Studying 3 years in advance for the MCAT

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HDr

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I am currently heading into my sophomore year in undergrad. I have a few questions;

1. Would studying for the MCAT in my free time put me at a significant advantage?

2. Is it pointless to study for the MCAT when I don't have most of my pre reqs completed? (So far I have an A+ in A&P1 and Bio1 (4.0 GPA as of now)) I'm taking Bio2 the second half of this summer and I will take my other pre reqs (stat, chems, phys) in between summers once I am in a nursing program.

3. What are some books/ sites that will provide me the opportunity to help further improve my knowledge for the questions on the new MCAT?

Thanks in advance. :bookworm:

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I am currently heading into my sophomore year in undergrad. I have a few questions;

1. Would studying for the MCAT in my free time put me at a significant advantage?

2. Is it pointless to study for the MCAT when I don't have most of my pre reqs completed? (So far I have an A+ in A&P1 and Bio1 (4.0 GPA as of now)) I'm taking Bio2 the second half of this summer and I will take my other pre reqs (stat, chems, phys) in between summers once I am in a nursing program.

3. What are some books/ sites that will provide me the opportunity to help further improve my knowledge for the questions on the new MCAT?

Thanks in advance. :bookworm:

1. Once you know when you're taking your MCAT, yes, there will be some advantage. Three years in advance? lolz. At least get through bio.

2. Yep. Again: you're not even done with bio.

3. Read through the MCAT 2015 FAQ in my signature. That'll give you a good idea of what, exactly, you're studying for, and there's a list of all the available books and websites out there for the new exam. But take it with a grain of salt because by the time you really start grinding down, there will probably be MUCH better material out to use.
 
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No, please don't lol. First, you're going to stress yourself out so hard. Second, if you take any sort of break (winter for example), you'll literally forget everything. If you're so set on studying, though, go ahead and start teaching yourself active reading for the CARS section.
 
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Your time would be better spent focusing on absorbing the material in your pre-reqs. That way, you will have a good foundation when you do start studying (years from now), and you can maintain your high GPA.
 
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The problem with starting to study now is that you don't have the knowledge foundation from pre-reqs to understand what you're studying. If I understood you correctly, you haven't taken gen chem yet? There is no way you could effectively study ochem and especially not biochem, which is emphasized in the new version. Use your time to work hard on and ace your science pre-reqs. That will give you not only a great foundation for MCAT studying but also a great GPA for your application. And do some clinical volunteering, research, and org leadership when you can fit them in.

Plan on studying for the MCAT for the 6-9 months before your desired test date.
 
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The following is from here:
2. [As early as possible] Get Anki. If you're not familiar with the wonder that is Anki, your life is about to change forever. It's a really versatile spaced-repetition flashcard software; there's a free computer version, as well as a $25 app that is the best money that I've ever spent. I made Anki decks throughout my prereq courses and content review, and tried to do 100 review cards and 25-50 new cards every day. It adds up fast: by the time my MCAT date rolled around, there were more than 12,000 cards in my Anki decks. This is by far the best method that I found for consolidating and maintaining info for the exam. There's a lot out there about how to make smarter/higher-yield flashcards for Anki... I won't duplicate that here, but can post more about how I wrote my cards if people are curious.

Edit: several people have asked me if I'm sharing my Anki deck. I'm not planning on posting it, for two reasons:
1. The cards are pretty customized to my strengths and weaknesses, so there is a lot of detail on some topics, but other topics I skipped entirely.
2. The exercise of making your own flashcards is good review in and of itself -- you probably learn more by making them than by reviewing them.
In the long run, I think it is way more valuable to make your own deck!

More on Anki here.

And my own comments:

I think it's great that you're thinking about MCATs--it means you're serious about your future. However, as others above have stated, it is too early to study for them as of yet. Wait until you're at least about 6 months out.

That being said, put your 100% effort into your classes (as you evidently have been), and use Anki to retain the information from these important classes. That way, when it comes time for studying for MCATs, your content knowledge will be strong and you will only need a little more filling in the gaps in terms of content review and can focus almost completely on practice. Just my n=1.
 
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I would grab myself a large review book Kaplan or tpr and I would annotate all of those pearls you learn during class that really makes that section stick and don't memorize but take the extra time to understand the why for each subject. I think this would be the best use of your time at this point.
 
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If you want to get in the habit of reading research papers in relevant MCAT topics that would be a solid idea.

You can even take an old AAMC verbal practice test to see where you stand and if your verbal score is way off what you want it to be perhaps plan on spending the next several years practicing active reading on a consistent basis.

