Road to a 35+ My 6 month study schedule

[txlonghorn2314]

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I am taking the MCAT in 6 months and have developed a plan. I would love feedback!!!

The plan is broken up into two phases:

Phase I (Oct 9-Dec15)​

Content Mastery

Going over every concept listed on the AAMC outline 😱

Audio osmosis during spare time

Gen Chem: End of chapter practice problems from textbook and EK Gchem
Ochem: "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language", Old Exams, and EK Ochem
Physics: Nova Physics, EK Physics, Old Exams
Verbal: 12 passages/week from GRE/LSAT prep (I have 600 practice passages, pm me if you are interested in them)


Dec16-Jan5: Relax, maybe read/do some lumosity


Phase II (Jan-April)


Application of content, passages, and FL's

I plan on starting this off by purchasing/using the AAMC self assessment package

Then begin my studying using:

TBR passages- All BS/PS content
EK 1001's and EK 101 Verbal
TPRH Verbal
A TBR FL every saturday the first 5 weeks.
An AAMC FL every saturday the final 7 weeks


I should also include that I am only taking 3 hours the spring semester, however that one class is Biochemistry. Constructive opinions needed. Thanks!

 

[daleader]

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

It's easy to get behind schedule, hard to get back on track, just tellin ya now.

 

[starlight15]

It's easy to get behind schedule, hard to get back on track, just tellin ya now.

I really don't think you need 7 months of studying to get 35+. You'll get burned out and by April content you learned/reviewed back in oct will not be fresh. Really for the mcat, short (3-4 month) intense studying is the best. Also, it'll be best if you integrate passage practice with content review-that's how it really helped me apply and solidify the content I just learned. I studied maybe 4-5 hours a day using sn2ed's schedule for 3 months and got 35+ and I was years out from prerequisite courses so I had to relearn everything.

Since it seems like you don't have much class in the spring, I suggest you just start studying Jan to April with content and passages, save perhaps the last month for practice tests every couple of days. And like the previous poster said..it's really easy to fall behind schedule.



Typed from phone please excuse typos.

 

[IL Pre Med]

You really don't need that much studying to get a 35. 2.5-3 months will do it.

 

[daleader]

You really don't need that much studying to get a 35. 2.5-3 months will do it.

i love the certainty here

 

[tttgo]

Still waiting for my score, but take away the non mcat stuff and I've done done more than that. I don't think I got above 35 lol. The textbook problems and old school exams won't help much. You won't be ready for FL's at the start of jan. Don't take them if you're not ready. You'll be in for a shock going from EK to TBR fls. I second the intense studying thing.

 

[IL Pre Med]

i love the certainty here

Speaking from experience, I studied June 9-August 27 for the August 28 test and I hit a 35. I had a lot of time off from my pre reqs (4-5 years) so I had to re-learn everything. I'm not a genius, if I could do it anyone can as long as they apply themselves and focus 100% on the MCAT for 3 months.

 

[daleader]

Speaking from experience, I studied June 9-August 27 for the August 28 test and I hit a 35. I had a lot of time off from my pre reqs (4-5 years) so I had to re-learn everything. I'm not a genius, if I could do it anyone can as long as they apply themselves and focus 100% on the MCAT for 3 months.

and there are hundreds and hundreds of students who study for the MCAT for 3 months, half don't even get to finish and postpone, the other half do poorly, and need an extra 1-2 month to re-write it. Although you are not calling your self a genius, which ofcourse depends on how you definite it, I would say you have done way better than the majority us, and that is not something anyone can do

 

[gettheleadout]

and there are hundreds and hundreds of students who study for the MCAT for 3 months, half don't even get to finish and postpone, the other half do poorly, and need an extra 1-2 month to re-write it. Although you are not calling your self a genius, which ofcourse depends on how you definite it, I would say you have done way better than the majority us, and that is not something anyone can do

+1. At my school the great, great majority of people score in the high twenties or lower, and many of them study for a couple months and/or use prep courses. An argument can be made that they aren't preparing properly (i.e. poor choice/use of materials, insufficient practice, etc.) but scoring 35 isn't a joke.

 

[mcloaf]

You really don't need that much studying to get a 35. 2.5-3 months will do it.

Speaking from experience, I studied June 9-August 27 for the August 28 test and I hit a 35. I had a lot of time off from my pre reqs (4-5 years) so I had to re-learn everything. I'm not a genius, if I could do it anyone can as long as they apply themselves and focus 100% on the MCAT for 3 months.

