Unsure about your studying progress? Need a study plan or just someone to keep you accountable? Why not try an MCAT academic coach? It’s a lot cheaper than a class!
Related: A guide to studying for the MCAT
Here’s a compilation of the summaries I’ve made from Reddit MCAT success stories.
1. Study amino acids and Jean Piaget’s 4 stages, review practice exams in depth, and choose energy drinks over coffee for your mid-exam caffeine.
from https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/9f4szq/i_got_a_522_heres_some_shit_i_wish_i_knew_at_the/
2. Non-traditional MCAT student takes the MCAT, after taking all of his pre-reqs in one year. He thought C/P was hard but you need to trust in your knowledge. CARS was easy for him. B/B was random. Khan Academy saved P/S for him.
His strategy: “I used and like the Kaplan strategy for every section except for CARS: click through the questions, take note of the discretes, answer all the discretes, then move on to the passages.”
His recommended materials:
- Kaplan lectures
- Examkrackers books
- UWorld qbank (use it to learn, but not to predict your score)
- AAMC qbanks and section banks
- Khan Academy for P/S
- AAMC full lengths for the last 3 weeks leading up to his exam
from https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/99gbaf/from_496_to_521_a_story_of_redemption_through/
3. The guy took the test 4 times. He had to take a gap year after going through 2 cycles with no interviews. He thought the test was super difficult and was sure he bombed it when he took it.
The only materials he used were AAMC materials and UWorld. He’s a huge fan of UWorld, and also of taking the time you need to study.
from https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/93h9l5/a_little_success_story_for_anyone_out_there_who/
4. Non-science, traditional student at Big 10 university who only had introductory microbio, physics, and psych before taking the MCAT. Studied many, many hours for 6 weeks leading up to the exam. He thought Kaplan was too in depth, but appreciated it, and found skimming material before bed to be more helpful than flashcards.
He only used section banks to study, not to test his knowledge. He also attributes success to carb loading the night before, and not eating lunch at all. He wants to remind everyone that time spent not studying MCAT is time wasted.
His materials were:
- AAMC section bank, sample test, and FL1 and FL2
- Khan Academy for P/S
- Kaplan books and quicksheet
- His own Google Doc
from https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/6ob0b2/how_i_went_from_500_to_521_in_6_weeks/