*Official MCAT 2017 Thread*

[leelee12]

This thread is for anyone that is looking to write the MCAT in 2017. Have a question, post it here.

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[Bottle]

I am doing the exact same thing with Anki cards. If I do a passage and there are concepts/definitions I am not aware of, I make a flash card of it. I also do this with answer options that I do not know. If there is a possibility that it might be fair game for the real MCAT, I do not take any chances. However, I do make sure that I am not spending too much time making flash cards.

I am too taking the MCAT late Jan or early Feb. I want to at the very least spend 2.5 months doing practice exams and passages. What you will notice is that you actually learn the content better and quicker (in my experience) by doing practice passages and analyzing them afterwards.

It's nice to see someone going through the same thing, and have similar strategy to mine. Good luck on your MCAT!!

 

[neurosurgeon_wannabe]

Hi!

I'm planning to take the test on one of the Jan 2017 test dates (I'm assuming there are going to be two, based on the past years?). I'm also a bit of a non-trad: I graduated in 2014, and currently work full-time in clinical research. I took the old version of the MCAT in Jan 2015, right before the format changed, and didn't do super poorly (30), but delayed applying because of some sub-par grades in a few of the pre-req courses that I need to retake as a Post-Bacc. I'm planning to retake the exam since, now that I'm applying next cycle, some schools will only accept the new version, and I don't want to limit my options of which schools I can apply to.

I have a question for anybody who has already taken this version and is retaking it: what studying techniques and materials did you use the first time that you think actually helped on test day, and which ones do you think you'll ditch this time around?

Thanks!

 

[DexterMorganSK]

I just saw the 2017 dates..two exams in Jan..19th and 28th...Hopefully we'll be able to register soon.

https://students-residents.aamc.org...le/mcat-testing-calendar-score-release-dates/

 

[Thoth]

Non-trad January test taker signing on. Anyone have a general month-by-month study plan in mind/in practice? Been out of the loop for a while and I am curious about how long / when y'all are considering reviewing / doing AAMC section banks and qpacks / Full Lengths? I am using TPR / AAMC stuff / Khan. Appreciate it!

I'm a non trad, been out of undergrad for six years and out of graduate school for over two. Gen chem was ten years ago for me :O

I am taking the Kaplan online class. It's expensive but I think it will be worth the investment. It will help with materials but also with focusing on the right areas. My doc friends who were non trads did and it helped them.

I'm taking the second date in January. I'm pretty nervous. Has anyone done a diagnostic? Where did you sit? I did the Kaplan four hour and got 124/130/123/125. Feel like I should have done better since I have a doctorate in a heavily science related profession. Getting a really good score will be huge for me. My GPA from undergrad and my doctoral program are both 3.55 - not horrible but not great. I also have six figures in loans already, so any scholarships would be huuuge.

Any other non trads? What are you guys doing?

 

[AnotherLawyer]

I'm in for the Jan 17 MCAT. Good luck everyone.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

I'm going to take it January 28th. I'm a retaker, did the May 20 exam and did poorly (494). I'm looking to self study this time because Kaplan class was expensive and I didn't like their techniques. For anyone self-studying with EK, are you just following the EK Home Study Schedule?

I'm going to do the EK 10 week plan and then spend 10 weeks doing and thoroughly reviewing the ~2000 AAMC questions we'll have access to.

 

[aromatic substitution]

I plan on tackling the beast next summer, good luck everyone.

 

[amar314]

How are a lot of you guys taking it in January, don't you have classes making it difficult to study?

I'm starting to study now and planning on taking it in April.

 

[Thoth]

How are a lot of you guys taking it in January, don't you have classes making it difficult to study?

I'm starting to study now and planning on taking it in April.

Personally I am a non trad so that doesn't matter to me. I wanted to take it in January so that I have the option of March and April if it tanks. I'm planning on smashing it, though... And not in a way

I have been seeing many statements about how 3-4 months is optimal. I wanted a little more because I last took gen chem ten years ago (ugh).

Here's to hopefully preparing well enough that once is enough!

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Ok. And the ~2000 AAMC questions are from the Qpack and Qbank right? I have the 9th edition EK books on .pdf so I hope that's not too out of date. Which practice exams do you plan on taking?

