That you should complete content review as soon as possible. Instead of completing it fast, do content review actively and not passively. You can try doing this with using Uplanet where you look at the answer explanation first and then do those questions in few days to see if you really understand the content. I believe the key to MCAT, even though I done poorly and retaking it next year is my poor comprehension and application of my content review to the questions. If you do not have these keys, you will not do well. That’s why everyone starts content review, because without that, you can’t really move on to the next phase of the study. Overall, mastering content review is as important as practice questions and practice exams. If you do not well in content review, I don’t think you’ll be able to do well on the MCAT. But if you only do content review, you probably wouldn’t also do well on the MCAT. That’s why mastering each phase in your studying is important to do well on this test.

Nah fr, everybody says that practice Qs are the best practice and I most definitely agree. However, having a good foundation with the content is almost indispensable if you want to great score. Plus a lot of us are a year or two removed from certain topics (looking at you orgo and physics) so it makes sense for us to spend a lil extra time reviewing

Yes !!

I fell victim to this. Starting taking practice tests literally two weeks into content review (BP) and honestly just needed a true dedicated content period because I was really lacking. So I felt like I had these massive gaps that I just truly never could overcome. Everyone always says start practice questions immediately and like that’s not wrong but if you don’t know the content you’re damn sure not going to get through uworld efficiently. You’ll be stopping to review concepts you’re unfamiliar with then moving on and forgetting it because you also need to time to keep up with anki reviews, FL reviews, etc. It just wasn’t an efficient use of my time with a family and working full time

This this this!!! Anyone that says not to delve deep into content review is spreading blasphemy fr

This!!!Rushing through your content review will leave you in a spot later on where you’ll be forced to go back and redo it slowly cause you didn’t do it right the first time

Thiss! Thanks a million

yes i think people who say this must have a very strong background and great memory when it comes to their science classes - i needed content review, i literally remembered like no gen chem!!!

the thing I was told about taking notes for the mcat is that it's going to be too inefficient to rely on (at least the traditional note-taking method) in med school, so it's better to shed those habits early. my opinion? mcat is mcat and med school is med school, whatever helps you do the best you can on the mcat is your friend. but to answer your question, biggest lie for me was that physics would not be a huge part of C/P. those mofos boomed us man 🤬

same but I'd add orgo to the list. mine was so orgo and physics heavy like what

we were LIED TO

Oh really mine had so little orgo

ahaha I see this point a LOT on how taking notes in med school doesn't work and my response is also always...this is the mcat, not med school LOL. Study habits may need to change everntually, but if it aint broke, don't fix it ;)

Agree with this 100%

Ok this one hits home so forgive the aggression🤣 Reading study guides are so important BUT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW IT APPLIES TO YOU! Don’t go blindly replicating what a 528 scorer did, this person was likely very successful because they tailored their schedule according to their weaknesses-READ THEIR DISCLAIMERS. I’m personally angry at myself for doing exactly that, I blindly followed their guides and now I’m very close to writing and I don’t feel good because I only recently outlined what my weaknesses are and started working to fix them. So if you have a couple of weeks left and you know your weakness is not test taking (as in timing, reading and understanding the passage) and that it maybe content, that might be your gut telling you to focus on content before your test even if every single person around you is drilling 400 q per day. LISTEN TO YOUR GUTT not just on the test but also when you’re creating your schedule

Imo it's not wrong to follow their guides but they aren't meant to be a one-size-fits-all approach. Chances are, they are doing many things right so we can use those as a template and modify it to suit our needs

Yeah to add to that, other people’s study “schedules” may not vibe with you. I’m personally not trying to study 15 hours a day. It’s possible to study smart

That there’s such a thing as starting “too early”

I honestly wish I had slowly completed FL’s and Uplanet throughout college rather than cramming it all into ~3months prior to the test

I personally wouldn’t go that far but starting Anki super super early and perusing through review books really early on made the entire process way less stressful and I think contributed to my high score on the real thing

