The most time-efficient way to prepare for the MCAT

Here is a quick post about the method I used for preparing for the MCAT. I hope that you find this helpful and simple to implement. For many pre-meds, it is hard to get enough time to truly study for the MCAT. Most pre-meds find themselves volunteering, working, and with a full class load in any given semester. So how does the busy pre-med make the most out of their limited time to study for the MCAT? What studying method will give you the “best bang for your buck”? In this article, we will go over how to prepare for the MCAT in a time efficient way.

Alright, so you are crunched for time and don’t have the luxury to read through all of the MCAT test prep books you bought or go through countless hours of youtube videos. Where do you start and where do you focus your attention? The main key for preparing for the MCAT in a timely manner is to focus on your WEAKNESSES. This means you need to take a practice MCAT exam as soon as possible and see what your weak areas are. Once you know what areas you need the most improvement in, learn and practice whatever topics you missed during your practice exam. Then take another practice exam again to see if you improved in those areas or there are other weak points you weren’t aware of before. Try and get as many rounds of practice test and post-practice test studying in as possible.

Here is the simple method to follow:

Take a practice exam to learn what your weaknesses are.
Make a list of all of the topics that gave you trouble (ex. Redox reactions, optics, amino acids, etc.)
Review and practice all of those topics until you feel confident.
Take another practice exam.
Repeat

The practice exam is helpful to improving your MCAT score for several reasons. First of all, it allows you to see what the MCAT is like and the type of questions that it asks. This will let you learn and adapt your studying to the style of questions asked on the MCAT. Learning how to answer “MCAT style” questions is so important and honestly and underrated aspect to preparing for the MCAT. Also by taking the practice exams/questions you will be able to see what areas you are weakest in and therefore what areas you need to focus most on. When it comes to what practice test to use, I would of course reccomend getting the AAMC’s one as its the most accurate. However there are many other ones to use that allow more uses and are more affordable or even free. I personally did most of my practice tests using The Princeton Review’s practice exams that come with their main book. Also The Princeton Review also has an affordable set of high yield questions for about $25 which is another great source of practice questions to use called The MCAT Workout. Another source of MCAT test practice questions for only $25 is this book which offers 7 practice tests , with 5 in the book and 2 online. If you are looking for free practice questions I would recommend using the Khan Academy MCAT practice questions.

I would personally recommend using at least two sources of questions to study from and use this method with. So after you have your practice tests, its important that you are using them appropriately! You need to make a list of the topics that you are missing and struggling with. Make sure you are being honest with yourself! Then compile that list in a word document or excel sheet and re-learn them one by one. The key to this is actually making sure you learn the topic and feel confident that you would get it right if you ever saw it again on the test. Just simply watching a video on youtube or reading the section in your book about that missed topic isn’t enough, you need to test yourself to make sure you understand it. So after you have re-learned it you need to do some practice problems with it or quiz yourself that you remember the information you need to. Only once and I mean only once you really feel you understand that topic you can “check” it off your review list. This is the most important way to make sure you are actually making progress and not just simply going through the motions of saying you re-learned that topic.

This method allows you to really hone in on what you need to work on. Allowing you to prioritize your weakest areas to get the biggest return on investment. After you take your practice exam, go through all of the questions you missed and analyze them. Ask yourself why you missed them and what could you do differently to get it right next time. After analyzing all of your questions, go ahead and make a detailed list of everything you need to review or practice. The more in-depth and detailed the list the better. After you have your detailed list of topics and types of questions you missed, go and review them using whatever resources you would like. Make sure you are confident that you wouldn’t miss those same questions again before taking another practice exam. The time where you are really improving your grade the most should be during your post-practice exam review. The key to getting the most out of your MCAT study time is to really find out what your weaknesses are. Knowing what areas you are weak in will allow you to spend your time on what matters most. Then it is a matter of rinse and repeat. Try this method I have listed here and let me know how it goes for you in the comments below!

