One week till test day - What do YOU do with the precious seven days??

[polarb]

This is my 2nd time around writing the MCATS so I should know what to do but my mind has completely blocked out what I was doing the week before my first test date.

 

Which may be a good thing because if what I was doing was right, maybe I wouldn't need to be here again

 

Anyhoo, what do you folks do with the last seven days? I've been studying for the past 2.5 months so going over the concepts feels old and it doesn't seem to stick in anymore!

I've done 3 full AAMC the past 3 days and am just feeling burnt out! I don't want to see another passage again and I haven't even written the MCAT yet!

 

Any suggestions on how I can utilize these seven days without burning myself out but still keep myself on top of the MCAT game?

[Halcyon]

This is my 2nd time around writing the MCATS so I should know what to do but my mind has completely blocked out what I was doing the week before my first test date.

 

Which may be a good thing because if what I was doing was right, maybe I wouldn't need to be here again

 

Anyhoo, what do you folks do with the last seven days? I've been studying for the past 2.5 months so going over the concepts feels old and it doesn't seem to stick in anymore!

I've done 3 full AAMC the past 3 days and am just feeling burnt out! I don't want to see another passage again and I haven't even written the MCAT yet!

 

Any suggestions on how I can utilize these seven days without burning myself out but still keep myself on top of the MCAT game?

 

Wow, one week, eh?

 

Great food, loads of water, sleep, physical activity, and anything else that makes you feel happy and healthy.

 

My time is coming all too soon. I wish you all the best on your MCAT. Only positive thoughts; you are going to do great! 45T all the way

[rmorelan]

This is my 2nd time around writing the MCATS so I should know what to do but my mind has completely blocked out what I was doing the week before my first test date.

 

Which may be a good thing because if what I was doing was right, maybe I wouldn't need to be here again

 

Anyhoo, what do you folks do with the last seven days? I've been studying for the past 2.5 months so going over the concepts feels old and it doesn't seem to stick in anymore!

I've done 3 full AAMC the past 3 days and am just feeling burnt out! I don't want to see another passage again and I haven't even written the MCAT yet!

 

Any suggestions on how I can utilize these seven days without burning myself out but still keep myself on top of the MCAT game?

 

Wow - 3 tests in 3 days! Are you finding you are improving at that pace? Personally I needed at least a day in between to review the problems I had etc. Anyone at that rate would be feeling a bit burnt out

 

I didn't study for the test the two days before hand myself and limited myself to 6-8 hours of studying the rest of the week. Didn't want to get too relaxed, but wanted to say fresh (balancing act of course )

[igeorgex]

I'm writing this Thursday, and I'm finding doing a diagnostic a day really helps.. you get to see exactly where your weakpoints are and most of the time (by this stage anyway) it should be memorization of some formulas/hormones/reactions here and there if anything...

 

good luck! don't get burnt out, get lots of rest, remember to eat, and do something you enjoy after studying

[sv3]

i'm looking for a new career.......

[Cnussey]

I ate a lot of food. Lol.

[deeman101]

If you've been studying concepts for 2.5 months then don't bother anymore. It doesn't matter if you don't remember every last enzyme secreted by the pancreas into the small intestine. I spent literally 10 days reviewing for concepts, the rest was all practice!

 

You are feeling burnt out by doing a AAMC test a day? Really? Its like 4.5hrs long, plus another maybe 2-3 hours to review your mistakes. Take out another 8 hours for sleep and that leaves at least 8.5 hours to do random crap in your day. Hell I was doing 2 AAMC tests a day, lol. But if you're getting burnt out then take a day to recharge, and do something that you really miss doing because of all the studying you're doing for the MCAT.

[Pantaloons]

I'd recommend not doing any more practice tests and simply do light review--perhaps based upon your wrong answers in those 3 practice tests.

 

A week before my test, I just re-taught myself weak topics on a blackboard and made sure I had regular sleeping hours. I did a few passages/essays too, but nothing too heavy.

 

The night before, I did zero MCAT and just watched the Democratic National Convention on TV.

[Laura_333]

I personally would do a practice test every other day and in the between day review what you were weak on/take a break. Doing actual tests at this point is likely what will help you the most with being prepared. Notice everyone seems to have different advice=do what's best for how you would study since there is no 'perfect' strategy.

[polarb]

Thanks everybody!

 

I took two light days in just plain review of difficult content and some verbal passages. It was definitely a nice break from the full length diagnostics.

 

I find that after I write a diagnostic, I am completely drained. I couldn't even sit and read another passage after that. But thats just me, I think because I have a really really short attention span.

 

I think I am going to do 2 more diagnostic exams and then just light review until Friday! I'm trying to get my sleeping schedule back on track too...sleeping at 2am every night up till now is really hurting my body.

