Study road to MCAT?

[orbit317]

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Hi all! I'm currently a year and a half into an undergraduate program and I wanted to start studying for the MCAT. Someone had told me to take it senior year so that when you apply you already have all the requirements. However, since it seems like such a long way off, I wanted to get started studying now. However, I have no clue how to get started. I was thinking about buying the KAPLAN (not sure if there is a better brand?) specific subject books such as general biology/organic chem, general physics... etc etc. and just going through one at a time. Is there a good plan you all used when you were in college a few years beforehand? I'm completely clueless as to where to start and if there are any particular classes I should be taking as well. I will continue to search google as well... 😛. Thank you for any help in advance! Also, happy holidays!

edit: Also, I'm trying to save some money... so would it be bad if I were to go to half price books and buy an older edition of some of these books or is the information too outdated? And how do you actually know "WHAT IS ON THE TEST" so that you can eliminate extraneous information that's not necessary?

 

[MedPR]

Hi all! I'm currently a year and a half into an undergraduate program and I wanted to start studying for the MCAT. Someone had told me to take it senior year so that when you apply you already have all the requirements. However, since it seems like such a long way off, I wanted to get started studying now. However, I have no clue how to get started. I was thinking about buying the KAPLAN (not sure if there is a better brand?) specific subject books such as general biology/organic chem, general physics... etc etc. and just going through one at a time. Is there a good plan you all used when you were in college a few years beforehand? I'm completely clueless as to where to start and if there are any particular classes I should be taking as well. I will continue to search google as well... 😛. Thank you for any help in advance! Also, happy holidays!

edit: Also, I'm trying to save some money... so would it be bad if I were to go to half price books and buy an older edition of some of these books or is the information too outdated? And how do you actually know "WHAT IS ON THE TEST" so that you can eliminate extraneous information that's not necessary?

As long as the books are post 2007, you should be fine (the MCAT changed in 2007). Traditional students take their MCAT before Senior year since you will be applying to medical school in June after your Junior year ends (or is about to end, depending on your school schedule). SN2ed has a schedule and recommended book thread if you do a little searching on these forums.

I guess if you're trying to save money, an MCAT class is not the road you want to take, so SN2ed's self study schedule might be for you. I bought the TBR books new from TBR, and found the rest of them used on amazon or craigslist.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=623898

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85566/data/bstopics.pdf

https://www.aamc.org/students/download/85562/data/ps_topics.pdf

 

[Amba]

Hi all! I'm currently a year and a half into an undergraduate program and I wanted to start studying for the MCAT. Someone had told me to take it senior year so that when you apply you already have all the requirements. However, since it seems like such a long way off, I wanted to get started studying now. However, I have no clue how to get started. I was thinking about buying the KAPLAN (not sure if there is a better brand?) specific subject books such as general biology/organic chem, general physics... etc etc. and just going through one at a time. Is there a good plan you all used when you were in college a few years beforehand? I'm completely clueless as to where to start and if there are any particular classes I should be taking as well. I will continue to search google as well... 😛. Thank you for any help in advance! Also, happy holidays!

edit: Also, I'm trying to save some money... so would it be bad if I were to go to half price books and buy an older edition of some of these books or is the information too outdated? And how do you actually know "WHAT IS ON THE TEST" so that you can eliminate extraneous information that's not necessary?

When do you plan on applying to med school/matriculating? If you plan on taking a gap year, senior year is fine, but if you want to go straight from undergrad to med school then take it junior year.

My study books include:

Physics: Berkeley Review
Gen Chem: Berkeley Review
Orgo: Berkeley Review
Biology: Exam Krackers
Verbal: Exam Krackers 101 Passages + TPR Hyperlearning

This is a pretty common setup for most people on here, it seems. None are particularly cheap, but if you find them on the market here or ebay/craigslist, you can probably get a decent deal. Good luck!

 

[orbit317]

Thank you very much for the help so far. I'm currently in the process of really trying to figure everything out still. I'm currently going for a computer engineering major. I've read that a lot of people believe a degree in one of the sciences would be more beneficial since it takes care of the pre-med classes, though I do enjoy my program. I realize this will probably put some extra work on my shoulders. However, I'm a little bit confused by whether I should get the introductory BIO, PHYS, ORG/CHEM classes out of the way before I even THINK about studying for the MCAT. I ask this because I know there are eligibility requirements to even take the exam. I haven't even thought about applying to a med school yet.

edit: excuse my ignorance as I'm still so early in the process and trying to understand everything