Right now there are about 1750. That's the section bank, question packs, official guide questions, flash card questions, practice test, scored test 1, etc. (i.e. everything AAMC has released). Later this fall they will release scored test 2, which will put the number at about 2000. If I need more or feel like I need more full length practice, I will use the EK exams. But I think 2000 questions with the kind of thorough review I intend to do will be more than enough for me.

 

[dt4u]

Hi Friends,

I've lurked for awhile and have found this thread quite comforting. For anyone out there who is also nervous about the journey of going through the ungodly amount of MCAT material, I'm with you. I'm as non-trad as they get. I just started taking pre-reqs this January and am planning a spring 2017 MCAT experience and hopefully an EY 2018 experience after 15 years in aerospace. I'm super nervous, but I've had a 1st career to show me how much my skillset is wasted on a job that doesn't matter to me. So bring on the pain. I hope to contribute soon, as I start digging into practice books and materials and reading ya'lls posts about what you're using really helps.

 

[medicalschooldreams]

Hi Everyone!
Non-traditional student here planning to take the MCAT in January. Just wondering if a study group has been formed and was wondering if I could join!

 

[Shotapp]

Are you guys studying while you are taking classes/working? If so, what are your goals each day/what do you try to complete in a day's work?

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Are you guys studying while you are taking classes/working? If so, what are your goals each day/what do you try to complete in a day's work?

I'm trying the get through four EK chapters per week. So far so good one week in. I've set a cut off date 11 weeks before the test date at which point I will switch to all practice problems. For me that's the priority.

 

[fourandtwo]

I'm trying the get through four EK chapters per week. So far so good one week in. I've set a cut off date 11 weeks before the test date at which point I will switch to all practice problems. For me that's the priority.

Same here. Hope you keep on sticking to the routine! With a full time corporate job... I'm on week 5... whew! Just retaining material + flashcards now, then passages/ practice exams later so I don't blow my head off


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[Shotapp]

@AnotherLawyer, @fourandtwo

Are you guys supplementing the EK with other material because of EK's brevity? Have you guys recently finished the prereqs? I won't be done with my class retakes until May 2017, but I am going to start working on my CARS next month because my reading comprehension needs a lot of work.

 

[fourandtwo]

@AnotherLawyer, @fourandtwo

Are you guys supplementing the EK with other material because of EK's brevity? Have you guys recently finished the prereqs? I won't be done with my class retakes until May 2017, but I am going to start working on my CARS next month because my reading comprehension needs a lot of work.

Supplementing with khan academy, I took my prereqs 6 years ago


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[Shotapp]

I finished my prereqs 4 years ago, but I am doing retakes to boost my GPA for DO schools (also working 36 hrs/week). @fourandtwo so right now, you are only focusing on content review? When do you plan to take the MCAT?

 

[theonlytycrane]

Posting on this thread to offer any advice or support as needed. Just finished my test and I found support in studying with a lot of people on the forums in 2016. Hoping to give back in any way

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Posting on this thread to offer any advice or support as needed. Just finished my test and I found support in studying with a lot of people on the forums in 2016. Hoping to give back in any way

Would you say that the next step cars book is worth getting??

Also congrats on your awesome score! I was rooting for you!

 

[theonlytycrane]

Would you say that the next step cars book is worth getting??

Also congrats on your awesome score! I was rooting for you!

Thank you! Yes I do. The passages are tough and long, but it really helped me get used to getting through dense passages in a timely manner. It's about $30 for 108 passages. I cycled through the book about 1.5 times. Also go for EK 101 CARS if you need more passages. You want to do 3-4 passages per day so having good passages to practice from is important.

For timing I used:

5 questions - 9 minutes
6 questions - 10 minutes
7 questions - 11 minutes

I usually did passages one at a time and checked my answers. Then did another, repeat.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

Thank you! Yes I do. The passages are tough and long, but it really helped me get used to getting through dense passages in a timely manner. It's about $30 for 108 passages. I cycled through the book about 1.5 times. Also go for EK 101 CARS if you need more passages. You want to do 3-4 passages per day so having good passages to practice from is important.

