SN2ed 3 or 4 months schedule...?

[DrBirdFriend]

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I am taking the first MCAT in 2013 (I'm guessing around Jan 25-26). I want to do SN's schedule and just realized I have 116 days left...oops! I want to start this week, tomorrow if necessary. Should I do the three month schedule (95) days and just have extra days scheduled in for break and/or throw in a few more FL at the end after I finish the schedule OR do the 120 day one and have to make up a few days?

I looked at both schedules and couldn't discern right away if the 120 days one is just a spread out version of 3 month or if it actually has 25 days worth of different review/material.

Appreciate any input. 😎

 

[PocketJacks]

Do the 3 months schedule and keep in mind that you have ~20days of breaks whenever you want 😛. So use those for days when you're really tired or in a ****-studying mood or for when you want to go over certain topics in which you feel weak.

It's good to have a schedule. It's better to have a flexible schedule 😀. If you take the 4 months schedule, you're already behind and although it is the same amount of time as your "3-month schedule", it doesn't psychologically feel as flexible. It basically just reduces the amount of stress because in one case you'll feel like you're behind and in the other case you won't.

 

[DrBirdFriend]

I like your idea. I feel like so much of the MCAT is feeling mentally in the game that starting out "ahead" of schedule might make me feel better, plus there is good logic in planning for the 3 month one + extra days to review weak topics.

 

[PocketJacks]

Yes, the mental aspect is about 50% of it. Understanding the passages is about 40%. The content itself is only like 10%. Compared to your prereq classes, where they try to trick you with complicated scenarios of the stuff you learn, the MCAT questions are fairly simple. For example, you can easily have a question that basically just asks you to calculate I from V=IR. In college-level tests, youl'll almost never get a question that simple.

Even with the 95 days I had for the 3-month schedule, I felt like I had enough time to review weak topics. So with the added 20 days, you'll have plenty of time to relax and review. 😀

Goodluck!

 

[mehc012]

Here are the .ical files for Jan test dates (both 3mo and 4mo). Looking at the labels, it seems that the 3mo schedule doesn't start for another week and a half, so that seems to be your best bet! There are a few extra vacation days in that for family holidays, too, so you should be able to make it work even if you want to spread the info out a bit more (a la the 4mo schedule, which covers the same material and FLs over a longer period, if that was your second Q).

Hope it's helpful!

PS the 4mo does allow a little extra Verbal studying, as both of them have you do a few practice passages every morning.

 

[SN2ed]

The 3 month option should always be the first choice pending circumstances that prevent it from being an option. The 4 month version is just a spread out 3 month version without extra content.