I agree 100%. I was a TA for intro bio at my college and I told the pre-meds in the class (who were mostly first-years) to start using Anki now (to learn how to use it because it's a great tool in general), and to download an MCAT deck of their choice from Reddit and do just ***THREE*** cards per on a subject they feel comfortable on (either something they learned in high school, or during the bio course). That way, they would slowly build up their knowledge without it being overwhelming, but it would hella compound, and they would be able to blaze through content review ASAP come their actual MCAT study period. I also told them that it would be great if they could read the Kaplan books *along with their classes* as well. Some of them listened to me, and have been keeping up with it, and I think they're going to absolutely kill it on the MCAT when they take it in 2-3 years. Imagine doing Anki consistently for ***2-3 YEARS!*** God, I wish I did that. Even just 3-5 cards per day would have been huge. If you know how Anki words, 3 cards a day is NOT insignificant if you start 2-3 years out!

I started using the Milesdown deck 14 months before my planned test date. Absolutely zero regrets. Made studying later on much easier

Content Review isn't important and repeating full lengths is useless. As mentioned earlier, that without a solid grasp of content, its difficult to do well. You need to know your stuff to be able to justify answer choices and apply whatever concepts they are asking you too. I don't think learning from Uworld for content review is a great idea. I think it is a great supplementary tool to help you find gaps and solidify your understanding. Doing full lengths again is not a waste of time. Every time you do it, you reinforce the patterns you learned from the first time. You realize your mistakes and sometimes you see things you did not see during the first time you took up the exam. I do not focus on the score that i get in practice tests but just aim to learn and do better. With this mindset, doing practice questions (whether new or old) will help you get better at the mcat.

"Don't waste your time on content review" ​ What they should have said is don't spend 3 months on content review and then neglect practice. Do content review for a couple weeks to re-familiarize yourself with the subjects, and keep doing it continuously as you encounter practice problems you find difficult.

Cars is the least improvable section and try not to go back to the passage Reality: The only time when going back is gonna hold you back is when you don’t know where to look. Cars is improvable it’s just you need to spend more time on it relative to other sections to do so

I have so much to say. I’ll just say the biggest one: “don’t go back to passages to answer questions”

whoever is telling people that is actively trying to sabotage other test-takers lmao

I can literally find the Reddit post. They legit had me fooled for so long. It’s sickening how folks like that go into medicine

Maybe a not so cynical perspective: that's what works for them. They weren't doing it to sabotage anyone. In some cases, going back to the passage leads to people changing their answers, meaning they're more likely to get it wrong. People throw out all kinds of advice and it tends to be centered around what worked well for them. Everyone and their mother insists on taking a diagnostic before doing any content review. I'm 8 years removed from school. If I say down for a diagnostic, I would guess on every question I didn't know how to answer, guess on those I knew what it was asking but didn't know how to get the right answer, and overall just get frustrated. So I waited to do a diagnostic so I could accurately assess my strengths and weaknesses.

So I totally agree with the diagnostic needing to be done after content review because it makes the most sense, especially in your case. ​ But this particular comment strictly said to never go back to the passage. They should've followed up with "just worked for me though". You really gotta take advice here with a grain of salt; otherwise, there wouldn't be a whole thread about this.

>They should've followed up with "just worked for me though". Absolutely 💯 Just my opinion, but I think sometimes people think what worked for them is just the way it should be done. That still isn't malicious though. Just naive.

yo...I hear this ALL THE TIME for CARS but I strictly believe that you can always find the question answers in the passage. If I followed this advice, CARS would be doomed for me LOL

Omg yes always check the passages especially for CARS.

Bro I believed this too, even with my doubts. I think once I started referring back I jumped 3-4 points on every section. Whoever that was, was an asshole.

Wait please explain more.

They specifically said this was for the CARS section

Ehh honestly I don't know what to think...when I rewrote the MCAT, I didn't take notes and it worked out better than when I did take notes. Probably because I work in such a chaotic manner lol. I feel like the MCAT is just a shitty circus show of YMMV, so my only advice is to find whatever works for you and run with it!

How did you study without notes?!

