<p>@pushedaway. I did the bulk of my studying fall semester of junior year (took a course). spent winter break taking all the aamc practice tests. Took it jan of junior year. it was enough time, but make sure you dont overcommit yourself that semester in terms of courseload and ecs. does this fall under the path to mediocrity, plumazul?</p>
<p>Like I said, I’m not going to let this become an obession of mine. I’d thought of just trying some problems after finishing material covered by the MCATs and then i got worried/panicked cuz i couldn’t understand some problems. Lol i still have a life!</p>
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<p>Exactly! And spending a very small amount of time keeping it “fresh” until then is just an added bonus. Good luck.</p>
<p>We are all posting on a forum on christmas eve. By definition, none of us has a life.</p>
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<p>What does this mean?</p>
<p>Such a strange place. </p>
<p>Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone.</p>
<p>Plumazul,</p>
<p>I know my statements were anecdotal evidence however the anecdote sword cuts both ways and your comment is if anything less than anecdote since you haven’t even taken the test.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure what your meta-analysis would accomplish. First off, the correlation between grades and MCAT must be pretty weak or there would be no need for a standardized test. There are plenty of kids rocking 4.0s at lesser schools who do much worse on the MCAT that people with 3.4+ at higher ranked schools. Second, even if there is a strong correlation (or say you looked at only one year’s class to avoid any sort of variability among professors/schools), it says nothing about what study method works, just whether kids who do well in their courses do well on the test. I could easily argue that doing well in your pre-req means you only need a few weeks to study for the test since doing well in your pre-req means you obviously know your stuff.</p>
<p>The MCAT is not like learning a foreign language since there is only one 5 hour window in which you need to know your stuff and after that you may never look at it again. It’s probably more like preparing for a specific opponent in a sport. There is such a thing as overtraining as well as the fact that there is to some extent a maximum level of performance that you’re simply born with. You could also go so far as to say that just like one wouldn’t want to only practice 3 point shots for your upcoming game, one needs to spend time doing things other than MCAT prep, and so if you’re very far away from the test, your time is better spent doing other things.</p>
<p>No idea if ^^ noticed my post 12, but interesting:</p>
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<p>compared to:</p>
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<p>For what it’s worth, I’ve heard it described as such by a wide variety of people (from students to faculty to Kaplan tutors).</p>
<p>" Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in."
- Michael Corleone(Godfather III)</p>
<p>@iwbBrown,</p>
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<p>I’m puzzled? How would my taking of the MCAT change the nature of this discussion? My score would not “prove” my point any more than your score “proves” yours. Unlike others posting here, I have actually included disclaimers. </p>
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<p>What is the relationship between retention time and quality/depth of knowledge? Are you saying that you believe it possible to achieve the same quality/depth(as someone using the same knowledge on a regular basis), but for a short period of time by studying material for a short amount of time? What do you base this on? Do you have a citation? Does the brain have a MCAT mode or is learning accomplished (at the cellular/molecular level) in the same way, independent of what is being learned?</p>
<p>“Use it or lose it”</p>
<p>Reread my original post. There is nothing radical being suggested there. I am merely pointing out the obvious. My conclusions are based on the MCAT data, plus the common knowledge that anyone who speaks several languages (as I do) or plays piano at a high level (as I do) already knows. You become fluent/expert by using a knowledge set on a regular basis. If I stop speaking/listening to French, it will begin to fade away. If I stop playing piano over the summer, my skills will begin to fade away. This is true for any skill set, and there is an easy and simple remedy; you simply “freshen up” your knowledge with a very minimal amount of effort. I watch the news in French, I play my piano whenever I have some free time. What is so radical about this? Why would anyone, (in particular a future MD/PhD) not want to extend this to their basic science skills?</p>
<p>I guess maybe we’re not saying such different things Plumazul. My point is that focusing on class, doing well in class, and then later on, a couple months out (if during the summer, more if during the year) from the MCAT “freshening up” on that material you’ve already learned and learning the MCAT style is enough to do extremely well.</p>
