With the upcoming MCAT, students have been submitting their questions online, asking us how they can improve their MCAT scores…and FAST! Everybody wants to know how they can improve and want the secret for fast change. Well, unfortunately there is no secret and there is nothing that can really be done to get you that 35 without studying. But, with hard work and some of these strategies, you can definitely increase your score.

In this post, we will be focusing mainly on studying tips and strategies. In later posts, we’ll talk more about actual test taking strategies.

1. Plan out your schedule and stick to it!
All too many times, students that have come to me for help have asked us what is the ideal amount of time to study for the MCAT. Should they study for 6 weeks? 3 months? A year? Like everything, it depends. There is no definite answer, because everybody is different, however there are definitely bad amounts to study for.
For those who want to study for the MCAT in 4 weeks, good luck. Unless you already have a masters or PhD, studying for the MCAT in such a short amount of time is going to be very difficult. There’s just too much information to cover to try and cram that much information all at once.
On the other side of the spectrum, a lot of students like to study for the MCAT for 6months to a year. And in my personal opinion, this is too much. Not only will this take up quality time that you could be spending elsewhere, but more importantly, our memory isn’t that good. How much can we honestly say we remembered from last year? Not much, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s only so much we can remember, so if you’re studying for this test for an entire year, you’ll find that all you will be doing is reviewing, reviewing reviewing. You’ll be going over the same information over and over, trying to remember what you already learned.
So, through my experience, I have found that 10-12 weeks is the optimal time. Not only is this a good balance to allow enough information to come in and be retained, but it is also ideal because summer is roughly this amount of time. So, what we suggest is to try (if possible) to plan your MCAT studying during summertime.
2. Balance
I’ve said this in earlier posts, but studying for the MCAT is definitely a very time consuming process and you’ll want to try and focus all your efforts to studying for the MCAT. This may mean studying during the summer, without school, or not working that extra job. You’ll want to focus the majority of your time to just studying, because if you have to worry about when your next midterm is, or when your research project is due, you’ll find that MCAT studying will be put on hold.
But, with all this being said, you need a balance. While it may seem like all you should be doing is studying and focusing all your efforts to this one test, you need a balance. Find something you enjoy, whether it be a hobby, some game or anything really. Something that relaxes you and that you enjoy. Pick a day out of the week where you can just have fun and not worry about anything. Because you’ll find that after 8 weeks of straight studying, you’ll want to quit. And you’ll be quitting in your prime studying time, from 8-12 weeks. So, it’s best to spread out your breaks, so you don’t get that “burnout”. Sounds crazy, but its true. With everything, balance is good. It helps to keep you sane and keep you motivated when you need it most.
3. Pick a study schedule, Pick a date and stick to it.
No matter who you study with, what books you use or how you plan to study, the fact is if you keep experimenting, you won’t get anywhere. Most programs are roughly the same and most books (from the major companies) are about equal in helpfulness. Jumping back and forth from one program to the next and from one book to the other isn’t going to help. I’ve seen too many students fall into the trap of studying with plan A for 3 weeks, not seeing any change, jumping over to plan B, and so on and so forth.
With everything, these things need time. You won’t see change in an instant. You won’t see dramatic increases overnight. These things take time and you need to stay the course, or you won’t see improvement. Jumping from one program to another isn’t going to help, because different programs will stress different subjects at different times. So, you’ll repeat some subjects and miss a bunch of others.
Probably one of the biggest mistakes I see is that students start to flake on their test dates. They start off with a test date of March, and by week 7 of studying, they won’t feel prepared and will just tell themselves, “oh, it’s ok, I’ll just postpone to May”. They then stop or decrease their studying from week 7-12 because they think they have more time. Not only did they just waste 5 weeks of their studying, but they also pushed their test date back and possibly hindered their application date. You’ll find that your biggest score increase is going to occur in those last 5 weeks, but you have to stay the course and push through.

If you’re taking the MCAT or have taken the MCAT in the past and have some opinions to share, let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear it! Stay tuned for our next post, which is test taking strategies!

Look into the mirror and practice introducing yourself. You may find this silly but the interviewers can know a lot about you by the way you introduce yourself. Are you standing tall? Are you offering your hand in a very initiative way? Are you introducing yourself in a strong voice and in a welcoming tone of voice? The answers to these questions should be yes. If not, practice.

Review your applications. Yes, you were the one who wrote it but it has been awhile since then. Read it over once or twice and understand the details that you’ve written. Remember, your application is the only source of information that they have of you. They will only derive their questions or ask you to elaborate from your application. It will not look good if they ask you to explain something on your application and you come short-handed with your answer. This may lead them to think that you actually didn’t do as much as you said in your application, or you haven’t done it at all.

Research about what type of interviews the medical school conducts. It is a traditional interview where you are presented with a faculty panel and have to respond to their questions or is the school implementing the MMI, multiple mini interviews, into their school’s interview curriculum?

Now what is the MMI? Many schools are now implementing the MMI style. Basically, you will be rotating around 8-10 interview rooms. On the door or somewhere near the door, there will be a prompt that you’ll get 2 minutes to read and analyze. The prompt can be a simple scenario that happens on a daily basis or it can get very ethical. You will then proceed into the room where an interviewer is sitting down. You will have 8 minutes to explain to the interviewer of what you think of the scenario and how you would handle the situation given. If you don’t quite understand what I mean and need more of a visual, click on the youtube link to a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYZc-rItyRw

So why medicine? You will have to have an answer to this simple yet complicated question before you apply for med school.

Many choose medicine because science and the human body fascinate them. Some say lab research is not for them and they want the patient interaction. Others want the status and the position to take charge and lead instead of taking orders.

So what is your reason? Comment below!

The classes that you need to take prior to med school are:

1 year of Biology + lab

1 year of General Chemistry + lab

1 year of Organic Chemistry + lab

1 year of Physics + lab

1 year of English

1 year of Calculus (some schools may only require one semester or none at all)

Make sure that these classes offer a year worth of lab. If, for instance, there is no lab for the first semester of Biology, you will have to take an upper division Biology lab to fulfill your one year of Biology lab pre-req requirement for med school.

These pre-req classes are the classes that dictate your Science GPA. Get the best grades you can get! Often, these lower division “series” classes are pre-health weeders. Join study sessions, go to your professor’s office hours, go to walk-in tutoring (if your school offers them), and make sure you study hard! You do not want these classes’ grades be the reason why you doubt your chances of getting into medical school and pursuing your dreams!

Let’s break down the MCAT. The test consists of three sections – Verbal, Biological Sciences, and Physical Sciences. In Biological Science, it consists of Biology and Organic Chemistry. In Physical Sciences, it consists of Physics and General Chemistry. Starting January 2013 until September 2014, AAMC is implementing an experimental Psychology subject into the MCAT and has permanently taken out the writing portion of the MCAT.

The highest score that a student can achieve is a 45 (a total of 15 pts from each section); however, the average MCAT score for the entering classes for all med schools combined is a raw score of 31. The national average is around a 28.

People usually take around 3 months (ideal) to a year studying for the MCAT. Med school admissions do look at how you do on the MCAT; however, your GPA and extra-curricular would count just as much. Just allocate a good period to just the MCAT, preferably during the summer so you can take the September MCAT, and get it over with.

Don’t stress out about it. Learn to enjoy the subjects and studying and you’ll do perfectly fine!