An old fart’s tips for the MCAT
I took the MCAT about five years ago, right after it became four sections with psychology involved. As you can imagine, I don’t remember the exact minutiae of what I did to study, but I can give tips based on what I remember. I got over 520, so I think that gives me enough street cred to talk about this now. (Before you call me impressive, just know that my MCAT score was probably the only real asset on my med school application!)
1. Learn the art of doing practice questions early in the game!!!
For a lot of tests in high school and college, you read the material assigned to you, and then that material comes out on the test. The MCAT is only sort of like that. A large part of the battle is learning how the MCAT tests things. Very rarely will the MCAT give you just a straight question — the answer is usually hidden in some sort of trick. The nice thing is that there is a finite amount of tricks and a finite amount of questions that can be asked. The more questions you do, the more you’ll be able to study the MCAT material AND figure out how the MCAT works. Practice questions are the most efficient way of studying for standardized tests— and that principle continues to apply in medical school as well.
I took about 8 practice tests for the MCAT; they were from The Princeton Review, Examkrackers, Kaplan and the AAMC. They all cost money, and they were all worth getting a high score on the actual test!!! Those four companies produce the most accurate practice tests from what I remember.
As far as using practice questions to study — do the practice test, get the score (the hardest part), and then go over every question, right and wrong, thoroughly. If you got a question right and you know why you got it right, that’s good — go to the next question. For the ones that you didn’t know why you got it right and the wrong ones, make sure you know for sure why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. If you engage with all the answers, not just the one you put down, you’ll learn more information that you need to know for the MCAT. And the same applies for the USMLE Steps 1, 2 and 3. Studying with practice questions is a skill best learned early.
2. You can use the MCAT practice books or even AP books to catch up on stuff you didn’t get from your premed classes.
When I was studying for the MCAT, I had never taken classes in physiology or psychology, yet I was expected to know something about both of those for the MCAT. I learned pretty much all of the basic psychology I needed to know from the Examkrackers’ book on the psychosocial section as well as the Princeton Review AP Psychology book (or something like that — may not remember the exact book). At the point that you’re taking the MCAT, ideally you will be long out of high school, so the AP books should be easy to read. They will be a bit basic and will lack some detail, but if you’re really not understanding a concept, reading over in a book directed to people younger than you can be a godsend.
For physiology I again used the Examkrackers bio books, but I also used sections from the Princeton Review AP Biology book. I imagine that this can apply to any subject where you may be feeling confused.
(And for those wondering why I didn’t take psychology in college, my college’s intro to psychology course had hundreds of pages of reading within the first 2 weeks and was harder than my advanced bio classes...)
3. Focus! It won’t last forever.
I think a lot of people assume that most premeds are born with the urge to study genetically wired into their system, so that at baseline they would study 24 hours a day if possible.
To this day I’m not sure if that’s the case. But that was how the wellness curriculum was wired at my medical school. We continually had lectures about the dangers of burnout and about taking care of our mental health, especially before the Step 1 study period. We were encouraged to (along with studying hard) take small mental health breaks and to take a day off per seven-day week to relax and reset.
Looking back on that, I understand what they were trying to do. However, as a person who is definitely not wired to study 24 hours a day, incorporating some of these wellness practices ended up being detrimental for my focus.
I am definitely NOT saying that you should just study all day without taking care of yourself. A 10-14 hour study day should involve breaks to exercise and eat healthy food, as well as to do things that will boost your morale and help motivate you to study. But this is not the time to be scheduling group study sessions, or to be increasing your involvement in clubs, or to be watching your favorite football team every Sunday for “wellness” purposes. These tests are IMPORTANT. Their study periods are short, and the dividends from doing well will pay off in a lucrative and highly rewarding career as a doctor for years to come.
The dedicated study period for the MCAT, from my experience, shouldn’t exceed four months. (I CANNOT IMAGINE going for longer.) I studied for the MCAT for four months, including a one-month dedicated period where I spent 12-14 hours a day studying, and three months where I took an MCAT class as well as normal college classes. That period of my life was neither fun nor sustainable, and it felt like it was never going to end at several points. But it did end, and I got a good score, and five years later, I am getting my MD degree in a month! That is the whole point!
Study periods are terrible and temporary. They should not feel relaxing — you should feel like you’re being challenged, and you should feel the urgency of the situation! And when you’re done with the exam, it should feel like the greatest relief of your life!
Hope this helps somebody!