Spending a summer studying for the MCAT - a good idea or not?

[shindotp]

I was planning on spending the majority of my next summer just studying hard for the MCAT and doing some tutoring for money. In your opinion, would this be a big waste of a summer?

I think it'd be a good idea because the MCAT score is, after all, the second most important factor in admissions, and I think spending a solid 3 months preparing for it would help me tremendously.

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[TopSecret]

I was planning on spending the majority of my next summer just studying hard for the MCAT and doing some tutoring for money. In your opinion, would this be a big waste of a summer?

I think it'd be a good idea because the MCAT score is, after all, the second most important factor in admissions, and I think spending a solid 3 months preparing for it would help me tremendously.

It's a decent plan as long as you study hard on the weekdays and enjoy the weekends. Too much studying makes you antisocial.

 

[shindotp]

It's a decent plan as long as you study hard on the weekdays and enjoy the weekends. Too much studying makes you antisocial.

Haha, too much studying will be the least of my worries .

 

[BlueElmo]

I spent my summer preparing for the MCAT. I don't regret it.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

highly advisable plan.

 

[shemarty]

It depends on how well you're doing on practice tests. If you're doing pretty well, don't spend your entire summer studying and doing nothing else. Don't forget, the admissions committees like to see that you've done interesting and valuable things with your time. If you're struggling with practice tests, then yes, buckle down and focus on MCAT-studying all summer.

 

[shindotp]

^Thanks for the advice... Wow, have fun at UCSF!

 

[adele87]

I was planning on spending the majority of my next summer just studying hard for the MCAT and doing some tutoring for money. In your opinion, would this be a big waste of a summer?

make sure that you do something else that is valuable with your time! Think of how many free summers you have left in the foreseeable future (answer=not many). Consider that and do something enriching apart from studying at least part-time.

 

[redlight]

im surprised no one has said 3 months is overkill.

is that how long it took you tops scorers to study? does that mean you burned through several testing companies' prep books or did you repeat a set a few times.. both?

 

[RogueUnicorn]

im surprised no one has said 3 months is overkill.

is that how long it took you tops scorers to study? does that mean you burned through several testing companies' prep books or did you repeat a set a few times.. both?

i took 3 months... that was just enough to burn through ONE company's books, tests, and AAMCs.

 

[BlueElmo]

i took 3 months... that was just enough to burn through ONE company's books, tests, and AAMCs.

Same here.

 

[osumc2014]

im surprised no one has said 3 months is overkill.

is that how long it took you tops scorers to study? does that mean you burned through several testing companies' prep books or did you repeat a set a few times.. both?

3 months is too much...I'd say most students at this stage would completely burn out after that. That being said, I studied in the summer but it all depends on when you are taking it, the best and most effective studying is around a month before the real thing.

 

[adele87]

is that how long it took you tops scorers to study?

nah, I got a 40 and studied sporadically for like 2 months (say 25hr/wk August, 5-10 hr/wk January) but I had high practice scores from the beginning. I agree - everyone is different, but studying full-time for 3 months seems a bit much. You have to do something that keeps you excited about life whether it is work, travel, something artistic etc... In general most people I know studied for the MCAT while pursuing some other activity full-time.

 

[FrickenhugeMD]

3 full months? With no classes? No wonder so many SDN scores are so high... Makes me feel better about that 32 I got from studying 6 weeks during the semester I took 18 credits in.

Do what you gotta do I guess

 

[dw2158]

i spent the summer studying... but i just put in a bit of time every day. i did a lot of traveling, shopping, dancing, working out, playing with my dog, sleeping, cooking... you get the idea. i would actually say that my summer of studying for the MCAT was my most fun summer ever.

 

[Naijaba]

As all the posters above have said, it really depends on where you start and what score you aim to achieve. I enrolled in a Kaplan course, but didn't take it too seriously. I then studied *very* sporadically for about 2 months. Before Kaplan I received a 32 on AAMC #3, and after all was said and done I got a 37 on the actual test. I would argue that the more time you have, the better, but that you get seriously diminishing returns at 34+; like one extra point per month of study or worse.

 

[shindotp]

Thanks for the advice.

I think I'm going to probably try to follow the 3 month plan (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=623898&highlight=summer+mcat) next summer. Wow, studying for MCAT is so expensive... O_O

 

[Count Chocula]

Bad idea. Contrary to popular opinion, schools actually want you to do ****ty on the MCAT.

 

[anxiousteen]

make sure to volunteer and do other side projects to improve your application while you're studying.

 

[metallica81788]

I had my MCAT at the end of the summer and I spent most of the summer procrastinating and working full time. I should have scheduled it sooner to give me more of sense of urgency so I could study more but for less time overall. Until the month before the test I only listened to AudioOsmosis on my way to work. I found the 3 months to be too long so I waited until like 2-3 weeks before the test to really study books and practice tests.