When (and how) to start MCAT studying?

[UncreativeGenius]

Hey guys,

I'm a non-trad veteran that is currently in my first semester back in school. I'm in a situation where I've finished almost all of my GEs so my pre-med advisor and I have come up with an aggressive plan to knock out my pre-reqs, take the MCAT, and apply within two years. It looks like this:

Fall '17 (Current)
Gen Chem 1

Spring '18
Gen Chem 2
Bio 1

Summer '18
OChem 1 (Session 1)
Bio 2 (Session 2)

Fall '18
Ochem 2
Physics 1
Cell Bio

Spring '19
Biochem
Physics 2
Genetics

Summer '19
Take MCAT and apply

Clearly, this is a rigorous schedule and I'm not allowing myself a lot of free time to sit down and study for the MCAT for hours a day. On the other hand, I'm taking all of the classes relatively shortly before I take the MCAT so I have no excuse to forget a lot of the information.

My question is, given this schedule, how soon should I start studying specifically for the MCAT? My original thinking was that I should sit down for the month between the end of Spring '19 and when I actually take the MCAT and just cram. Recently, I've been thinking about starting my studying at the end of this year with classes that I have taken and just continuously do that every few months, adding on the new classes that I've taken each time I finish a pre-req.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

tl;dr: Look at that schedule, when would you fit MCAT studying in there?

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[Altius Premier Tutor]

Cramming is no bueno! I would recommend starting to study fall 2018 while you finish up those prereqs. If you space out your prep time between Sep 2018 and Summer 2019, you can get a lot done in only 5-10 hours per week. The general "start in the fall and take a spring/summer exam" is actually what I recommend to everyone and what has clearly produced the best results among my 1-on-1 students. Some students worry they will burn out, but that's rare if you're only doing a few hours each week.

 

[Spectar]

Agree with Altius. Fall - spring - summer. Minimum study 1 hour a day on a weekday and keep up with it.

 

[Blanky]

Your list almost looks fine. With that final semester you aren't going to have MCAT study time. Push the Genetics a semester and study MCAT while taking Genetics. You will be better off in the next cycle...

 

[UncreativeGenius]

I truly appreciate all of the advice. My only concern would be, would I be at risk of forgetting everything I learned in fall by the time I took the MCAT in the summer? Or is there a systematic way to avoid that?

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

Spaced repetition.

Anki is an app that will help you get spaced repetition if used correctly. The Altius program is built around this concept.

You cannot just learn something once. That is what most students do...and the result is they've put thousands of factoids in their brains they now have no hope of remembering! What a waste. If you learn correctly, what you learn in October will not only NOT be forgotten by July, it will be much stronger than it was when you first learned it.

 

[NextStepTutor_1]

Hi @AlexBL94 -

I'd second everything that has been said about spaced repetition & Anki as a tool that many people swear by.

Another thing to think about is that you avoid the trap of memorizing and then forgetting factoids if you invest some time up-front in really understanding the topics and building connections between different content areas. One of my favorite examples of this is peptide vs. steroid hormones. Often students just memorize a list of hormones, their effects, and which category they belong to, but if instead you start with the nitty-gritty of how peptide & steroid hormones differ structurally in terms of charge and size, you can then understand why they interact differently with cells, and then why they typically exert different kinds of effects. At this point, remembering which hormone is which becomes tremendously easier -- both today and in the future whenever you go back to review the details.

It takes some mental energy to do this, but shifting from memorizing facts to understanding concepts whenever possible is a longer-term investment that will pay off when you get closer to Test Day. Think of it as like building the foundation and framework of a house -- you can then go in and finish up the walling and roofing when you get closer to the endpoint.

In terms of concrete steps, what I'd suggest is consulting the official AAMC topic list (Google "aamc what's on the MCAT") and read through the various Foundational Concepts, which is how they structure the content that is tested on the exam, and spend some time thinking through (& possibly writing out, or talking to other students about) what they mean by those Foundational Concepts and how the testable bullet points fit in.

Alternately, and more simply, you can channel your inner toddler and always ask "Why? Why? Why?" when faced with MCAT content .

Best of luck with your study plans and goals!!