Doing anything more than this is a complete waste of time. Anything that has to do with studying actual content for the MCAT is pointless.
 
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Three years is a bit excessive. While it, in principle, sounds like a great idea, you will be fighting against memory degradation while studying inefficiently. It is best to save your exam resources until closer to your exam date so you do not waste them. HOWEVER, what you can do is do what Shreyas suggested and create an extensive Anki deck for reviewing every topic you learn so you retain the information "perfectly." Also, if you are made out of money, you can try Firecracker for MCAT preparation. One thing that would be a major advantage would be to constantly review old material throughout college. Most people forget small details from general chemistry, biology, etc. throughout the years, so doing this would put you way ahead of the curve because you will be able to rapidly retrieve information from your long-term memory effortlessly. If you couple this with reading articles (ACS, Scientific American, Cell Biology, etc.) and doing biomedical research, you will be able to integrate your knowledge into one beautiful picture. All of biology is ultimately chemistry, and all of chemistry is ultimately physics. In my opinion, being able to integrate everything into one glorious symphony will enable you to do extremely well on the exam (assuming you test well and know the patterns in MCAT questions through practice) while also allowing you to appreciate everything that you have learned.

You should also start your ECs now. Get leadership experience, go volunteer in a medical and nonmedical setting, and shadow doctors and get to know them. Like I said above, do research (if you are interested); you will be surprised by the opportunities that are available from doing research. If you do your ECs consistently and do them because you love them (not because it's 'expected') it will help you develop as an individual. You should also do some sort of hobby that is interesting. For example, you could perhaps start training in martial arts, play sports, or get involved in some sort of artistic endeavor (if you look around your city, you might find interest groups for music, pottery, painting, etc.). For all things in life, being interesting is positive. Adcoms (not just for medical school) like people who are interesting, enthusiastic, mature, yet also fun to converse with. Getting involved in some sort of athletic activity (running, weight-lifting, martial arts, sports, etc.) will also get/keep you in the best physical shape of your life while also fighting stress.

In short, I applaud your enthusiasm for the test. I can relate to that mentality myself. However, just studying practice materials for three years straight is unrealistic. Instead, you should focus on spaced repetition for reviewing old content in order to combat memory degradation while studying consistently (a few hours a day most days) for your classes and not just cramming information one week before your exams. Doing this will relieve stress, store more information in long-term memory, and balance your life with things that are enjoyable.
 
Thank you all for providing some of the most helpful input and advice I have yet to receive. I will make sure to focus on my GPA and ECs for now.

I currently use Quizlet to study for some of my classes, but I will try out Anki and see if it is beneficial. Does anyone recommend the Anki app for iOS?

volunteer in a medical and nonmedical setting

Once I am volunteering at a hospital will it matter what I do with the volunteering hours? (Working at the gift shop, helping patients, etc.) Do medical schools favor anything? Or do they strictly care about the hours and that I learned some things? I will have an extensive amount of clinical hours once I become a nurse so I am not sure if it would matter a whole lot that I get to see the medical side of things when I am volunteering, as long as what I do is beneficial to the hospital, patients, and staff.

Also, if you are made out of money, you can try Firecracker for MCAT preparation.

Should I try Firecracker now or wait until I complete my pre reqs?

Again, thank you all for the advice.
 
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All of the information is contained in your prerequisites. Focus on understanding all of the material inside and out while you're taking the classes. I'd recommend studying during your breaks too. It wouldn't hurt.
 
Thank you all for providing some of the most helpful input and advice I have yet to receive. I will make sure to focus on my GPA and ECs for now.

I currently use Quizlet to study for some of my classes, but I will try out Anki and see if it is beneficial. Does anyone recommend the Anki app for iOS?



Once I am volunteering at a hospital will it matter what I do with the volunteering hours? (Working at the gift shop, helping patients, etc.) Do medical schools favor anything? Or do they strictly care about the hours and that I learned some things? I will have an extensive amount of clinical hours once I become a nurse so I am not sure if it would matter a whole lot that I get to see the medical side of things when I am volunteering, as long as what I do is beneficial to the hospital, patients, and staff.



Should I try Firecracker now or wait until I complete my pre reqs?

Again, thank you all for the advice.

1. Yes, use Anki app for iOS, but I recommend you download the free version for PC/Mac and build up your deck while studying a while. The app is not too expensive ($25) but isn't really worth it unless you are really hardcore about using an iPad.

