Opinions on my MCAT study plan?

[yankeezfan2012]

Hey guys,

I need some constructive criticism on my MCAT study plan if anyone would be kind enough to assist me.

I am taking a TPR course this summer and reviewing content fully. I will be studying and taking practice exams and doing practice problems from early May until mid August, and am debating taking the MCAT in August vs waiting and taking it next January (I have not yet taken biochemistry or physics 2 which I am doing in the fall). Would it be wise to wait until after taking the courses? Or will waiting until January be too long of a break between content review to take the exam? Is it doable with content review alone? I can retake the TPR course over the winter before taking the test in January, but I feel like I will not be able to do much content review after the fall semester before the January test if I forget some stuff. I am thinking if I kill the MCAT in August I can apply late this cycle to a few schools and have a chance of getting in, and if not reapply next cycle when I have more done and more on my resume. I will be working part time over the summer (scribing 20-25 hrs) and a few hours per week of volunteering and cancer research (6-8hrs).

Also I have gotten an A in every pre-requisite thus far at Stony Brook University

Any advice is greatly appreciated !

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[PhilzCoffeeAddict]

Hello!

First of all, SLOW DOWN! Lets go through this slowly.

When to take the MCAT: You take it when you are ready. This is the MOST important advice you will get from anyone here. I DO NOT recommend you take it without physics 2 or biochem under your belt. It won't end well. Hopefully other people chime in and give you advice on this too. Do not rush the MCAT, having to take it more than once is not good for your application, expensive, and a waste of time you will never get back. If you don't feel you have enough time to study during winter break, consider taking it next summer. I know it sucks to have to do this, but do you want to risk a bad score?

Applying: Applying late is already bad. Applying late with a unknown mcat score (without taking physics 2 and biochem), could cost you a lot! You would have to write applications, secondaries, and spend a lot of money. Its a very small chance of getting for a lot of money. Not recommended.

Studying for the mcat: Differs for everyone. Some people like take a practice test every week. I prefer to do content review early, practice with a bunch of passages, and spend my final month grinding full length practice exams (10+). Look up study schedules and find which one works best for you!

Good luck and let us know if you need anything else =] Hoping other people chime in to give you their opinion/advice

 

[Ad2b]

I will unabashedly state you cannot CANNOT cannot cannot do well on the MCAT without physics 2 or biochem.

Others might chime in and say they did x-y-z but they are also n-1.

PLEASE take the courses before you attempt the MCAT. Save yourself the heartache/heartbreak and frankly, studying for the MCAT is so much easier with the pre-reqs complete.

 

[yankeezfan2012]

Hello!

First of all, SLOW DOWN! Lets go through this slowly.

When to take the MCAT: You take it when you are ready. This is the MOST important advice you will get from anyone here. I DO NOT recommend you take it without physics 2 or biochem under your belt. It won't end well. Hopefully other people chime in and give you advice on this too. Do not rush the MCAT, having to take it more than once is not good for your application, expensive, and a waste of time you will never get back. If you don't feel you have enough time to study during winter break, consider taking it next summer. I know it sucks to have to do this, but do you want to risk a bad score?

Applying: Applying late is already bad. Applying late with a unknown mcat score (without taking physics 2 and biochem), could cost you a lot! You would have to write applications, secondaries, and spend a lot of money. Its a very small chance of getting for a lot of money. Not recommended.

Studying for the mcat: Differs for everyone. Some people like take a practice test every week. I prefer to do content review early, practice with a bunch of passages, and spend my final month grinding full length practice exams (10+). Look up study schedules and find which one works best for you!

Good luck and let us know if you need anything else =] Hoping other people chime in to give you their opinion/advice

Thanks for the advice! I am just hoping that I don't forget a lot of what i reviewed over the summer during the fall semester. Any tips on how to study to retain all this information while I have a slammed schedule for the fall? I am taking the TPR course over the summer & again in the winter so I have dedicated study time (for the most part). Again thanks for the help!!

