Figuring out how to study for the MCAT, create a balanced schedule, and prepare effectively can be a daunting task, so we’ve gathered up some helpful tips and resources to help you get started!

 

Creating a Study Schedule

In general, it is recommended that you spend 3-4 months studying for the MCAT, especially if you are looking to score in the higher percentiles. When making arrangements for your studying, it is important to set a balanced, feasible, and sustainable schedule that accommodates your other time commitments, such as work, volunteering, classes, etc. While everyone’s day-to-day activities look different, here is a helpful schedule that gives you a better idea of what a good study schedule looks like! It is also important to note that in your last few weeks of studying, you should aim to complete a number of full-length practice exams. The most accurate ones come straight from the AAMC, but there are many prep companies that also have full-length practice exams to purchase.

General tip: if you are getting within a few points (+/- 2 points) of your target score in your final full-length practice exams, you should be good on test day!

 

Practice Exams and Paid Resources

There are many prep companies and websites that offer practice full-length exams as well as other paid resources, such as online courses, question banks, and tutoring. Here is a comprehensive list of some websites to look at! Most prep companies (Blueprint, Altius, PR) also have free diagnostic practice exams! However, take this with a grain of salt since each company’s scoring is different.

• AAMC
  • Practice exams are the most representative of the MCAT.
  • The full bundle (4 exams + question packs) is highly recommended!
  • They also offer a free un-scored sample exam.
• Blueprint / NextStep
  • Each practice exam has 5 attempts, so you can use one account and split the cost with friends!
• Altius
  • Their practice exams are fairly representative of the actual exam. They also offer online courses.
• Kaplan
  • Offer online self-study programs of different bundles/prices
  •  Live online two-month course (as recommended by an advisor)
    • Resources 
      • They provide online practice tests, a complete 7-book MCAT Subject Review Set, a question bank that can be divided into different sections of the MCAT/topics within the sections, optional channel sessions focusing on specific concepts (ex: thermodynamics), and a study plan to go with the flow of the course. See this link and scroll to see all the features. 
    • Before class: content review (mostly done by yourself)
      • Every session, you are to complete a diagnostic quiz that gives suggestions on what topics you should focus on and videos to help you review before class. 
    • During class: MCAT strategies 
      • Instructors go through high yield questions. They teach you how to read the passage, what to look for, the types of questions asked, and the types of answers choices that are usually right/wrong. However, they do not emphasize content review during class.
• Princeton
  • They offer many types of courses, including winter boot camps, self-paced schedules, and tutoring.
• UWorld (question bank)
  • Different bundles: free 7-day trial, 90 days, 180 days, 360 days
  • Questions (both passage and individual content) for Orgo, Gen Chem, Physics, CARS, Biochem, and Bio.

 

Review Books and Other (Free) Resources

In preparing for the MCAT, content review is still very important and can be done in a variety of ways. Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

• Kaplan 7-Book Subject Review (most popular)
  • Edition doesn’t matter very much as though the content is similar across all.
  • You can usually find a discount or buy a used version for a reduced price!
• Princeton Review and many others

General tip: the practice questions in some of these review books tend to be more detailed than you’ll see on the actual MCAT. It is more useful to use these books for content review as opposed to full-length exams.

• Psych/Soc Content Review Document (300 and 90-page versions)
• Anki – MilesDown MCAT Decks (Ortho528/premed95/miledown)
  • Reddit MCAT section (use with a grain of salt)
• Khan Academy videos
• Dr. Ryan Grey’s MCAT podcast
• MPrep Daily Questions, Kaplan, BluePrint – question of the day sent to your email
• Jack Westin – daily CARS passages sent to your email
  • The website also has passages and content review questions for the other sections too.

 

It’s no doubt that studying for the MCAT can be overwhelmed and stressful, but even the smallest of organization and structure can make your studying more bearable and effective. No matter where you are in your MCAT journey, just know that this time will pass and your hard work will pay off!

Feel free to read any of our other blog posts on the MCAT for more helpful tips.

 

How do I ensure my letters of recommendation are strong?

Try to identify your professors and mentors early if you can so you can be extra intentional about forming a relationship with them. 

Relationships take intention and time, so if you are getting a letter from a professor from freshman or sophomore year, try to reach out each semester to catch up in some way. Catching up can be over email or phone call, but in person gives the best quality if your letter writer can be available to meet with you.

One example of how I’ve reached out to professors from early on in my college career have been sending them articles from current courses that remind me of them/their coursework. This led to invitations to meet up to talk about the articles, which led to one professor even offering to write me a letter before I even had to ask! Keeping in touch and maintaining a relationship is essential if you want to get the best rec letter out of it.

 Do not worry about having ALL extremely strong rec letters! If you simply need one more, it is completely acceptable to ask a professor in whose course you did well. Professors understand that you need letters of rec and often are willing to do so. Obviously, it is best to build a relationship with a professor to get a more personalized letter of rec. The best way I would recommend doing this is office hours. If the class is extremely large, it is hard for a professor to get to know you through lecture alone so it is best to go to their office where you will be much closer to a 1:1 ratio. In smaller courses, in addition to attending office hours, It is good to ask questions before, after, and during lecture to continue to remind the professor that you are engaged with the material.

Can I get a committee letter?

