MCAT Tips and Tricks... or, How I Studied for the MCAT

WE HAVE MOVED TO: A Theory of Living  

  As I mentioned in this article, I earned a very high score on the MCAT (R).  I took a very active role in managing my own MCAT prep, and I think some of the strategies I employed could be very helpful for others.  The MCAT is one of the most feared and dreaded parts of the entire medical school application process, so, I thought I would write a guide about how I prepared so others could benefit from it.

          I definitely recommend you take a prep course.  For most people the techniques and strategies they teach you are helpful.  Also, the review of the basic sciences in the courses is critical.  Many students haven't looked back at gen chem or bio 101 in three or even four years... some even longer.  It is important to have a knowledgeable person review those subjects with you.  These reviews are also helpful, because they tell you what is NOT going to be tested on the MCAT.  Guess what?  75% of the crap you drilled into your skull during organic chemistry won't be tested on the MCAT.

          In my opinion, though, the biggest thing you can do to score higher on the MCAT is figure out how they want you to think.  Doing well on the MCAT definitely requires being competent in the basic sciences, but the fact is that you can be an excellent science student but a poor MCAT style thinker and not do well on the test.  The MCAT is a standardized test, and it requires you to think and apply concepts in a certain way that is standardized.  If you can figure out how they want you to think, you can beat the test.

          The best way to start thinking MCAT style is to take practice tests, particularly a few early on in the prep.  Here is the catch, though, in the month or months of studying, you need to maximize whatever amount of time you can pull from your schedule to devote to the MCAT.  You don't want to spend all your time taking tests in the beginning, especially when your knowledge may be deficient in some areas.  It's very important to make taking 1-3 practice tests one of the first things you do, but it doesn't matter how you score on them.  You are taking these tests for the experience of taking them, to learn how to take them.  For that reason, I suggest you just blow through these tests as fast as you can.  I'm not saying you should make no effort.  Try to get the questions right, but work quickly.

          I took my first two practice tests within the first week of prep, and I skipped the writing section both times.  I also worked through each section as quickly as possible.  The first reason for this is that I wanted to maximize my prep time and knew that accuracy didn't matter that much.  I could have scored a 15, and I would have been fine with it as long as I started picking up on how the test is built.  The second reason is that it's actually very helpful to figure out how quickly you can perform under a time pressure and get used to doing so.  You never know when you'll get a section that tests your weak points and time will start to creep up on you.

          Your score will suck on these first few tests (unless you're just that awesome).  Don't panic.  That's fine.  It literally doesn't even matter.  All that matters is that you learn from taking it.

          After those early tests, you should also have a great idea what areas you are weak in.  Review them.  Duh.  Make them strengths.  This is another area a course comes in helpful; not only are there classes devoted to reviewing the science you need to know, but they'll often have tons of questions online or in books to help you review areas you are weak in.

          Once you have started to learn how to think for the MCAT and reviewed the subjects you are weak in, go ahead, take a test.  Take this one under real conditions.  Your score should start to be less depressing.  In fact, you might be shocked by how good it is.  The fact is, if you have done the first two steps well - learning to think MCAT style and reviewing weak areas - then you may have already gained 75% or more of the points you're going to gain.  Please be aware, this is not the case for everyone, but it was definitely the case for me and a few others that I suggested this plan to.  When I hit this phase, I hit a top 1% score.

DO NOT burn out!!!

          From there comes the real grind.  This is the long tedious part.  This is where you are shoring up your knowledge in all areas.  This is where you just beat the sciences into your head until you know them as well as you possibly can.  This is the part where you start to lose your damn mind.  It is very important not to overdo it and burn out here.  As I said, you have already gained a lot of the points available to you.  At this point, you should take a test every week or two, depending on how much time you have, so you can further refine your understanding of "how to think MCAT style" and learn to apply the science you are drilling into your skull.  I still advise skipping the writing section (I'll get to that later).

          This phase is important, because it will get you most or all of the points you "should have gotten," those questions that, when you review a test, you got wrong but know you shouldn't have.  It'll also net you a few new points as you learn the finer nuances of the basic sciences.  I think, most importantly, it'll make you prepared across the breadth of material.  This is important, because it is a simple fact that from test to test, different topics are tested.  Different topics are tested from different angles with different levels of difficulty, and you need to be prepared to cope with that.

