MCAT Advice from Ada of The Biosisters

July 8, 2018 By Leah4sci Leave a Comment

Meet Rose and Ada, also known as @thebiosisters who run a motivational and informational blog for pre-health students.

Rose is a 2nd year medical student in New Orleans.

Ada is a Biology/pre-med rising senior who just took her MCAT on June 30th.

Ada first shared this on Instagram, but I asked for permission to publish here so that you can benefit from her journey and experience. Be sure to follow them on Instagram: @thebiosisters!

Hey y’all! Ada here.

We’ve received many questions about MCAT prep, so I decided to share some aspects of my preparation process here (with some input from Rose who tested in 2016!).

Keep in mind, this is what worked for me – every single person has a unique learning style. The key is to try out different things and see what will work for YOU.

It will require work, but consistency yields results. Don’t stop, keep moving forward, and remind yourself that you are capable!

I want to discuss three main areas of focus:

Planning
Productivity
Progress

Planning – Creating and maintaining a strict schedule is so important for this exam.

I’m a big planner, always making to-do lists and scheduling in my tasks.

Think about when YOU want to test. Specifically, when you will need to receive your score in time for your application.
Think about how long you will have to study between now and then.
Think about how many hours per day or week you will dedicate to the MCAT.

Factor in one day each week for rest, and an extra week in case you need to catch up some days. Things happen, people get sick, we have off days, chapters take longer than expected. Each person’s study schedule will look different due to work, school, and family responsibilities, etc.

For me, I knew I was “preparing” for the MCAT since my first day of undergrad, working my hardest in science courses to understand the concepts and retain as much knowledge as possible.

For those just starting their premed journey:

Looking over MCAT review books as you take your pre-reqs: I only really did this for Organic 1 and Biochem. I would look over the corresponding chapters before learning them in class, and it helped me to pick up on more of the big picture concepts.
Take good notes or even make Quizlets in your pre-reqs so that you can refer back to them during your MCAT prep if you’d like.
Another option is to wait to read the MCAT subject books after finishing each pre-req (at the end of the semester). Technically, once you have taken your final, you will be the most knowledgeable on that content as you ever will be. It would be great to annotate the MCAT books while everything is still fresh in your mind.

I started looking at MCAT books (TPR) last summer (2017) casually and thinking about my study plan. I flipped through some of the books and took notes, but I was doing research full-time, so MCAT wasn’t my primary focus.

I decided not to take an official MCAT prep course, although Rose did and benefited greatly from it. I chose to independently study because:

I felt comfortable with my content knowledge. I know the type of learner I am, and I figured that I would benefit from working at my own pace, dedicating extra time on things that I needed, and spending less time on content I knew well.
Rose still had her MCAT prep course books, so I was able to use those to study.
I purchased access to all of AAMC’s online materials (definitely would recommend – if you plan on buying ANYTHING to study for the MCAT – go there! Their FL exams are the closest to the real thing).

If you plan on testing in the next 18 months, start studying ASAP.

Yes, you still have time, but time flies. You will wish that you started as early as possible. Not saying that you need to finish content review a year in advance – I’m saying at least start thinking about when you’ll get it all done and start exposing yourself to the topics now.

I started my dedicated study time in January of this year. I brought some of my content books to college with me, and would set aside a few hours each week to work through the chapters. I also enjoyed watching Khan Academy as I exercised. I took the free TPR Demo FL test in March to get a baseline score.

But with my coursework, research, half-marathon training, and work, I found myself putting MCAT on the back burner.

Many premeds will agree that studying for the MCAT during the semester is a challenge. It is possible to do, and many of my classmates did it well, but I chose to shift most of my study time to two months of full-time studying this summer, (approx) 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week.

Leah4sci recommends ~500+ hours of studying. I took that into account, and read her post on the 3 stages of MCAT studying (highly recommend). Here are some more things to read from her

Also check out the MCAT posts on Reddit and Student Doctor Network published by other premeds who already took the MCAT. There they share their study schedules and resources.

Leah’s Note: Check out even more interviews with MCAT students sharing great study tips and experiences from different backgrounds

Productivity – Studying for 8+ hours a day could look like many different things

This is very important.

