Should I start studying for the MCAT now even though I'm taking it in 2 years?

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alphamine

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I have been given all 7 Kaplan review books as a gift for the 2016 MCAT, but I was told I can return them if I want to because my aunt didn't know I was taking it in 2 years! I do wish to start studying little by little (I think it may be good for me) but do YOU think it'll be a waste of time? I'm not sure how much the MCAT changes each year. I don't know if in 2 years it'll be a completely different test. What do you think? Should I take the chance and start studying every week? I'm going to be a junior this year but I'll be staying for a fifth senior year (because I'm transferring from a CC)

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Doubt there will be another major structural change in the MCAT in the next 2 yrs. You can keep the set - the material is not going to change that much by the time you sit for the exam.
 
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Do you think it would be bad if I took notes starting now, then 4-6 months prior I could make flashcards from those notes and review them?


edit: it might take a year anyways to go through all those books lol
 
Do you think it would be bad if I took notes starting now, then 4-6 months prior I could make flashcards from those notes and review them?

Dude it's not "bad" to prep early - though if you prep too early, you may just end up forgetting the material. Usually if you want to start about 1 yr prior, that should be fine, but 2 yrs just seems like overkill. The MCAT is tough but not that ridiculous.
 
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If I were in your shoes, and I wish I was. I would just start flipping through the books, when you actually have a set plan to study for everything, you can pass the easy stuff, and go advance, bc it would all be review. Best of luck!
 
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It wouldn't hurt to read over some of the material, but don't go too crazy about it until your a couple months away.
 
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I wouldn't start trying to learn and memorize everything in the books right now. However, as you're taking the classes covered on the MCAT it wouldn't hurt to look through the books, and note what areas and topics are important for your future studying. That way you'll be better prepared when do you start studying full time for the test.
 
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It wouldn't hurt but a better strategy would be for you to look over this:

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/whats-mcat-exam/

Then when you're in your prerequisite classes, make sure you have a highlighted list of the materials that are covered in the MCAT, so you pay extra attention to those in your class. Then you can use the Kaplan study set to reinforce the lessons you learned. So let's say for example, you're in your ochem class and you're learning about alcohols, then look over at the content list and see what part of alcohols is in the MCAT, then use Kaplan and etc...
 
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No.

Start studying at most 6 months before, it's low yield to study so early and you risk burning out. Focus on doing well in your classes instead.
 
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You should start studying for the MCAT now and start prepping for medical school by doing one simple thing: doing well in all your classes.

The MCAT won't change between now and then but the books might get a bit better. In all probability, you'll be able to use the resources you have now 2 years from now. You could also return or sell them and buy new ones then.
 
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Save your tests for a time when you are closer to the date. There are still precious few test resources and none of the testing companies got their sample tests quite right. One thing you could do is review the material compared to your classroom material and look for subjects that are stressed on the MCAT, then make sure you have a thorough understanding in your class. I was studying for the MCAT while taking biochem and physics and that helped me get the most from the classroom experience.
Also expect the test materials to change. The test companies didn't all quite nail the psych/soc section and some didn't make comparable sample tests.
 
I took 35-40 days to study full time and did relatively fine (with weekends off). Depends on the type of person you are. If you need a >90% then take more time. I'm not naturally smart so it was tougher for me, but doing well in pre-reqs helps so much. Didn't need to touch genetics, physics II, and only needed to glance at biochem II.
 
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Sure, start now. For the verbal section especially, start reading and evaluating passages in the way that the MCAT tests. Some may argue that it's not be a useful way to assess arguments in most kinds of writing, but I found that studying MCAT verbal really opened my eyes to my failures as a reader. Biases, jumping to false conclusions, identifying the crux of an argument and its supporting evidence, these are the kinds of things I was weak on before studying. I'm maybe one of the few dumb ones who found that studying had incredible side benefits. Why not now?
 
I wouldn't start now. You're likely going to forget the science content. And are you really going to commit to studying every week for the next 2 years? Doubtful. IMO, it's better to make a realistic study plan and stick to it. Focus on doing well in your prereqs and start studying when you're a few months out.

Studying this far in advance is a waste of time. But keep the books you were given. The material covered on the exam is unlikely to change.
 
Kaplan books are very dense and extremely detailed. I would start with Exam Krackers and refer to Kaplan if you need more a deeper understanding.
 
I have been given all 7 Kaplan review books as a gift for the 2016 MCAT, but I was told I can return them if I want to because my aunt didn't know I was taking it in 2 years! I do wish to start studying little by little (I think it may be good for me) but do YOU think it'll be a waste of time? I'm not sure how much the MCAT changes each year. I don't know if in 2 years it'll be a completely different test. What do you think? Should I take the chance and start studying every week? I'm going to be a junior this year but I'll be staying for a fifth senior year (because I'm transferring from a CC)

I have no idea if you should return the books, but regarding studying for the MCAT.