Unfortunately, there is no pre-med committee letter service at our university, so you will need to find individual letter writers. Most students find it most beneficial to obtain this combination of letters:

• Two science course professors
• One non-science professor
• One personal letter: a boss, research PI, volunteer supervisor, or physician you shadowed
  • IF APPLYING THROUGH AACOMAS, a letter from any DO physician you have observed in a clinical setting (shadowed or worked with)
  • IF YOU ARE IN YOUR GAP YEAR, get a letter from the gap year employment supervisor
• IF APPLYING MD/PHD, a research letter — from an MD or a PhD rather than from a lab manager or student supervisor

Can I ask my professor for a letter of recommendation partway through a course?

It is okay to ask a professor for a letter of recommendation while you are still in their class, but it is probably better to wait until the end of the class to ask, and it is probably too forward to ask a professor before the class or internship begins.

Should I ask for my letter in person?

Try to ask for letters of recommendation in person if you can. It can really help to see the facial expressions of the person you are asking, as emotions are basically impossible to know via email. If you have not seen the professor in a while, you can email to ask if they can have a few minutes for you to stop by. Be very sensitive to their time, and go to ask when they say they are available.

When should I ask?

If you don’t anticipate taking more classes with a certain professor, it’s advisable to ask the professor a few weeks after you’ve received your grade in their class. If your relationship with your letter writer is a little bit more drawn-out time-wise, you should be asking a few months before submitting your application. If you want your letter in by June, March/April should be the latest you contact someone about writing you a rec letter — because May will often be the busiest season for all graduate applications and letters. Remember that you can always submit your primary application without having the letter submitted by your professor, and you only really need your letters by the time you submit secondaries (around the first week of July, but could be later because of COVID delays this 2020 cycle).

What if I can’t ask in person due to distance or other reasons?

If you must ask via email, be very polite and formal, and try to keep the email short and to the point.

When you are writing this email, you can include things you would like them to talk about, remind them of good characteristics you had in their class/in general so that they are able to talk about you in more detail.

Use the AAMC guidelines for writing a letter of recommendation when preparing your email and briefly summarize the important points of the guidelines in your email to the professor.

It can be helpful to follow this rough structure:

 1) Acknowledge they have many other important things to attend to and that you are grateful for their time. 

2) Express what you enjoyed about their class and why 

3) Explain that you are applying to medical school and that you are wondering if they could write you a strong letter in support of your application.

 4) Mention what competencies you believe they would be able to speak on.

 5) Thank them for their time and consideration. Also, ask if they would want to see your resume so that they understand the scope of activities you are involved in. They might also ask for a draft of your personal statement. So, be ready to have one in case they requested it.

                                         ADDITIONAL RESOURCE:  INTERFOLIO

                             for storage and delivery of the letter of recommendation

 

• It is a great way to store multiple letters of recommendation. The website will directly send a link to professors and will make sure that it is confidential (i.e. you will not be able to see what is written about you). It also has a quality control check before your letters are sent (ex. checking for a signature and official letterhead).
• While the letters remain confidential, you can decide where the letters will be sent and when the delivery date would be. 
• Your letter writers only have to submit your letter once to Interfolio, and then you will be able to transfer them to AMCAS easily to be sent out to the designated schools.

Building a List of Schools

 

Coming up with a list of schools is a time-consuming but essential process to gearing up to apply in the upcoming cycle. Being strategic about the schools you apply to can give you a great advantage during the process, and even improve your chances of getting in! 

 

• The best way to begin making a list of schools is to start a google sheet of every school you are interested in, charting GPA, MCAT, applications they receive per year, OOS-friendly, etc. Then, start narrowing down until you get to the number you want!

 

MSAR MSAR MSAR ! ! !

• Buy the MSAR! This will be your best investment all cycle, and it costs $28 for 1 year or $36 for 2 years. 
• The best time to buy it is after you receive your MCAT scores and are ready to begin the application cycle
  • Without your MCAT score, the MSAR will not be as useful and it may also expire earlier in the interview cycle.
• It is also helpful to have MSAR as long as possible in the school year to help you look up school information before interview days and making final decisions between acceptances (if you are thinking about only getting a one year subscription)

 

Distributing Your School List: 

• If you are an average applicant, make sure you are not applying to mostly schools that are considered “safety” or “reach.” You want to distribute your list using MSAR where a majority of the schools you are applying to are “target” and then have a couple “safety” and “reach” schools.
• “Safety” →  above 75%
• “Target” → within 25-75% for GPA and MCAT
• “Reach” → below 25%

 

Secondaries: 

• Most applicants apply to 20+ schools. 
• Although sending in the primary application just requires ~$40 and a click of a button, completing each school’s secondaries can be a super expensive and tough process (~$70-$200 per secondary and several essays). 
• Before you send your primary off to a school, ask yourself whether you will have the time and energy to complete the secondary. You may even want to do some brief research on what the secondary prompts have been in previous years (no guarantee they will repeat). Some schools have over a half a dozen essays, or a really long or odd prompt so you will not want to apply unless you are very invested in the school’s mission and program.

 

Tuition:

• In-state schools are usually much cheaper (especially public medical schools) 
• Some out of state (OOS) school’s will consider you an in-state resident (you’ll get to pay in-state tuition) after you’ve attended their institution for a year or two.
  • Check out school tuition policies to see if this could apply to you! 