It could be 6 hours of reading with 2 hours of educational videos, 45 min segments of practice questions with reviewing at the end, or taking a prep course and making notes during the lectures, etc.

I would wake up at 6AM, get started with my studies by 7:30, study until 4:30ish (with breaks for lunch), and then do a couple hours after dinner.

My first phase of studying consisted of my reading of Princeton books and taking detailed notes.
I only wrote down what I knew that I did not know – things to be memorized, trends that I didn’t quite understand, formulas, theories, and definitions.

When I watched Khan Academy (usually on 1.5x speed and with subtitles), I made sure I understood every concept and term. If not, I’d either write it down or Google it right then and there.

I constantly reviewed my notes, drawing pathways/structures and making flashcards for some things as well. After I felt good with ~75% of content, I started doing all the AAMC Section Banks and Question Packs. Then, with about 5 weeks left, I switched my focus to full-length exams.

Resources: Khan Academy, Quizlet, Anki, NexStep, TPR, Kaplan, MedicalSchoolHQ, Adaptprep, UWorld, Leah4sci, and Jack Westin CARS

Leah’s Note: Do you have your resources gathered? Find out how to start in Step 3 of my Ultimate MCAT Prep Guide

Progress – For me, tracking my progress consisted of taking numerous practice tests

Throughout the course of my studying, I took the following exams: 4 AAMC, 6 Princeton, 1 Kaplan (plus the free Kaplan half), and 1 NextStep.

I simulated real test day conditions as much as possible:

woke up at 6 am, started testing by 7:30,
used a mouse (instead of laptop keypad),
refrained from using my phone on breaks (sometimes, haha),
and planned my snacks/bathroom breaks.

Endurance is a large component of the MCAT which must be built and practiced. I felt that this practice helped me greatly on test day

I knew how my mind and body reacted to sitting and focusing for so long.

During your practice exams, I’d advise you to try to leave at least 5 minutes at the end of each section. (This was easy for me in Bio and Psych Soc, not so much in Chem Phys and CARS.)

On real test day, everything is in slow motion except for the clock… Many people I spoke with said they wished they had a few more minutes.

Practice without those few extra minutes, and you’ll have them on test day!

After each practice exam, I spent hours going through EACH question.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

For my correct questions – I made sure to understand the faulty components of the wrong answers as well as why my answer was most correct.

For wrong questions – I tried to guess what the real answer was and why, and why my answer was bad. I soon learned my weak points and made a constantly-evolving list of topics to master.

At first, I struggled with CARS inference questions, enzyme kinetics, genetics, acid/base chemistry, electrochemistry, and physics 2 content.

This helped me direct my focus. From that first test in the spring (TPR) to my highest practice test (AAMC FL 3), my score increased by 18 points.

You can see the difference in my performance on the Official AAMC versus the other prep companies. For AAMC, I went from 514 to 519 to 516 to ~518. All the others I varied greatly. I tried not to stress myself out about the other scores.

I believe that, more than my content review (which was certainly important), my many hours spent in practice exams caused my scores to improve so much.

You have to get used to the AAMC!

You can look at content all day, but if you never take a practice test, get used to their writing style, and review THEIR rationale for answers, the content knowledge won’t be of much help.

Leah’s Note: Learn more of how to make the most of each Practice Test by reading 3 Steps to Raising Your MCAT Scores with Full Length Practice Tests.

The MCAT is not another undergrad exam. It tests your critical thinking, endurance, and ability to cope with stress.

The week before your exam, the last thing you want to do is cram.

It’s all too easy for us pre-meds to stress, but try your best to supply yourself with confidence.

You put in hours and hours of hard work.
You’ve studied like you’ve never studied before.
And you’re going to get the score you want.

Go give it everything you’ve got on test day!

Things I would have done differently –

I wish I had an extra week or so to review all AAMC materials more in-depth, maybe even redo some of the question packs or section banks.

I wish I would have made more time for exercise, as I could have had more energy to dedicate to studying.

Lastly, I wish I had not compared myself to others.

I had to tell myself that I was taking MY MCAT, no one was responsible for MY score except myself. Don’t spend hours on Reddit reading about those scoring 520+ with a month of preparation or get caught up in the progress of classmates. Let’s only try to be better than the person we were yesterday.

