study strategy for April 2005 MCAT

[summerlovin]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm studying on my own with Examkracker materials that my friend has given me. I want to get an early start but don't really know how to tackle this monster. So here's what I'm thinking...

1) study/review during the weekdays and practice passages/tests on the weekends (at the end of each chapter) or

2) finish all the material first and then practice passages/tests

Which one is better? And has anyone started this early (um, 8 months in advance) and NOT get burnt out?

 

[Caligirl98]

I'm planning on taking the april 2005 MCAT too and using the exam krackers materials to study with. Since I have been out of undergrad for a few years I thought I would spend this fall reviewing for a couple of hours during the week but not really doing many practice tests or hard core studying until January

 

[medanthgirl]

I'm not entirely fresh on MCAT material so I'm planning to reveiw like crazy then do practice tests in a few months, maybe starting in Dec. That way i figure it'll be a good guage of what i'm still weak on (which i hope isn't everything!)

 

[dave613]

I'm studying on my own with Examkracker materials that my friend has given me. I want to get an early start but don't really know how to tackle this monster. So here's what I'm thinking...

1) study/review during the weekdays and practice passages/tests on the weekends (at the end of each chapter) or

2) finish all the material first and then practice passages/tests

Which one is better? And has anyone started this early (um, 8 months in advance) and NOT get burnt out?

Well actually , I plan on taking the august mcat, and I've already began studying for both the bio and verbal section. Believe me, you won't get burned out because there's too much material to learn. I'm alsoprimarily using EK.

 

[summerlovin]

Hmm... the 1001 series looks promising. I think I'll buy those and do them instead of the passages while I'm reviewing. Passive reviewing alone doesn't do it for me. 😳

 

[hotlikebutter]

Hmm... the 1001 series looks promising. I think I'll buy those and do them instead of the passages while I'm reviewing. Passive reviewing alone doesn't do it for me. 😳

hmmm. if you are like me, your drive to study will not last til april, its just too far away and you wont feel the urgency which i think you need for this test. also, you become too bored with the material over several months. choose a good amount of time that suits your studying style. my advice is take 2 weeks to go over all the material, i mean all of it. then take practice tests, practice tests, and more practice tests. at first dont time yourself, just take them to build your knowledge of questions styles and types. then pick up the pace and build on accuracy, test taking strategies, and timing.

just understand that when you first start taking practice tests you will not being doing well, dont let this ruin your confidence, but always go over your questions even if you got them right and make sure you got them right for the right reasons. I made a running sheet of fundamentals that were my common mistakes and concepts.

For me, I spent 2 weeks studying the material with a global understanding of the concepts and facts. then spent the next three weeks doing subject tests and practice tests. i initially got 6's on each subject, but it went up to about 13's or so. I hope it worked 2 weeks ago.

oh, on the night before, drink a nice glass of wine before bed or 2, and stick to what worked and dont panic. this is from experience 😛

 

[karlin009]

I just started looking over the exam krackers. There is so much information, I'm starting NOW. I'm already nervous because I have forgotten 60% of it. I'm planning to take it easy...a few hours a week and then starting January, I'm full time.

 

[summerlovin]

Thanks hotlikebutter! I hope you rocked the MCAT!!

I initially posted because I was also feeling overwhelmed with the volume of material covered on the MCAT. Looks like everyone is going to review everything first before practicing problems or passages. Wow, I doubt that I can get through it all in two weeks... realistically, it'll probably take me two months (or more! 😱 ). I really like the suggestion of practicing passages w/o being timed and to study the type of questions being asked first. Sounds solid to me. 👍

 

[pathdr2b]

1) October/November 2004 review EK Biology (need tons of time as a chemistry major), take a practice tests.

2) December 2004 review EK Organic, take practice tests.

3) January 2005 review EK Chemistry, take practice tests.

4) February/March review EK Physics (by far, my weakest subject), take practice tests.

* Will take practice tests in verbal concurrently 👍

 

[tank you]

I already started going over g-chem and physics, because these are my weakest areas and doing practice problems for every topic covered will take some time as well, so it's good to start early.
I'm gonna do hardcore bio starting winter break (dec-jan) and continue working on g-chem and physics. Also start verbal then.
O-chem I am saving for later cuz it's really easy and not challenging or confusing to me.
If you're like me and bad at physical sciences, I suggest starting early.

 

[2DEG]

Hey all:

good discussion. I have decided (last night) that I will prepare for April 05 MCAT. This is what I am hoping to do. My main guides are EK but I do have a kaplan book too.

1. Review EK physics (My weakest subject) book as they suggested. Not taking the 30 min exams during the first review.

2. Go through the biology unit.

I feel pretty confident about Gen and org. chemistry stuff. I love org. chem. I think after I review physics, biology, I can quickly review chemistry stuff. Then practice questions.

Do you think an hour or two per day till December and then 3 to 4 hours a day till April is enough? I am gonna sign up for Princeton Review classes that starts either in november or January.

I wouldn't mind having some contacts so that we can sort of keep in touch and discuss our progress. Might be motivational. Email or call me if you want..
shahab
[email protected]
919.599.4196 (cell)

 

[karlin009]

I'm trying to use the verbal strategies from EK for everything I read. So hopefully it becomes a habit and I become an expert critical reader...bleh..lol

 

[tank you]

I'm trying to use the verbal strategies from EK for everything I read. So hopefully it becomes a habit and I become an expert critical reader...bleh..lol

thats a good idea, but along with ur daily reading stuff, make sure you are also reading some boring, difficult to understand material, since thats what the verbal is about.

 

[meister]

Since I haven't taken ochem or any bio classes yet I'm not really sure what to do. I've considered taking a Princeton Review class...but I just don't know. Maybe I should just wait until August? Or maybe I should just not take the test until 2006. Sigh.

I think I'll own in the physics and gchem sections though. I'm a physics major, after all.

 

[DaveinDallas]

Ok - the MCAT isn't like any test you've ever taken. The only way I can describe it is 'blanket party'. In case you've never heard the term, it's the scene in Full Metal Jacket where Private Pyle, after a series of goof ups which cause platoon punishment to occur, has his platoon secure him in his bunk by means of a blanket dropped over him and then the rest of the platoon beats on him with bars of soap wrapped in gym towels. That's what the MCAT is like, being on the receiving end of a blanket party....

So, if I had to do it over again (which I devoutly hope doesn't occur), I would grab my old textbooks and start in on them, using the content outline from the AAMC website. After I had read the chapters and done the problems at the end that I had answers for, then I'd go over any sort of subject test I could find. After covering 2 or 3 major subjects, I'd hit a topic test. Also, as an idea, I'd make up a chart of some sort of 10 important things to take away from each topic. Use that for review.

Along the way, you'll have to do some section type of tests and some full lengths if you can get your paws on them. Start studying NOW. Be thorough and be ready. Do NOT take this one lightly.

 

[dshnay]

For those that want to review physics, i heard that mcat physics book was really good, infact i actually ordered one today isbn #1889057002 (amazon.com has it)

 

[karlin009]

thats a good idea, but along with ur daily reading stuff, make sure you are also reading some boring, difficult to understand material, since thats what the verbal is about.

The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker.....whoohoo
I'm actually enjoying it 😉