For timing I used:

5 questions - 9 minutes
6 questions - 10 minutes
7 questions - 11 minutes

I usually did passages one at a time and checked my answers. Then did another, repeat.

I heard that the next step passages are inconsistent and that the logic was questionable. What are your thoughts on that?

 

[theonlytycrane]

I heard that the next step passages are inconsistent and that the logic was questionable. What are your thoughts on that?

I agree, that all practice material (even some AAMC stuff), can make us frustrated. With verbal especially, I learned not to get myself down. When I reviewed each of my passages, I would use a scratch paper to write down what I did and prevent myself from speeding through corrections. I would re-read each question and go through the reasoning of why I chose the answer that I did. On my scratch I would make a quick note like "paragraph 2 support". Then I would check the answer. Sometimes the answers seem so silly like "paragraph 2 does offer support, but paragraph 3 offers slightly stronger support!". There are a lot of judgement call type of questions like this. In these cases I would just be happy that I had a good approach to the question and make sure that I wasn't completely off base. If you have a good approach to these 50/50's, the impact on your score won't be so detrimental. You might even get lucky and hit your 50/50's more often than missing. This is the best approach IMO for people like me who just want to get through CARS. The top CARS scorers are just innate readers who likely don't have a system or approach, they "just get it".

As far as NS being inconsistent, the main thing to be wary of is their predicted scores on their full-lengths if your scores are in the 500-508 range. These predicted scores result from getting 50-75% of items correct on a section. For example, if you got 50-60% correct on a CARS section, NS might give you a score of 126 on CARS. You might think, "I can live with a 126 on the real deal, I hate CARS anyway". But on the real test if you are scoring that low % wise per section, you'll get < 125 most likely. So don't read into the predicted NS scores other than aiming for > 508 or around 80%+ correctness per section. If you take NS1-3, for example, all I would care about is if your predicted scores were all > 508 and your % corrects were solid. 510 -> 509 -> 511 is all about the same in that they are just predictions.

The hard thing about studying for the MCAT is that you really never know exactly where you're at. Predicted scores are really sketchy and hard to rely on. I think % correct is more important and how you feel about approaching each section.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

What are the best books to buy for content review? Or other recommended books. I know BR is great from content but do they teach for the new MCAT?

The newest books (the ones released between December 2015 and March 2016) have a much stronger biological slant in the sciences and terminology where most applicable (it's huge in psychology). They are all geared for the new MCAT. We waited until after the MCAT had been given a few times to release our books.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

-Print AAMC Outline. Go through it and understand the basics
-Know amino acids and properties
-If the question doesn't make sense, translate it to 3rd grade english
-If you read a passage and have no idea what you just read, don't panic. Translate to English and answer questions
-Profit

You have some brilliant points here that will probably get lost in the thread over time. If you don't mind, I want to elaborate on a few of your points.

(1) "Print AAMC Outline. Go through it and understand the basics" This advice is gold! While some of the passages may be abstract and challenging, the questions are all rooted in the basics of science. If you understand the basics, you will do fine.

(2) "Know amino acids and properties" This suggestion gets repeated over and over for a reason. It is probably the single most important thing the average person can do for the MCAT.

(3) "If the question doesn't make sense, translate it to 3rd grade english" THIS!!! I can't count how many times I've given this advice. Often times what makes a question hard is the excessive working and convoluted language. Simplifying a question is the first step to finding the answer.

(4) "If you read a passage and have no idea what you just read, don't panic. Translate to English and answer questions" There will be passages that are overwhelming. A good test taker is one who extracts whatever they can and then uses that information in solving the associated questions. Afterwards, you may very well be surprised to see that you didn't really need the passage all that much and the stress it generated undermined your focus.

I don't necessarily agree with everything you listed, but for the most part it is extremely helpful. Unfortunately, there were posts after yours that discussed flashcards and resources that emphasize memorization of application. It's just the way it is, because many people studying for the MCAT want to do it the way they studied for college courses, even when they know that the MCAT is different from college exams. Many will use review books with text-laden chapters containing lists of facts rather than practice books with tons of sample questions embedded in the text that discuss test strategies and ways to translate and simplify questions in the answer explanations.