Cool. Does mean that you can promise OP that he/she will for sure score a 35 if they study 2.5-3 months?

It's also naive to think that anybody can score a 35 after three months of studying if they just "apply themselves and focus."




I studied 5 months and achieved a great score, GTLO studied for a shorter time period than I did and scored higher (though with a higher # of hrs/day). Does that mean I should have studied for less time to score higher? No, I studied as much as I felt I needed to so that I felt comfortable and prepared going into the exam.

There's no right answer here. The only key is to be keenly aware and honest with yourself about how prepared you feel and whether or not you're burning out. I'd imagine that, holding innate test taking ability/background knowledge constant, what separates the effective students from those who struggle with MCAT prep is the ability to effectively autoregulate and adjust things as necessary on the fly. Many people prefer to be told what to do rather than figure it out for themselves, which is simply not as powerful a way to learn.


To OP, that's a very long schedule, but it's doable depending on how you approach it. I'd beware of calling your first phase "content mastery" rather than something like "big picture review," because mastering content that far out from your exam isn't a very high yield approach. If you feel comfortable getting into the hard details early on and don't feel like you'll be burned out then go for it; just be ready to back off if necessary and know that hardcore review that far out is unlikely to have much of a positive impact on your score. I think you'll be more likely to stick it out and finish the second phase of your studying strong if you approach your first phase more lightly; familiarize yourself with the concepts but don't waste energy on being able to work through a bunch of problems and memorizing everything so far ahead of time.

For the second phase, I agree with Starlight that it's more effective to integrate practice passages with content review. Often you think you learn something when you read it only to be unpleasantly surprised when a question probes the topic a little deeper from a different angle that you'd expected. I'd plan to be reading the content in the corresponding chapters before you go through all those TBR passages in phase 2 of your plan.

 

[IL Pre Med]

I understand what you guys are saying but I feel the way I do and I made that statement because I'm someone who scored extremely poorly on the PCAT, which is by far an easier test than the MCAT. With my MCAT success the biggest thing I changed was my motivation/study habits, so I figure any student can do well with enough efficient studying. You guys are right, I can't guarantee OP a 35 with 3 months of studying because that's unrealistic and the whole process can be a crapshoot depending on what topics you get on test day and how a test taker each student is. You might get tested on everything you're weak on and your score ends up low. I think the biggest thing holding people back is self motivation and poor study skills, maybe trying to do too many things while studying like working and taking classes etc. I guess we can agree to disagree but I feel there's no reason the MCAT should hold people back from an acceptance somewhere if the student puts in 100% effort for 3 months.

 

[tttgo]

Well if you factor in the crapshoot, it would be better to say that if you study well for 3 months, you have a good shot at 30+. Of course you have to look at your avgs though. I'm similar in the sense that I've done poorly, but was able to do better due to hard work. 1810 sat up to 2080 sat. 29, 29 30 on aamc 3-5 last summer after using tbr set and parts of nova. 37, 33, 34, 35, 35 on aamc 7-11 this summer after full tpr set,5 full FLs and like 5 other FLs minus the verbal sections. My avg on 7-11 is 34.5, which is within the realm of getting a 35. I've done some pretty crazy stuff like doing 2 of the tpr FL's minus verbal and grading one in the same day.

To trim down the OPs materials, he's basically doing EK (+ NOVA physics) for content, TBR for psgs, EK 1001, and taking FLs when not ready. Even if I was able to magically do all of that condensed in 3 months, I wouldn't be ready because I would be lacking in content. Now spread this out over 2x the time, add in a few weeks break and the retention is even lower. Plus, the mcat verbal material he listed isn't really that much. Most people here do at least that.

 

[txlonghorn2314]

I appreciate the helpful responses! I think I'm just worried right now because I feel as if I've forgotten everything I learned from classes like Gen Chem and Bio1 (especially bio!)

 

[Hemorrage]

Lets get something straight here, scoring above 30 itself is difficult even though everyone here makes it out to be "easy". Most people who take the exam don't even come close to breaking that barrier so aim for 31-32 and let 35 be your "dream". (AKA study as hard as you can but don't kill yourself if you dont get a 35)

 

[Person0715]

6 months may be overkill, but I don't think it's fair to say with certainty that 2.5 to 3 months is all that's required to get a 35+. I think 4-5 months may be more reasonable. I studied for 3 months, but I didn't take any breaks and studied approximately 8-10 hours a day. Luckily I didn't burn out, but I would've preferred to spread my prep out over 4 months.

