MCAT Day Survival Guide

     With the end of the school semester quickly approaching, I figured that many of you will be taking the MCAT following the end of the school year. In order to help you kick butt on MCAT day, I want to share a couple of the things that I did in order to make it through.

Day Before Prep

     The most important thing that you can do the day before your MCAT is to just relax. By this point, I'm pretty sure you've learned as much as you'll be able to remember on test day, so spending the day before cramming yourself with information won't be that helpful and will most likely just drain you out. If you were about to run a marathon, you wouldn't want to run one the day before. So why do that for the MCAT? The day before my MCAT, I spent time with my family, went out to dinner, and did something fun. If you absolutely must review, I'd say keep it to under an hour. I think all I looked over the day before were some of the formulas, but that was it.  Plan out what you are going to wear the next day and what you will need to bring with you. Make sure that you wear something comfortable as this will be a long day. I am pretty sure I wore some yoga pants, a t-shirt, a zip-up hoodie, and a comfy pair of shoes. I think it's smart to wear layers because you don't know what the temperature will be like in the testing center, and you want to be able to adjust yourself to keep at a comfortable temperature.  Don't forget your ID! You'll be needing it to check in. Also, make sure you get to bed at a reasonable time, as being well-rested will greatly benefit you. The whole goal is to keep your stress levels low, so you can walk in on test day refreshed and ready to bring your A-game.

MCAT Day

Before The Test

     Wake up at a reasonable hour, so that you have enough time to get yourself ready. I know that some people don't like to eat breakfast, but on MCAT day, it's a must. Make sure you eat something that is filling. I am pretty sure I had some steel cut oatmeal because I had read that it would slowly release glucose, and glucose is what will help you power up your brain. Try to avoid anything too sugary because too much sugar will cause a crash later in the day and you obviously don't want that. I remember I also made a Starbucks run on my way to my test so that I could be well caffeinated. For coffee intake, follow your own judgment. I always start my day with some coffee, so I knew it was something that I needed/wanted.  Make sure to bring some healthy snacks and some gatorade. I brought almonds because they are a great source of healthy fats and are good to help boost your brain power in between test sections. The gatorade is to stay hydrated. I would normally say drink lots of water, but on mcat day you want to avoid having the need to pee during the test. I don't know about you, but having to pee really breaks my focus. I read that gatorade was a better option to avoid having to pee because it doesn't filter through your system as fast as water does. I followed this and it worked pretty well for me. Make sure to leave for the testing center with plenty of time. You want to have enough time to figure out where you need to go and get yourself settled in. Also, try to keep calm as you are getting yourself there. I know MCAT day jitters are common, but just keep the mentality that you are ready for this.

What to Expect 

     After you check in, they will call everyone in one-by-one. When you get called back, they take your picture, take your finger prints, have you sign some forms, have you shake out your pockets, and will run one of those detector wands over you. Then you get escorted to your seat and you begin. There is a whole protocol when you enter and leave the test room, so just be aware of that. You'll also have cameras on you while you test, and a proctor will be going around the room every so often to make sure that no one is doing anything sketch. 

During The Test

     While you are testing, try to treat each section like it is it's own separate test. What I mean by this is that don't let a previous section bog you down. Try to do the best you can while you're on a section, but once you move on to another section, don't worry about the previous one. There may be cases where you feel like you are struggling through. I hope this isn't the case, but if it happens, work through the section and move on. Remember that your score is important as a whole, so it is important to keep going no matter what. Also, don't stress about individual questions. I know that you will want to get everything right, but it's most important to make sure that you finish everything as best you can, so spend some time on a question, and if you just can't get it, move on and if you can, come back to it later. TAKE YOUR BREAKS! I know that you might be tempted to just power through, but it is so important to step away from the computer when you can. I know that this was important for me, and will be super important now because the current MCAT is super long. I believe you get ten minutes ( At least that's what I had when I took my test. I'm not sure about the current MCAT.), so take the time to quickly go to the bathroom, have a little bit of your snack, and a couple sips of gatorade (don't drink too much though!).