 

Relevance: 

• More important than metrics, extracurriculars, letters, and essays — the schools that you target can have the greatest impact on your success in a given application cycle. 
• Most students spend months cultivating the perfect school list: doing internet research, talking to current students, and seeing advisors.
• Make sure that you would be willing to attend every school on your list. In all reality, you may only get into your last choice – would you be ready to go there? 

 

Geographics: 

• The first thing to consider is the geographical location of the school you will want to attend (Urban/Rural/Suburban, region of choice, etc.) 
• Many MI medical schools, for example, are much more likely to interview and accept Michigan residents. 
  • If you are from the state of MI and want to stay here, the 6-7 schools in Michigan will be your best bet: focus your applications here.
• Do your research if you’re applying to an out of state (OOS) school! 
  • Some OOS schools only accept applicants with strong ties to the school/region/state. 
  • Take a look at the map on MSAR to see what states the school typically takes students from. 
  • If a school shows a preference for in-state, think critically about if it’s worth spending time/money applying to that particular school. 

 

Yield: 

• Look into how many applications that school receives each cycle. Some schools are notoriously “low-yield,” which means they receive much more applications (12,000+) or have much fewer spots (<50)  than the average school . 
  • Some examples: Drexel, George Washington, Georgetown, Temple, Boston University, Mayo, Jefferson, Tufts, etc …
• This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just make sure your entire list aren’t only low-yields.

 

School Focus: 

• Read school’s missions to find out what their focus is on: examples include:
  • Research (Cleveland, Stanford, Michigan…)
  • Comprehensive Patient-care (Central, OUWB…)
  • Public/global Health (George Washington, Emory…)
  • Community Service (Rush, MSU…)
• Some schools are better for known for some specialties than other schools
  • IF you have an idea of what specialty you might want to go into, MSAR provides stats on what kinds of specialties their matriculants eventually go into → this is a great tool! 

 

Age of Applicant: 

• Taking a gap year before medical school is more and more common these days. This puts anyone applying directly out of undergrad at a disadvantage when it comes to the application cycle. 
• This is not to discourage those of you that feel ready for medical school after your junior year of college.
  • You can still maximize your chances by applying smart

 

AMCAS Timeline (MD)

MD

More options for residency programs and medical schools. Many MD schools are also well established — all of the oldest schools in the country are MD — so these particular schools can have better reputations when it comes to conducting research and matching into a specialty.

Many of the “top” MD schools are in big cities, which tends to correspond to high costs of living.

DO

Less statistic driven; more holistic approach to admissions. Extra training (additional 200 hours of training learning manipulation techniques of the musculoskeletal system called OMM) means having an extra tool in your tool-belt. Learning OMM means having a strong overall knowledge of anatomy and physiology and being able to think beyond medications when treating patients. DO schools tend to be areas that are less metropolitan, which tends to mean lower living costs aside from tuition. Although public DO schools have a comparable cost to public MD schools, there are  more private DO schools than public.

There are very few public DO schools, so MSUCOM is unique — this explains its significantly lower tuition for in-state applicants.

Often newer schools, so less research funding, opportunities to do research, and grants or scholarships available. However, for those DO schools affiliated with an undergrad institution, like MSUCOM in relation to MSU, opportunities may be higher to find research.

Many MD schools have newly evolving curriculums to focus more on preventative care, public health, and even OMM. This may reduce the edge that DO applicants have during match in the future (big effects have not been seen yet).

Often medical students have to take both the COMLEX and the USMLE exams in order to match into a residency program.

DO

Requirement:

5300 character personal statement (recently increased from 4500 characters)

 

Must shadow a DO:

• Find a DO practicing Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT)

Look for UM alumni currently attending DO school or recently having graduated from it in UCAN

System:  AACOMAS

$195 for first application, $35 for following

Schools are often more flexible with secondary fee waivers

Timeline:

 1. Opens May 1 for submission

2. Very fast verification (~2 weeks)

3.Cycles run faster (faster interview cycle and begin acceptance notification faster)

4. Cycles run longer (secondaries may be accepted up to March/April for some schools, but since it is rolling admission, it is better to submit earlier)

5. Formal update process in Jan and April through AACOMAS for academic updates

Deposit:

Depends on the school, but frequently non-refundable

$200 – $3000

MD

Requirement:

5300 Character Personal Statement Can shadow MDs as well as any other health professionals (interesting ones might be DOs, NPs, PAs, etc. to see the intersections between each career)

System:  AMCAS

$170 for first application, $40 for following

Timeline:

1. Opens May 1 for completion

2. Opens June 1 for submission

3. Verification takes longer (6-8 weeks) before secondaries start rolling in

4. No formal update process through AMCAS, so you will have to research and reach out to individual schools about updating

Deposit:

Depends on the school, but frequently refundable

$100 – $150

Common Misconceptions about DO vs MD:

DO schools are a safety/backup to MD programs. Not true because a lot of considerations go into choosing the best school for you: location, cost, interests, goals, experiences, etc.

Getting a DO degree means you can’t specialize. Although DO program curriculums are often set up to focus on primary care, DOs can actually match into any residency, which means the same specialities and opportunities are available to them if desired.

Another misconception is that you NEED to use OMM in future practice. You don’t have to if you really don’t want to, or go into a specialty that wouldn’t benefit from its usage.