 

[TryingOnceMore]

Gotta' say, I've taken the MCAT before (29S), and DO NOT agree that you'll burn out, it's too much time, or any such sentiments, if you study for 4, 6, 9+ months.

If you just got done with your science pre-reqs, AND you did very well - like 90%+ on tests, assignments, and so on - then yeah, maybe 2-4 months is sufficient. If not - if it's been awhile, you worked a job, just squeaked by with that B+ or something - then studying for the 9 weeks or so most prep courses and message board members recommend will give you a very strong chance of having your next post be one of those about retakes since you got a 28 or less.

Are there exceptions? Sure. And you're NOT likely to be one of them. For every person who's pulled off a stunt like that, there are literally thousands who have failed. You only hear from them, if at all, when they post about retakes. And the basic answer there is, DON'T do whatever you did the first time, and one of the biggest culprits is grossly underestimating the time necessary to really do well (30+) on this test.

Since my old MCAT is now over 3 years old, I'm stuck retaking it. I've already started studying for the test in June of next year.

If you think you'll burn out on 6+ months of study for the MCAT, you're in for a real workload shock if you ever get into med school!

 

[daleader]

Gotta' say, I've taken the MCAT before (29S), and DO NOT agree that you'll burn out, it's too much time, or any such sentiments, if you study for 4, 6, 9+ months.

If you just got done with your science pre-reqs, AND you did very well - like 90%+ on tests, assignments, and so on - then yeah, maybe 2-4 months is sufficient. If not - if it's been awhile, you worked a job, just squeaked by with that B+ or something - then studying for the 9 weeks or so most prep courses and message board members recommend will give you a very strong chance of having your next post be one of those about retakes since you got a 28 or less.

Are there exceptions? Sure. And you're NOT likely to be one of them. For every person who's pulled off a stunt like that, there are literally thousands who have failed. You only hear from them, if at all, when they post about retakes. And the basic answer there is, DON'T do whatever you did the first time, and one of the biggest culprits is grossly underestimating the time necessary to really do well (30+) on this test.

Since my old MCAT is now over 3 years old, I'm stuck retaking it. I've already started studying for the test in June of next year.

If you think you'll burn out on 6+ months of study for the MCAT, you're in for a real workload shock if you ever get into med school!

+1 again I agree with this. You will only burn out (or more likely) if you are studying for 10-12 hours every single day for 8 months. But if you have a job and working full time (like myself) or have other obligations and activities, I don't know how you could burn out. This 100% depends on the kind of person you are, you should know yourself better.

but the point I really want to emphasize again, is not to accept whatever is being said here and use it as a bible to follow, the SN2ed is a great schedule but it doesn't work for everyone, the key is to look at it, and modify it so it works out with your schedule.

And again, I agree, with every one who scored 35+ here, there are thousands and thousands that can't get pass 27, so be SMART reading the posts here, its more "likely" that you are one of those students who can't get a 35 by studying for 2-3 months..

 

[mcloaf]

If you think you'll burn out on 6+ months of study for the MCAT, you're in for a real workload shock if you ever get into med school!

Yes and no.

You're right that medical school is basically just studying full-time for the first couple of years. But you've also got fewer other things competing for your time, you're doing it with a bunch of other people so it's not so solitary, you're learning more interesting stuff, and the material is always changing so you're not banging your head against buffer problems for 6 months.

 

[TryingOnceMore]

Yes and no.

You're right that medical school is basically just studying full-time for the first couple of years. But you've also got fewer other things competing for your time, you're doing it with a bunch of other people so it's not so solitary, you're learning more interesting stuff, and the material is always changing so you're not banging your head against buffer problems for 6 months.

Yep, I agree. I was addressing the full-time study, 50+ hours a week aspect, but your additional points are certainly correct.

 

[medemic]

Yes and no.

You're right that medical school is basically just studying full-time for the first couple of years. But you've also got fewer other things competing for your time, you're doing it with a bunch of other people so it's not so solitary, you're learning more interesting stuff, and the material is always changing so you're not banging your head against buffer problems for 6 months.

Yes.