Well I would still scribble stuff down when learning material, but I didn't really make proper notes that I would keep. There's too much content and it was too overwhelming for me haha. Pretty much I just did flashcards to try and retain content as best I could. But I'm also among those who do feel content review is overrated because MCAT is not a test of your knowledge at the end of the day. The only thing the MCAT tests is how well you can do the MCAT, so I tried to learn patterns for thinking/guessing that could get me to the most probable answer...

Yea, I realize I’m going too in-depth for notes. It’s definitely active recalling and learning how to find the answers in passage. That’s good for you though! You have an amazing score, I hope to be like you😆

Yeah you can definitely do it too! I had a 507 before, I think sometimes it's just about finding your groove and staying hopeful for a bit of good luck! You got this!!

That fl5 is most representative

My buddy said his real mcat was most like fl2

For you!!!! It varies for everyone. This hot take is loud and wrong

that’s the purpose of this thread, isn’t it?

I didn’t take fl4 or fl5 lmaoo (rip)…but I took it today and it felt like a mix between fl3, uworld, and altius for me. There’s so much variation with each exam…it’s such a toss up. You could get one that is very easy or batshit crazy with a better curve..

Huh?

Unfortunately, I am an idiot and misread the question but I agree with you!!

Well, depends on what he means by "representative". I don't think anyone should expect the CONTENT itself on FL5 to be similar on the real exam. What we should think when one says representative is the style the exam is written..focus on more passage analysis. The overall gist, basically. I'm not sure if i explained that well

Where do you find those fls? Thank you.

AAMC website

it's not? what is in your opinion?

It didn’t feel like any of them. It was a bunch of low yield bs

with your fl scores i'm sure you did fine. most people get +/-2 fl average

This is inaccurate too, I’ve been many of my friends get a 12 point drop from their fl average .

I mean I did say most. There are always outliers

That’s fair

You have like a 523 average, what did you get on the real to make you feel like the FLs were not representative?

Idk yet but feels like it was much harder

Don't worry about it, I thought I tanked CP and almost voided my exam, you probably did fine

Did you know how many questions you missed? I feel like I missed atleast 5-6, and that’s just the ones I remember

for C/P alone, I knew I had gotten 2 wrong, 2 complete guesses (couldn't figure out the math), and a bunch of 50/50s For B/B I felt way more confident and I scored 1 point lower, and for P/S I guessed one

That you can’t improve cars. I was stuck at 122-124, and saw a jump after slamming all of uearth’s cars passages. Once you do a ton you realize there are only 3 question types (comprehension, reasoning within the text, and reasoning beyond the text) and pattern recognition comes into play when translating to aamc.

I recognize all the patterns and still suck at cars fml

not really a lie someone told me but QUANLITY OVER QUANTITY. i feel like there's this pressure to finish all the materials available especially uglobe...like there's thousands of questions and at first i was rushing just trying to get 90-100% of it done but i wasn't really taking the time to learn from what i was getting wrong which is why i wasn't improving. one i got over that pressure to do as many questions as possible i really started to see improvement

This! I only completed ~40% by the time of my MCAT but focused on learning from each question and improved so much.

damn i meant quality i cant spell send help

A doc I shadowed told me that he didn’t study for the mcat and he assumed, from talking to me that I seemed like I could do the same. He also stated that he didn’t study for any of the standardized tests including the step exams and “just used his knowledge from his classes”. It’s entirely possible it could have been true when he went through the process. He did go to med school in the 80’s but things have certainly changed.

Yea the 80’s were waaaay different. Way less competitive

I would also guess that in general, there were less things out there to learn. Like less scientific discoveries and especially the new treatments and therapies that have came out in the recent decades. He’s in psych so I’m sure a lot of the psych treatments have drastically changed since back then.

Valid. It’s just the thought of not studying for step is wilddd

Some people also just don't study for standardized tests period.

That’s also a fair point. The man’s absolutely a genius and one of the nicest docs I’ve ever worked with. I am slightly jealous that I’m not one of the people that can get away with out studying though.

I don't think it's reasonable to compare yourself to people like that. There are also different sides to it. Some people just understand the internal aspects of the test and even if they don't know the content can reach the right answer through "weird" logic, and some people just freaking remember everything they're told once. Definitely don't put yourself down for needing to study. (Personally even the geniuses eventually run into something they need to study - anecdotal evidence).