Some think DOs are like chiropractors, which aren’t licensed to do surgery/give drugs. This can affect the mindset of DOs not being “real” doctors. Although there is a focus on OMM in DO curriculums, DOs aren’t limited to using their hands. They’re licensed to give medications, perform surgery, etc just as an MD, but are trained to use OMM as an intervention before those routes are taken— which can be beneficial  to the patient’s healthcare as it can alleviate the need for invasive procedures down the line, stronger drug effects and dependencies, or higher medical bills.

MDs make more money than DOs. Not necessarily true, as salary is mostly determined by the specialty you choose to go into.

 

Below are our board’s own experiences with the MCAT. Pick up strategies from people who have taken the MCAT already, who are studying now, and who are planning to take it in the future! Anything in blue italics is updated advice from members after they took the MCAT!

Kiran:

“My best advice is to do a practice exam every week on the same day/time that you will be taking your actual MCAT.”

• When did you take the MCAT? August 2017, the summer after my sophomore year. Some people say this is too early, and if you feel that way, no worries! For me personally, it just seemed like the best time to take it, as I had finished up chem, physics, and biochem and those subjects were still relatively fresh in my head.
• Did you take a course or self-study? I took a course through The Princeton Review. Check out this blog post for more information about my experience!
• How long did you study for? Approximately 3 months.
• What was your favorite section? Least favorite? Favorite section was Psych/Soc, since I’m a BCN major! Least favorite was CARS 🙁
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Take as many practice exams as possible! Do NOT go overboard and tire yourself out, but my best advice is to do a practice exam every week on the same day/time that you will be taking your actual MCAT. It may be difficult at first, but soon you’ll get into the mindset of taking a grueling 7.5 hour exam at that exact time. You can even test out what foods help you concentrate best on the second half of the exam! Learning MCAT content is only half the battle; being able to sit and concentrate for that long is something that takes practice and dedication, so make sure you take the time to do this. You’ll learn a lot about your testing style and stamina along the way.
• Describe your overall experience. The MCAT can be really draining. It is likely one of the most rigorous hurdles you will face in your undergraduate career, and you may never feel fully prepared for it. But, to quote the ever-popular High School Musical, we’re all in this together! Remember that this is a necessary step in your path to medicine, and pretty much EVERYONE has to overcome it. That sense of solidarity really helped me when I was studying for the MCAT. Additionally, whether you are planning to take a course or not, make sure you take advantage of the free resources that are available to you. This includes the resources listed on our website, Khan Academy, r/MCAT (for helpful study materials and memes), and even your own class notes over the years! You’ll be surprised by how much material you already know.

 

Peyton:

“Be patient with yourself. … Once you start seeing even a little improvement in your score on practice questions, passages, or tests, you’ll be addicted“

• When are you planning to take the MCAT? July 2019 (possibly)
• Are you taking a course or self-studying? I think the big names in MCAT courses are a great way to gain familiarity with the test structure itself, cover content, and stick to a well-planned schedule, but they are EXPENSIVE. Unless you have the financial means to pay for a Kaplan or Princeton course, you may not be comfortable with this option. There are a large variety of affordable MCAT prep options, you just have to take initiative to do a little digging. Speaking of initiative, that’s the number one ingredient for a successful self-studying recipe. MCAT courses hold you accountable for reading chapters and doing homework before each class session, so, if you’re self-studying, that responsibility falls on you. I absolutely suck at sticking to a schedule unless I write it down and live in it, so that’s what I’m planning to do for the last leg of my studying. A good way to stick to a schedule is to find an accountability buddy who ideally is taking the test around the same time as you. If you’re taking the test in the summer and are looking for an accountability buddy, please @ me! 🙂
• How long are you planning to study for? I’ve been studying intermittently for almost the year now. The day after I graduated, I woke up, took a diagnostic test, cried, and slept for another 12 hours or so. I took one more class and worked over the summer, so my studying was on and off. I got serious about studying in late October after I completed training for my scribe position, and I put in maybe 200 hours before my winter holiday. I finally got above the 500 mark on a TPR FL without giving 100% effort, but I needed to have a standardized test score ready for my application to a Master of Science program by the beginning of March, and I wasn’t ready to take Miss CAT at the end of January. Therefore, I put my studies on hiatus until I was done cramming for the GRE, which is a much more straightforward exam with results sent to schools in just a week or so.
• What is:
  • Your favorite section so far? I’m going to lose friends over this one… It’s a tie for me between CARS and Psych/Soc. Psychology was one of my majors in undergrad, so a lot of it is content I’m somewhat familiar with or intrigued to learn, and I’ve always been an avid writer, so some of analytical skills useful in CARS are ways of thinking that I’ve adopted previously.
  • Least favorite section so far? My least favorite section is Chem/ Phys section, mainly because of the Phys component. No matter how much longer overall I struggled in chemistry and biology courses, I could not get into physics in high school or undergrad. I think the physics questions that incorporate physiology are interesting, but I have to fight hard to focus on physics questions about levers, pulleys, and ramps.
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF. It is extremely unlikely that you’re going to see an attractive practice score in the first few weeks or even months that you’re studying (depending on how much you study a week). You have to keep pushing through, and don’t lose faith in yourself. Once you start seeing even a little improvement in your score on practice questions, passages, or tests, you’ll be addicted; it’s all the motivation you need.
• Describe your overall experience. Do I wish I could magically wake up in a world where I’d already taken the MCAT and done extremely well? Absolutely. Do I despise the MCAT? Absolutely not. I like to remember that this test, as dumb as it can make us feel at times, is a “rite of passage” per se for pre-medical students. It’s something that even the most narcissistic and arrogant of us are challenged by. After taking a break from the MCAT to work on the GRE, I can honestly say that — in a perverse, possibly masochistic way — I miss studying much of the MCAT content (with the exception, obviously, of physics).

