MCAT Advice

The advice below came directly from other students who have taken the MCAT. They emphasized how every student takes the exam on differently, and study techniques that work for one person may not apply to others. Take all of this advice with a grain of salt!

Advice from Haniya (MD-PhD Student)

General Tips

• Don’t get caught up the paranoia. There WILL be facts you forget or content you just never even see, the amount of knowledge covered by the exam is so huge it’s impossible for you to know all of it.

• Focus on the so-called “high yield” stuff, but similar as before, don’t get caught in the paranoia trap. High yield can be broken down into some very simple, wide, categories, and if you try to rank every topic by theoretical yield, you will only create more stress for yourself and waste time that could be used to study.

• There is no one way to success. Online forums and guides from high scorers can only get you so far. Weigh what’s right for you, monetarily, time-wise, and learning wise. Some people can’t stand reading textbooks, other people enjoy the physical interaction it gives them. I know people who have scored high with paid question banks, and I also know high scorers who didn’t pay a cent for them. If you’re doing something wrong, the AAMC practice exams will show it to you.

• Review is less effective than practice questions. 80% of the MCAT is just knowing how to answer the questions. Once you start practice questions, the only reason to go back to review is if you have a clear knowledge gap or are consistently getting problems wrong with a concept or topic.

Haniya's Personal Advice

• I had both pre-made flashcard decks and decks I made myself. Both are helpful, but I found the ones I made myself to be the best for use during crunch time, because I was targeting stuff I knew I didn’t know well, rather than anything and everything.

• Avoid buying stuff unless you really think you need it. Be careful, because MCAT prep is easily marketable and companies are just out to get money from a gullible population. Remember that paying for the MCAT and applying to medical school itself is already expensive enough, without paying for stuff that won’t actually help you.

• I found outside practice exams to be insanely unreliable. They are often considered inflated or deflated (sometimes both) depending on who you ask and what score range you’re in. But they’re great practice for timing and getting used to that exam environment.

• Analysis of your progress really comes in handy; you should know whether you got a question wrong for computational reasons (miscalculation, misclick, misread, etc.) or conceptual reasons (didn’t know content). Computational means work on your method, and conceptual means review. Do this for questions you got correct too, remember that you have a 25% chance of getting it right by luck alone, so go back and analyze why you got it right (lucky guess or knowledge).

Free Resources

• AAMC MCAT Test Prep

  • Free study planner

  • Two free practice exams (scored and unscored)

  • Link: https://students-residents.aamc.org/prepare-mcat-exam/free-planning-and-study-resources

• Khan Academy

  • Best free review source (and the only outside resource officially endorsed as a study material by the AAMC)

  • The above-mentioned AAMC progress tracker links directly to Khan Academy videos and lessons

  • Link: https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat

• Jack Westin

  • Free practice questions on all topics.

  • Widely considered one of the best CARS practice resources.

  • Link: https://jackwestin.com/#daily-passages

• Blueprint Daily

  • Free practice questions, emailed every weekday, complete with solution.

  • Sign up: https://blueprintprep.com/mcat/mcat-question-of-the-day

• Anki & Premade Decks

  • Anki download: https://apps.ankiweb.net/

  • MileDown deck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1neyVXp_prnmVManHHCB6lZOOL6xEykPE/view

  • Jack Sparrow deck link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hIbhOPsbE-Ir4V5ONSSk345wVXzLqip2/view

• Free Practice Exams

  • AAMC x2 (scored & unscored): https://offers.aamc.org/free-practice-exam

  • Blueprint x2 (half-length diagnostic & full-length): https://blueprintprep.com/mcat/free-resources/free-mcat-practice-bundle

  • Kaplan: https://www.kaptest.com/mcat/free/mcat-free-practice-test

  • The Princeton Review: https://www.princetonreview.com/medical/free-mcat-practice-test#!practice

Paid Resources

• AAMC MCAT Practice Material

  • • Practice tests

    • Practice questions

• UWorld MCAT Question Bank

  • • Practice questions