![]() This isn’t for everyone, but I would choose between 10 and 20 hours to maximize the value of those hours. If you decide to use tutoring, you NEED a tutor who scored within the range of your goal score (and if they did better than your goal score that is obviously a huge plus). The last thing you want to do is take this test twice (the opportunity cost is huge), so it is totally worth spending the money to succeed the first time. If you decide that you need accountability/test-taking advice, I would consider hiring a tutor. That’s why I personally chose MCAT Self Prep -a free program that gives you structure but lets you customize through self-study. I, for one, am self-motivated but I needed structure too. Are you self-motivated? Do you hold yourself accountable? Are you a naturally gifted test-taker? The question isn’t am I driven?, but how do I learn best? Most people will say… If you are self-motivated then you should self-study, but this, in my opinion, isn’t true. The second and last question that you need to ask yourself is this: can I do this alone? To answer this, you need to dig deep. Least Expensive: MCAT Self Prep / Khan Academy (Free)ģ. Middle Option: Smaller prep companies with condensed videos ($400-999) Most Expensive: Kaplan, PrincetonReview, NextStep etc. I personally only watched the Khan Academy videos on the MCAT Self Prep ecourse playlists and supplemented them with Princeton Review content book reading for concepts that I struggled with. All the other prep companies, on the other hand, essentially try to parrot those same videos but charge you thousands of dollars for you to get it from a more-distant source. It’s actually as close as you can get to the source itself. The first question that you may ask yourself is: Will I use a prep program to learn the content or will I self-study? You should instead ask yourself: Do I want to pay thousands of dollars to learn content when I could learn it for free by myself? The secret that the prep companies will never tell you is that the AAMC (the MCAT administration) actually paid Khan Academy to create thousands of hours of videos that teach you the content directly. It won’t feel like a breeze, but it shouldn’t leave you mentally drained. The 8-hour test (or 6 hour test for Summer 2020) should feel like a 2-hour test by test day. Whatever you do, I would highly recommend devoting at least 2-3 weeks before the test to do nothing but MCAT study. The content phase should last until you are one month away from the test date (if you’re studying for 6 months then this would be the first 5), and then the final month should be primarily devoted to taking full-lengths. The second phase’s goal is to improve your test-taking abilities. The first phase’s goal is to get through all the content. The MCAT study timeline should be largely broken into two phases. I studied during the spring semester but only took 12 credits that were fairly easy and then studied full-time for 4 weeks before my MCAT. I personally took the MCAT on May 23rd and started studying during the previous winter break. If you are studying during the semester plan it out in advance to deliberately make that semester as light as possible. So if you study 20hrs/week for 3 months you should expect to jump up by 9 points. A good rule of thumb is that studying 10 hours a week for a month will average about a 1.5 point increase. After taking a free diagnostic test, decide on a goal score and calculate the number of hours that you need to study with the Create-your-own Study Plan Course. Whenever you take the MCAT, make sure you give yourself enough time to study to get the score you want. I can barely remember what I did last weekend, let alone my study sessions from last semester. I wouldn’t recommend anything longer than 6 months because (let’s be real), you won’t remember what you studied 8 months before. Taking the test over the summer with minimal or no classes allows you to compress your study timeline. How Do I Start studying? The Timelineįor most students, I recommend taking the MCAT during summer before or summer when you apply for medical school. Here are a few things that I wish I knew before I started my journey to a perfect MCAT score. I achieved a perfect score on the MCAT (528) and since then I’ve made it my mission to pass on my test-taking strategies to other pre-meds. My name is Theo Bennett and I am one of the Head Tutors for MCAT Self Prep. For a lot of us, this intimidation prevents us from performing to the best of our abilities because we never took the time at the start to truly understand the MCAT. It’s most-likely harder, longer, and more important than the SAT, ACT, finals, or any test that you’ve faced. The MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test) is without a doubt one of the greatest struggles that premeds face.
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