#premed stuff

MCAT SCORES CAME OUT TODAY!

I am so ecstatic to get a 518 (97th percentile)!! Breakdown: 129 | 130 | 130 | 129

It’s been such a long journey to get here and I think this definitely makes all that stress, all those long nights at the library, just—everything! It makes it all worth it. It’s not a 520+, but I am plenty happy and proud of it anyway. :)

The MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is definitely pretty daunting when you first sit down to start preparing for it. For those of us here in the US/Canada, it’s probably the biggest, hardest standardized test you’ve ever had to take in your life so far. I thought I’d try to make the whole process just a little less painful! :)

Helpful Links:

AAMC (buy official practice material, sign up for test dates, & see your score)

Reddit r/MCAT (wonderful source of resources/info, help, & motivation)

Khan Academy

Khan Academy Notes/Transcriptions (collective effort by reddit)

Official MCAT Topic Outline (PDF)

Helpful Classes to Take (optional but recommended):

General Chemistry // Biology // Physics

General Psychology // Sociology

Organic Chemistry

Biochemistry

MCAT Books (optional)

Kaplan: widely regarded as one of the best. If you buy the 7-book set, you’ll get 3 free FLs (full-lengths).

ExamKrackers (EK): also widely regarded as one of the best. More user-friendly than Kaplan. Psych book is not comprehensive enough.

The Princeton Review (TPR): unnecessarily detailed in the science sections but overall good. TPR psych is supposedly very good.

If you’re pressed for money, I believe there is a full EK set scanned online somewhere (try asking Reddit). Also, honestly Khan Academy is just as good as the MCAT books in terms of content review.

Free FLs

Next Step FL1 (NS1)

Next Step Half-Length

Kaplan Half-Length

Altius Half-Length

The Princeton Review FL

General Tips Everyone Kinda Agrees On:

OFFICIAL AAMC PRACTICE MATERIAL ARE NOT OPTIONAL. At the very least, buy the Section Bank and the AAMC FLs. There is no practice out there that will predict your score as well as the AAMC FLs.

USE KHAN ACADEMY FOR P/S SECTION. If you have time, use the 300pg Psych document! Otherwise, use the 100pg doc.

KNOW YOUR AMINO ACIDS. That includes structure, 3-letter abbreviations, AND 1-letter abbreviations. Know what class they are (hydrophobic/philic, acidic/basic).

3rd Party FLs (e.g. Kaplan, Next Step) should only be used to practice sitting for 7 hours and to identify content gaps. Do not use them to gauge your score. 3rd party FLs tend to deflate your score.

It’s best to get a good score in one try. If you don’t feel ready, either reschedule your test or void it. Schools will only see scored exams.

^That being said, a “bad” score isn’t the end of the world. Take a break, pull yourself together, identify what you could do better, and slay the MCAT on your retake.

Pace yourself. Most people do ~3 months of study with scheduled break days, but adjust to your own pace!

MCAT courses are $$$ and only useful for certain people. If you are someone who can discipline yourself and do what you need to do, you don’t need to take a course.

Below 500 typically means an issue in content review.

Please don’t retake 514+ scores. Not only are they amazing scores, but if you retake and (god forbid) drop, it will reflect poorly on your decision-making.

You don’t need a 515+ to get into med school. It really depends on what tier of school you’re applying to, what speciality you want to pursue in the future, etc. If you’re not aiming for a Top 20 or a derm residency match, you don’t need a 95+ percentile score.

My Personal Tips:

A little about me: my score release was on 9/19/17 and I got a 518 (97th percentile) with breakdown: 129/130/130/129.

Don’t be afraid to postpone your test. I rescheduled my test twice (3/31 to 6/16 to 8/18) because I knew I wasn’t ready.

Try not to study during the semester. It’s already hard enough managing your everyday classes and any extracurriculars you have.

Practice >>> Content Review. Do a quick general content review before starting practice. Do any practice you can get your hands on. Then REVIEW THEM. Reviewing should take you basically the whole day. Really understand every aspect of the problem. Even if you got it right, make sure you’re getting it right for the right reasons and not cuz of luck. Look up anything that you’re even a little doubtful about.

If you’re going straight-through (applying summer after junior year), try to take your test the summer after sophomore year just in case you have to retake. Similar advice for gap year students (like me), try to leave enough time for a retake if necessary.

I recommend foam earplugs during the test. You’ll have to bring them to the testing center in a sealed package and open it in front of the proctors.

Don’t be afraid to use your scrap paper. In the 10 minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam, I did a massive brain dump of every equation I could think of.

C/P Specific Advice: The MCAT won’t ask you for a ton of math. Know your most important chemical structures (e.g. amine vs. amide, ester vs. ether). Know your basic formulas, especially for optics!! Know how to identify the nucleophile/electrophile in an orgo reaction.

CARS Specific Advice: This is the hardest section to improve on. If you’re scoring low, do a lot of practice and try to read more (newspapers, articles, books) until you plateau. Don’t bring in any outside info. The answer is almost always hidden in the passage in plain sight.

B/B Specific Advice: AMINO ACIDS. Also know basic research notations (e.g. A123K = alanine at 123 position of sequence changed to lysine). Also ENZYME KINETICS.

P/S Specific Advice: Khan Academy. Seriously. This is also the easiest section to improve on.

Last note: remember anything on the topic list is technically fair game.

Biochemistry

Biomedical Ethics 

Physics + Lab

Psychopharmacology 

Hinduism & Buddhism 

I am really, really, really enjoying learning organic chemistry.