 

I cannot wait till Friday at 2pm ish. FREEDOM.

[AP_gooner]

 

I find that after I write a diagnostic, I am completely drained. I couldn't even sit and read another passage after that. But thats just me, I think because I have a really really short attention span.

 

 

 

I feel the same way.... after you do a prac test and get all the solutions checked out, I have to take at least a couple hours to just do some non-study related activity.

 

All over on friday for me too! I'm doing my last prac test tommorow, then just some light review till the big day. Then getting drunk.

[AdamP]

this is what you should do with the precious 7 days.....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqxo1SKB0z8

[dan0105]

I recommend sleeping. That's what I did for like the three days before D-day. It was totally worth it. if you haven't learned it by then you aren't gonna learn it in those last few days, so just rest up and save it all for the actual test...

[spiceandsausageburglar]

The last 7 days before I wrote the MCAT went like this:

 

-focused on doing 1 AAMC test every 1 or 2 days (simulated real conditions).

 

-based on my performance, I reviewed concepts that I felt I was weak at.

 

-I also set aside extra time to work on verbal reasoning and WS, about 2-4 hours a day, as this was my weakest section

 

I found this wasn't all that stressful b/c I wasn't working around the clock. I still had 2-3 hours/day to just relax and do whatever.

 

I went into the test determined to give it my best.

Got my score and it was 37Q (14PS 11VR 12BS Q).

 

Now I'm working as an mcat instructor.

[westerner]

The last 7 days before I wrote the MCAT went like this:

 

-focused on doing 1 AAMC test every 1 or 2 days (simulated real conditions).

 

-based on my performance, I reviewed concepts that I felt I was weak at.

 

-I also set aside extra time to work on verbal reasoning and WS, about 2-4 hours a day, as this was my weakest section

 

I found this wasn't all that stressful b/c I wasn't working around the clock. I still had 2-3 hours/day to just relax and do whatever.

 

I went into the test determined to give it my best.

Got my score and it was 37Q (14PS 11VR 12BS Q).

 

Now I'm working as an mcat instructor.

 

congrats, thats wicked! what were u scoring on the AAMC FLs if u dont mind me asking?

[spiceandsausageburglar]

For bio and physical sciences I started out scoring 10s, 11s, 12s early in the summer. This made my life easier b/c I consciously decided not to study too hard for those sections. Take what I say seriously - you don't need to know all the concepts/formulas like the back of your hand. For those of you rabidly memorizing your notes/reading the textbook over and over again, you're wasting time! It's more important for you to practice the real MCAT and get comfortable w/ it. You'll find that you can score high w/out knowing everything.

 

For VR, I started out w/ 6s. I used princeton's VR workbook and practiced the hell out of it but I hit a ceiling at around 8. I felt like there were just too many tips/strategies that Princeton gave for the VR so I consulted some other MCAT books (Kaplan and EK) to see what they had to say. I ended up streamlining the strategies to something simpler and something that worked for me. The improvement was gradual but over 3 months I got it up to 10 on the diagnostics.

 

The WS, I was all over the place for a while but towards the end I was getting Qs/Rs from my instructor.

 

 

Practice Practice Practice!

It'll do you no good to just go through your notes memorizing concepts. Do the practice tests and based on your performance, choose which concepts you REALLY should brush up on. If it's low-yield stuff then don't bother studying it, chances are it won't show up on your MCAT. If it's high-yield stuff, and you're weak at it, then spend some time gettin more comfortable w/ it.

[plasticookies]

i'm looking for a new career.......

 

hah! me too. I'm writing next Wednesday. Just got ~ 55% on two Kaplan section tests.

[polarb]

lol i don't know whats wrong with me...

 

when I am doing the diagnostic and I run into questions that I have trouble with, I usually take a random guess at them.

 

Well, those turn out to be correct and then the questions I was "sure" about, I get wrong. Then I wonder how I missed such simple concepts...sigh, I hope this doesn't happen on Friday.

 

I finished my last diagnostic today. I plan on using the remainder 2 days to just brush up my orgo, some verbal passages and maybe some writing. But I am good for the science parts (-orgo).

[LivetoDance]

I have a week until my 6th, yes 6th, MCAT. I am going to do 3 practice exams (2 e-mcat, 1 AAMC), review any material that feels rusty and get good nights rest before the exam. No studying the day of the exam, as this just fuels my anxiety.

[Monopoly]

I have a week until my 6th, yes 6th, MCAT. I am going to do 3 practice exams (2 e-mcat, 1 AAMC), review any material that feels rusty and get good nights rest before the exam. No studying the day of the exam, as this just fuels my anxiety.

 

Well, you're persistent I'll give you that. What's your goal score this time around?