Would this be a good way to organize my MCAT study schedule?

[sasoriboi]

Hey everyone,

If you had to go with one book set, is EK the most favored? I want to do a comprehensive content review (and I like to review material so I don't forget it). I've looked at several study schedules, and I've noticed that a lot of them like to do 1 subject per day. How would this look (for a rough schedule plan), assuming 8-10 hrs/day are spent, and using EK.

M: Bio/biochem (as many chapters as possible), passages, questions, 30min exam
T: Physics (same as above)
W: GC (same as above)
Thr: Orgo+ Psych/Soc (same as above)
F: Review chapters, passages, q's, 30 min exam for bio/biochem and Physics
S: Review chapters, passages, q's, 30 min exam for GC, Orgo, and Psych/Soc
Sun: Rest
***Also will be doing CARS passages every day***

Will then repeat this until content review is complete. Then move to AAMC Question banks, and FL exams (TPR, AAMC, NS, EK, Kaplan- do all of them, or are certain FL more worth it)?

Planning to take exam in March.

Any advice or tips are greatly appreciated!

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[Thekinginthenorth30]

I think your approach is fine. Im following a similar schedule using ek, but I only plan on covering 4 chapters a week instead of as many as possible.

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Honest answer: there are not nearly enough passages and questions in your regimen. The MCAT is a passage-based exam that presents some weird questions. It requires you to interpret data and analyze information, so your weekly preparation MUST include more of that.

 

[sasoriboi]

Since I'll need more passages, is it better to do:

A) EK set + EK 101 books for each section (for the passages)
B) EK set + TBR (for passages)
C) TBR solely (for content and passages)?

Trying to spend money wisely haha

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Passages and questions! As long as you are putting more time into practice over review in your weekly routine, then your money (and more importantly time) is being well spent.

 

[sasoriboi]

Passages and questions! As long as you are putting more time into practice over review in your weekly routine, then your money (and more importantly time) is being well spent.

Thanks! Could you tell me a bit about how TBR books are organized? So there's content review, and then are there practice q's and passages at the end, throughout etc? A lot of passages/q's?

 

[BerkReviewTeach]

Thanks! Could you tell me a bit about how TBR books are organized? So there's content review, and then are there practice q's and passages at the end, throughout etc? A lot of passages/q's?

Our general chemistry, physics, and organic chemistry books come with four sections per chapter. Our biology book appears as two sections, but can be broken into the four I will mention. (1) There is the text portion of each chapter. This has between 18 and 38 multiple-choice questions embedded within the text, so you can do questions as you proceed through each section in a given chapter. The goal is that you want to constantly test yourself in a multiple-choice fashion. Literally thousands of studies on learning have shown that repeatedly quizzing yourself in the format of your upcoming exam as you go through the material is essential for success. (2) There is Phase 1 of the homework, where the questions emphasize content and the fundamentals. This is 25 questions long and involves minimal material from other chapters. (3) There is Phase 2 of the homework which entails longer passages and trickier questions. The goal here is to stress you out over timing and force you to employ the shortcuts we teach in order to finish on time. Going over the answer explanations will show how to save time on questions. (4) There is Phase 3 of the homework, which incorporates material from other chapters. This is done to simulate exam conditions. It's one thing to do well on 25 straight acid-base questions, but the exam will not put 25 straight questions of any one subject. These 59-question sets will push you to your timing and conceptual limit. Again, the biggest gains are made when reviewing the explanations and trying the questions over after you've read it.

Our four science books have between 100 and 109 questions per chapter. In general chemistry there are 12 chapter and physics there are 10 chapters, each having two 25-question passage-based practice exams (Phases 1 and 2) followed by a 59-question cumulative exam (Phase 3, which have some questions form other sections as well). For organic chemistry there are three passaged-based exams of 25 questions, 50 questions, and 30 questions following each chapter (Phases 1, 2, and 3). In biology, there are 100 to 105 passage-based questions following each chapter (people typically do the first five for Phase 1, the second five for Phase 2, and the last five for Phase 3.)

As far as the books go, the biology has 150 passages with about 1025 questions, general chemistry has 180 passages with about 1590 questions, organic chemistry has 120 passages with about 1025 questions, and physics has 150 passages with about 1310 questions. All of the questions have detailed answer explanations, so it will take a while to navigate through everything. We are fanatical about making all questions multiple choice with answer explanations that teach you how to think your way through a question from more than one perspective.

 

[sasoriboi]

Our general chemistry, physics, and organic chemistry books come with four sections per chapter. Our biology book appears as two sections, but can be broken into the four I will mention. (1) There is the text portion of each chapter. This has between 18 and 38 multiple-choice questions embedded within the text, so you can do questions as you proceed through each section in a given chapter. The goal is that you want to constantly test yourself in a multiple-choice fashion. Literally thousands of studies on learning have shown that repeatedly quizzing yourself in the format of your upcoming exam as you go through the material is essential for success. (2) There is Phase 1 of the homework, where the questions emphasize content and the fundamentals. This is 25 questions long and involves minimal material from other chapters. (3) There is Phase 2 of the homework which entails longer passages and trickier questions. The goal here is to stress you out over timing and force you to employ the shortcuts we teach in order to finish on time. Going over the answer explanations will show how to save time on questions. (4) There is Phase 3 of the homework, which incorporates material from other chapters. This is done to simulate exam conditions. It's one thing to do well on 25 straight acid-base questions, but the exam will not put 25 straight questions of any one subject. These 59-question sets will push you to your timing and conceptual limit. Again, the biggest gains are made when reviewing the explanations and trying the questions over after you've read it.

Our four science books have between 100 and 109 questions per chapter. In general chemistry there are 12 chapter and physics there are 10 chapters, each having two 25-question passage-based practice exams (Phases 1 and 2) followed by a 59-question cumulative exam (Phase 3, which have some questions form other sections as well). For organic chemistry there are three passaged-based exams of 25 questions, 50 questions, and 30 questions following each chapter (Phases 1, 2, and 3). In biology, there are 100 to 105 passage-based questions following each chapter (people typically do the first five for Phase 1, the second five for Phase 2, and the last five for Phase 3.)

As far as the books go, the biology has 150 passages with about 1025 questions, general chemistry has 180 passages with about 1590 questions, organic chemistry has 120 passages with about 1025 questions, and physics has 150 passages with about 1310 questions. All of the questions have detailed answer explanations, so it will take a while to navigate through everything. We are fanatical about making all questions multiple choice with answer explanations that teach you how to think your way through a question from more than one perspective.

Wow that's awesome! Will definitely be looking into this heavily, thank you very much!