2. If you're working as a nurse, I would recommend doing more of non-medical volunteering (one charity and stick with it).

3. Firecracker is pretty expensive. I think it might be $500 for 6 months. I don't remember. Really don't do anything like that until you finish more of your pre-reqs. Anki will suffice for now if you make flashcards for your subjects and study them even between semesters.

The basic idea is to constantly review material so you don't lose it over time, but don't waste precious class/EC time studying previous semesters. Instead, you study old content during your breaks. Studying a little bit at a time goes a long way. For example, you could literally study 15 minutes or less a day of old material in Anki, and that review will build up over time. Honestly, ECs are more important for you at this point, so if you find it too time-consuming to study a little bit of old material here and there, just focus on your classes and pay attention. If you do really well in your classes, chances are you'll remember the majority of the basic concepts anyway, although it still pays to review old material so you don't forget it.

Also, don't even bother studying ahead. A lot of people think they can get a textbook for a future class they will take, read it, and breeze through the semester. They usually procrastinate instead, or they might try to read but not actually understand anything beyond superficial details. All in all, it is a waste of time.
 
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Since you're this early, I think you should spend time reading mags/articles like the economists and books in general for your reading comprehension. Also journals like Cell/Nature/Science for the BS section.
 
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I am currently heading into my sophomore year in undergrad. I have a few questions;

1. Would studying for the MCAT in my free time put me at a significant advantage?

2. Is it pointless to study for the MCAT when I don't have most of my pre reqs completed? (So far I have an A+ in A&P1 and Bio1 (4.0 GPA as of now)) I'm taking Bio2 the second half of this summer and I will take my other pre reqs (stat, chems, phys) in between summers once I am in a nursing program.

3. What are some books/ sites that will provide me the opportunity to help further improve my knowledge for the questions on the new MCAT?

Thanks in advance. :bookworm:
1) Yes.
2) I think some of the prep books do a good job of starting from the ground and working up, even in gen chem as someone mentioned. I don't think you need to have taken them in order to learn something.
3) The AAMC official guide has pretty much all you need to know. Khan academy too.
 
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I know some people are laughing at you, but I think it's great that you're taking this seriously. I studied for all of five weeks, and I was none for the worse, but there were certainly some areas I felt like I knew the material, but was short the foundation to back it up. For example, if you gave me a concept in biology, I could give you the guy that developed it and the experiments that led to it, just because I took a lot of biology in undergrad. I didn't take much psych at all so I couldn't do this in psych, and it's not really something that review books help with, because they are meant to cover the concepts in the most succinct and memorable way possible.

My point here is, don't go picking up your review books just yet, but maybe after each class exam you take, do a good review of what you've learned in the course thus far, and keep a three or four page set of notes and maybe an anki file on every single prereq class you take. The logic behind doing a review AFTER an exam is that most people do poorly on a section in the MCAT because they've "brain dumped" everything from that class/unit right after they took it. If you study it afterwards, of your own volition, you'll have much better recall.

Lastly, you have lots of time and there are lots of verbal passages out, so pick up a 10000001 question verbal book or whatever they are publishing these days and do a passage or two every week for now, just to get a hang of it. This section is the only one I can see tangible benefit from doing prep this far our for.

And one more thing. I took the MCAT at the end of my sophomore year. Most people take it beginning/middle of junior year, so you don't have 3 years. You have 20 months on the long side and 11 on the short side, unless you have special plans post-bac.
 
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The only thing I would potentially maybe start looking at is learning how to destroy the verbal section. That's a skill that can take years to master. Everything else you can pretty much knock out in a couple months after you've had your pre-reqs.
 
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We have a term for that kind of behavior in medical school - it's called "gunning". No one wants to be or be associated with gunners.

Study your science courses and get good grades, as it shows that you know the material. Start seeing MCAT questions 6 months before the test, and go into full MCAT mode 3 months before the test.

Unless you get with the program, your attempts to "get ahead" by studying 2.5 years before necessary serve only as amusement to those who have taken it.
 
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We have a term for that kind of behavior in medical school - it's called "gunning". No one wants to be or be associated with gunners.

Study your science courses and get good grades, as it shows that you know the material. Start seeing MCAT questions 6 months before the test, and go into full MCAT mode 3 months before the test.

Unless you get with the program, your attempts to "get ahead" by studying 2.5 years before necessary serve only as amusement to those who have taken it.

Hopefully he doesn't become the type of "gunner" that actively sabotages all of his peers to get ahead. Those are the people who have no friends. 🙂
 
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