( those who have taken MCAT) prep questions

[browneyes124]

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Hey guys! So starting next semester will be my last year in college. I'm getting kind of nervous because I'll have to start studying for the mcat starting in a year. I know most people study for the mcat in a span of 3 months or so or even less. I was just wondering, don't you forget a lot of what you've learned first semester freshmen year by the time you're a junior or senior? Like I remember a lot of biology for all my years because that's my major but with chemistry I'm terrible at! Like when I took chem 2 the semester after chem 1 I didn't remember a lot from chem 1 and that was just over a few months. I'm afraid that for stuff like chem that I won't remember a lot of it by the time I mcat prep because it has never been my strong point.

How do people study everything from 3-4 years in 3 months and have an adequate memory of all of it? It gives me anxiety just thinking about it. For those who did study over 3 months or less, did you find that once you were reading the books things came back to you? Also what did you do if you came across topics you didn't remember at all? I'm thinking that maybe I should start prepping now by buying a prep book or looking at the content guide for the mcat and make notes about it for the classes I'm in next semester( physics and organic) would I be wasting my time doing this or no? Also when I say long term prep I don't mean intense, just trying to fill in the content guide or make notes about topics usually on the mcat while taking the class so it's more fresh. I'm just kinda nervous and just want to do well.

 

[Ehwic]

Do you know what 2+2 equates to? If so, didn't you learn that in elementary school--so how do you still remember it now? Basically, the MCAT tests all basic knowledge on the fields but the spin is that the passages may be dense and requires critical thinking to analyze what they want you to solve. The best part is that the difficulty of the passages does not always equate to the difficulty of the questions asked. It's not uncommon to have an astrophysics passage (for example) that's super dense and then asks you to do simple addition or multiplication. The converse is also true where the passages is easy to read but the questions are dense.

Overall, I would suggest practice tests to get in the habit of sitting down for prolonged periods of time and to get a feel for the questions. The way I studied for it was by reading through my MCAT books once--whether I remembered everything or not didn't matter. I purchased 14 exams from NextStep and did all of them throughout the course of my 3 months study period.

 

[Mclovin0351]

I took 7 weeks of studying to do 18 full length exams. Started with one a week and got to 3ish a week. I reviewed every exam in depth and spent extra time learning and reviewing my weak areas. Scored very well.

 

[KoalaT]

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/koalats-all-in-one-mcat-guide.1195923/

Just use this guide. You'll do fine. Just take more than 3 months (around 120 days) is what I'd suggest. You will probably only end up studying around 3 months because of holidays, wanting to shoot your brains out, etc so I'd just start and set aside 120 days. You'll do fine.

I was literally the same way. All I did was cram for tests in college and forget immediately. Cram. forget. Cram. Forget. I remembered nothing. Just use the above guide. You could know absolutely nothing and this guide will get you above the 90th percentile easy.

 

[browneyes124]

I took 7 weeks of studying to do 18 full length exams. Started with one a week and got to 3ish a week. I reviewed every exam in depth and spent extra time learning and reviewing my weak areas. Scored very well.

Did you read the prep books before you tried the exam?

 

[Mclovin0351]

Did you read the prep books before you tried the exam?

No. I saw it as a waste of time. You've already taken 2+ years worth of college courses on the subjects they cover.

I did use a psych/soc review book which I read through twice during the period I was already taking exams.

I would use review books solely to help you shore up your weak areas which your practice exams will reveal. Reviewing exams should take a long time. When I came across a question or concept I didn't understand, I would go learn/review it using textbooks, Wikipedia, and khan academy mostly. Several others I know also scored very well using this general strategy.

 

[Robracer89]

Hi there,

If you need longer then 3 months to study it's okay!!! I needed around 6 because I absolutely did not remember how to do some of the basic stuff