Some overall testing tips:

When in doubt – think what overall concept they could be testing.
“What fact am I supposed to use to connect the dots?”
When it seems like a question is irrelevant and you don’t even know where to start, think about what you KNOW.

When very desperate – for calculations, if you can’t remember the exact formula, try dimensional analysis and make sure your units cancel out.

For example, if force, time, and displacement are given, but you can’t remember P = Fv!
You may remember P = W/t, and W = Fd, and v = d/t.
You can manipulate the formulas and get to your answer after a little work.

Pace yourself – MCAT is a marathon, not a sprint.

During the exam, take a deep breath if you find yourself starting to freak out.
The first five minutes of my test was “oh my, I’m really doing this?” and I had to take a few seconds to recollect.
I think that’s inevitable. Don’t let your emotions win.

Don’t spend too long on any one question (or passage, for that matter) – they’re all weighted the same!
Make your best guess, flag it for later, and carry on – the answer may pop into your head minutes later!
Or become clearer once you tackle the other questions for that passage.

I remember flagging Psych Soc questions like crazy. Not because they were hard, but because I was tired, and I was 90% confident in my answer but knew I wanted to double check, but also wanted to get through the rest of the questions first.

Don’t change your answer unless you KNOW your initial one was wrong.

I second guessed myself on one of my practice FLs and missed 6 questions on Psych Soc just because I changed my answer when double checking!!

And finally, Expect the unexpected!

My pen broke halfway through Chem Phys,
A guy in the testing center kept making noise (I didn’t want to waste time trying on the noise-canceling headphones).
A classmate of mine was at the wrong testing center and didn’t know it until 7:40!!
I’ve heard of people’s computers shutting off, testing centers being super cold or hot, parking and identification issues – not trying to scare you, just want you to know that things happen. Also, personal preference thing but I felt like my computer screen on test day was too bright and it took me a second to get used to that :).

All in all, I hope that you stay motivated, keep a positive outlook, and never give up on your goals! Regardless of what may come your way.

Keep your eyes on the big picture. Great things are possible when you work hard.

As I tested on 6/30, I have not yet received my score and can’t speak to the effectiveness of my prep, but I can say that I felt confident both walking into and out of the exam and proved to myself the score I could get via practice full-lengths. Fingers crossed that I reached my goal score!!

Thank you for reading, come find us on Instagram @thebiosisters to let us know if you found this helpful.

With love, Ada

Leah’s Note: The bio sisters regularly share everything from MCAT/premed advice, motivation, host Q&As and so much more. Check out their instagram profile and let them know you loved this interview.

Her Self Study MCAT Prep Journey

April 6, 2018 By Leah4sci 10 Comments

You are unique! This makes your premed experience unique and your MCAT prep journey individual TO YOU!

What works for one student may not work for another, but this doesn’t mean you can’t learn from their experience, especially if they’ve already taken the time to evaluate an approach and provide feedback.

Meet LeAnn.

She started out in a rigorous biomedical engineering major and discovered her passion for medicine late in her junior year. This meant adding MCAT prep on top of an already hectic schedule.

LeAnn took the March 2018 MCAT and shares her journey below.

Remember this is HER journey! Don’t feel that you must do as she did. Instead ask yourself “What can I learn from her experience?”

I decided that I truly wanted to go to medical school pretty late in the game as a second semester Junior.

My major was rigorous and I had great difficulty balancing full class loads, and extracurriculars. It took a lot of determination and discipline, which is easier said than done!

I self-studied.

I knew my personality and I knew that I could keep myself focused and determined.

Self-studying is not ideal for everyone, but for the people who think it’s impossible – it is not!

It may seem overwhelming at first and take more time initially to set up a study plan,
but once I got in the flow of things it felt more structured.

By not having a prep course, I was forced to look at multiple resources and perspectives.
Therefore, on the actual test, I had a more holistic understanding of each topic rather than the one way it was defined in a book.

Where to Start

I kept telling myself it was impossible to learn everything on the MCAT.

And that’s true, we can’t learn everything.
BUT you can learn almost everything!

At the beginning of my prep, I was sad and frustrated every time I did poorly on a practice exam. I always asked,
‘Why can’t I just understand this material? It’s useless to try to memorize all of this!”

I had to change my mindset and stop feeling bad for myself.