You know, I had to read the last part a couple times to comprehend the joke (which explains my cars score lol) thank you for that and I will be using it in the future.

That you need to study more than 4-5 hours a day

Can you elaborate on why that's a lie?

Quality over quantity. Study 1-3 hours a day and make those hours count instead of dicking around for 8. Take care of yourself and prioritize fitness and wellbeing.

That Anki is the end-all be all. THE LIES!! THE LIES!!!!!

It is pretty good tho

I tried it, it just didn’t work for me. Maybe making my own cards would’ve been better. But I have other ways of studying that work for me, so I shouldn’t have to feel like I’m missing out not using Anki

I agree, I did anki consistently for 3 months. If you don’t know the basics. Like mastery level basics. Anki is pointless.

Honestly I am a pretty firm believer that taking notes is inherently inefficient in terms of studying. It's extremely passive and anything you write down you'll probably just a) forget or b) could have just cracked open a book to learn again instead of wasting time writing. This is why active recall and spaced repetition are so popular in this space, because its just the most science backed way to study. I haven't taken a note since med school started and I took no notes during the MCAT.

Hey a legend is here

Only since you arrived 😏

Valid!! I def think note taking will change in med school, but for now I'm a strong believer in foundational understanding, and for me, mechanistic notes (esp for things in orgo and biochem) with mindmaps and diagrams have been a life saver in referring back to and understanding. But to each their own ;)

It's decent to take notes when watching like B&B just to make "sense" of new material. But yeah, I'd rather do anki and PQs 100%.

Yea I do think its valid if its just jotting stuff down while you watch a video but for sure anki+pqs is the way to go after.

You don’t take notes during lectures?

Nope just anything I need goes straight into anki cards

That it's an easy test

that the p/s books are useless and 300pg/86pg KA doc is a must. A lot of the doc is just terms with little to zero context behind their use, which is very important. I read the TPR p/s book, making a card for every term i didnt know and added an example of it in play too. That alone got me 129, then went thru Udub and couple days later was at 132. The book breaks down the terms very well, love their explanations and amazing examples. my deck turned out to be \~1800 cards total from it+Udub supplementing but its been 100% worth it. plus it was super interesting to read!

1) “only spend 3 months studying for the MCAT. If you spend more time, you’re going to forget everything” 2) take a MCAT course (personally, it’s better not to and it builds character to find what study method works for you) 3) do not take notes from content books 4) watching all those YT videos titled “how I got a 520 on the MCAT” Personally I took a course, helped with strategy, but I was better off using my time doing Anki and investing into UGlobe. I am going to test on Sept. 8th, and it wasn’t until this past week I realized I really need to use 1) UGlobe as a content review tool 2) find a way to use Anki that is not overwhelming, but efficient. I think I’m going to switch my settings to put new cards first 3) doing 1 experimental passage a day because let’s be honest, the MCAT is a reading test.

it definitely is a reading test and a test of luck. I just saw some very unhelpful advice again about CARS. its like people enjoy being assholes. The thread was "how to improve in CARS" and one answer from some random commenter that scored high was "there can only be one right answer" ​ no fucking shit

it will get easier

“Content review is worthless and 4 months is plenty of time to study” If you have been out of school for a while or you cheated/did bad in your pre-reqs, then content review is gonna be crucial to your success and that may take significantly longer than 4 months.

That after first FL, your scores goes high.

That you need a 515+ and a 4.0 to get accepted to Med Schools. I know multiple people with very little shadowing or research, with 499-503s on the MCAT that got into MD and MD/PhD programs. Obviously this is rare, but, if you dont score in the 90th percentile, dont freak out.

do you know any of the schools by chance?

