skye204 Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Hey, I was hoping if people can offer me information if they think one full month, 7-8 hrs a day, would be enough time to study for the MCAT. Perhaps even a "crash-course" on how to accomplish it. I've googled some "guides" on how to study the MCAT within a month, however, none of which were specifically orientated for the new MCAT 2015. A bit about myself. I recently obtained my general science degree and have written the DAT in the past. Therefore, I believe that I have a solid science foundation. However, most likely I need some time to refresh everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotASerialKiller Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Hey, I was hoping if people can offer me information if they think one full month, 7-8 hrs a day, would be enough time to study for the MCAT. Perhaps even a "crash-course" on how to accomplish it. I've googled some "guides" on how to study the MCAT within a month, however, none of which were specifically orientated for the new MCAT 2015. A bit about myself. I recently obtained my general science degree and have written the DAT in the past. Therefore, I believe that I have a solid science foundation. However, most likely I need some time to refresh everything. Most people who study all summer have a solid science foundation, most of them having taken organic/physics/various bios immediately prior. I'm not going to say you can't properly study for it in 1 month, but I'd be very surprised from your description that you'd be able to achieve the best result you could get (or a genuinely competitive score) studying from scratch 1 month before you write. It's also quite expensive, stressful, and if you're applying in the US especially you're better off with as few rewrites as possible. Basically if you said you JUST took all the courses that the MCAT draws on and got mid 90s and are generally strong with verbal reasoning type questions then maybe 1 month could be enough while studying every waking hour. For the vast majority of people, that is not the case. Others might disagree, but I'd say you should probably wait and give yourself a more reasonable amount of time to ensure that you do as well as you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaxop Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Honestly, it depends on how high you want to score. If you are trying to score the equivalent of 25-30 it is likely doable, but anything higher than that, especially the equivalent of 35+, is going to be very difficult unless you're one of those people who is great at standardized testing. You can certainly find stories of people who studied for the MCAT in ~1 month and did extremely well, but those people are outliers. Most people do 250-300 hours of studying over ~3 months before their test, so keep that in mind when designing your study plan. I studied for the MCAT in 5 weeks and got a 30 (11/9/10). It was a huge mistake, my life was a disaster, and I would 100% recommend against it. I'm re-writing next summer. However, if you're going to do it anyway, here's my advice: The biggest mistake I made when writing my MCAT was focusing too much on content review and not enough on doing practice questions. Do every practice test/question bank you can get your hands on. Don't neglect verbal/CARS. The MCAT is not a science test so much as it is a reading comprehension/critical thinking test. Raw science knowledge will only get you so far, and I found that the strategies from verbal were applicable to the science passages as well. The new MCAT is also an endurance test. It's something like 7 straight hours of writing testing- I'm not kidding when I say that you need to build up your stamina. There's also a lot less information about the new MCAT, so you might be better off waiting another year until people better understand it (this is more an issue for prep materials). Like you said, a lot of the online MCAT resources were designed for the old test and we simply don't know how well they will translate to the new test. You will be so burnt out at the end of the month, you will be miserable, your brain will be fried. If you are doing this make sure you have something nice planned for yourself after- I started school 2 days later. 0/10 do not recommend. Of course, ultimately this is your decision. If you're an extremely gifted test-taker, and/or you have stellar stats otherwise (4.0+/cured cancer/literally Mother Theresa) it could be worth a shot. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do but if I were you, I would push off the MCAT to later in the year (or even next summer) and do it properly. Please learn from my mistakes. The MCAT is a hungry beast that can consume a significant amount of time and money- you don't want to keep writing it forever. Is there some reason why you need to write it this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotASerialKiller Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Honestly, it depends on how high you want to score. If you are trying to score the equivalent of 25-30 it is likely doable, but anything higher than that, especially the equivalent of 35+, is going to be very difficult unless you're one of those people who is great at standardized testing. You can certainly find stories of people who studied for the MCAT in ~1 month and did extremely well, but those people are outliers. Most people do 250-300 hours of studying over ~3 months before their test, so keep that in mind when designing your study plan. I studied for the MCAT in 5 weeks and got a 30 (11/9/10). It was a huge mistake, my life was a disaster, and I would 100% recommend against it. I'm re-writing next summer. However, if you're going to do it anyway, here's my advice: The biggest mistake I made when writing my MCAT was focusing too much on content review and not enough on doing practice questions. Do every practice test/question bank you can get your hands on. Don't neglect verbal/CARS. The MCAT is not a science test so much as it is a reading comprehension/critical thinking test. Raw science knowledge will only get you so far, and I found that the strategies from verbal were applicable to the science passages as well. The new MCAT is also an endurance test. It's something like 7 straight hours of writing testing- I'm not kidding when I say that you need to build up your stamina. There's also a lot less information about the new MCAT, so you might be better off waiting another year until people better understand it (this is more an issue for prep materials). Like you said, a lot of the online MCAT resources were designed for the old test and we simply don't know how well they will translate to the new test. You will be so burnt out at the end of the month, you will be miserable, your brain will be fried. If you are doing this make sure you have something nice planned for yourself after- I started school 2 days later. 0/10 do not recommend. Of course, ultimately this is your decision. If you're an extremely gifted test-taker, and/or you have stellar stats otherwise (4.0+/cured cancer/literally Mother Theresa) it could be worth a shot. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you choose to do but if I were you, I would push off the MCAT to later in the year (or even next summer) and do it properly. Please learn from my mistakes. The MCAT is a hungry beast that can consume a significant amount of time and money- you don't want to keep writing it forever. Is there some reason why you need to write it this year? Wait... Mother Theresa cured cancer? Why was I not informed??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GH0ST Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Hey, I was hoping if people can offer me information if they think one full month, 7-8 hrs a day, would be enough time to study for the MCAT. Perhaps even a "crash-course" on how to accomplish it. I've googled some "guides" on how to study the MCAT within a month, however, none of which were specifically orientated for the new MCAT 2015. A bit about myself. I recently obtained my general science degree and have written the DAT in the past. Therefore, I believe that I have a solid science foundation. However, most likely I need some time to refresh everything. Maybe if you studied every waking second for a month... but otherwise it all depends on what you want. Want to get the best grades you can? Hell no. - G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralk Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 It depends entirely on how well you know the material going into it. My intensive MCAT studying was mostly done in about a 3 week span and came out with a good score. However, I had done a lot of the legwork beforehand to make sure i had a good grasp of the material. I was basically just learning the test and filling in a few gaps in my knowledge. Doing your MCAT studying in a month while coming in cold would not likely end well. Doing it in a month after having a reasonable handle on the material is entirely doable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sauna Posted July 31, 2015 Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 I agree with ralk. I'm taking the MCAT in a few days, and although technically I've been studying since May, it was mid-June that I realized "F**k I really need to start stepping my game up". Since you have a strong science background, just focus on practicing/doing a lot of full lengths and review the content that you're weaker in based on the results of your practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye204 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2015 Thank you for all your replies. I'll think it over and see if it is a viable/realistic option to write the mcat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dahonadventurer Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 WOW! That's a great questions! I don't think a month is enough with all the distractions in the world. I think it's best if you give yourself an ample enough time, so that you can do well. I know I wouldn't do well in a month. Good luck and best wishes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oshaku Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 I did my MCAT studying in 6 weeks during the middle of the school semester and got a good score (518), so it's possible. But as most posters pointed out, it depends on your background and how effective you can study Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skye204 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 I did my MCAT studying in 6 weeks during the middle of the school semester and got a good score (518), so it's possible. But as most posters pointed out, it depends on your background and how effective you can study how did you do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotASerialKiller Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 how did you do it? By being himself. While he might have some good tips, please don't think that if you just do what he did you'll get the same result. It has WAY more to do with the person than the study strategy. There are no magic secrets that will allow you to ace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 I don't think anyone can answer for you. Are you a quickstudy? Did you learn at least some of the topics on the MCAT really well when you studied them in school, so you can focus on your weak points? Do you have the focus and energy (and good habits, and... and...) to really give it your best shot for a month? Do you have other obligations that will sap your strength? I'm in the same boat as you, I quit my job June 19th (writing Aug 22) and things are progressing for me, although I still have work to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oshaku Posted August 4, 2015 Report Share Posted August 4, 2015 how did you do it? by not spending time studying CARS (I spent 1 day studying for CARS) and having a strong background in bio which meant I only had to focus on chem/physics and psych/soc. Psych and Soc was stuff I had to learn as it was all brand new material for me whereas I've taken courses (however many years ago) that cover the other subjects. I started with physics in week 1 since the last time I took physics was in high school (7 years ago), and then chem/o-chem (which I stopped taking after 1st year UG) in week two. I did a couple of days of bio (to make myself feel better) while waiting for my psych/soc book to arrive. Then it was full on psych/soc in weeks 3 and 4 before going back to review chem/o-chem, bio and physic in week 5, which was also a break from psych/soc to let me brain absorb the new information. It was in this week that I did one day of CARS and felt I was good to go. I skipped the rx in o-chem (i.e. only studied the steriochemistry) because I realize it would take me way too long to learn it properly. Fortunately, it was a shortcut that paid off. First half of week 6 was a psych/soc review and the last half was on doing a full practice exam. Even though I did well, there are many things I'd change about my studying strategy if I could. I strongly recommend taking a full practice exam at least a week before the actual test date. It's useful for identifying weaknesses. Also, if a topic given by some noun is repeated in the practice questions, you can bet good money that it'll be on the real test. Mentality is really important in the studying phase. There were some days I burnt myself out studying for 8 - 10 hrs and tried to keep pushing when my brain had no more capacity to work, so I wish I was better at recognizing when to take a break. On days when I feel overwhelmed or stressed about my studying progress, I would go back to do a biol section that I'm strong in. It would cheer me up and motivate further studying on the sections I'm bad in. I felt that the factual knowledge aspect of MCAT is pretty rudimentary, and that the test is more about to reason from the text. There was a ridiculuous question on my biol section based purely on fact (that could not be reasoned in text) that I got wrong, but ended up with a 132 anyway. My CARS was 129, physics/chem was 130, and 127 for psych/soc which was disappointing but not surprising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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