It is a tremendous waste of time and energy to study now. There are so many better things to do with your time that will a) potentially improve your MCAT score, b) make you a better future physician and c) be more enjoyable.
 
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Agreed. Don't bother studying now. You're still in undergrad, enjoy your relatively free time while you have it. Go volunteer more, get more clinical experience, do research, whatever. The only thing I could suggest is just reading. Read for fun, read periodicals, read fiction or non-fiction, but just keep reading. Verbal is a lot easier when you're used to reading--go figure.

You really only need 3-4 months to study. I did research 40 hours a week and took a class while studying and got a 36. I obviously wouldn't recommend doing that... but just to provide an example. Studying 2 years in advance is overkill and you probably won't remember any of it, or will be too burnt out by the time your real study period starts to take it more seriously. I'd suggest scheduling it for August or September, fall of your junior year. That's what I did, and I didn't have to worry about it interfering with my application cycle the next year.
 
I'm 18 months out, and I'm starting little by little. Some of my pre-reqs were done years ago, so going over those concepts and putting together study material is just something I can do now that I don't have to do later. Working here and there on the writing portion isn't going to hurt either. And getting an idea of which notes/flashcards/etc to set aside as you go through the pre-requisites just makes sense to me.

Should you set aside every weekend from now until the test to use only for studying? Of course not. But if you have a lull in your coursework it's not going to hurt you to use a few hours that week to look at MCAT work. It may or may not help your knowledge bank, but it could help your familiarity and confidence.
 
It wouldn't hurt but a better strategy would be for you to look over this:

https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school/article/whats-mcat-exam/

Then when you're in your prerequisite classes, make sure you have a highlighted list of the materials that are covered in the MCAT, so you pay extra attention to those in your class. Then you can use the Kaplan study set to reinforce the lessons you learned. So let's say for example, you're in your ochem class and you're learning about alcohols, then look over at the content list and see what part of alcohols is in the MCAT, then use Kaplan and etc...

You should start studying for the MCAT now and start prepping for medical school by doing one simple thing: doing well in all your classes.

The MCAT won't change between now and then but the books might get a bit better. In all probability, you'll be able to use the resources you have now 2 years from now. You could also return or sell them and buy new ones then.
Agreed. It would not be an efficient use of your time to start studying specifically for the MCAT right now, as you'll forget a lot of the small details. However, pay attention in your pre-reqs... the better you grasp the material now, the less content review you will have to do during your actual study period (which should be no longer that 6 months).
 
Don't start studying for the MCAT now. Focus on your pre-reqs, getting volunteer experience, shadowing experience, etc.
 
You can use your review books as a guide as you take your pre-req classes. People do this all the time for Step 1 during medical school. They use Step 1 review books to help them for pre-clinical classes.
 
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You should have begun studying for STEP 1 by now. Sorry mate.
 
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The best way to study for the MCAT now is by doing well in your classes. It's quite a bit more difficult to "review" in the weeks leading up to the exam if you never actually learned the stuff in the first place. Bonus = good GPA. Agree w/MediocreGunner though, it doesn't hurt to cross-reference what you're learning with a review source every now and then to make sure you really hammer the MCAT-relevant info into your brain.
 
I would use the Kaplan books to reference when you talk about a certain subject in a course. Some of the MCAT books are super handy for putting things in a concise manner. Plus, they usually tell it how you need to know it for the test. I wouldn't go outright and study from them though.

For example, I wish I had had my EK biology book for biochemistry. They do a great job with Km/Vmax etc, something my biochemistry professor absolutely butchered.

Otherwise, I would encourage you to read a little scientific and/or art literature every day and really make an effort to understand it. This will ultimately build good habits and CARS will be easier come time to read, dissect, and evaluate passages.
 
If you're bad at verbal reasoning, it wouldn't hurt to try to read an article a day from sources like The Economist. I forgot what other sources are similar to MCAT verbal. Get your reading speed and comprehension up. Use the Examkrackers 101 verbal passages to gauge how long an MCAT passage should be and time yourself 8 minutes for each. Also do some of the 101 passages and try to understand the correct answers. I never fully understood some of the explanations even after hours of staring at them. For science, just do well in your classes for now.
 
If you're bad at verbal reasoning, it wouldn't hurt to try to read an article a day from sources like The Economist. I forgot what other sources are similar to MCAT verbal. Get your reading speed and comprehension up. Use the Examkrackers 101 verbal passages to gauge how long an MCAT passage should be and time yourself 8 minutes for each. Also do some of the 101 passages and try to understand the correct answers. I never fully understood some of the explanations even after hours of staring at them. For science, just do well in your classes for now.

Reading high-level publications (good non-fiction books, literature, philosophy, history, the Economist, Harper's, Foreign Affairs) is in the same category for me as "doing well in all of your classes" as the best possible preparation for the MCAT more than 6 months out from your test. (As an aside, they also count as stuff everyone should do regularly anyways regardless of pre-professional requirements). If you - starting from your first week freshman year - make a habit of taking difficult seminar-esque classes entirely focused on reading, analysis and writing or reading regularly and then thinking critically about what you read then you will improve the likelihood that the MCAT CARS section will be a joke.
 