So instead, I visualized it as fixing the “kinks” in my MCAT armor.
I didn’t want an Achilles heel, so every question I got wrong I had to see as an opportunity to shine up my armor!

On a practice test, every question wrong is one question I won’t get wrong on the official exam!

This is when I really started to see my confidence increase!
A confident mind leads to confident test taking!

Then, what I didn’t learn I could use critical thinking skills to reason through it.

My Self Study Plan

When I was trying to come up with a self study plan, I remember scouring the internet for any free resources.

I came across Leah’s website and found so many helpful things, concrete tips and recommendations:

I utilized her 3 phase approach of content review, and the articles on how many hours it would require helped frame my study plan.
(I also really loved her amino acid videos and the trick to find the isoelectric point because I was soooo lost on that before watching those videos.)
Lastly, Leah’s posts about other student study plans and how they succeeded helped me realize that it is possible to do really well on the MCAT!

Learning HOW to Study

After reading the Kaplan books, I still felt like I didn’t know the material well at all.
I was passively taking notes while reading.

When I started to make outlines for each section, it helped me retain the information SO MUCH BETTER.

In the next phase, I took the AAMC outline and started to fill in each bullet point.
I gained a sense of organization.
I looked for other resources online, and start to develop a more coherent “web” of MCAT material.

By the end of each outline, I had a list of questions I could review to retain the information.
I don’t do well with flash cards, so I guess this was my version of “flash cards.”

Repetition is key.

I didn’t truly retain any information until I repeatedly reviewed my outlines and tested myself.

It’s not enough to read it once and take notes. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
Elaborative rehearsal is more than just memorizing. Come up with real life examples!

Leah’s Note: Active Writing is a really good way to improve long-term memorization

My Resources

For content,

I heavily used Khan Academy for all sections because I’m a visual learner, but the most for P/S.

I also used online free textbooks from Boundless Lumen Learning and I had access to the Altius Study Manual.

I bought Kaplan books because they came with 3 practice exams. Kaplan was helpful for content review, but it was also overwhelming.

For practice,

NextStep “Strategy and Practice” books. The AAMC Bundle with Section Banks, Question Packs, and Flashcards were my go-to. I used some Princeton Review passages for CARS.

Also, a hidden gem that I think is SO USEFUL and free
is the MCAT Podcast by Dr. Ryan Gray!
They partner with NextStep and do practice MCAT questions and more.
That was super helpful to listen to on my car ride to and from school.

Leah’s Note: Podcasts are great for review on the go. Here are a few more time hacks for studying when you travel, do chores, work out and more.

Also, my major required many research papers – this really helped.
Leah’s Note: Scientific Journal reading is key to preparing for MCAT style passage comprehension.
Near the end of my content, I referred to my college textbooks for more detailed info about concepts I felt weak in.

I studied for 6 months while having a full course load. For the first 3 months I studied for 10 hours a week. The last three months were 25-30 hours a week.

For the last month of studying, I solely utilized AAMC material.
This honed in how AAMC asks questions, see what they consider “high priority,”
and expose some of my weak areas.

For full length practice,

I took the NextStep, Altius, 3 Kaplan (came with the bookset), and the 4 AAMC exams. A total of 9 FLs before the actual exam.

NextStep: closest to the real thing.

Kaplan: way too focused on content; their CARS is harder than AAMC; made me ‘sweat’ the smallest details and took the focus off of research reasoning skills, which I didn’t like. It was quite obvious that the scores are deflated on Kaplan.

Altius was the hardest of them all and the most deflated score.

But, these full lengths gave me practice for endurance.

AAMC practice:

The Sample test was the easiest and definitely easier than the actual test.

AAMC 1 – I only remember being really nervous due to mattering so much to me being the “first AAMC test.”

AAMC 2 – Only slightly easier than the actual test. It was more content while the official test was heavily passage and research based reasoning.

AAMC 3 – I thought this was most representative. I didn’t feel very confident about my performance. Many questions I could narrow down to two choices and then had to use my best judgement.

Leah’s Note: Check out my compiled list of great student-reviewed resources along with a 10% Next Step discount code.

Test Day Arrived…

Overall, I felt confident and as prepared as I could be.

There was a mix of difficult and easy passages, but for the most part they were fair.
There were only a couple questions from each section that I thought were ridiculous.