 

[yankeezfan2012]

I will unabashedly state you cannot CANNOT cannot cannot do well on the MCAT without physics 2 or biochem.

Others might chime in and say they did x-y-z but they are also n-1.

PLEASE take the courses before you attempt the MCAT. Save yourself the heartache/heartbreak and frankly, studying for the MCAT is so much easier with the pre-reqs complete.

Haha thanks for the advice, I will definitely plan on taking it in January after biochem and physics 2. Just have to figure out how to retain the information from the summer through the fall semester. I don't wanna lose my edge.

 

[PhilzCoffeeAddict]

Mm the practice test will help you with recall. Also, mneumonics. I didn't believe them at first but now, even when i try to not remember them, they come back to haunt me.

 

[yankeezfan2012]

Mm the practice test will help you with recall. Also, mneumonics. I didn't believe them at first but now, even when i try to not remember them, they come back to haunt me.

Do you think I should be doing full lengths over the fall semester? or just try to fit in X amount of hours of passages per day/week? And mneumonics have been working just for my pre-reqs alone.. They drill the usefulness of them into your head in my Psych class haha.

 

[Ad2b]

plan on taking it in January after biochem and physics 2. Just have to figure out how to retain the information from the summer through the fall semester. I don't wanna lose my edge.

I had gchem 1 in 2009, gchem 2 in 2010, orgo in 2011, biochem in 2012...

You won't "lose your edge" MCAT is not about rote knowledge/memorization/regurgitation of factoids like a school exam; it's a thinking exam. The formulas you need are easily retained and frankly, having just taken biochem and physics 2 will help you tremendously, imo.

Do you think I should be doing full lengths over the fall semester?

No, focus on your grades.

For psy/soc, get the 100 page Khan Academy doc floating around out there.

Focus on passages after you've gone through content. About the only thing you can do now, imo, is to read things for CARS like:

• The Economist - try to figure out if the author is neutral, negative, or positive about the subject
• Scientific American
• Harvard Business Review
• Anything written as an opinion - what are they trying to persuade? why? how could their arguments be eliminated OR enhanced?

 

[yankeezfan2012]

I had gchem 1 in 2009, gchem 2 in 2010, orgo in 2011, biochem in 2012...

You won't "lose your edge" MCAT is not about rote knowledge/memorization/regurgitation of factoids like a school exam; it's a thinking exam. The formulas you need are easily retained and frankly, having just taken biochem and physics 2 will help you tremendously, imo.


No, focus on your grades.

For psy/soc, get the 100 page Khan Academy doc floating around out there.

Focus on passages after you've gone through content. About the only thing you can do now, imo, is to read things for CARS like:

• The Economist - try to figure out if the author is neutral, negative, or positive about the subject
• Scientific American
• Harvard Business Review
• Anything written as an opinion - what are they trying to persuade? why? how could their arguments be eliminated OR enhanced?

Thanks for the advice dude, I took a logical and critical reasoning course 2 semesters ago.. I am hoping that helps with CARS considering that was all argument form and things of the sort. "If A then Not B" type of stuff. Any advice on books to read (besides those articles/magazines)? or vocab to study to increase my reading skills? I was not a big reader until recently.

 

[Ad2b]

Any advice on books to read (besides those articles/magazines)? or vocab to study to increase my reading skills?

I think there are lots of articles and suggestions on SDN including the AAMC materials, EK things and Khan Academy. There really is no solid way to increase CARS other than read opinions.

Understanding an author's opinion, or non-opinion, and what would strengthen or weaken his arguments, what is inferred is the only thing to help. I found CARS not that bad (note my phrase)... there was one passage that I swear had every century known to man in haphazard order with - replacing the reality with a parallel - massive amounts of water from different parts of the world embedded in medical drugs that were only given to certain people. I had to draw a timeline out to answer the questions. THAT one sucked. The rest were easier and far more interesting.