 

Lindsay:

“Don’t rush your studying … Make your one examination your best shot.”

• When are you taking the MCAT? August 3rd 2019…
• Are you taking a course or self-studying? Can I do both? I’ve signed up for The Princeton Review, but I buffered in a month for me to finish studying on my own between my course and my MCAT test day.
•  I read through all 7 Kaplan books during the winter semester, but ended up taking a Princeton Review In-Person MCAT class from May-July. I buffered in a month for me to finish studying on my own between the end of my course and my MCAT test day.
• How long are you planning to study for? 4 months at 4 hours/week. 3 months at 30 hour/week.
• About 430 hours. 4 months at 4 hours/week and 3 months at 30 hour/week.
• What is your favorite section so far? Least favorite? I like physics and I don’t really like physics. I like mechanics more than electricity and magnetism at the moment. 
•  Least favorite? I thought I would like PHYSICS the most (being a BIOPHYS major), but I would say my favorite turned out to be PSYCH/SOC. I really despised the CARS and BIO/BIOCHEM sections early on in my studying, but practice really helped me improve in those two sections, and I found I didn’t hate them so much on my actual exam.
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Don’t rush your studying if you’re like me. Maybe you work better under pressure, but you really don’t want to take the MCAT more than once, so make your one examination your best shot.

 

Pooja:

“Make a google spreadsheet for EVERY single question you do throughout your studying, whether you get it right or wrong.”

• When did you take the MCAT? September 1 right before the start of my junior year. I had taken physics, bio, and chem in high school AP courses and orgo, psych, soc, stats, physiol, and biochem in my first two years of college so I felt prepared with many of the MCAT essential classes.
• Did you take a course or self-study? I self-studied for the MCAT.
• How long did you study for? About four months: May, June, July, and August. I was actually planning on self-studying for all of May and seeing how I felt before deciding to either register for a course/private tutoring, or to continue self-studying. I felt comfortable enough with my improvement and motivation levels at the end of May that I ultimately decided that I would be fine studying myself. If you do elect to take a class, just know that it in no way will harm your score, but it’s up to you to determine whether you would be able to do just as well on your own and save some money.
• What was your favorite section? Least favorite? My favorite section was chem/phys and least favorite was CARS. Unsurprisingly, my final scores reflected this preference exactly. I’m going to fully attribute this to my tendency to study what I enjoy: I felt unconsciously rewarded when I did a practice chem/phys section and got a better score than I did the time before, so I kept doing those sections. I also told myself that it’s impossible to study for something like CARS anyway (which is totally false). If you choose to self-study for the MCAT, don’t fall into the same trap that I did and make sure to tailor your studying to what you actually need to improve on!
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! I personally am not someone that can learn from passively reading textbooks or watching lectures. However, when I do a practice exam, I think about every possible aspect of every topic I encounter, and going back each question to study these different aspects is how I really learn and remember material. Using MCAT-like practice questions from UWorld, The Berkeley Review textbooks, Khan Academy, AAMC, and other third party test-making company websites was probably the biggest score booster for me. I also found a really effective method to going over practice questions: make a google spreadsheet for EVERY single question you do throughout your studying, whether you get it right or wrong. Then, explain/define terms and topics you encounter in both the question stem and EVERY option using Google, textbooks, or class notes. Finally, write why you got it right or wrong: the questions that you guess right but don’t know why are the most dangerous. This approach will ensure that you spend more hours reviewing each test than the 7.5 hours taking it, but I certainly benefited more from this sort of review than pure content review like reading notes and books.
• Describe your overall experience. I honestly don’t think the MCAT was as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Because I had the whole summer and wasn’t super busy with other academic commitments, I felt that my summer MCAT-ing was pretty chill. The one thing I struggled with was the fact that all of my friends who were doing internships or working in the summer didn’t have this huge exam looming over their heads like I did. To combat distractions from my phone or friends, I shifted my sleep schedule to study before anyone else was awake. Although I’m unquestionably a night person, I would wake up at 7am and study at Hatcher (which was super quiet all summer) from 8am-12pm. Once it hit lunchtime, I was done with MCAT for the day! I could spend the rest of the day at work/research/volunteering and had a bit of time to hang out with friends before bed each night. I could even take weekends off! What’s most important is finding a schedule that works for you and to stick to it.

 

Margarete:

“It was incredibly helpful having friends who were taking the MCAT around the same time as myself.”

