Overwhelmed Studying for MCAT. Need Guidance for Content Review & Practice FL

[Mazdude1]

Hello Everyone!

So just like many of you, I am currently studying to take my MCAT on July 28th. I have been studying since May 15th, but I feel like I may be wasting time simply doing content review. I am using the TPR Self-Paced Online Course as well as their books, and I also have access to the Kaplan 7-book review set + flash cards. I began with Kaplan but turned to TPR Self-Paced course & Books as my Univ. offered these materials for free. I am having trouble on making sure I get a solid content review while maximizing the use of my materials and having enough time to practice FL's. I mainly feel as I am wasting a lot of time on content review due to the fact that I'm studying 9-12 hours a day; doing two full classes of TPR for two separate sections.

Should I take a full-length practice test to see where I stand and go from there? Also, if I go about it this route, how do I gear my content review to the practice tests? Take a full length every week, in-depth review, and then study the material that I got wrong on the test? Thank you to anyone that can help me and reassure me in my methods or give me a better alternative route!

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[NeuroSoph75]

I scored a 515 (129/129/127/130) last May and used the Kaplan review books and CourseSaver MCAT videos for content review. I highly recommend those videos because they are concise and faster than reading through all of the information in the Kaplan books. The instructor, Chad, is very knowledgeable. They are geared towards the old test, but really the science content has not changed. Unfortunately, they are not free (I think $50 for a 30 day subscription.) I used the Kaplan books to reinforce concepts I did not understand or to learn material I had not studied in my undergrad courses (Sociology, Genetics, etc.)

I would recommend taking a practice test now. Two months out from my actual exam I scored ~492 on a Kaplan FL so don't be discouraged if your score is no where near where you want it to be. At this point, practice tests are just to assess your weak points. I would study those topics and do other content review for 2-3 weeks then take another practice test and see if your score goes up -- ideally, it should only ever increase. After that, take a practice exam once per week leading up to your actual exam. In the 2-3 weeks before your actual exam take 2-3 FLs per week and also use the AAMC materials. I only ever took 4 FLs plus the AAMC practice tests and I wish I had done more. A huge part of success on the MCAT is being familiar with the question types and TIMING. I say this because I did not pace myself well on my Bio section and ended up doing the last 3 passages in 10 minutes which obviously impacted my score.

Use the flashcards and any other question banks you have in between FLs. I would also recommend sitting down every morning and doing a CARS passage. Spend a lot of time reviewing the reasoning behind the correct answers. As the weeks progress, increase how many CARS passages you do per sitting to build up stamina on this section.

Good luck!

 

[Mazdude1]

I scored a 515 (129/129/127/130) last May and used the Kaplan review books and CourseSaver MCAT videos for content review. I highly recommend those videos because they are concise and faster than reading through all of the information in the Kaplan books. The instructor, Chad, is very knowledgeable. They are geared towards the old test, but really the science content has not changed. Unfortunately, they are not free (I think $50 for a 30 day subscription.) I used the Kaplan books to reinforce concepts I did not understand or to learn material I had not studied in my undergrad courses (Sociology, Genetics, etc.)

I would recommend taking a practice test now. Two months out from my actual exam I scored ~492 on a Kaplan FL so don't be discouraged if your score is no where near where you want it to be. At this point, practice tests are just to assess your weak points. I would study those topics and do other content review for 2-3 weeks then take another practice test and see if your score goes up -- ideally, it should only ever increase. After that, take a practice exam once per week leading up to your actual exam. In the 2-3 weeks before your actual exam take 2-3 FLs per week and also use the AAMC materials. I only ever took 4 FLs plus the AAMC practice tests and I wish I had done more. A huge part of success on the MCAT is being familiar with the question types and TIMING. I say this because I did not pace myself well on my Bio section and ended up doing the last 3 passages in 10 minutes which obviously impacted my score.

Use the flashcards and any other question banks you have in between FLs. I would also recommend sitting down every morning and doing a CARS passage. Spend a lot of time reviewing the reasoning behind the correct answers. As the weeks progress, increase how many CARS passages you do per sitting to build up stamina on this section.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! I am definitely going to sit down tomorrow morning and just take a practice test and see where I stand. I have access to the chads videos as I am an ASU student and He makes the videos available to all ASU students for free with school log in. I'll post my practice test score tomorrow and see where I stand. I will most likely take TPR Practice Test 1 as my first full length. You rock!

 

[Mazdude1]

So I took my practice test and it wasn't pretty.
Chem/phys: 122
CARS: 124
Bio/biochem: 124
Psych/Soc: 124

 

[NeuroSoph75]

So I took my practice test and it wasn't pretty.
Chem/phys: 122
CARS: 124
Bio/biochem: 124
Psych/Soc: 124

Definitely do a CARS passage every morning for practice and work on outlining the passages (write down 1-2 keywords per paragraph for reference) and understanding the question types. Also do about 2-3 weeks of content review and practice with your flash cards/sample questions before taking another FL. If there are specific areas where you are missing questions then work there. It should go up! I think my Kaplan FLs were 492-504-507-509.