.

i used EK only. people will tell you EK is good if you know the stuff and need a review, and bad if you need to learn it from the ground up. i felt it was perfectly fine for most, but didn't like the orgo book. orgo was probably my weakest prereq though, and that connection is likely not coincidental.

i did intensive studying in probably july/aug, took it sept11. i must have dabbled in the earlier summer and late spring bc i found threads i commented in while i was cleaning house today in my 'subscribed threads' section.

because the prereqs were so long ago, i did content review twice. i went through all EK books, doing the lecture questions after each section. that was pretty humbling. i looked up things online (hyperphysics, khan academy, biochem sites, whatever) and asked questions here when there was anything i felt i didn't comprehend fully. i went back through all the books again, just as comprehensively as the first time. i outlined everything in notes. after i had finished review2 i had a much better handle on things that i had assumed i understood the first time (but really hadn't). i did all of the lecture questions all at once (the same ones i'd done before). i recopied my notes, condensing them some. i made an even shorter form of just equations/rules/etc to glance over.

then i did the 30min exams at the end of the EK books. this was pretty close to exam time. for verbal i read the EK short book on math/verbal tricks and did a few passages out of V101 but i didn't spend much time doing verbal passages. i started taking full lengths a week and a half or so before, which is not ideal, i just screwed up my timing. my scores were very consistent, though, so i went ahead with the test. i took 5 AAMC full lengths total.

lots of people will say content review is a very far second to doing problems. problems are VERY important because they will let you know that, no, you are wrong, you did NOT understand that section like you thought. but when that happens, for ME personally, just doing more problems isn't helpful. i need to really understand how stuff works to use it well, hence my high level of content review. you need to know something about how you learn and how you process to try to make the best decisions, i guess. i will note, though, that during my second content review in particular, i was stalking the MCAT q&a forum here, figuring if they were questions from any prep company, i should be able to answer them. lots of good stuff there, and more humility lessons too of course.

I really like this and think it is a solid approach. I think a second content review (even if it is just a skim and not a complete one) would be beneficial in identifying weakness/gaps.

I am in a similar situation in that I graduated in 2006 actually already took the MCAT and did average (26) but am planning on retaking. I think SN2 plan is great guideline but may not be ideal for non-trads due to work schedules, being out of the academic setting, other commitments etc. I am trying to really take my time (although with urgency as well) in studying and feel I rushed my studying and was not prepared (although can one fully feel prepared for this beast?) for the first go around.

 

[artsydoc]

I graduated nearly a decade ago and did a princeton review classroom course. (I needed the structure and a live person teaching me.) I found the content review to be adequate, not skimpy, not fabulous, kind of like my MCAT score in the end. If I had to do it over I would supplement it with additional texts and study for a longer period-I only studied for a few months and used PR materials exclusively.

 

[Helen Wheels]

I finished my pre-reqs in 2003 and took the MCAT in 2009. I was seriously rusty! I tried studying on my own with books and it did not work that well. I ended up taking Kaplan's online course and was able to bring up my score five points which is a pretty significant jump on the MCAT. I had to take the online course because of my schedule with working two jobs but I would have preferred to take the classroom course. I would say the Kaplan content review was very good and really made the difference for me having had so much time pass since I took my pre-req courses.