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Pre-med guide to creating an effective MCAT study plan

The MCAT is arguably the most important aspect of getting into medical school. Without a good MCAT score you might not even get the chance to have the rest of your application reviewed. Many medical schools have a cut off grade for the minimum MCAT score required to apply. Its no wonder that so many pre-med students dread taking this exam! Your chance of getting into medical school could depend on how well you do! That is why it is important to make sure you study smart and effectively for the exam. I was able to improve my score about 10 whole points within less than two months, using the methods and strategies I am about to share in this guide. This is a basic overview of what you should do to prepare, I will be sharing a more in depth and detailed guide in the future. So be on the look out for that!

General tips for preparing for the MCAT:

Start with a practice test:

Starting with a practice test by the AAMC is the best way to get started on your preparation. You really need to do this. It accomplishes a few things. First, it shows you what the real MCAT is like. You will get to see what type of questions it asks, how much time it takes you to complete a certain section, and just gives you a general feel for the exam. Second, it will show you right away what your weakest areas are and what you need to focus your studying on.

Make a word document to help organize your studying:

This can be really helpful as well. You want to list all of the topics that you have struggled with and then also include all the new notes you have taken for those topics. These topics should be very specific, such as: Colligative properties, action potentials, DNA replication, lenses/mirrors, etc.

Lets take an example: So let’s say you had a hard time remembering the colligative properties on your last MCAT practice test. You will go ahead and add colligative properties to the word document. Now you will do some studying and research about colligative properties to learn what you need to know. Once you have found the formulas and information you need for that topic, such as boiling point elevation and freezing point depression, you will add it under colligative properties. Once you have finished with adding in all the notes for colligative properties you will move on to the next topic.

Split your day in how you study:

When it comes to preparing for the MCAT its important that you not only learn the material for the test but also actually do practice problems. The MCAT is like no other test, the way it asks questions and uses passages is unique. This is why you absolutely need to allocate atleast half of your study time to doing practice problems. If possible, everyday you are preparing for the MCAT try and split your study time into reviewing information and doing practice problems. I suggest studying and revieweing your weak areas first for an hour or two, and then using the rest of your study time to do practice problems in those areas. For example, study and review some flashcards in the morning and then in the afternoon do some practice problems.

Do practice problems:

I cannot emphasize this enough, you NEED to be doing practice problems constantly. It is not enough to just study and review the information. You have to continue to grind through practice problems for every topic. This is the only way to get good at the MCAT. These practice problems must mimic the style and difficulty of the MCAT as well. That means that it should most likely be in passage format and not just ask for you to solve for some number using a formula. MCAT problems require to think and figure out what answer makes the most sense after applying a formula. I suggest doing practice problems from Khan Academy for this because it mimics the style of the MCAT well and is completely free. Also examkrackers has good practice problems for applying formulas but not for the critical thinking component that the MCAT is known for. However, to get the most realistic practice you can buy practice problems from the AAMC.

The general strategy for preparing for the MCAT:

Take a practice test.
Find your weakest areas and focus on mastering them.
Once you feel you have mastery over those topics take another practice test.
Figure out what your weakest areas are from the most recent practice test.
Repeat this process for all of your weak areas.

In my opinion, this is the most effective strategy for studying for the MCAT. You want to focus your time on the areas that need the most help first. There is no need to spend your time on trying to study what you already know. It is okay to review the topics you already know once and awhile. Fix your weaknesses and your MCAT score will skyrocket. To do this you need to use practice tests to identify your weak areas. Once you know those weak areas, you can then focus on adressing them. Also the more practice tests that you take, the better you understand how the MCAT works. You will develop a feel for the MCAT and that alone will boost your confidence and help you do much better.

As the test date approaches you want to be doing more and more practice tests. Within the month of your exam, I reccomend taking a full length practice test atleast 2-3 times a week. Its important to really get comfortable with the actual exam before you take it in person. When doing this, make sure to give yourself atleast a day between taking practice tests to relax and review the previous practice test.

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