C/P

I felt like there was more “low yield” material than I expected.
More physics heavy. A few passages heavy on calculations and specific physics questions.

This is usually my best section and I had a freak out moment for the first 5 questions!

Luckily, I reminded myself that I should just skip it and move on. That prevented me from losing too much time on it, and I was able to finish the other passages which boosted my confidence.

CARS

Overall, I thought CARS was fair and most representative of what I’d seen on AAMC Full lengths and the CARS Question Packs.

Some people thought it was boring, but I didn’t. Maybe 1 or 2 of them were more confusing than the others.

I also did feel like the passages were longer than the Question Packs, but it could have just been the screen
Of all the sections, I thought this best reflected AAMC material.

B/B

Section Banks definitely were the best prep for this section.
I felt like this was slightly harder than the AAMC full lengths, but not as difficult as the Section Banks.

There were definitely 1 or 2 passages that were Section Bank level, a lot of abbreviations that sounded the same, and multi-step problems.

It was heavily weighted towards research articles with multiple steps (A activates B which activates C, but D inactivates B in X situation.)

It helped write down the steps on my scratch paper as I was reading the passage.
I referred to this simplified “flow chart” on questions and didn’t get confused by rereading the passage.

Again, I was a little surprised at some of the “low yield” stuff that popped up.

P/S

I felt really great on this section. It really came down to “Do you know the definition of these terms?”

You had to know the definition because they put terms that sounded similar to someone who hadn’t truly studied the definitions.
I felt like it was slightly more sociology than most AAMC exams.

Again, stuff I thought was “high yield” didn’t pop up.

Looking back – Advice to students about to test

Practice the full lengths with less time. In practice I’d finish early, on test day I took the full time.
Definitely do all of the AAMC material! Especially, Section Banks!
You can’t “cram” for CARS. It takes time to orient your mind to actively read and think like an AAMC writer. (It scared me but about 3 months before my test day, I started to do 3 passages a day. Then I bumped it up to 4 and then 5 a day. That really helped boost my confidence and reading skills.)
Contrary to practice tests, on the official test, after your break you get two minutes to hit ‘next.’ Use these to breathe, calm down, and mentally prepare for the next section.
Practice with foam EARPLUGS.
A lot of people bang their mouse, load keyboards clicks, and cough.
It probably would’ve driven me nuts. Luckily, I practiced with them and was comfortable on test day. (Originally, it was “eerie quiet.” I could literally hear myself think. But I became accustomed and used them for all the sections on test day.
Bring tylenol and any emergency items on test day. I got a nasty headache at the end of C/P and I’m glad I was prepared with ibuprofen.
One of my keys to success was ASKING my peers for advice on how they studied, what methods worked for them, etc.! I was so grateful. It helped me see how varied everyone’s approach was, and I chose which methods would work best for me.
Keep a dynamic study schedule. Things change from week to week! One of my favorite quotes is “Stay rigid in your goal, but flexible in how you get there.”
COLLABORATION NOT COMPETITION. I feel like people are so secretive with their MCAT scores and preparation; I don’t get it. We are all in this together, we need to support each other. Do your due diligence and help other people who are seeking advice.
Lastly, Stop being scared of the exam. For so long I was scared of starting, and that held me back. You are capable of achieving your target score. It won’t be easy, but it is possible. It takes hard work, dedication, and determination.

I want to share my practice scores with you to show it IS possible to go from less than 500 to the 99th percentile!

Here are my final official scores:

I hope my experience can be an encouragement to you!
I want to hear from you!

I interview students after EVERY SINGLE exam date to ensure I am in the best position to help you. What type of questions should I ask students in the future?

Also, what was your biggest takeaway from LeAnn’s experience?

Let me know in the comments below

The New MCAT Demystified

January 28, 2015 By Leah4sci 16 Comments

When the AAMC released a brand new MCAT style in 2015, there was a great deal of panic among pre-med students.

(2021 Test/score release dates below)

The exam contains more sections as well as more questions per section, and covers quite a bit more information compared to the old exam (video).

But it’s not as bad as it sounds. When I started undergrad, pre-med students were sitting for a tedious pen-and-paper exam.

What Does MCAT Stand For?

