Should I begin to study now?

[Belle Melodie]

I am a non-trad hoping to take the MCAT Spring 2014. It's a little early to actively study but I like to prepare ahead of time especially since my life is a little hectic.

I tried some of the passages for Verbal from AAMC #3. Didnt do so well. I also tried the TPR online practice test and the first time i got a 3 and the second time a 4. I am not sure if i am worried about the timing, have too much distractions at home (with a toddler and newborn)

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or i am just not getting the material.

I was thinking of starting to practice Verbal un-timed until i can get a hang of the question types and then when i start getting at least a 10 start timing myself.

I am not sure if this is a great idea because i know studying early can cause a burnout but i wont be working on any other MCAT material just the verbal for a while. I also wanted to go over content review for general chem since i didnt do so well in the course.

I would love some feed back.
Thanks to all!

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[bluedevil61212]

It may be a good idea to read magazines such as The Economist, New Yorker, Scientific American, etc to improve your verbal skills. The articles are quite interesting and similar in style to the ones on the MCAT. Verbal skills take a while to develop, so it's good that you have so much time before the MCAT to work on it.

 

[Belle Melodie]

It may be a good idea to read magazines such as The Economist, New Yorker, Scientific American, etc to improve your verbal skills. The articles are quite interesting and similar in style to the ones on the MCAT. Verbal skills take a while to develop, so it's good that you have so much time before the MCAT to work on it.

A few months ago I subscribed to a free year of The Economist and Harper so I could definitely do that.

 

[SN2ed]

While starting content review now won't help or hurt you, taking verbal passages will hurt you in the long run. Unfortunately, there aren't enough good verbal passages to take for a full year. Actually, there's not enough practice material for any of the subjects. I strongly suggest you stop taking passages and FLs now and save them for when you're closer to your test date.

For now, focus on improving your reading comprehension by reading various articles. When you finish an article, try to summarize it in your head and develop what you believe is the author's point of view on the subject. You may also try thinking up what kinds of questions that author would make concerning his/her passage.

 

[kmp0410]

Also reading scientific style reading material might prove helpful. Especially if you can find some enjoyment in it. You never know what type of study, etc might make a passage easier to comprehend.

But I agree with what else was said, I wouldn't start doing anything specifically for the MCAT yet.

 

[Belle Melodie]

While starting content review now won't help or hurt you, taking verbal passages will hurt you in the long run. Unfortunately, there aren't enough good verbal passages to take for a full year. Actually, there's not enough practice material for any of the subjects. I strongly suggest you stop taking passages and FLs now and save them for when you're closer to your test date.

For now, focus on improving your reading comprehension by reading various articles. When you finish an article, try to summarize it in your head and develop what you believe is the author's point of view on the subject. You may also try thinking up what kinds of questions that author would make concerning his/her passage.

Thanks! I will definitely try this!!

 

[musicalMD]

Personally, I don't think it's too early to start studying. I am also a non-traditional premed planning on taking the MCAT in Summer 2014. I have bought a review book and am slowly making my way through it. I think that by beginning now, it will make it all seem less crazy in the months leading up to the test! Just my opinion- but I totally agree about the reading suggestions- something I plan to do a lot!! Best of luck!

 

[StudyShy]

I would maybe do some light studying...go through EK books and the 1001 problems.

 

[DNA]

As a non-trad myself, I would really encourage you to start reviewing the material now. It took me about 7 months to reacquaint myself with the material since a lot was forgotten. I had to essentially reteach myself the sciences. It's important you have a decent understanding as soon as possible and generally that could take some time. Unless you have a super sonic memory since undergrad, 3 months is in no way enough time to learn the material -- review yes, but learn? No way. So definitely focus on learning the sciences and also, strengthen your reading comprehension by reading journal entries like The New Yorker and The Economist. Or, if you want to challenge yourself by reading a book consider the 100 greatest non-fiction books of all-time. Some people here suggest against taking verbal tests so early in the game, and I for the most part agree. However, I would recommend personally is taking 1-2 EK 101 Exams (even though they're treated like precious gold here). I recommend that only because you need to have some idea as to what you will anticipate when it does come time to prepare for the verbal portion of the exam (ie. what types of questions you should be asking yourself when reading a passage and also what might you expect). Best way to get some idea of that is by having a little experience with it. Again the object here isn't to master the skill but to touch base with it a little. As others have already suggested, you do want to save the bulk of your material 3-4 months ahead of your actual test date, because practice material is extremely limited for verbal.