After The Test

     At this point, I am pretty sure your brain will feel like mush. I remember feeling like I couldn't think anymore, so my best advice is just go home and rest. For the next 30 days ( I hope that's still the post test waiting period), don't even think about the test. You've done everything that you could and now it is out of your control, so don't stress. Go back to enjoying life, catch up with your friends and family (Who I'm sure were put to the side while you were on your MCAT grind), and just relax. You'll have plenty of time to worry about your test score later, so don't do it before you actually need to. When scores are finally posted, don't freak out too much. It is just a test. This does not define you, but just how you performed on a single test. So, no matter what you get, don't worry.

     I hope these tips help you as you are headed to your big test day and I wish you all the luck in the world. Many have made it past the beast that is the MCAT and so can you! I hope you are having a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

~Genesis<3

Studying For The MCAT

     So, I'm sure by this point my MCAT people have already begun their studies, but I thought it would be a great idea to add in some of my own study tips to help guide your studies or possibly help you re-focus if you've been struggling with how to study for the beast that is the MCAT.

My Study Tips:

Create a Schedule

     If you've been following me, you know that I am a fan of schedules, but I think for MCAT studying this is particularly important. Having a schedule of when you need to study will help you stay organized and also make it more likely that you will go through with your plan.

Break Down the Material

     What makes studying for the MCAT such a daunting task is the fact that there is SO much information to know. One of the things that helped keep me from feeling overwhelmed was to not look at all the information I needed to know overall, but instead to focus on what I needed to know at the moment.  This also goes back to making a schedule. Try to break down your study topics by the subject/subjects that you'd like to review that session. For me, it would usually consist of reviewing a topic ( let's say electrostatics) and then doing practice questions or a practice quiz. Having a "goal" for your study session will prevent you from aimlessly looking through all your practice books and weeping over all the material you must know.

Utilize All Your Resources

     Your primary resource for MCAT studying will typically be your designated set of practice books, but that doesn't mean that your practice books are your only resource. I am a very visual person, so at times just reading something in a book doesn't always click with me. In these cases, I would try to see if I could find a different explanation and most of the time I was lucky enough to find a YouTube video explaining the topic. If you can't find a YouTube video, find a different explanation online. I know certain textbooks suck at explaining things, so sometimes you can find a better explanation elsewhere. Also, consult your peers and your professors. Sometimes hearing someone else explain a topic helps me understand it better, so don't be afraid to ask for help.

Practice your Endurance 

     One of the most difficult parts of the MCAT  is having the mental endurance you'll need to make it through consecutive lengthy exams. Your MCAT studying is the best time to get yourself accustomed to sitting through hours of material, practice your focus, and also your timing. By test day, you should be used to sitting through the length of each section and the length of each exam That way you don't burn out in the middle of the exam.

Use Practice Tests Wisely

     At the beginning of your studies, Using multiple practice tests can be wasteful. Why? because you most likely haven't reviewed all the material you need to know to do well. Practice tests ( mainly the full-length exams) should be used to gauge your progress. I'd recommend taking one at the beginning of your studying to see your starting point and then maybe every couple of weeks to see your progress. Closer to exam time, you should be using them to get yourself in exam mode and I'd recommend taking them as if you were taking the real exam.

Review Your Practice Exams

     I'll be the first to admit that after taking a practice test, the last thing I wanted to do was go over it.But, it is super important that you review every question, and yes I do mean every question. It is important to know why you got a question wrong, but even more so why you got a question right. Sometimes you just got it right because you are a really great guesser, so it's important to know the concept behind the questions so you can get it right on test day. Also, reviewing your practice exams is a fantastic way to see where you are lacking. If you've taken several tests and you keep getting kinematics wrong, you know you need to do some pretty serious review.

Don't Study What you Already Know

    

      I know, I've been there too. Sometimes studying what you already know or enjoy can be such a confidence boost because you get the questions right and you feel like you have a handle on the whole MCAT thing. But, let's be real. You're not doing anyone a favor. I know you'd love to spend hours on your favorite topic to avoid wanting to cry while studying what you struggle with ( ahem kinematics), but you've gotta struggle through the hard stuff.

