Studying for MCAT during School

[cherry~blossoms]

Hi, everyone.

I have been thinking about studying for the MCAT while taking on a full class load, and I was wondering if this is possible/recommended.

I'm only a sophomore right now, so I've got a year to go before starting, but I'd like to get an idea of what to expect for next year.

I'm thinking about studying for 6-7 months (after all the prereqs) while taking my required upper-level bio classes.

This is just a general idea/plan, so please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

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[cbdblmad]

The important thing will be sticking to a consistent schedule for your mcat prep. What constitutes a full course load? 12 credits with one lab and 17 credits with three labs are two different beasts. My advice is to go onto the aamc website before anything else and take a good look at what you're expected to know for the test. Some things will be easy for you and some will be hard. At least for me, it was helpful to start out with the subject I had never taken a class in and slowly go through it several times over the course of my review. You can search for reviews of any of the common review books on here, they all have pros and cons. None of them will cover every single detail you need to know while simultaneously giving you more detail than is necessary. No matter what find a system that works and stick to it.

Good luck! The mcat sucks, but it is only one part of applying. Make sure your gpa/ec don't suffer while prepping.

 

[FlowRate]

I don't know what the meta is nowadays. My major was way too intense to afford any time to add MCAT studying on top of the other premed EC's. It really depends on what works for you. If you find yourself with tons of free time then it's obviously doable. But why not just study hard core for a couple of months over the summer?

 

[Cardboard101]

Hi, everyone.

I have been thinking about studying for the MCAT while taking on a full class load, and I was wondering if this is possible/recommended.

I'm only a sophomore right now, so I've got a year to go before starting, but I'd like to get an idea of what to expect for next year.

I'm thinking about studying for 6-7 months (after all the prereqs) while taking my required upper-level bio classes.

This is just a general idea/plan, so please let me know what you think.

Thank you!

You should treat MCAT studying like a taking s 5 unit upper-div science class. If you try to cram MCAT studying in with a full course load of upper-div sciences you likely won't do either very well. I'd try to get Biochem/Molecular Bio/Genetics out of the way and then start your MCAT prep with some GEs, pushing some of your more difficult required courses for your major to 4th year.

 

[cherry~blossoms]

Thank you everyone for your advice! I'm taking classes during the summer, which is why I was wondering. But I realize it's difficult to study with a full course load, so I'm going to look into 'easier' classes I could take at the time, or just push it back.

 

[Blueprint Med School]

I took the MCAT in January of my junior year as a neuroscience major. That Fall semester, I was taking 5 courses including biochem. While it was not easy, here's how I prepared.

Summer before junior year: Light studying, building a foundation for the MCAT. Only studied for about 10 hrs a week for July and August.
Fall semester: I would try to make sure I would study every week. No matter what, I tried to get in 4 hours of studying to review content and do practice.
Winter break: Crunch time. I was studying about 8 hours a day, every day, including Christmas and New Years.

While this plan is definitely not easy, it's doable. Having Winter break was huge, as you really wanna crank down in the last month of your studying. The problem with May test dates is that you have to study for the MCAT while studying for finals. It all depends on if you are able to find whatever time you have during the school year to fit in some studying (while maintaining a good work-life balance!).

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

Hey @cherry~blossoms I took the MCAT after studying exactly 4 months (almost to the day). I was taking 17 credits with a lab, working in a lab and volunteering and ended up in the 95th-%ile. I don't recommend it for just anyone but its doable.

Only thing I can say is I cannot recommend studying for the MCAT for 7 months, you will burn out if you are studying hard over that time and if not, you start to forget what you studied in the beginning. What I do recommend is thinking very hard about your schedule for Junior spring semester, do you have the time to study 5-6 hrs per day aside from classes?

 

[Lawpy]

I don't know what the meta is nowadays. My major was way too intense to afford any time to add MCAT studying on top of the other premed EC's. It really depends on what works for you. If you find yourself with tons of free time then it's obviously doable. But why not just study hard core for a couple of months over the summer?

I agree with this, and I think this is good advice. I believe the key to doing well on MCAT requires full time, focused practice on actively learning the material and doing a lot of passages in timed conditions. But balancing it with a light courseload is possible

 

[cherry~blossoms]

Thank you all! I just thought I would need at least six months if I was going to study during schooltime, but thank you for letting me know about burnout/forgetting early stuff. I have also yet to think about what I'll be taking during that time, but if I can plan a somewhat light course load, I will think about studying during that time. I will also preview the material before I begin an intense schedule of studying. Once again, thank you everyone for your advice!

 

[star-lily]

Be kind to yourself, too, and know your limits. If you end up needing to take the exam after graduating in order to get the best score you can, nobody will judge you for that.

 

[Detective SnowBucket]

nobody will judge you for that.

well, they will on SDN