Advice From My Experiences

Attempt #1 (August 2022) – 505:

• The first time I took the MCAT, I had set aside May-August 2022 to study for it. I was back on campus taking a physics class for May and June and also dealing with some changes. My roommates went home for the summer so I was living alone and only one of my friends was still on campus. At the same time, I was recovering from long-Covid symptoms so physically and mentally I wasn’t in the best headspace. I share this because I feel like a large part about studying for the MCAT is ensuring that you are able to dedicate your focus to the exam. It’s not an easy exam to tackle so if you’re not able to commit to studying, it will be hard to improve.
  
  
• I spent 2 months slowly going through the Kaplan books and attempting to do a content review. I wasn’t retaining anything, but it made me feel like I was being productive. This was not a smart way to study because I was essentially wasting time.
  
  
• After my physics class ended, I came back home and squandered another month in “getting adjusted” to my new setting and slowly doing question banks questions.
  
  
• The final month was my most productive as I started taking practice exams, reviewing them thoroughly, and memorizing key content. When I saw my score increase from a diagnostic of 497 to 505 in the final week of taking the exam, I wished I had done more active learning earlier.

Attempt #2 (August 2023) – 510:

• A year after my first attempt, I was ready to focus. Mentally and physically I felt great, but unfortunately my study habits were still not all the way there. This time, I studied from June-August 2023. Despite my better judgment, I still spent time content reviewing for a large part of the exam.
  
  
• When I started doing more questions, I saw my score increase. I also spent some time memorizing certain concepts for the biology/ biochem section and psych/ soc (I’ve listed the key topics below). This helped me increase my score to be five points higher than last time, but I was still missing a certain understanding of how the test works.
  
  
• When I got my score, I was frustrated because technically this is the minimum score that you should consider applying to medical school with (though realistically you want a 515+ especially if your GPA is on the slightly lower side). I asked several counselors if I should retake it with mixed reviews – some people said that if I took it again, I would need at least a 2 point increase in my score otherwise it would look bad for me. I knew that I could do better so I decided to retake it with the understanding that if my practice exam scores around the test date were not higher than a 510, I would not retake the exam.

Attempt #3 (January 2024):

• This time I knew that I needed guidance and that I needed to allow myself to have a life while studying. I will admit that I had the privilege this time of being familiar with the content and format of the exam so all I needed to do was understand how to overcome the wall. I went on a trip to New York early on while studying and even went on a two week road trip with my family that I came back from ten days before my exam. And despite these breaks, this was the best I felt on the exam.
  
  
• This time I got a tutor, and I remember the first time I was talking to my tutor I told her “I don’t know how to get a higher score than a 510. I think I hit a wall.” Having her reassure me that it was possible to get a 520+ was extremely reassuring. We met several times over the course of the months and would review a topic I was struggling with and then do passages together. For me, the most valuable aspect of tutoring was getting to understand how she approached the questions. If she didn’t know the answer immediately, she would try to distill down what the question was asking using other concepts that she did know. Continuously doing problems, reviewing them by myself and with her, and taking several practice exams gave me a newfound sense of confidence.
  
  
• I have to admit that I overslept the day of my exam, and I was yawning while they were checking us in for the exam. While taking the actual exam, I yawned multiple times as well and rather than reviewing my questions, I tried to end the section as soon as I could for breaks. Psychology/ sociology felt harder than usual and I left prepared to kiss my medical school dreams goodbye. To my surprise, I had scored a 521 (98th percentile) a month later. This taught me that tackling the MCAT is really about understanding how to study for it, rather than just learning content.