Studying for the MCATs

[HappyFeet22]

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How did you guys study for the MCATs? Did you guys take a prep course, such as Kaplan or Princeton Review? Or did you guys rely on the SDN Forum MCAT Discussion forum? Also, how long did you study for?

 

[janV88]

I took a Kaplan course that ran till the end of April, 2009. The class was ok...I stopped going after a while because I felt I could study much better on my own. The online portion is great. Lots of quizzes, practice tests, and access to the official AAMC practice MCAT tests.

I took a break the 1st week of May because that was the week of finals.

After that I spent about 2 hours per day going over quizzes and practice passages then another 2 hours per day going over what I got wrong/what I found confusing. I made sure that I MASTERED how to do every question before moving on. I took an AAMC practice MCAT exam 1/week and then stepped it up to 2/week a couple of weeks before the actual MCAT. I used the practice exams to practice NOT AS A DIAGNOSTIC. I didn't worry about how many I got wrong but WHY I got them wrong and HOW to make sure I didnt make the same mistake again.

The best way to study for the MCAT is to go over the material first, then take A LOT of practice passages/exams. I cannot emphasize the importance of practicing. What makes the MCAT really difficult is not the material but how the material is presented. It requires you to solve complex problems quickly and accurately. IMO, the best way to get better at comprehending faster and solving problems faster/better is to take as many practice passages/exams as possible.

I took the real thing on June 17, 2009. The real thing felt like a step or two ahead of the AAMC practice exams. It's like the AAMC exams on steroids. It just felt more advanced. So be prepared for this. Expect the real thing to be harder than any practice exam you took. I averaged between 30-35 with the AAMC practice exams and got a 31 on the real thing.

GL👍

 

[dtrack22]

janv was spot on with the reply. My only other piece of advice is to see if your University (assuming you're still in school) has a semester or half semester long prep course. Once you figure out "how" to answer MCAT questions, the test isn't nearly as daunting as it may seem. You'd be surprised at how many times you can eliminate 3 of the 4 possible answers just by carefully reading the passage and understanding what each "answer" is really saying. They like to mask basic science concepts with advanced terminology. ie you'll get a passage devoted to some new rocket NASA has developed. You wont have heard of any of the materials that propel the rocket but as long as you understand some basic Newtonian physics you'll be able to answer many of the questions associated with the passage.

The only problems where you either "know it" or you don't are the stand alone questions which in my experience were very straight forward and basic.

One thing to add. Make sure a couple of your practice tests are FULL tests. Time yourself and go through each section, using the same guidelines you'll be following on test day. I'd even do the writing portion, not because it really matters (I used those 60 minutes to sort of relax and still managed an "R" on it), but because you want to get used to a 5-6 hour test. I think a lot of people struggle during the last section because they just weren't ready to sit and put all of their energy into a test for that long. It gets harder to concentrate when all you want to do is get up and leave. GL though.

 

[Sabin]

🙂

 

[Deeper1]

Did anyone use The Gold Standard MCAT by Dr. Ferdinand to study? I was wondering what was the study guide of choice for many pre-pods was since I'm having a hard time deciding between The Gold Standard, Kaplans, and Examkrackers.

 

[Sabin]

Did anyone use The Gold Standard MCAT by Dr. Ferdinand to study? I was wondering what was the study guide of choice for many pre-pods was since I'm having a hard time deciding between The Gold Standard, Kaplans, and Examkrackers.

I believe they are all about the same (in helpfulness). I've had friends who've tried just about all of them, and all have positive things to say. I used Kaplan Material, and I felt it was more than adequate (I also completed the Kaplan Course, which was great, but probably not worth the money, but I guess you can't but a price on being prepared).

 

[dtrack22]

...

 

[catchburns]

I completely agree with dtrack. I wouldn't waste my money on a prep course though. I went with Kaplan back when I was studying for mine and felt like it was a waste of time. I would have done better spending my time practicing more of the old exams. Fact is, Kaplan and the other guys try to teach you a ton of info in a very short period of time. Unless you know it already, that's not going to help you at all.

For me, studying was all about getting my timing down and figuring out the way they word the questions. My biggest problem was running out of time so more practice tests would have done the trick better. I knew the crap, I just needed to know it faster.