<p>Unlike Piano or speaking to people in other languages, I would imagine most people do not enjoy studying for the MCAT and so doing more stuff does not necessarily equal a higher return as it increases the chances for burn out.</p>
<p>Your conclusions about MCAT scores are based on nothing since you don’t have data on how people actually studied for the tests so don’t try to claim you are doing anything more than speculating (albeit based on actual data regarding learning), and I found no such disclaimer in your original post.</p>
<p>I think what many of us who suggest waiting until closer to test date are getting at is not that your method can’t possibly increase your score but that even more important than whether it boosts your MCAT score is whether that boost is significant enough to increase your chances of admission. My bigger point is that while you are getting a 40 with your method, there will be a kid who gets a 39 using my method, and using the time a year out not doing questions to volunteer at a hospital is more likely to get in to medical school.</p>
<p>Maybe it was just that my friends and I, with are heavy EC loads (I was a D1 varsity athlete, president of my fraternity, involved in greek wide student gov’t and doing research while the 42 scorer was president of my fraternity before me, also involved in greek wide student gov’t, doing research, and in charge of a pediatric asthma outreach organization) were unable to spend time doing MCAT questions during the year. ONLY If you don’t feel like your method at all impinges on your ability to have a healthy amount of free time, participate in meaningful ECs, and doesn’t cause you to burn out, then I will openly say that it’s not a bad idea at all.</p>
<p>I’m finding this discussion pretty interesting. I agree that it’s really tough to keep up on MCAT prep during the school year while juggling 6 classes and extracurriculars. I was originally planning to take the MCAT the beginning of this summer, but I’ve since realized that there’s no way I can prepare myself adequately over the course of the next semester. So, now I’ve amended my plan to taking the test in August, studying for June/July. I find that a sustained effort works better for me than the whole long haul method.
And to answer the OP, I am a sophomore who is almost finished with all premed reqs (just Bio II, Orgo II and Orgo Lab to go). I decided to give the free MCAT practice exam a go (during winter break, just like you :P). I scored a 33 (12PS,10V,11BS), which I’m pretty okay with. Aiming for much higher but now that I’ve tried the MCAT, I feel like I can definitely do well on it with 3-6 weeks prep time.</p>
<p>^will you take it Aug 2012, apply 2012-2013, and matriculate Jul 2013? </p>
<p>If that’s the case, taking it in Aug is definitely not in your best interest. For someone planning to do “much higher” than 33, and presumably applying to a nice mix of state and private schools, waiting to get your application in until Sept or later (because your scores must be posted in order for schools to give you secondaries) will make your application experience much more stressful and difficult.</p>
<p>Assuming you hit all the other major marks (in terms of GPA, courses, extracurriculars, etc), I’d take an early (May-June) 33 over a late (Aug-Sep) 36 every single time. </p>
<p>Of course, it’s a moot point if you’re actually taking the test early, and aren’t planning to apply until 2013-2014.</p>
<p>Hi Kristin5792,
Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I’m actually planning to take it early. As I mentioned, I’m in my sophomore year. So I would be applying 2013-2014, matriculating 2014. You’re right - it’s definitely not in my best interests to take it so late. Do you see any harm in taking it earlier?</p>
<p>The ONLY harm would potentially be if you haven’t taken a year of basic/intro in each of bio, physics, and chem (well including orgo, so I guess 1.5-2 years depending on school) or at least have good AP foundations in those courses. Courses like genetics and physio may be helpful but definitely not needed.</p>
<p>Thanks i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown! I’ll be done with pretty much all of the premed requirements (bio, physics, orgo, gen chem) by the end of this year, before I take it.</p>
<p>OP,
Do not torture yourself. Don’t you have something better to do in your first year of college. Spend your precious time with friends. Much more important at this stage. BTW, do not underestimate developing great communication/people skills. the only way to do it is to have real life, be with people. MCAT can wait at this point. Not your current priority. Make sure to have very high GPA and participate in medical EC’s and others in area of your personal interests.<br>
Talking about MCAT, Gen. Chem is the easiest section. But again, do not worry about it, get it out of your system for 2+ more years at least…and you should have not skipped your first Bio. D’s UG had the same - first Bio was weed out killer. They went thru AP material n first 2 weeks. And none of first Bio is on MCAT. However, D. mentioned that all upper Bio’s were based on that first class. She had both Honors and AP (5 on exam) and used the same college textbook in HS and still had to work her b–t off in first Bio class. She said, good thing that she did.</p>