MCAT Study Strategy
There are many ways to study for the MCAT. Here is a method that worked for me:
The time that you have will vary from person to person. If you are dedicating full time to studying, 2-3 months may be enough. If you are splitting MCAT studying between work or school, you may need longer such as 4-6 months.
Study Structure
I split my study period into the “Learning” period and “Testing” period. I chose a ratio of 5:5 (aka I spent half the time in the Learning period and half the time in the Testing period). However, you can choose a ratio that works for you.
During the Learning period, I just reviewed the study materials. There are many reference books that you can use, such as Princeton Review, Kaplan, etc. While there are nuanced differences between each one, I just found one whose formatting was intuitive and clear and stuck with one resource until the end. During this time, I concurrently made two study references:
Important formula sheet: this only contained formulas that I needed to know for the exam
High yield information: this contained important pathways (for example the Krebs Cycle) and other topics that I found difficult to memorize.
During the Testing period, I spent most of my time doing practice questions. Throughout the weekday, I would do however many practice questions I could fit into my schedule. During the weekend, I would spend one day taking a full length exam and the next day reviewing my results. During this time, I made sure to keep track of what I got wrong and the reasons I got questions wrong:
I did not know the concept
I misread the question or simple mistake
Misunderstanding of the concept
If I saw a topic come up numerous times, I added it to my high yield information sheet. If I made the same mistake multiple times, I also added it to my high yield information sheet
Remember to take breaks during this time! I specifically dedicated the weekends to relax during the Learning phase. During the Testing period, I gave myself two flexible day of non-studying/light studying depending on my schedule. I also made an excel sheet to keep track of the progress that I made, and it was satisfying to see the cells slowly filling up each day I accomplished my set task.
The Week Before the Exam
The week before the exam, I only did simple review of my notes. I did not do any further intense studying as I did not want to be burned out before the exam. During this time, I reviewed questions I got wrong on the AAMC MCAT practice exams, as this practice test most similarly simulates the real exam. Every day I reviewed my high yield information and formula sheet. The last two days, I rested completely with the only exception being a brief review of the high yield sheets the night before the exam.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations, you made it to the exam! Studying for the exam can seem daunting, but you can do it! The most important thing is to set a realistic goal and timeline for yourself. If I give myself too much time, I personally fall into the trap of procrastinating studying. But at the same time, you do not want to rush the study process. This is one study plan that worked for me, but feel free to create your own plan depending on what works for you.