I would save your money on Kaplan or Princeton and instead buy the ExamKrackers books and pay for a bunch of the old practice tests (or at least find them for a 'free-er' price on a torrent site). Time yourself and work on getting faster.

 

[DrMushroomFoot]

Set up a schedule and stick with it... also check out the MCAT forum on SDN, see how your competition is studying for the test, you WILL be amazed and hopefully inspired to do the same 👍

Everyone studies differently, but here's what I did.

I set aside two months prior to my exam date. Studied no less than 8 hours per day everyday till the exam day. The materials I used were the Examkrackers set and the 1001 questions. First day of studying, took the Official MCAT practice test online thru aamc's website, Practice test #3 is free. Got my score to see where I was at to start. Went through the content review in a couple weeks. Spent the rest of the time drilling through the 1001 questions. 5 weeks prior to the exam, started taking 1 practice test every Saturday at 1:00PM because my real test was on a Sat at 1PM. After each test, saw where I needed improvements and continued on with the 1001 with more emphasis on my weaker subjects. 1 week before the test, started taking a practice test every other day.

On the Practice tests, I averaged a 37 (excluding my first practice test #3) On the real MCAT I got a 34Q.

 

[janV88]

5 weeks prior to the exam, started taking 1 practice test every Saturday at 1:00PM because my real test was on a Sat at 1PM.

👍 Great advice. I also did this and it really helped out a lot.

 

[janV88]

You actually can put a price on prepared...we're still talking about pod school right? Even a 19 on the MCAT will get you into the mighty DMU. So the question becomes do I need to spend almost 2 grand preparing for an exam that I don't even need to get a 50% on? The answer is prob no. Now, a better score may get you some more scholarship money and that is something to think about but you should know what you're capable of (ie how smart are you?) and can base your decision off of that.

Any prep course will do. Just pick the one that's the cheapest, and follow the advice janv gave you in terms of how to prepare.

Yeah looking back at it, the kaplan course is not worth the $2k. Just buy the AAMC practice exams and other practice passages/exams and use whatever prep book to go over the material. IMO, the only subject that a prep book would be useful for is Bio. For orgo, gen chem, and physics...just use your old books.

 

[HappyFeet22]

Ok, thanks for all the replies! I'll be following the SDN 3-month MCAT forum, and hopefully that'll be enough.

 

[josebiwasabi]

Set up a schedule and stick with it... also check out the MCAT forum on SDN, see how your competition is studying for the test, you WILL be amazed and hopefully inspired to do the same 👍

Everyone studies differently, but here's what I did.

I set aside two months prior to my exam date. Studied no less than 8 hours per day everyday till the exam day. The materials I used were the Examkrackers set and the 1001 questions. First day of studying, took the Official MCAT practice test online thru aamc's website, Practice test #3 is free. Got my score to see where I was at to start. Went through the content review in a couple weeks. Spent the rest of the time drilling through the 1001 questions. 5 weeks prior to the exam, started taking 1 practice test every Saturday at 1:00PM because my real test was on a Sat at 1PM. After each test, saw where I needed improvements and continued on with the 1001 with more emphasis on my weaker subjects. 1 week before the test, started taking a practice test every other day.

On the Practice tests, I averaged a 37 (excluding my first practice test #3) On the real MCAT I got a 34Q.

may i ask what you or anyone else got on your first practice test, the AAMC #3? i just took it last weekend with zero studying and i felt that my score was inaccurate. i'm guessing i'm correct in saying that the #3 test is a lot easier than the actual MCAT?

 

[DrMushroomFoot]

may i ask what you or anyone else got on your first practice test, the AAMC #3? i just took it last weekend with zero studying and i felt that my score was inaccurate. i'm guessing i'm correct in saying that the #3 test is a lot easier than the actual MCAT?

On practice test #3 I got a 22. The majority say the practice test is much easier than the actual exam and that whatever you average on the practice tests, subtract anywhere from 3-5 points and that's a good guess on what you'll score.

Personally, I thought the level of difficulty was about the same, however, the added pressure and jitters of taking the real thing made it much harder to concentrate on my part. I panicked on the physics portion, ran out of time and didn't get a chance to answer 2 stand alone questions (this has never happened on a practice exam). After I settled in and calmed down, I was able to take the verbal and bio sections like normal. My physics score was considerably lower than my average while my verbal and bio was close to my average.