 

[studentdoctor611]

Hey everyone! I am planning on taking the January 28 MCAT and in dire need of a support group, so thank you everyone for being here with me.

Have you guys been doing the study groups of facebook group? I'd love to join! I'm almost done with content review (with passage based questions in between after learning each chapter). Planning on doing questions/FL/etc from November-Jan


thanks so much!

 

[star_7]

Do you know when we will be allowed to register for January 2017 test? Right now it shows no exam dates when I login to my account to register for a test.

I just saw this after posting the question

"The 2017 MCAT testing calendar is now available! Registration for the new testing year will open in late October. "

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Do you know when we will be allowed to register for January 2017 test? Right now it shows no exam dates when I login to my account to register for a test.

I just saw this after posting the question

"The 2017 MCAT testing calendar is now available! Registration for the new testing year will open in late October. "

I think I saw an AAMC tweet that said late October. Twitter seems like the best place for updates.

 

[geronimo11]

wrong thread.

 

[drhopeful2018]

Registration is open everyone!

 

[Thoth]

Oh man I thought I posted a thread on this before the tweet went out! It opened at 7a on the dot. I think the tweet went out about 20min later.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Just registered!! Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

[DexterMorganSK]

Another Jan 28th taker here...dam its for real now..lol

 

[Thoth]

Just registered!! Don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I recommend laughing bitterly.

 

[GrayArea]

Was anyone unable to register for the date they wanted?

 

[ICUBlue]

Well it's finally getting to that point! Scheduled for June 17, going to start prepping as soon as winter break starts.

I'm in a career switching post bacc so I'll still have Biochem, physics 2, bio 2 in the spring... Interested to hear opinions on how I should approach beginning prep stages since some material (actually lots) I won't cover until spring.

I plan to use BR and EK as of now, hopefully start getting into passages/half lengths fairly quick despite not having all the classes in. Hoping to dedicate 30 hours a week x 5 weeks of winter break, average of 10-15 hours a week during the semester, then have first five weeks of summer to dedicate hopefully around 40 hours/wk.

Also, my Biochem is the first semester of a two semester sequence within the chemistry department. Semester 1 is all kinetics and 2 is all metabolism. So I suppose I may be self studying the metabolism part of Biochem regardless


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[_lubdub_]

I would avoid any content heavy study plan at all costs. Sn2 is not a good idea. The new MCAT is based on critical thinking and reasoning, not content. Trust me. I saved myself so much stress, time, energy, and money when I came to this realization. PM me if you want to discuss this further. Don't catch 'MCAT content syndrome' -- it's the worst

Hey, can you explain in more depth what you think is the best way to prepare? Currently it's been awhile since I graduated and all my content is weak so I do need to work on it, but I am falling into the content syndrome. I feel like I need to know everything! I read the BK books, and it's very overwhelming because it is so much info. How should I avoid this and get really prepared? I'm taking it in January. I don't have time, and I have to do amazing! Because of some personal issues, long story... anyway, help!

 

[John Buster]

Hey, can you explain in more depth what you think is the best way to prepare? Currently it's been awhile since I graduated and all my content is weak so I do need to work on it, but I am falling into the content syndrome. I feel like I need to know everything! I read the BK books, and it's very overwhelming because it is so much info. How should I avoid this and get really prepared? I'm taking it in January. I don't have time, and I have to do amazing! Because of some personal issues, long story... anyway, help!

PM me

 

[rouge.poppy]

Hi everyone,

It's a pleasure to meet everyone. I'm a recent graduate who works full-time (3-12s) and volunteers somewhat throughout the other 4 days.

I have a schedule adapted from mcatjelly on the days I don't work, but I'm already 2 days behind. Seems to be more of a focus problem than a time problem.

Would love to work together with other folks in a similar predicament or who are taking the April 28th one.

I also feel like I have content syndrome. Here's what I'm doing:

a. Creating ANKI flashcards to review
b. Forming mind maps between the above flashcards in a notebook
c. Pasting photos and creating tables in a word doc.

Would appreciate any feedback.

Cheers

 

[AnotherLawyer]

Hi everyone,

It's a pleasure to meet everyone. I'm a recent graduate who works full-time (3-12s) and volunteers somewhat throughout the other 4 days.