   Do What Works for You

     Every practice company is going to promise you that their method is going to get you a high score or whatever, but ultimately you need to do what will help you do your best. It might be what the test prep company teaches you, but most likely it'll be something you've discovered while studying. So take your study time to figure out your method, so come test day you know what to do.

Don't be Hard on Yourself

     I'll be completely honest. On test day, you will more than likely not know every little thing that is on the exam, but that's okay! The purpose of studying for this exam is to get you familiar with having the necessary foundations to answer questions. So, study with the intention of being pretty knowledgeable about what you need to know, but don't stress about every little detail. 

     I hope that these tips help guide you on your studying journey. And remember, you are not a test score, so don't obsess over a certain one. Study as best as you possibly can and go in with the aim to kick serious butt.  If you'd like more MCAT studying tips, check out this blog as well. I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you on Thursday!

~Genesis<3

     

To Prep or Not To Prep?

     I know that the time of year has come where many people are getting themselves ready to begin studying for the MCAT and one of the necessary considerations is whether or not to take a prep course. So, I want to dedicate Today's blog post to reviewing my experience with MCAT prep courses and what my thoughts were after actually taking the MCAT.

     I believe I should preface all of this information by saying that obviously I haven't taken every MCAT prep course available, so all I can really speak to is what my personal experience was and how it worked out for me. The prep course that I do happen to have experience with is the Kaplan Prep course. Kaplan is one of the major ones that I know are available, so hopefully this post will help many of you!

The Course

     When I went to choose an MCAT prep course, I knew that what most students went for was one that offered in-class sessions. Kaplan happened to have a relationship with the pre-med group at my school and they offered a small discount ( I think $200) for taking the classes on campus. The class regular price was cheaper than the Princeton Review one, so it was a no-brainer for me to take this class. I believe I ended up paying approximately $2000 for the in-person course offered on campus. The class consisted of 6-hours of class per week ( I had mine 6:00-9:00 Monday and Wednesday) and it ran Jan 29th-April 2nd. The $2000 included all the books for the Kaplan course as well as access to the online database that had lots of online content for you to study from. 

Pros: 

-Signing up for the class meant that you had a built in MCAT time in your schedule if you actually attended class. I never missed a class, so that was always my major MCAT time. 

- You were with other students, so you got to see how other people went about answering questions.

- The course package offered you tons of material ( I didn't even get through all of it) and you had access to it well past the dates of your course ( I actually used it to study the second time around). 

Cons:

- In class portion took a lot of time out of your day, and I happened to have a full day Mondays and Wednesdays, so sometimes it felt like a lot.

-Class time wasn't always used effectively, so I didn't feel like I was always getting the most out of it.

- There was a lot of material to get through before each class session. I remember it being like 100 pages per class or something crazy. Towards the end, I wasn't doing all the reading because I didn't have the time with my school work. 

- The price! Looking back on it, I can't believe I paid so much, but when you want to be well-prepared you don't really think about that. 

Overview

     Personally for me, the in-class portion wasn't very helpful. The class structure consisted of the instructor going through a lesson book and answering questions with us to help us learn the "Kaplan method". Often times, the instructor would ask a question and wait for someone to volunteer to answer it and as no one really wanted to answer, it always took forever and wasted time. What I did find helpful was the online component. The Kaplan online database offers a ton of study resources and since you can access it at your convenience, it makes studying less hectic. The first time around  my MCAT score wasn't my best. I don't solely attribute that to the class, but I do think my style of studying wasn't effective. The second time around I studied more at my own pace using the Kaplan books and online database and that worked out really well for me. The database had 12 full-length exams. It also had some official AAMC exams ( I can't remember if those were included in the 12), and they were really good predictors of my MCAT score range. The Kaplan exams were pretty good as well, but some felt like the scores were inflated as I was scoring way higher on them in comparison with my AAMC practice test scores. I should add that the second time around I was also skimming through the Exam Krackers MCAT books and the content in those was really good and condensed ( My friend actually took their prep course and liked it a lot). 