 

[catchburns]

Although the format of the practice tests are the same, I wouldn't use them as a basis for what to expect as your real score. Use them to learn how to time yourself and how the test is laid out. I think jitters and nerves play a part in the difference too but the scoring on the practice MCATs is just inaccurate.

Lets put it this way, out of the 5 practice tests I took, I averaged a 32. My highest practice test score was a 37. After months of studying, my real score was no where near that.

Truthfully you can't really even use the practice tests as a measure of your subject knowledge - although it will definitely alert you to a few things you definitely don't know - because in the end, each exam only makes you utilize a handful of the principles you could be tested on out of an ocean full of information. Chances are you won't even be tested on the same principle in the real test that you failed in a practice test.

 

[avatarftw]

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[josebiwasabi]

alright thanks for the info! i got a 26 on the AAMC 3 with a 8b8p10v and that was a lot higher than i was expecting for a pre-test so thats why i asked. time to bunker down and study! i registered for the sept 11th test

 

[dyk343]

alright thanks for the info! i got a 26 on the AAMC 3 with a 8b8p10v and that was a lot higher than i was expecting for a pre-test so thats why i asked. time to bunker down and study! i registered for the sept 11th test

AAMC 3 through about 5 or 6 were the easiest practice exams. The later ones were harder (in my opinion). I thought the real exam was harder than any practice exam I took. Maybe it was just my nerves that made it harder. I did score around my "practice exam average" on the real thing though.

 

[catchburns]

Sorry, but I think that the practice tests (previously administered tests) are fairly accurate. I actually did about 5 points better on the real test than on the practice ones.

So, if you did 5 points better on the real test, how exactly does that make the practice tests scoring accurate? 5 points on the MCAT is a pretty sizable difference.

 

[catchburns]

Also, just to clarify - the practice tests aren't "previously administered tests". They consist of "real MCAT questions from previously administered exams". Whether it sounds like it or not, that is a huge difference. Every MCAT has some more difficult stuff and some easier stuff. The way they are put together in the MCAT as a whole can make all the difference in the world for how you score.

You're not getting an MCAT exam in its entirety as it was ever taken on a real exam day.You are getting a mish-mash of exam questions from a bunch of different administered exams.

 

[avatarftw]

a

 

[Shireiqiang]

I took practice tests. There are a few free ones that you can find online. That is all I did and it worked for me. I took one section each day. After I took the test I would review the questions I got wrong. I did that for a few weeks. The rest of the time I spent golfing. Oh and I scored well above the podiatry average.

 

[dtrack22]

That's because you're Canadian...and you obviously don't (didn't) spend as much time on SDN as some of us

 

[GOLDenKatie]

I also have to start studying for the MCAT soon and am planning on using the 1001 ExamKrackers. There are older editions for sale that are really cheap compared to the new edition. Has anyone used the older versions (around 2001 edition) to study? I was wondering if the questions are fairly similar or is it better to just purchase the current editions? I will also be using the AAMC mcat practice exams.
Thanks in advance!

 

[catchburns]

I also have to start studying for the MCAT soon and am planning on using the 1001 ExamKrackers. There are older editions for sale that are really cheap compared to the new edition. Has anyone used the older versions (around 2001 edition) to study? I was wondering if the questions are fairly similar or is it better to just purchase the current editions? I will also be using the AAMC mcat practice exams.
Thanks in advance!

2001 is a long time ago. I'm sure the type of content you are questioned on hasn't changed much but I'd still shoot for newer books which have likely been improved at least a little bit.

 

[pieds]

I also have to start studying for the MCAT soon and am planning on using the 1001 ExamKrackers. There are older editions for sale that are really cheap compared to the new edition. Has anyone used the older versions (around 2001 edition) to study? I was wondering if the questions are fairly similar or is it better to just purchase the current editions? I will also be using the AAMC mcat practice exams.
Thanks in advance!

Amazon.com currently has the newest version on sale for $110.22 with free shipping.

 

[Shireiqiang]

I think you hit the nail on the head dtrack, it is because I am canadian. I just realized that I've relapsed. SDN I am back, like an alcoholic to the bottle.