How many were working and studying for the MCAT?

[123456789trial]

I was working full-time (9 to 6-7) this summer and also studying for the MCAT at the same time. I ended up with an abysmal verbal and writing sample score. I am planning on rewriting it again next summer, but I was wondering if I should just focus on just studying the MCAT for the entire summer.

How did everyone else study for it (was it the only thing they did or were they volunteering/working as well) and how well did you do on it?

[silvantes]

I was working full-time (9 to 6-7) this summer and also studying for the MCAT at the same time. I ended up with an abysmal verbal and writing sample score. I am planning on rewriting it again next summer, but I was wondering if I should just focus on just studying the MCAT for the entire summer.

How did everyone else study for it (was it the only thing they did or were they volunteering/working as well) and how well did you do on it?

 

I would try and focus on it for at least a couple months but it can be done while working. What tools did you use to study?

I was in school full-time the first time I took the MCAT in April 2012 (a week after exams concluded) I got a 26M. I was sure I wrote way better than M but whatever lol. I got PS 6 VR 11 BS 9. PS killed me.

I studied using Kaplan

I needed to apply this year so I re-scheduled for early July.

I had an NSERC grant this summer so I was working full-time and started volunteering for St. John ambulance for more EC's (did not do much at all at this time)

I bought the Princeton review and exam krackers. They were way better than Kaplan. I went through each section and made my own book of notes. then I did tons of sample sections I was bad at. I also did an AAMC practice test a week and studied my weak areas, went back and took more notes on those sections and did more problems from those sections.

I also have a wife and two daughters under 3 working full -time very limited commitments outside this but I ended up with an OK score of..

31M - I completely changed my writing strategy this time but nothing helped I was doomed for an M. but it is hopefully a workable score.

There is also a free resource site, pretty interesting.

http://mcat-review.org/

I wish I had enough money to go to a prep course but I could only afford the expensive books.

Hope this helps!

You can do it! It took me a lot of practicing and there are others ways to get a good score ...Question and answer wording is key. A lot of the books go over this and it helps especially in Verbal. My secret to verbal was don't think, sometimes over thinking verbal can get you caught in a trap.

[cdawso23]

I wrote the MCAT a first time last summer. I worked full time (9-5) and then took a Princeton prep course every Mon-Thurs from 6-9.

 

I ended up with a 31R. (8P/11V/12B)

 

 

I wrote the MCAT a second time this summer. I worked full time again but just self studied. I found self study was a lot more effective for me but this also might just depend on the type of learner I am.

 

I ended up with a 36Q. (12/12/12)

[FrenchToast]

I wrote the MCAT while working from 9-5 with a long commute. I self-studied using the Kaplan Premier book (which wasn't great - I don't recommend it), EK Verbal 101 and Strategies, and EK Physics 1001. I dedicated pretty much all of my weekends to it. During the week I'd only study for about an hour and a half per day. I studied for about 4 months. I ended with a 39R (14/11/14). It's definitely doable, but you need to be super disciplined and willing to spend most of your time studying.. wooo.

[aquablue]

Worked full time in a lab (9 to 6), had rugby practice and took a Kaplan course. I tried to follow as best as I could but really just crammed for the last 2 weeks. Ended up with a 35R.

 

If you can, work part-time so you can have some time to study. Honestly, even though it turned out all right for me, it was probably the worst summer of my life.

[brinehog]

I worked about full time (35-55 hours/week) all summer leading up to my MCAT. I ended up with a 38Q (12 PS, 13 VR, 13 BS) and I'm pretty happy with that.

[Tacrolimus]

Worked full time in a lab (9 to 6), had rugby practice and took a Kaplan course. I tried to follow as best as I could but really just crammed for the last 2 weeks. Ended up with a 35R.

 

If you can, work part-time so you can have some time to study. Honestly, even though it turned out all right for me, it was probably the worst summer of my life.

 

I worked about full time (35-55 hours/week) all summer leading up to my MCAT. I ended up with a 38Q (12 PS, 13 VR, 13 BS) and I'm pretty happy with that.

 

Holy crap. And here I am thinking that 1 day of work and volunteering during summer will be too much.

 

I'm doing Spring school (May to mid-June) and likely a vaccation for about two weeks. Hopefully, full-time studying for two months will be good along with part-time during Spring when I'm doing Physics II.

[souljaboy]

Worked with an NSERC all summer, told myself ill studying for 3 months but really only did 2 months for 1-2 hours a day + 1 week of doing FLs after finishing research. . I was comfortable with all the material beforehand so I spent half the time just practicing verbal. Got a 39Q.

[schmitty]

I was working full-time (over 40 hours/wk) as a lab manager, teaching and tutoring high school in the evenings and weekends. I listened to audio osmosis while on the subway/walking for a couple months. Then I took the week of my exam off (it was Friday) and did a practice AAMC test each day, reviewing my answers and quickly reviewing my poor topics. Ended up with a 39R on the real thing - so it can be done, you just need to be vigilant!

[vs09]

Took a prep course last summer, and worked part-time, using EK materials, but wasn't happy with the results - 28R. So self-studied this summer, while doing full-time NSERC in a lab, and switched books to TPR. Studied every chance possible, in the early morning, on the bus, at lunch, even at the gym (!), for about 7 weeks leading up to the test, much, much happier with the results - 36Q (12, 12, 12), so yes, it's entirely doable. However, the fact that it was a second attempt and took a full prep course last summer definitely contributed to this summer's success.

[penguin92]

I also worked full time this past summer. Worked 9-5 and spent on average about 3 hours studying during weekdays, probably about 5 hours on weekends. It just takes a lot of discipline to stay focused and committed. There were days where I just didn't feel like studying but as long as you keep those to a minimum, you should be alright with a full summer of studying.

I self studied and used PR prep books (recommend PR, I compared with Kaplan and found PR way better). In my opinion, if you take intro bio, chem, physics, orgo and some english courses in university, it REALLY helps in your prep. I got 11PS-12VR-12BS and R on WS on my first try.

[futureGP]

full time summer research

 

I used EK MCAT Package, and managed to finish the Physics book during the school year so I only had to focus on Bio, Org Chem, Chem, and VR during the summer (+ EK 101 verbal passage + TPR verbal workbook + random kaplan stuff)

 

studied ~2 hrs/day on the weekdays and ~4 hrs on the weekends (doing 1 AAMC Practice Test)

 

every day i would do 1 VR section (~1 hr), the other 1 hr would be spent on the other 'science' books, and just rotate the science books each day of the week

 

12/12/12/R

 

As long as you have a schedule and you're regularly studying, you'll be fine. The importance is to be consistent with your studying so that everyday you're exercising your critical thinking skills (key for success in the MCAT)