I've taken and thoroughly prepared for the sciences on the exam and did decent on those sections. However, I neglected verbal and ended up with a 7 on my exam (this is the reason why I was rejectetd from med school and the reason I'm stuck restudying now). This time around, I'm trying to be diligent with my preparation by improving my reading skills. I don't want to make the carelss mistake of neglecting my studies now. I also don't want to rush into the exam (to apply this cycle), knowing that I could potentially screw up without proper preparation.

I plan on taking my exam in January of next year but I'm preparing for verbal now. Essentially what I'm doing this month is building my vocabulary by studying the 1,000 most common SAT words (anytime I'd encounter a difficult word in an MCAT verbal passage, that list would have it). I know this might be strange for many people, but I think there's a lot of benefits in strong vocabulary. I can't tell you how many times I missed a question on the MCAT because I didn't grasp the true meaning of a sentence. Sometimes you can guess by context but it isn't always as straight forward. Little subtle words like the author describing someone to be 'haughty' (ie. arrogant) can help you assimilate the attitude and overall tone of the author, but if you have poor vocabulary, you miss those subtleties and personally, I think this is why so many struggle with verbal and why people generally don't see much improvement in their scores by just practice/reading alone. I guess we'll see how this works out in the long hall. By the end of May, after I've mastered this word list (studying 33 words a day), I plan on reading those journal articles I mentioned earlier, about 4-5 non-fiction books, and then towards the 4 months approaching my exam, I intend on using my practice material (TPRH, EK 101, Kaplan, TBR).

Goodluck to you

 

[Belle Melodie]

As a non-trad myself, I would really encourage you to start reviewing the material now. It took me about 7 months to reacquaint myself with the material since a lot was forgotten. I had to essentially reteach myself the sciences. It's important you have a decent understanding as soon as possible and generally that could take some time. Unless you have a super sonic memory since undergrad, 3 months is in no way enough time to learn the material -- review yes, but learn? No way. So definitely focus on learning the sciences and also, strengthen your reading comprehension by reading journal entries like The New Yorker and The Economist. Or, if you want to challenge yourself by reading a book consider the 100 greatest non-fiction books of all-time. Some people here suggest against taking verbal tests so early in the game, and I for the most part agree. However, I would recommend personally is taking 1-2 EK 101 Exams (even though they're treated like precious gold here). I recommend that only because you need to have some idea as to what you will anticipate when it does come time to prepare for the verbal portion of the exam (ie. what types of questions you should be asking yourself when reading a passage and also what might you expect). Best way to get some idea of that is by having a little experience with it. Again the object here isn't to master the skill but to touch base with it a little. As others have already suggested, you do want to save the bulk of your material 3-4 months ahead of your actual test date, because practice material is extremely limited for verbal.

I've taken and thoroughly prepared for the sciences on the exam and did decent on those sections. However, I neglected verbal and ended up with a 7 on my exam (this is the reason why I was rejectetd from med school and the reason I'm stuck restudying now). This time around, I'm trying to be diligent with my preparation by improving my reading skills. I don't want to make the carelss mistake of neglecting my studies now. I also don't want to rush into the exam (to apply this cycle), knowing that I could potentially screw up without proper preparation.

I plan on taking my exam in January of next year but I'm preparing for verbal now. Essentially what I'm doing this month is building my vocabulary by studying the 1,000 most common SAT words (anytime I'd encounter a difficult word in an MCAT verbal passage, that list would have it). I know this might be strange for many people, but I think there's a lot of benefits in strong vocabulary. I can't tell you how many times I missed a question on the MCAT because I didn't grasp the true meaning of a sentence. Sometimes you can guess by context but it isn't always as straight forward. Little subtle words like the author describing someone to be 'haughty' (ie. arrogant) can help you assimilate the attitude and overall tone of the author, but if you have poor vocabulary, you miss those subtleties and personally, I think this is why so many struggle with verbal and why people generally don't see much improvement in their scores by just practice/reading alone. I guess we'll see how this works out in the long hall. By the end of May, after I've mastered this word list (studying 33 words a day), I plan on reading those journal articles I mentioned earlier, about 4-5 non-fiction books, and then towards the 4 months approaching my exam, I intend on using my practice material (TPRH, EK 101, Kaplan, TBR).

Goodluck to you

Thank you so much for this long post!
I am a non-trad in respect to being 27 and having two children but i am still an undergrad (dont judge me LOL). That is why i wasnt focusing any on the sciences and mostly on the verbal. I COMPLETELY agree with the vocab part and something its true just knowing the meaning of that one word can completely change your answer. While doing the practice i looked up a few words and felt pretty stupid because their meanings were so simple.

Good luck to you on your exam and i wouldnt mind if you keep me posted!!