          When the time comes, you will be ready.  You want to make sure you peak at the right time.  Don't burn out beforehand.  You should be very good at thinking MCAT style by the end of your prep, and you should have a world of basic science knowledge at your disposal.  Taking practice tests are the best tool at the end, because they allow you to combine those two skills.  If you can do both of those WELL, you should get the score you want.



Section by Section

          For the Verbal Section, practice really makes perfect.  ALL the answers are in the passage right in front of you, so what makes this section hard is time.  Unfortunately, they build this section to have a bit of a time crunch in it, and they also grade it on a very difficult curve.  I think the best way to prepare for this section is to just practice over and over and over again.  It'll get you to analyze passages the way they want and make you understand what different questions are looking for.  You also should work on building speed.  Some verbal sections will take longer than others, and you need to be prepared for that.  Test prep classes usually have specific strategies for parsing the passages or questions apart, and most people find these VERY helpful.

          For the Biology Section, there are several things you just NEED to know.  Cold.  The hormones are one of them, for example.  You should discuss the other ones with your course instructor.  The best way to get these in your head are flashcards.  If you go through them once a day from the beginning, you'll be fine by the end.

          Other than that, the Bio Section is really an interesting beast.  It beautifuly integrates many of the skills from the Verbal Section, requiring you to "think MCAT style" and use the passages, while also forcing you to apply your basic science, often in peculiar and foreign ways (well, they would have been foreign until you learned to think MCAT style; then they are second nature).

Know what phylum these guys belong to?  Me neither.

          There will be some questions that you will not know the answer to, and that's okay.  Some questions will deal with absurd minutiae, such as what phylum some organism you have never heard of belongs to.  That's okay.  That's just how it works.  In the wide world of general bio, you can't know everything.  If you are scoring very high already, it may be in your interest to learn or memorize a lot of these subtle facts, but they really won't net you much, and you never know which subtle fact they will ask for on a given test.  Hey, if you're really lucky, maybe there won't be any.

          The Physical Sciences Section is the most straightforward.  You still have to use the passages and think in the MCAT style, but for the most part you're going to be applying your basic sciences.

          For very tough passages, they will warp a concept you know into something unfamiliar and scary.  Don't be fooled by that.  That's what they want.  The only thing they can test you on is basic science, and when they want to make it tough, the only thing they can do is warp it and make it foreign to you.  Unfortunately for them, it's still the same damn stuff you learned in gen chem or physics, just with big words, flowery sentences, and different angles of attack.  Don't get stressed out when that happens.  You just need to keep your cool and think about the basic ideas that they are really testing.

          I don't really care about the Writing Section.  Maybe you disagree from reading my blog, but I have been told for most of my life that I am a good writer.  I think I did one or two writing sections during my prep.  You need to figure out how much time you need to spend practicing the writing section to get the score you are shooting for.  Make sure you can get that score, and once you are positive you can, stop worrying about the writing section.  Your time is better spent on the others.  But remember, you MUST hit that minimum score.

          Overall, I don't think it's a good use of time to do the Writing Section on all the practice tests you take if you know you can get the score you want.  Definitely try it once or twice, though, so you can understand the stamina that the real MCAT will require.

          I hope this guide helped someone.  Please remember that these are just my personal thoughts, and this strategy may not work for everyone.  I have done very well on every standardized test I have taken; I am a "good tester."  Others may not be, so they may require a different set of strategies.  Also, please keep in mind that just because this earned me a high score, it doesn't mean that will be the case for everyone.  I am sure some people could use these tricks and still score poorly.

            Because I fully recognize that this strategy worked for me as an individual, and may only work for others on an individual basis, I want to impart some key advice to those who read this and don't think it would be helpful: take a VERY active role in designing your own test prep strategy.  As I said, courses and the techniques they offer are very helpful for most people, but I am sure that everyone can benefit from designing a plan of attack suited to their strengths and weaknesses.  The test is standardized, but we are not, so make sure you are developing your MCAT taking skill according to your personal abilities and needs.



All mentions of the MCAT refer to the copywritten Medical College Admissions Test.