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I actually read through the bio and chem book a year before I took the MCAT. Then I took ochem and physics in school. After that, my only studying was a couple of weeks of taking practice tests.

You know you better than anyone else. The content on the MCAT was so much simpler than their corresponding courses, so reviewing bio and chem a year in advance gave myself more time right before the test for practice questions (and I knew too much content review would have worn me out). But ditto the above: learn it well in class. Don't just memorize physics and chem equations; understand how they were derived. Then you won't need much content review
 
Do you think it would be bad if I took notes starting now, then 4-6 months prior I could make flashcards from those notes and review them?


edit: it might take a year anyways to go through all those books lol
I don't think you should start reading them yet. My experience is with the 2014 MCAT, but I think a lot of this will still apply.

You don't need note/flashcard level knowledge. And although you don't need to know everything in the books, it is helpful to know the details, have them fresher in your memory. Especially for the bio section if you are a non-bio major like me.

If you take a summer to prepare, you can read all of the books in the first two months. Set a goal of x chapters each day, and at the end of the day review the previous stuff. It wasn't necessary for me to take notes on everything, just the things I had never learned before. You will be familiar with a lot of it from the classes you have taken. Then in the last month before the test, you can prepare by taking practice tests.

I agree with what people said about studying for the verbal reasoning (do they still call it that?) by doing unrelated high-level reading. But there is no substitute for practicing real MCAT passages in that month preceding the test, and developing a system that works for you to retain the information.
 
Reading high-level publications (good non-fiction books, literature, philosophy, history, the Economist, Harper's, Foreign Affairs) is in the same category for me as "doing well in all of your classes" as the best possible preparation for the MCAT more than 6 months out from your test. (As an aside, they also count as stuff everyone should do regularly anyways regardless of pre-professional requirements). If you - starting from your first week freshman year - make a habit of taking difficult seminar-esque classes entirely focused on reading, analysis and writing or reading regularly and then thinking critically about what you read then you will improve the likelihood that the MCAT CARS section will be a joke.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/jack-westin-cars-course-practice-reading.1170083/page-18

I really wish this had existed when I was studying for the MCAT.
 
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Have you taken pre-reqs yet? Material wise, if you've taken all the pre reqs, you know the material. Now you've just got to apply and analyze it.
 
Didnt click any of the links but it looks like this would be a super good resource for CARS practice readings when it comes crunch time. (Although the AAMC will be providing future test-takers with plenty, I hope, in the near future).

Given the AAMCs knack for recycling any old verbal passages whenever possible at all costs (even the new FLs contain a bunch of old recycled passages from old AAMC tests) I doubt it unfortunately.

But yeah, that is alot of good articles with a resemblance to the MCAT all organized into one thread. Advantage is that they are also much shorter and with a more specific focus than a book and more an argument/persuasive style. The AAMC actually loves to use The Atlantic excerpts on the real deal and there must be at least like 100 Atlantic articles in there.
 
Given the AAMCs knack for recycling any old verbal passages whenever possible at all costs (even the new FLs contain a bunch of old recycled passages from old AAMC tests) I doubt it unfortunately.

But yeah, that is alot of good articles with a resemblance to the MCAT all organized into one thread. Advantage is that they are also much shorter and with a more specific focus than a book and more an argument/persuasive style. The AAMC actually loves to use The Atlantic excerpts on the real deal and there must be at least like 100 Atlantic articles in there.

Yah the Atlantic is about the difficulty level of most CARS passages too. I suggest books and articles (especially from Harper's which I think has the highest quality writing out there right now) mostly because they are more fun even though they are less like the real thing, haha. When you are actually practicing though, the closer to the real thing the better.
 
Yah the Atlantic is about the difficulty level of most CARS passages too. I suggest books and articles (especially from Harper's which I think has the highest quality writing out there right now) mostly because they are more fun even though they are less like the real thing, haha. When you are actually practicing though, the closer to the real thing the better.

Is Harpers free? Ive read a couple from their from time to time but I always wondered if there was a subscription required.
 
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Have you taken pre-reqs yet? Material wise, if you've taken all the pre reqs, you know the material. Now you've just got to apply and analyze it.

Not true. For instance, I never learned about Broca's or Wernicke's area in my general biology sequence. However, I am learning about it in my upper level physiology course.
 
Not true. For instance, I never learned about Broca's or Wernicke's area in my general biology sequence. However, I am learning about it in my upper level physiology course.

Does that change the fact that 95+% of the material on the MCAT is covered in pre-reqs?

OP can just look up the outline of the MCAT and fill in anything missing
 
Does that change the fact that 95+% of the material on the MCAT is covered in pre-reqs?

OP can just look up the outline of the MCAT and fill in anything missing

I would say more like 60-75%; although I go to a relatively small state university. YMMV.
 
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