Burnt out from studying for the MCAT for the 3rd time

[barc16]

I have to re-write my MCAT in order to increase my chances at Western and Queen's, the two schools that favour my GPA, so there's no question about that. The story is that I studied for the MCAT (or more accurately, stressed about studying) for it all summer 3 years ago but didn't end up writing it because I knew I was not ready and I was going through some personal stuff so I decided to deal with that first. So that's 1 summer of studying.

Then last summer I studied and finally wrote it. But didn't do good enough, although met cutoffs for UofT.

Now I'm studying again this summer but I'm so burnt out from re-learning the material and just sitting there and reading for the 3rd time. I know it sounds kind of lazy to say this, but really, I cannot focus. I studied the sciences (psychology/neuroscience & biology) in my undergrad (just graduated this year) so my grasp of that material is pretty good. In fact, I'd say my grasp of the material overall is pretty good, but I still feel like I need to go through all the content or else I'll feel like I'm forgetting something.

Any tips/advice for how to deal with this? Anyone who went through or is going through something similar?  

[OldManLogan]

I know how you feel. This is exactly how I felt when I had to re-write the test. How I got over this was 1) I studied for shorter intervals in the beginning. For example, I studied for 30 minutes and took a break rather than studying for an hour before taking a break (and then I gradually increased my study:break ratio to be more efficient). 2) I got togehter with friends who were also studying for the MCAT (this was a good support system) 3) I took break days every week.

By doing this, I was able to do well on the MCAT and I know you can too!

[Olaf]

If you feel like you already have a pretty good grasp of the material, you could try focusing more on doing practice tests rather than starting from the beginning with studying - that could help you identify which areas you still need to work on and which areas you know well so you can focus on studying only what you need to rather than studying everything all over again. 

You could also try different methods of studying. My first time I just used MCAT prep books but the second time around I also watched a lot of YouTube videos (like Khan Academy) and listened to podcasts to change things up. 

[lulu95]

Like what trj03 suggested, I'd recommend that you do some practice tests to improve your scores; since it seems like the material isn't the main issue here, just re-reading the books won't help you much. If possible, do full-length timed practices in addition to practice questions, as it'll give you a feel for the real thing and also help you pace yourself for the exam (you don't want to be burnt out by the 3rd section, as CARS is usually an important hurdle). Complement those practices with adequate time to review your answers afterward, and if you're worried about forgetting material, you can always make up flashcards and review them on-the-go, prioritizing the ones that you missed. 

[_gettingthere_]

I found that it's more important to know the test style than the material for the MCAT, especially if you studied science in undergrad. For me, what worked really well was studying content in 1 month (spending more time on my weak areas, like physics) and then doing practice questions and full lengths for 2 months. During my practice months, I only reviewed content for things I got wrong or that I felt unclear about. The rest of my time was spent getting very familiar with the question styles, patterns in my own thinking that led me to the right/wrong answers and getting the timing down.

Also, I struggled a lot with burnout while studying as well and couldn't bring myself to finish an FL without losing focus halfway through. I found it helpful to do a timed test section (any of the 4) in a day, take a break and review my mistakes the same day. (Not just mistakes, but also questions I got right so I had a better understanding of what I should be doing more consistently.) I did this for several days, then did 2 sections a day, then 3 and eventually could do an entire FL without burning out. This might work for you, I'd suggest trying it.

Good luck!