Mcat Readyness

[grapz]

I am going to write the mcat this summer and i was wondering how long one usually studies to prepare for the first time for the mcat.

 

My plan is to do research , from 9-5 . and then study from around 6:30-12.

 

So roughly 6 hours per day, more on weekends, for 4 months. Do you think this will be enough?

[Addy K]

If you plan to follow through with such a rigid schedule, you will want to kill yourself and/or someone by the end of the summer .. It sounds like you are not taking a prep course, and no one on this forum can give you a magic number and tell you "342.25 hours is how much you should study". It depends on your background in the sciences and also I think how well you perform on verbal, since that, unlike the other sections, is much more difficult to improve on.

[Tan008]

Studying this much + doing research all day long will most likely burn you out after about two months. If you have an okay background in sciences I would try to cut down on your studying time per day. 6 hours would be fine if you're not doing anything else during the day.

[register]

if you do go by your schedule, remember to give yourself a few days to rest.

 

i did research + mcat last summer and it took a lot of discipline. remember to go out to play and see people. If you can too, try to squeeze in some studying while doing research. My experiments would take some time to run, so I always squeezed in some studying in between.

 

And flashcards are your friends. Whenever you are waiting for the bus, riding the bus, in the elevator, or wherever, just whip them out and get some studying done.

 

It is possible to do both without taking the course, but you have to manage your time. really really well.

 

 

If you want to know my schedule, it was over 3 months, the first month I took the studying lightly. Big Mistake. I usually studied 4 days out of the workdays, from 5pm to 11pm minus dinner. Weekends usually more, usually 8-10 hours. However, I did take off days, and vacations, and made time to go out too, cause that is what will keep you sane. In total, I spend half my time studying, (read through several prep books) and the other half doing tests. (AAMC, Pton, Kaplan, verbal section). If you need anymore information, pm me.