School schedule and MCAT studying question

[craniotomy30]

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I am planning on taking the april 2008 MCAT. During my MCAT studying time up until about 3 weeks before the MCAT, I will be taking biochem 2, physiology 2, and some gen ed. Has anyone here pulled off a good score while taking a full load while also studying for the MCAT? I am just a little bit stressed about this because I am always reading about people spending the entire summer studying with no summer classes standing in their way. Any advice would be great!

 

[brianoflee]

I am planning on taking the april 2008 MCAT. During my MCAT studying time up until about 3 weeks before the MCAT, I will be taking biochem 2, physiology 2, and some gen ed. Has anyone here pulled off a good score while taking a full load while also studying for the MCAT? I am just a little bit stressed about this because I am always reading about people spending the entire summer studying with no summer classes standing in their way. Any advice would be great!

Start early, and take good notes. That way, in the weeks before the exam, you can review only what you've written and feel is most important. Trying to skim through books in the last few weeks will just overwhelm you. Schedule one full-length practice exam per weekend in the weeks leading up to the test -- that way you'll still have plenty of time to factor in your school homework. Most of all, stick with it!

 

[craniotomy30]

Thanks, that is helpful. Has anyone else had to do this type of studying?

 

[craniotomy30]

Anyone???

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

I am planning on taking the april 2008 MCAT. During my MCAT studying time up until about 3 weeks before the MCAT, I will be taking biochem 2, physiology 2, and some gen ed. Has anyone here pulled off a good score while taking a full load while also studying for the MCAT? I am just a little bit stressed about this because I am always reading about people spending the entire summer studying with no summer classes standing in their way. Any advice would be great!

"The more you have to do, the more you will get done."

Not sure where I heard that first, but it sure fits the study dilemma you describe. It is a concern of nearly everyone taking the MCAT during the school year. A few things that may actually work in your advantage.

• 1. It's a curved test, so everyone is in the same boat. If you are good at cramming, then taking the test at an impacted time puts you higher on the curve.

• 2. When you have limited time to study, you make better choices and waste less time. Reading text is generally not nearly as useful as doing passages and practice questions. Because you have limited time, you are more apt to skip the reading part in the interest of saving time. This will result in your developing test-taking skills in lieu of memorizing pages of information.

It is quite doable if you start with a solid study plan and set a REALISTIC study schedule. Put your time in and make what is normally down time into little study periods.

 

[djd2187]

I am not sure if you are a junior or a senior. But if you are a junior just wait till your senior year, don't kill yourself and your gpa if it happens that you do bad in the class. I have the same problem, and what I was told by my friends is to just wait till senior year and focus on the MCATS, its much more important. But if you have to take it, then i say you could easily do it as long as you set up a strict schedule and never go out which is somewhat hard in college. Good luck with those classes and MCAT's