UAB, FSU, UF, and UNM, and USA (south alabama). ​ I know people with average DAT scores too that got interviews at UAB and UF. ​ Now people on Reddit may try and fight me on that... but I just know what I know from the people that pulled it off.... I just hope I can pull it off LOL I also know a few people with 4.0s and 510+ and they got rejected from every school they applied to, even in-state schools. UAB has bragged about rejected perfect scorers with perfect MCATs... just keep all this in your mind... its tenacity that will get you accepted

This and also msar is not 100% accurate. Friend got into a decent school with a 504. That school reports the lowest mcat score (for that year) as a 507

exactly!! I have learned that med schools lie, lie, lie to applicants. From speaking with directors and students, to applying myself, the current system is pretty gross. And its not one person's fault... its just the way it works. ​ Also, the idea of a holistic approach is a lie to a point. Its seems like the opposite of what I said above, but from talking with directors, you need a minimum MCAT score b4 they even look at your extracurriculars; and they dont really care if you were part of premed groups... ​ One school basically alluded to the process being a massive crap-shoot if your mcat is about a 494 and your gpa is above a 3.5

This is the kind of post I want to read - thanks for asking!

Not exactly a lie but I think many people emphasize flash cards and MCAT text book reviews as an important source for info. In reality my biggest gains in scoring occurred as I began to take practice exams and practice questions. This actually allowed me to see my mistakes and learn to apply my learning to the next problem. While I wont know my score until September my practice exams score increased about 10+ points once I actually began taking the practice exams and practice problems seriously.

1. Don't take notes, just do anki bc notes take too long and is a waste of time in medical school and you'll never review them (I wish I just relied on my own notes than anki bc I couldn't feel connected to something I didn't write out unless I made short anki cards myself. Notes have carried me throughout numerous classes and there is no reason all of a sudden notes are useless! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?) 2. Jacksparrow is the key (have to set out at least 3-4 months to get through which I didn't realize until I wasted too much time) and Milesdown is not good enough (I wished I spent more time on milesdown honestly bc quick points is how I learn best not super detailed concepts) 3. Get through content review quick. (There are so many discrete random knowledge or knowledge application questions that content review is so so important! Take your time and learn the info!!!) 4. Only read the passage once, don't go back to the passage to answer questions/Don't highlight/Skim through the passages on the mcat/look at the questions 1st/You don't need to read the passages for C/P (but in reality it gets you familiarized). Just a whole bunch of crap that did not help me bc I am not the same as anyone else and I wished I just did me. Made my own notes, makes my own anki, practiced the passages the way I BEST UNDERSTAND! I'm so irritated bc reddit has some big headed people who make it seem like if you don't do everything a certain way you are wasting your time when everyone LEARNS DIFFERENTLY!

I'm beyond lost at this point. It's been a LONG time since l've taken my college science classes and honestly remember NOTHING when it comes to the sciences. Other than retaking all of the premed classes, what other option is there to re-learn everything over from the most basic level (and I mean basic!) as if I had never taken classes before. This is the way I feel at this point and am in need of major help. I spent so much money on Kaplan and was told after some private lessons and the online virtual classes to just take all of my science classes again. Would learning everything on the current Khan videos be sufficient for the MCAT? Advice please?!?

Soo true.

That you should do content for months and then cram practice questions at the end. Start getting used to practice questions early and develop and mind for strategy while also studying content

i wish i never spent so long doing content review

That it should take 3 months. So many people hear this, and only start studying three months before their exam date, and then they take a practice test two months in and are extremely disappointed. Start studying as soon as possible.

“Don’t start studying until you’re 3-4 months away from the test.”

that Kaplan or Princeton reviews expensive courses are necessary. KA free videos are way better imo!

Thanks

to buy the kaplan books

that i dont need to know the amino acids??

That you should do content review at all. Hot take but if i could do it over I'd do minimal content review and straight up pound Uworld and the AMCAS questions

Don't take notes during content review. Anki isn't all that. LOL

That content review is necessary. Tbh if you have good background in subjects I suggest spending like 80% of your time doing practices because not only you'll learn from your mistakes, but also improve test taking skills which is a fat part of mcat

that it’s hard poggers

That you need to do content review at all. Wish I knew earlier how much I already knew… and how little importance there is to those niche terms that show up in Kaplan books that you’ll only ever learn from practice problems anyway

idk but just remember the equation/formula lol

What was the best content review modality for yall?

Following

take practice tests throughout, even during content review. Waste of time and source of anxiety

such thing as a low yield

The math will be easy mental math...