Seeking advice on MCAT Study Plan (52 days out)

[ToM812]

Hello All,
I am 52 days out from my MCAT (May 24th test date) and am looking for some advice as to the most effective study schedule. I will have ~10hrs available each day to dedicate towards studying. The resources I am using are: Kaplan books, U-world, 6 next step practice exams, AAMC q-pack/SB/FLs, Khan Academy Behav. Science review, and anki.

Below is my tentative schedule (counting down until test date); any advice on how to improve it would be greatly appreciated! I plan to spend about 1-3hrs on anki every morning and am primarily concerned with giving myself enough time to complete & review all Uworld and AAMC materials. I am thinking of decreasing the # of practice tests as well to give myself more time for review.

Let me know what you think! Thank you in advance!

Day 52 – Day 38: complete all Kaplan chapters (3 per day)
Day 46: begin U-World (concurrently with finishing Kaplan books) and complete by Day 26
Day 36/35: Take Next Step FL 1 & review
Day 32/31: Take Next Step FL 2 & review
Day 28/27: Take Next Step FL 3 & review
Day 26: Begin AAMC q-packs & section bank (will work on during all non-test days)
Day 24/23: Take Next Step FL 4 & review
Day 20/19: Take Next Step FL 5 & review
Day 16/15: Take Next Step FL 6 & review
Day 12/11: Take AAMC FL Exam 1 & review
Day 8/7: Take AAMC FL Exam 2 & review
Day 5/4: Take AAMC FL Exam 3 & Review
Day 0: take MCAT

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[oncotraum]

I think this is a good schedule, however, you may want to take one of the AAMC full lengths earlier on to assess your progress. They are the most like the real exam so learning your weaknesses earlier on could help you focus your study schedule. I took AAMC FL#1 over a month out from my exam and am glad I did! I learned I was very weak in psychology so I focused a large chunk of that last month on psychology. The NS exams are good for learning pacing and how exhausting it is to take an entire FL, but it told me nothing about how I was doing on each section because the scores are so deflated that I didn't know what to trust. I think getting the same test is useful too even though it will not give you a score because it is still 230 questions written by the MCAT testmakers that you can learn from. Maybe swap that in for one of the NS FL would be my advice. I have a full post on what I did for each of my sections in 509+ study habits if you're interested in taking a look Goodluck on your exam!!

 

[Dream of the Endless]

I just skimmed it, but it would appear you're missing the AAMC sample test. Your schedule is do-able, but it seems you're a bit crunched for time. No possibility of a June exam date instead?

 

[ToM812]

I think this is a good schedule, however, you may want to take one of the AAMC full lengths earlier on to assess your progress. They are the most like the real exam so learning your weaknesses earlier on could help you focus your study schedule. I took AAMC FL#1 over a month out from my exam and am glad I did! I learned I was very weak in psychology so I focused a large chunk of that last month on psychology. The NS exams are good for learning pacing and how exhausting it is to take an entire FL, but it told me nothing about how I was doing on each section because the scores are so deflated that I didn't know what to trust. I think getting the same test is useful too even though it will not give you a score because it is still 230 questions written by the MCAT testmakers that you can learn from. Maybe swap that in for one of the NS FL would be my advice. I have a full post on what I did for each of my sections in 509+ study habits if you're interested in taking a look Goodluck on your exam!!

Thank you for the advice! I think you're right in taking a AAMC FL early to assess where I am. I'll definitely check out your full post too!

 

[ToM812]

I just skimmed it, but it would appear you're missing the AAMC sample test. Your schedule is do-able, but it seems you're a bit crunched for time. No possibility of a June exam date instead?

Forgot about the AAMC sample test - i'll insert that somewhere. And yes, I am a little crunched for time; i'm moving overseas to do international health work for 1yr, so i'm trying to take it before I depart at the end of May. Hopefully it'll all work out!

 

[deleted804295]

Hello All,
I am 52 days out from my MCAT (May 24th test date) and am looking for some advice as to the most effective study schedule. I will have ~10hrs available each day to dedicate towards studying. The resources I am using are: Kaplan books, U-world, 6 next step practice exams, AAMC q-pack/SB/FLs, Khan Academy Behav. Science review, and anki.

Below is my tentative schedule (counting down until test date); any advice on how to improve it would be greatly appreciated! I plan to spend about 1-3hrs on anki every morning and am primarily concerned with giving myself enough time to complete & review all Uworld and AAMC materials. I am thinking of decreasing the # of practice tests as well to give myself more time for review.

Let me know what you think! Thank you in advance!

Day 52 – Day 38: complete all Kaplan chapters (3 per day)
Day 46: begin U-World (concurrently with finishing Kaplan books) and complete by Day 26
Day 36/35: Take Next Step FL 1 & review
Day 32/31: Take Next Step FL 2 & review
Day 28/27: Take Next Step FL 3 & review
Day 26: Begin AAMC q-packs & section bank (will work on during all non-test days)
Day 24/23: Take Next Step FL 4 & review
Day 20/19: Take Next Step FL 5 & review
Day 16/15: Take Next Step FL 6 & review
Day 12/11: Take AAMC FL Exam 1 & review
Day 8/7: Take AAMC FL Exam 2 & review
Day 5/4: Take AAMC FL Exam 3 & Review
Day 0: take MCAT

I found UWorld a bit hard to do with Kaplan with a similar schedule but 10 hours of prep per day should give you enough time to do all of that.

I know people hash out doing a bunch of practice exams but doing practice exams are useless if you don't have enough time in between to review- it's like shooting a dart in a dark room in hopes that it'll reach the bullseye.

Just make sure you have enough time to review old concepts.

Fit time into your schedule to get the section banks done. They take about 3-6 days and they need sufficient review. They're more important than any 3rd party FL.