motivated Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 I am a non-trad applicant writing the mcat on August 17th. I have been studying for about a month, spending lots of time on VR (shooting for UofC and Mac), but also trying to learn the sciences from pretty much scratch (only have high school bio and chem). I would really appreciate feedback if my approach to preparing seems to be okay or if I can do something to improve: - I spend between 3-6 hours a day on studying - Basically I do VR 6 days/week - at the moment a couple of timed passages each day. I've been following the EK strategy which seems to be working for me, so I am trying to stick to it. I will do a FL next week. I think I am at about a 9-10 at the moment, so room to improve still. -Sciences: I am focusing on biology and general chem at the moment, since those are the topics I have some knowledge about (but it's been years!). I am using TPR books, and am finding that it takes me about 2-3 days to work though a chapter (i.e. reading, highlighting, making notes/flash cards, some questions and then later in the week re-reading chapter - would it be better to re-read much later?). -Writing: Not to worried about this section. I am not working full-time at the moment, but at the rate I am going with my prep, I am not sure I will manage to cover any/all of physics and org. chem... I wonder if I am spending too much time focusing on learning the content/details of the sciences. Given my background and my MCAT date, would I be better off getting a general understanding of ALL the sciences, not stressing about the details of content, and then guessing the rest on the MCAT? Would love to hear from you guys - especially non-trads who successfully managed to learn new science material in a short time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazzle Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Seems like a long time for each chapter, but I say this being someone who has done bio/chem/physics before. I am using TPR like you and indeed, the bio chapters are damn long to go through. IMO, it should take you about half or a third of the time for chemistry. But then again, I find chemistry is something you get a feel for. Hopefully reading those texts, you can get that feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGo1990 Posted June 29, 2012 Report Share Posted June 29, 2012 Not a non trad but at this rate you're going to need to post pone it. Latest date I've seen is Sept 11. Not sure whether 3 extra weeks will make the difference you need it to though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpatient Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 No need to rush to postpone yet, see what you get on your practice test, if it is within range of what want then keep studying because it will probably rise a bit more in that month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGo1990 Posted June 30, 2012 Report Share Posted June 30, 2012 No need to rush to postpone yet, see what you get on your practice test, if it is within range of what want then keep studying because it will probably rise a bit more in that month. This is true. Wasn't trying to sound pessimistic (if that's how I came off). Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motivated Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 Thanks. Yes, I agree I've been spending too long on each bio/chem chapter. I think I am going to change my approach slightly by not re-reading the chapter. I can re-read if needed once I start doing practice passages. I don't think postponing is an options for me, so I am crossing my fingers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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