• When did you take the MCAT? January 19, 2018
• Did you take a course or self-study? Course – Kaplan
• How long did you study for? 4 months, about 10 hours every week
• What was your favorite section? Least favorite? Favorite section: Psych/Soc; Least Favorite: CARS → I found a lot of the passages to be quite difficult and this is a section I struggled with when I studied for exams like the ACT in high school
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? The biggest piece of advice I would give is to not take the MCAT until you truly feel ready. By this, I mean that you shouldn’t take the MCAT until you see a score that you are comfortable with and proud of on your practice MCAT exams, specifically those offered by the AAMC themselves. When I went into the exam, I thought I might be able to score higher than what I got on my practice exams, but this wasn’t the case. The practice AAMC exams are truly an accurate representation of how you will do on the exam.
• Describe your overall experience. To be honest, I would say that the MCAT was one of the hardest aspects of the pre-med path for me. I studied for the MCAT the fall semester of my junior year. I thought I would be okay studying given that I only was taking three classes total that semester. However, I was incredibly stressed out and felt that I ended up prioritizing a lot of my time for classes over studying for the MCAT, and I think that ended up haunting me towards the end of my MCAT journey. If I could go back and change anything, I would solely study for the MCAT during the summer, or at least during a time of the year when I wasn’t taking classes. However, I will say that it was incredibly helpful having friends who were taking the MCAT around the same time as myself. One of my best friends actually took the MCAT at the same place and date as myself! I felt very supported by her as we traversed the MCAT journey together and always felt like I could lean on her when I was feeling hopeless or worried about my exam date and studying.

 

Liam:

“Don’t get caught up in completely trivial knowledge, and worry more about having solid understandings of larger or more general concepts.”

• When are you taking the MCAT?  Spring of my junior year. I am taking it this May, a little over two weeks after classes end. By this time in my course of study, I’ve completed all the “pre-med” classes that med-school requires, as well as all the general sciences that show up on MCAT.
• Are you taking a course or self-studying? I am taking a princeton review course that meets roughly 15 hours a week.
• How long are you planning to study for? I gave myself roughly 16 weeks to study. During this time, my only other commitments (excluding the review class) are a part-time research job and one 3 credit class. I built my schedule like this on purpose, so that I would have plenty of free time during the week that I could devote to studying.
• Including the class time, I would estimate that I studied between 200-300 hours in total. By the time my exam came around I felt completely ready, and wouldn’t have delayed it a day even if I had the option to.
• What is your favorite section so far? Least favorite? My favorite section to study for is bio/biochem, as most of this section is genuinely interesting and I feel it relates most to the medical field. My least favorite is the psych/soc section, as I have the weakest background in this field due to being a chem major, so I’ve had to devote more time to learning this section. I also just struggle to motivate myself to study this section, as some of the topics, especially those pertaining to sociology, aren’t very interesting and seem to have little relevance to the medical field (at least in my personal opinion!).
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Don’t get caught up in completely trivial knowledge, and worry more about having solid understandings of larger or more general concepts. It is true that you need to remember some very specific things, such as various enzyme/substrate names for processes such as glycolysis and the krebs cycle, but it is also important that you understand these processes as a whole, and know their overall functions and relevancies, as a lot of times this can compensate for forgetting one tiny piece of specific knowledge. For example, when taking an MCAT, you would be much better off forgetting the function of one specific hormone, such as vasopressin, than forgetting larger concepts that pertain to the endocrine system as a whole, such as negative feedback. This is also important when reviewing practice MCATs you take. It can be more beneficial and efficient to mark down and review concepts and general systems that you missed, rather than focusing on one specific question/answer you got wrong, as you are unlikely to see the same exact question ever again.
• Describe your overall experience. I am only about ¼ of the way through my studying so far, but overall I have had a very positive experience. I recently took a full-length practice MCAT and was very happy with my score, which served to reaffirm that I am studying in a correct and efficient manner. I look forward to my next full-length practice exam in order to see where I have improved and where I need to focus more studying. I have also been able to balance my studying, school, work and social commitments to a point where I feel I am accomplishing all that I want to while studying for this test.

 I was very happy with my entire MCAT experience, from studying to my final score. I think enrolling in a review course was definitely the right move for me, as it kept me honest with weekly work, and by the time it was over, I still had a month of my own time where I could focus on specific subjects and hone my skills as needed.

 I was also happy that I saved the AAMC study materials and tests for that last month as these helped me get in the right  mindset for the exam and get used to the specific wording and types of questions used by the AAMC. Don’t get me wrong, TPR and Kaplan do a great job of getting you into this mindset, but obviously they aren’t substitutes for the real thing.

Pragathi:

“It’s really important to focus on strategy and learning the best way to approach questions.”

• When are you taking the MCAT? I’m planning to take the MCAT in July of 2019. I chose this date because it allowed me a good bulk of the summer to study in addition to the time I’m currently putting in during this winter semester.
• Are you taking a course or self-studying? I’m currently taking a course with Kaplan which started at the end of January and is going to end at the beginning of April (about 3 months). The online course is about 3 hours every Saturday, which gives me enough time to complete the readings/homework before and after class throughout the week. I’ve found that Kaplan is definitely more focused on teaching you strategy to approach the questions and you are personally responsible to review most of the material. With that being said, they do go over “high-yield” science, which are topics that many students find difficult. Since I’m taking the MCAT in July, I plan to self study and review material from April to July (3ish months) when I don’t have any classes/exams and I can dedicate time to studying.
• How long are you planning to study for? I’m studying for 6.5 months which is a pretty long time, but knowing that I tend to procrastinate, I want to give myself more time to go through the material a few times and have enough time to take about 8-10 practice tests.
• What is your favorite section so far? Least favorite? My favorite section is most definitely Bio/Biochem since I feel that I’m most confident with information pertaining to this subject. My least favorite is most definitely the physics portion of Chem/Physics since I still have difficulty wrapping my head around physics concepts.
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Everyone has always told me that you need to go into studying with the mindset that you can’t possibly know all of the information that the MCAT will test on. As a result, it’s really important to focus on strategy and learning the best way to approach questions.
• Describe your overall experience: Currently I’m a little behind on studying since it has been somewhat difficult balancing MCAT studying with my regular class schedule. Overall, however, it has been going pretty well and I seem to be making progress.
•  

Brooke:

“Studying for the MCAT can be a super expensive process with the costs of books, classes, and other resources. Try and find resources online that are free.”