I have a schedule adapted from mcatjelly on the days I don't work, but I'm already 2 days behind. Seems to be more of a focus problem than a time problem.

Would love to work together with other folks in a similar predicament or who are taking the April 28th one.

I also feel like I have content syndrome. Here's what I'm doing:

a. Creating ANKI flashcards to review
b. Forming mind maps between the above flashcards in a notebook
c. Pasting photos and creating tables in a word doc.

Would appreciate any feedback.

Cheers

I'm short on time as well and recognize the dangers of content syndrome. I think the best thing you can do is to set a non-negotiable cutoff date where all passive content review stops and you focus entirely on practice problems. Your time allotment should give you enough time to do every AAMC question, review them, and then do some concise targeted content review if you identify an area AAMC has tested that you are deficient in.

 

[Sfig91]

Hi everyone,

It's a pleasure to meet everyone. I'm a recent graduate who works full-time (3-12s) and volunteers somewhat throughout the other 4 days.

I have a schedule adapted from mcatjelly on the days I don't work, but I'm already 2 days behind. Seems to be more of a focus problem than a time problem.

Would love to work together with other folks in a similar predicament or who are taking the April 28th one.

I also feel like I have content syndrome. Here's what I'm doing:

a. Creating ANKI flashcards to review
b. Forming mind maps between the above flashcards in a notebook
c. Pasting photos and creating tables in a word doc.

Would appreciate any feedback.

Cheers

Hi! I am also taking the April 28th one. I work full-time and go to school part-time. I adapted a schedule from this forum as well. Overall, I'm giving myself a cap time for content review (3 months) and then afterwards it'll be nothing but passages (verbal and science based) and practice test. I learn so much more from getting questions wrong than just reading and taking notes from the review books. I also do atleast 1 or 2 VR passages a day, 5 days a week. Would love to work with other April 28th test takers too!

 

[hehesheppy]

Hi! I am also taking the April 28th one. I work full-time and go to school part-time. I adapted a schedule from this forum as well. Overall, I'm giving myself a cap time for content review (3 months) and then afterwards it'll be nothing but passages (verbal and science based) and practice test. I learn so much more from getting questions wrong than just reading and taking notes from the review books. I also do atleast 1 or 2 VR passages a day, 5 days a week. Would love to work with other April 28th test takers too!

I'm deciding whether to take it on April 28th or May 13th, although I'm leaning more towards May because Ill be done with finals at that point. I'm thinking of not taking any classes next semester though so I can just focus on the mcat since I do work full time and I still have to shadow and volunteer. I'm taking Bio 2 + lab right now. I actually haven't taken organic chem at all or physics 2. No biochem either. So I plan on learning those on my own for the next 2-3 months while also reviewing the subjects I already know, then in jan/feb ill start taking practice tests and doing passages. I'm 24 and I got my bachelors in psychology so I wont need to spend too much time studying for psych. I read an amazing thread the other day and I'm going to follow this plan! (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/how-i-prepped-for-a-526.1146107/) I already downloaded and started using the Anki flashcards for my bio class and I really like it. I've been doing mcat question of the day on this (http://www.mcatquestion.com/) daily and I've noticed that the questions I don't know are mostly just chem related (makes sense because I haven't taken orgo). I messed up pretty bad my first few years of college and finally got my stuff together, but my GPA has suffered. I have a STRONG upward trend though. But ive calculated that my cGPA will prob be 3.2 and sGPA hopefully a 3.4 (this is with retakes). So I'm relying heavily on the MCAT. I know im smart enough to get to my goal (520), I've just always had trouble with time management. Right now I'm trying to gather all the info I can and put together a study plan to begin studying in 2 weeks... I bought the PR set and downloaded a few other textbooks, and im buying Kaplan review books too and anything else I can get my hands on haha.

