Planning for January/February 2025 MCAT—Looking for Advice

[RNpremed_Nontrad]

Hi everyone,

I'm a non-traditional pre-med currently working full-time as a nurse. I work 12-hour shifts on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, so I've been studying on my off days. I had initially planned to take the MCAT in September 2024, but due to the demands of my job, I’ve decided to postpone it to late January or early February 2025 (once the new dates are released).

Here’s a snapshot of my prep and progress so far:

• I’ve completed all my pre-requisites.
• Dedicated 6 weeks to content review using Kaplan books, Khan Academy, and Memm.
• After content review, I moved on to practice with UWorld and Jack Westin. I’ve finished the entire JW CARS passages, CARS section of UWorld, and still working on AAMC CARS Diagnostic (about halfway done).

My full-length practice test scores are:

• (5/18/2024) Blueprint Diagnostic: 492 (122/124/121/125)
• (7/05/2024) MedSchoolCoach Half-Length: 503 (126/126/126/125)
• (7/11/2024) Blueprint FL1: 504 (127/123/126/126)
• (7/17/2024) Blueprint FL2: 506 (127/125/127/127)
• (7/25/2024) Blueprint FL3: 501 (127/124/125/125)

Resources I have: BP 515+ Package, Memm, UWorld, AAMC FLs, Qbanks, Section Bank, & JW.

My target score is 515+.

Given these scores and my situation, I’m trying to figure out the best way to move forward now that I have 6 more months to prepare:

• Should I go back to content review, maybe go through the Memm deck again?
• I’m about 700 questions away from finishing UWorld, but I’ve been slacking on reviewing my incorrect answers. Should I focus on reviewing those first?

I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to adjust my study strategy to hit my target score.

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jacksparrow1]

From the scores that you have from your practice tests, I don’t believe content review is going to be very fruitful. I would do daily anki practice to make sure the content isn’t forgotten since you have chosen such a long study period. However, I would focus on practice questions and REVIEW. I don’t emphasize review enough because this test is 25% content 75% understanding AAMC’s methods. Also your P/S scores seem to be a bit down and those tend to be the “easy” points so I would review either the 300 or 86 page doc and continue using anki to memorize psych things (only section that memorization is key).

I applaud you, I worked full time as an EMT the first time I took it and then full time as a researcher the second time so I understand the struggle! You got this!

 

[RNpremed_Nontrad]

From the scores that you have from your practice tests, I don’t believe content review is going to be very fruitful. I would do daily anki practice to make sure the content isn’t forgotten since you have chosen such a long study period. However, I would focus on practice questions and REVIEW. I don’t emphasize review enough because this test is 25% content 75% understanding AAMC’s methods. Also your P/S scores seem to be a bit down and those tend to be the “easy” points so I would review either the 300 or 86 page doc and continue using anki to memorize psych things (only section that memorization is key).

I applaud you, I worked full time as an EMT the first time I took it and then full time as a researcher the second time so I understand the struggle! You got this!

Thank you!

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

The glaring motion I see is the AAMC section banks. Those are amazingly helpful, beyond any commercial material. I'd recommend doing those at least twice.