 When are you taking the MCAT? I am planning on taking the MCAT in August of 2019 because I will have the whole summer to study. Also, I will not have anything else going on except working as a scribe.

  I ended up taking the MCAT August 9th as I had previously planned. Instead of doing scribing during the summer, I had research and volunteering. The month before the exam, however, I did not go into research or volunteering, so I could focus on studying. 

 

• Are you taking a course or self-studying? I am not sure yet whether I am going to take a course or not. My friend is taking a course this semester, and she is planning on telling me how helpful it is. Sometimes it is hard for me to get motivated if I do not have a set plan, so I think a course would be beneficial for me. If I do plan on taking a course, I will set it up so I have about of month of studying on my own. If I end up self-studying, I will be going over the books for the first month and reviewing the material, and then over the next couple months going over practice exams and questions.
• How long are you planning to study for? I am planning on studying from the middle of May until I take the test in August. This gives me about three months of studying over the summer.
•  I took a Princeton Review course that started at the beginning of June and ended at the end of July. The course met five times a week for three hours at a time, and the time was mostly spent going over material we needed to know. Also, once a week, I would take a practice exam and spend additional hours reviewing material and doing practice problems. A month before my test I limited my studying to only AAMC material, like sections banks, question packs, and practice exams, and reviewed material that I was getting wrong in the questions.
• What is your favorite section so far? Least favorite? My favorite section is the Psych/Soc section, and my least favorite is CARS because, in my opinion, it is the most stressful section.
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Make sure you schedule enough time to study almost everyday (give yourself at least one to two days off a week). I was part-time last semester and was studying for the MCAT, but when classes picked up, I started prioritizing school and my studying fell behind enough where I did not feel ready to take it in January. Also, make sure you have a set plan on how you want to study and that you follow that plan/schedule.
• Describe your overall experience. Studying for the MCAT can be a super expensive process with the costs of books, classes, and other resources. Try and find resources online that are free. For example, at uworld.com you can get free access to 100 MCAT style questions for a week. If you have multiple emails, use those to get free access for more than just one week.

 

Ruchira:

“Start thinking early on about when you might want to take the MCAT, so you can plan your summers or classes to accommodate it.”

• When are you planning to take the MCAT? I’m planning to take the MCAT in January 2020. I plan to study over my first semester of junior year and the last month of this summer.
• Are you taking a course or self-studying? I’m not sure yet. Most likely both. I plan to mainly self-study but I may end up taking a Kaplan class.
• How long are you planning to study for? Right now, I’m aiming for 5 months of studying.
• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? Start thinking early on about when you might want to take the MCAT, so you can plan your summers or classes to accommodate it.

 

NICK

” Have a hard set out of time/amount you want to study and let that determine the rest of your schedule, and not the other way around.”

• When did you take the MCAT? I took it after early May 2019 after my junior year 

• Did you take a course or self-study? I did a princeton course. It had some benefits and drawbacks. It was nice because it compiled all the things in need to study will ample resources all into one place. The actual classes though were not what I expected. They were taught by students so the experience was not always of the quality. 

• How long did you study for? I studied starting in January, and studied throughout the semester. 

• What was your favorite section? Least favorite? My favorite was either the physics section and my least favorite was CARS. 

• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? When begin to make you schedule it is very important to learn how to say no when it comes to other commitments or activities. Have a hard set out of time/amount you want to study and let that determine the rest of your schedule, and not the other way around. Make sure to say no to the things that don’t align with that schedule. That also includes saying no to yourself when, as a high achiever, you want to take on extra responsibility in your position or do more. I wish I had said no more to a lot of the things I said I could balance while studying. 

• Describe your overall experience. The experience for me was robotic. I look back on that semester and think to myself how I did that. But that does go to show that it is possible. I was on a very tight schedule when I took it, which is why I would describe my experience as robotic. I was taking 18 credits (mostly because I had no other choice), as well as involved in research, volunteering, being a GSI, and on the board for a major campus organization. It took scheduling miracles to make studying happen but again, it is all possible when you set your mind to it. My experience included a lot of practice questions that I wish I had started later (very contradictory to typical information). I started too soon before I had enough content, misusing that time. I would go back and start practice question still early on, but more when I felt ready. 

 KARAN JOSEPH

“The MCAT is not so much a test of memorization as it is a critical reading and analysis test and the only way to develop that skill is to practice.“

• When did you take the MCAT? 

                   August 2019

• Did you take a course or self-study?

           Self-Study- I would definitely recommend self-studying if you feel like you can keep yourself accountable. I kept an Excel sheet where I logged how many hours I studied that day, what tasks I completed that day, and relevant scores/percentage. This helped create structure for me and keep myself accountable. 

• How long did you study for? 

              3.5 Months- This was probably on the longer side, but I kept myself busy with research, volunteering, and leading a discussion for CHEM 215 during Spring Term. If you plan on giving yourself the summer to study, then I would recommend making sure you have other activities planned out or you will burn out.

• What was your favorite section? Least favorite? 

Favorite: B/B Least Favorite: CARS

• What’s one piece of advice you would give about the MCAT? 

