original way to prep for MCAT

[miketheghost19]

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Hello everyone, i am graduating in december and taking my mcat in april or may. I was thinking about staying on campus (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) and going to lectures for classes that would cover mcat material. for example I would go to orgo, human physiology, physics, biology, etc. I wouldn't be taking these classes, I would just be showing up to lectures and taking notes and keeping up with the classes.....in essence retaking the classes. I would also be doing self studying on the side. I would only work 8 hours a week max or not work at all. Is this a good idea? has anyone done it before?

thanks

 

[DAPI]

Hello everyone, i am graduating in december and taking my mcat in april or may. I was thinking about staying on campus (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) and going to lectures for classes that would cover mcat material. for example I would go to orgo, human physiology, physics, biology, etc. I wouldn't be taking these classes, I would just be showing up to lectures and taking notes and keeping up with the classes.....in essence retaking the classes. I would also be doing self studying on the side. I would only work 8 hours a week max or not work at all. Is this a good idea? has anyone done it before?

thanks

Seems like a bad idea because going to class does not equal studying.

You need to get yourself some prep-books and hit them hard for ~3 months.

I would say follow this http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=623898

Also, just something else to think about is if you take an entire semester off to study for the MCAT some adcoms may wonder what you did with your time as there are 1000's of students each year that take a full load of classes, work, volunteer, and do research all while studying for the MCAT.

 

[miketheghost19]

i would also be volunteering at 2 places. did you do this 3 month study plan?

 

[DoctorWhoo]

This would honestly be a waste of time. The classes will likely cover a lot of content that is not on the MCAT. In addition, they will not put emphasis on MCAT specific content. Finally, the MCAT is 2 parts content, 3 parts knowing how to take the MCAT. Given infinite time, most pre-med students can do very well on the MCAT... but the reality is that you have to get used to answering awkwardly convoluted questions under time constraints. If you strictly prep yourself for general content I don't think you will do poorly, but you will certainly not maximize your score potential.

Grab a review book or a prep course, it is a drop in the bucket as far as your future med-school costs are concerned, and may even result in a scholarship down the road!

 

[EarthtoneJon]

Yup, this is probably a bad idea. The scope of MCAT orgo is actually pretty narrow; a whole college course is much more than you need. Plus, self directed study is needed to find your weaknesses. There's no substitute for getting your hands dirty with actual MCAT passages!

 

[Plane]

I'm with the people on this post.

Going to class is extremely helpful especially if you have not seen the material before. I used to go to organic lectures at the big university in my hometown, and then go back to school with a decent idea of what to expect. However, the World Cup began and I completely stopped going to lectures, spending my time in the library watching the live stream.

If you have seen the material, lectures will not help at all. You may feel you are either too prepared for that section, or not enough. Either way, there are much more efficient ways of realizing this disparity.

If, while you are prepping, you can obtain the schedule of lectures, you can attend lectures that you know you will need help on.

 

[Renaissance Man]

It's probably not going to hurt you, but definitely not going to help you enough to score highly. I liked taking cell biology during my MCAT studying because it was a good review, but I needed concentrated content review through EK. Not very time efficient either.