 

[Sfig91]

I'm deciding whether to take it on April 28th or May 13th, although I'm leaning more towards May because Ill be done with finals at that point. I'm thinking of not taking any classes next semester though so I can just focus on the mcat since I do work full time and I still have to shadow and volunteer. I'm taking Bio 2 + lab right now. I actually haven't taken organic chem at all or physics 2. No biochem either. So I plan on learning those on my own for the next 2-3 months while also reviewing the subjects I already know, then in jan/feb ill start taking practice tests and doing passages. I'm 24 and I got my bachelors in psychology so I wont need to spend too much time studying for psych. I read an amazing thread the other day and I'm going to follow this plan! (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/how-i-prepped-for-a-526.1146107/) I already downloaded and started using the Anki flashcards for my bio class and I really like it. I've been doing mcat question of the day on this (http://www.mcatquestion.com/) daily and I've noticed that the questions I don't know are mostly just chem related (makes sense because I haven't taken orgo). I messed up pretty bad my first few years of college and finally got my stuff together, but my GPA has suffered. I have a STRONG upward trend though. But ive calculated that my cGPA will prob be 3.2 and sGPA hopefully a 3.4 (this is with retakes). So I'm relying heavily on the MCAT. I know im smart enough to get to my goal (520), I've just always had trouble with time management. Right now I'm trying to gather all the info I can and put together a study plan to begin studying in 2 weeks... I bought the PR set and downloaded a few other textbooks, and im buying Kaplan review books too and anything else I can get my hands on haha.

I also have TPR set. Im taking physics 1 now, and next semester will be taking physics 2 and organic 1. I will be taking the test without org 2 and biochemistry but I will be fine with self-study. I plan on spending a lot more time studying those particular subjects. May 13th might be the better option for you. Gives you more time to study and if you go to school next semester, finals will be out of the way.

 

[Bottle]

@ those asking about psych books:

TPR's is best - lucidly organized content review, relavent practice.

Kaplan's is next best. Its content review is probably the best I've seen.

BR's is a bleeping joke - more than half is on biology (5% of the psych exam is biology) - and there's no soc

What do you recommend for Practice? TPR only offer 1 passage per chapter.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

@ those asking about psych books:

TPR's is best - lucidly organized content review, relavent practice.

Kaplan's is next best. Its content review is probably the best I've seen.

BR's is a bleeping joke - more than half is on biology (5% of the psych exam is biology) - and there's no soc

Why is TPR better than Kaplan for psych? I have also heard they don't have many passages for practice.

Also if you don't mind me asking have tou taken the MCAT and if so what was your psych score?

 

[WizzyWatkins]

Would these Biology MCAT flashcards be enough to cover all of the Biology material on the MCAT? It says they are the Khan Academy content ones, but I'm not sure who made them.

*A small portion of them aren't that good.

Take a look here...

https://quizlet.com/116813456/flashcards

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

The question bank.

I really love BR generally - I think the world of their bio and their physics - but their psych book is inadequate on several levels.



TPR is better organized and has passages. Kaplan's psych book is the best of its bunch - but that's like saying they got gold at the special olympics

So Kaplan is best for content and TPR is best for passages? Have you been doing well on any AAMC practice tests for section banks with this strategy?

 

[Bottle]

So Kaplan is best for content and TPR is best for passages? Have you been doing well on any AAMC practice tests for section banks with this strategy?

Don't buy TPR for practice purposes. They offer great passages, but there is only one passage per chapter! If I remember correctly, there is 8 chapters in TPR Psychology/Sociology so thats 8 passages in the entire book.

 

[ICUBlue]

So I'm seeking feedback on my materials. after further research and after reading the opinions on this thread, I think I'm actually going to do the following:

bio, GC, OC, physics w BR and have EK available for quicker reference/30 min exams

TPR for psych/soc, plus Khan

TPRH for CARS practice, plus Khan

AAMC tests, section bank, Q bank, and hopefully 6 other FLs from somewhere (not sure who would be best)??

I know it seems like a lot of science content but I plan to get into practice fairly quickly w the free half lengths and the in-section passages in BR. Obviously I won't get through all of it but I had budgeted for a class/tutor previously and decided against it plus if I resell I can recoup some money at the end; so money isn't really an issue. Just thought EK might be helpful for certain science topics I already feel more comfortable with



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[ICUBlue]

Also, where to get CARS strategy? Does the hyperlearning include this or is this even necessary if I just do plenty of practice and develop my own method?


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