Working full-time, requesting advice for making a MCAT schedule

[Rapha]

Hi guys!

I wanted some outside opinion and advice on creating a personalized MCAT study schedule.

About me

• Working full-time (8-5)
• I have broad familiarity and understanding of all of the BB and CP topics on the AAMC outline, i'm currently working on PS and will be finished going through the outline soon (I essentially will have a basic grasp of everything on the outline after finishing PS, but my knowledge and understanding will only be foundational!)
• Only have 3 hours to study M-F (mainly because of traffic), but am free on the weekends
• Plan to test in late January, but that'll all depend on how life goes and what my practice exam scores are closer to 2018
• Goal is 520+

Things that I need to fit into my study schedule

• Practice questions (TPR Science, variable CARS, NS qbook, Uworld, all AAMC stuff like qpacks, sections banks, flashcards, OG...I also have EK 1001, EK books for 30min questions)
• Practice exams (AAMC for sure and I have EK and NS but can buy others if need be)
• Reviewing: P/S terms, review sheets that I made for each topic, and mistakes from practice
• Informal MCAT study session that meets for an hour almost everyday
• A day off per week

Would love and appreciate all help! Thanks.

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[doopdewoo]

What I did when I was working full time was study 6-10 m-th, take a full practice test on saturday, and review tough concepts on sunday. I left friday afternoons and sunday mornings free for chilling, and I allowed myself some flexibility if I felt especially burned out. If I felt I was struggling with a particular area, I'd jump around in my schedule and spend a day doing practice questions instead of just memorizing. I primarily used Kaplan and PR for content review, and Exam Krackers, Khan Academy and AAMC for practice. By the end, I tapered off my studying and just started watching some Khan academy videos for the trickier concepts. I spent about 3 months studying and got a 522. If you want me to go into more detail, please lmk, I'm on my phone right now!

 

[Rapha]

What I did when I was working full time was study 6-10 m-th, take a full practice test on saturday, and review tough concepts on sunday. I left friday afternoons and sunday mornings free for chilling, and I allowed myself some flexibility if I felt especially burned out. If I felt I was struggling with a particular area, I'd jump around in my schedule and spend a day doing practice questions instead of just memorizing. I primarily used Kaplan and PR for content review, and Exam Krackers, Khan Academy and AAMC for practice. By the end, I tapered off my studying and just started watching some Khan academy videos for the trickier concepts. I spent about 3 months studying and got a 522. If you want me to go into more detail, please lmk, I'm on my phone right now!

Thank you for your response! That gives me a good general idea, and that's a freaking amazing score. Awesome job!! Your hard work paid off very well. And yes, that would be fantastic if you'd provide more details. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to.

 

[fourandtwo]

Hello. Worked 50-60 hour weeks while studying for the mcat. It took me 8 months to study.. this is what I would do:

Study everyday before work or after. I'd wake up at 4am every morning to study and stay near the office after work to study (to miss traffic) before I drove home, and like someone else mentioned, do practice tests on weekends.

 

[NABIHANA]

@doopdewoo @fourandtwo @gonnif
How did you guys manage to stay focused after a long day at work and stay motivated throughout prepping? I have a 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) every week but I can barley study those days compared to weekdays because I am usually very exhausted. I work 6am-5pm X 4days. I usually study at work from 6-10am with no problems, but I don't accomplish much in the weekend.
Any suggestions?

 

[Xavieous]

@doopdewoo @fourandtwo @gonnif
How did you guys manage to stay focused after a long day at work and stay motivated throughout prepping? I have a 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) every week but I can barley study those days compared to weekdays because I am usually very exhausted. I work 6am-5pm X 4days. I usually study at work from 6-10am with no problems, but I don't accomplish much in the weekend.
Any suggestions?

It was all about changing my location. Home was where my mind was allowed to wander, so I didn't/don't ever study there. After work give yourself a half hour to relax, maybe walk the dogs (what I did) hang out with the lady, exercise...whatever to help transition. then go somewhere like a coffee shop or library and study for the required amount of time for that day. I would start your studying preparation by figuring out how much you need to study. There was a few good studies showing the relatability of increasing scores with the increased amount of time you study, I would figure out where you are on that graph. For me it was 200 hours which meant 3.5 hours a day for 2 months. But, with the new MCAT I hear it is closer to 400-500 hours.

 

[fourandtwo]

@doopdewoo @fourandtwo @gonnif
How did you guys manage to stay focused after a long day at work and stay motivated throughout prepping? I have a 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) every week but I can barley study those days compared to weekdays because I am usually very exhausted. I work 6am-5pm X 4days. I usually study at work from 6-10am with no problems, but I don't accomplish much in the weekend.
Any suggestions?

I hear ya...start slow (that's why it takes many more months for us to prep) and practice being motivated for it.. that's all I can really advise :/

 

[doopdewoo]

@doopdewoo @fourandtwo @gonnif
How did you guys manage to stay focused after a long day at work and stay motivated throughout prepping? I have a 3 day weekend (Fri-Sun) every week but I can barley study those days compared to weekdays because I am usually very exhausted. I work 6am-5pm X 4days. I usually study at work from 6-10am with no problems, but I don't accomplish much in the weekend.
Any suggestions?

If you're already studying four hours during work, then you probably don't need to study that much after work? Especially since you're working long hours. Burning out is REALLY dangerous and I honestly think the only reason I was able to finish in three months was because I kept it relatively slow and steady and consistent. I usually took one practice test over the weekend to build up endurance, and then you can go through and check the answers either later that day or the next day, which only takes a couple hours. The biggest things I'd say are:

1. TAKE PRACTICE TESTS (I took 13!!! One of my friends studied just as much as I did but took 0 and is retaking it.)
2. HEAVILY REVIEW TOUGH CONCEPTS (I was having trouble with Psych/Soc and ended up doing every single practice question I could find related to Psych/Soc, and I ended up going from ~40 -> 97 percentile)
3. BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR PLAN (If something isn't working, CHANGE IT UP!)

I really hope this is helpful!

 

[Rapha]

If you're already studying four hours during work, then you probably don't need to study that much after work? Especially since you're working long hours. Burning out is REALLY dangerous and I honestly think the only reason I was able to finish in three months was because I kept it relatively slow and steady and consistent. I usually took one practice test over the weekend to build up endurance, and then you can go through and check the answers either later that day or the next day, which only takes a couple hours. The biggest things I'd say are:

1. TAKE PRACTICE TESTS (I took 13!!! One of my friends studied just as much as I did but took 0 and is retaking it.)
2. HEAVILY REVIEW TOUGH CONCEPTS (I was having trouble with Psych/Soc and ended up doing every single practice question I could find related to Psych/Soc, and I ended up going from ~40 -> 97 percentile)
3. BE FLEXIBLE WITH YOUR PLAN (If something isn't working, CHANGE IT UP!)

I really hope this is helpful!

What did you do to retain information?

 

[NABIHANA]

You guys are all very helpful. Thank you