Take a few days at the beginning of the studying process to create your long term plan. Additionally, every week make a weekly schedule. As you continue to study, you will learn your strengths and weaknesses and make sure you hit those weaknesses hard. Additionally, Practice >>> Content Review. The MCAT is not so much a test of memorization as it is a critical reading and analysis test and the only way to develop that skill is to practice. Small details come into play when you are trying to push 130+ on a specific section or 520+ overall. 

• Describe your overall experience.

My overall experience with the MCAT was positive. (At the time of writing, I haven’t received my score yet). It was a long summer, but only stressful towards the beginning and the end. The middle two months were a long grind but never necessarily hectic. The MCAT is daunting and scary, but the process of seeing your scores slowly increasing over the course of 14 weeks is extremely rewarding. 

 

Gap years are becoming more and more popular every year. That being said, what people do for their gap year(s), or how long they take a break varies. One commonality that all of these people seem to share is that during their break, they are able to gain a more developed understanding of the world—a trait that many medical schools appreciate.                       

Some reasons to take a gap year might include:

1. You don’t have enough hours of volunteering, shadowing, research
   1. It can be difficult to balance extracurriculars with being a full-time student. As a result, taking a gap year to put the finishing touches on your experiences can be valuable if you feel that you didn’t have enough time to do so while attending college.
2. You want to work on your GPA/science GPA by…
   1. Starting from scratch and pursuing a master’s degree
   2. Taking more undergraduate classes
3. You want to save some money
   1. Medical school tends to be quite expensive and many students have undergraduate debts to consider. Many times it is possible to defer your undergraduate loans by starting a graduate program, keep in mind that most people will only being growing an educational debt throughout medical school
4. You want work experience
   1. Whether you work in a healthcare field or not, committing yourself to a full-time job in any field will give you a new set of skills and demonstrate your work ethic.  Additionally, as discussed previously, medical school is not cheap; making money during your gap year(s) is never a bad idea.
5. You aren’t sure about medical school
   1. It is an expensive commitment financially, emotionally, and socially, so it is important to make yourself aware of what you are committing to and potentially sacrificing by pursuing medical school.
6. You just need a break from being a student
   1. Take care of yourself! You have probably been in school for 14-15 years straight at this point, it is very reasonable for you to go out and do some of things you haven’t been able to do thus far.

For the most part, medical schools don’t mind too much what you do during your gap year. However, do keep in mind that medical schools will very likely ask you about how you spent your time and what you learned from whatever you did. Thus, whatever you do—make it meaningful. Now, if you are thinking you want to take a gap year(s), but aren’t sure what exactly you want to do, here are some options:

1. Volunteering
   1. Peace Corp 
   2. Free Clinics
   3. Teach For America
2. Research
   1. Continuing in a lab you worked with during an undergraduate career
   2. Applying for a research position at another university
3. Studying for MCAT
   1. If you choose to participate in an MCAT course, do a little research before you make a purchase — what kind of resources does each course offer, how long will you have access, what sort of learning styles does it work best for, etc.
   2. They are obvious brand names for MCAT courses such as Kaplan, and Princeton Review, but there are also a number of less expensive resources that provide just as many quality resources.
   3. If you choose to study independently from external resources, you should organize a study schedule in order to keep yourself on track.
4. Master’s degree
   1. What you study depends on your goals of further education — are you looking to increase your pre-professional school academic performance, or supplement your professional school curriculum? It’s unlikely that medical schools will frown upon a certain degree, they just may not immediately understand, for instance, why you pursued a Masters in Fine Arts — if this was something you were passionate about, you should be able to communicate that in your application and interviews.
5. Working
   1. Scribing
      1. Bear in mind that many medical scribe companies require between 12 to 18 months of commitment — this is typically not a position where a “two-weeks notice” is substantial, as physicians don’t want to be constantly switching scribes. As soon as you are hired to scribe, your company will try to start narrowing down your end date so that a replacement can be trained.
   2. EMT, CNA or working as a phlebotomist
      1. If you’re thinking about either of these, again, they are great ways to get patient hours, but you need to take classes in order to become certified. For example, EMT Basic certification courses typically run several months, followed by required clinical shadowing over a period of weeks. EMT Paramedic certification courses typically last over 1 year and require a special prerequisite course in anatomy and physiology for EMS.
      2. For phlebotomy, the classes that are needed to become certified are less intensive and take less time than EMT. Typically, the program lasts about a month, and you can choose to do it on the weekends or during the week. The program includes lectures and drawing blood from the other students in the class. A link for a class like this is linked here: https://www.phlebotomyusa.com/michigan-phlebotomy-schools/ 
      3. For Certified Nurse Assistant training, the training program is 75 hours long and usually lasts from 4-8 weeks. It is split between clinical training and in- classroom lectures with hands-on labs. At the end of the training, it is necessary to take a separate state certification exam, to remain certified for 2 years. A CNA works more heavily in patient care and  interaction than an EMT or phlebotomist, and focuses on assisting patients through daily activities such as bathing or eating.

It is also important to keep in mind that taking a gap year is often becoming a preference among medical school admissions committees. Taking a gap year (or multiple!) allows you to include your senior-year experiences in your application, and these experiences often strengthen your application overall. No matter what your gap year or years consist of, you are likely to grow as an individual in one way or another and, ergo, become a more well-rounded candidate.