     Also, if you are still interested in Kaplan, they do offer other course options. They have a Live-online course ( same price as in-class) where you take the classes at home with an online instructor ( we had some of these for the organic chemistry classes and I thought they were more helpful than the in-class classes), or they have a "self-paced" option ( $400 cheaper than in-class & live-online) where you get access to the database and the books. The second option would probably be closest to what I did the second time around, and I thought it was what worked best for me. 

Overall, I say choose whatever will work best for you. You know how you study and what will be most effective. Also, you might have a different experience, so keep that in mind. I hope you guys found this helpful and that you have a great weekend!

~Genesis<3

Things I Wish I Had Known About The MCAT.

     If you're a pre-med, you've probably known about the MCAT before your little heart desired to ever pursue medicine. If not, as soon as you got to college it was heavily instilled in your brain that it would be very present in your journey to medical school. I would say that I was pretty familiar with what the generalities of the MCAT but there were a few things that I learned for myself and I thought it would be good to give others a heads up.

1.) Timing

     I knew that most pre-med students took their MCAT during their junior year, but what I didn't know was the latest date I could take it. When I took my first MCAT ( I was originally aiming to apply for the 2015 entry cycle), I scheduled it for early May. I would've saved myself lots of stress and brain power, If I had known I didn't absolutely need to have my score back in time to send out my primaries (which go out in June). Of course, having everything ready to send out in time for primaries would be ideal, but I later learned that it wasn't absolutely necessary. The latest you can take it is probably early to mid-July, but as it takes about 4 weeks to get your scores back, your best bet would be to aim to take it sometime in June. 

2.) How long you need to study.

     I'd say that when you should start studying really depends on what you've got going on in your schedule. For my first MCAT, I was studying while completing my spring semester of my Junior year. I had a very busy schedule and balancing that with MCAT prep proved to be rather hectic. I believe I started seriously studying in about mid-February for my early May exam ( so I had about two and a half months of prep). The second time around I started studying at the beginning of June for my exam in September. I was on summer break so I didn't have anything major to focus on other than my studying. So, the three months of prep worked out pretty well for me that time. From what I've read, the typical MCAT study period is between 3-6 months. How much time you need depends on what you've got going on, so I'd plan based off of that. For me, a solid 3 months of dedicated studying was what worked best.

3.) How much you need to know.

     Of course, I knew that the MCAT covered many subjects, but you don't feel the magnitude of the quantity of information until you actually sit down and try to learn it all. Not going to lie, it can be rather overwhelming. I was fortunate enough to have taken it pre-2015 ( for my non-premed people, they just added more subjects to the MCAT) and only had to focus on the three areas. For those taking the new MCAT, I seriously sympathize, and all I can say is to take it one subject at a time. 

4.) How Stressful/Hectic an MCAT testing day can be. 

     MCAT testing day can seriously be crazy and all the security measures they have just adds to the madness. You arrive at the testing center and after they check you in with a photo ID, they'll escort you one-by-one into the testing room. Right before they take you in, they'll take your fingerprints, take your picture, copy your ID, have you fill out paperwork, scan you with a metal detector wand, have you shake out our pockets, and then log in a binder your time of entry. Then the relay begins. You take your exam and between each section you're entitled to a ten-minute break. Each time you leave the room there's a whole process you need to follow. They'll scan you with the wand, have you shake out your pockets, take your fingerprints, and have you sign the log book with the time. This is for both coming in and out, so your breaks to the bathroom/having a snack should be as brief as possible as you are working with a timer. I took every break I could to refresh myself and it felt crazy rushing in and out, but I would recommend it ( more on that coming in a later post).

     Overall, my aim here was not to scare you. The MCAT is a big test, but it definitely isn't impossible. I will definitely be shedding more insight on the blog about my experience with the exam and any tips I have to offer. Until then, I hope you guys have a great week!

~Genesis<3