Let’s start from the beginning. The Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT, is sort of like an entrance exam to medical schools in the US, Canada, and a number of other countries. The MCAT, along with your GPA and application, will help you score an interview and hopefully a seat in medical school (MD or DO). Some veterinary schools also require the MCAT.

What’s so scary about the new MCAT? Yes, it’s longer and covers more information, but the testing style is different. The new MCAT doesn’t just test your ability to regurgitate scientific facts and complex equations – this new exam is designed to test your ability as a pre-med student. It’ll test your reasoning and cognitive skills, and your ability to think like a scientist and make sense of health- and medicine-related data.

New MCAT Overview and Scores

The new MCAT has a total of 4 separately scored exam sections. You also receive an overall score.

Section scores are graded on a scale of 118 – 132 with a mean score of 125. Just like the old testing system, there’s still a range of 15 points per section. If you average 125 per section, you have a total score of 500, which you can think of as the new ‘24’.

While 500 is the average score, it’s NOT enough to be competitive for medical school. You will have to research the average accepted score for your dream school to help you plan for the proper target score.

Overview of the New MCAT Exam Sections

click HERE for my MCAT Topics Overview video

Section 1: Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.

I like to think of this as the physics and chemistry section, but bio oriented.

Section 2: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills aka CARS.

This is the new version of the verbal reasoning section.

Section 3: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

I like to think of this as the bio/orgo section- but with more information!

Section 4: Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior.

This is the new psychology/sociology section causing so much panic among premeds.

Sections 1 and 3 are the natural science sections. These are designed to test material that you have covered in your undergraduate courses including:

General Physics (non-calc based)
Introductory Biology
General Chemistry
Organic Chemistry
Biochemistry

The AAMC claims that the psychology and sociology sections do not require an official college level course, and time will determine just how important an elective course is compared to learning this information on your own.

Unlike the old exam, the new exam does not cleanly separate topics by section. In fact, the same topic will be tested over multiple sections as follows:

This information is taken from the Official Guide to the 2015 MCAT Exam. You can and should purchase a copy. Click HERE to purchase on Amazon. If you purchase through my link I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you

Section 1: Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.

This section contains a total of 59 questions over 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes). This includes 15 discrete questions and 10 passages each containing 4-7 questions.

30% General Chemistry
25% Biochemistry
25% Physics
15% Organic Chemistry
5% Biology

Section 2: Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills aka CARS.

The CARS section contains 9 passages with a total of 53 questions to be completed in 90 minutes (1.5 hours).

Since this is a ‘verbal reasoning’ section, you do not require any outside knowledge. Instead. you’ll need practice and experience answering passage based questions.

50% Humanities
50% Social Sciences

Section 3: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

This section has a total of 59 questions to be completed in 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes). This includes 15 discrete questions and 10 passages each containing 4-7 questions.
This section covers the following sciences:

65% Biology
25% Biochemistry
5% General Chemistry
5% Organic Chemistry

Section 4: Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior.

This section has a total of 59 questions to be answered over 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes). This includes 15 discrete questions and 10 passages each containing 4-7 questions.

It will test the psychological and sociological underpinnings of constructs in health and medicine, such as health disparities and behavioral and social influences on health. It’s not surprising that there is biology in this section.

65% Psychology
30% Sociology
5% Biology

Don’t worry if you’re confused about which specific topics will be tested. The Official MCAT Guide breaks it down, and I’m planning a detailed article on just that too. Keep in mind that you will need to know both textbook information and also laboratory research methods.

You may also be worrying about the MCAT testing statistics, but these statistics are simple and likely came up in one or more of your sciences courses. You don’t need to take a separate stats course.

A quick evaluation of the new MCAT shows that yes, the new exam is longer, both in number of sections and time per section, but you also have more time per question. This is because the new MCAT wants to examine your thinking skills.

Exam Day Timing Breakdown

The actual exam is just 6 hours and 15 minutes. However, you should expect to spend 7.5 hours taking your exam. Here is the breakdown:

8 minutes – Examinee Agreement
Just like the agreement you sign when you register for the exam, you must once again agree to their terms regarding privacy and not sharing. If you don’t submit your agreement within 8 minutes, you will be locked out of your exam.

10 minutes – Optional Tutorial
This is standard for computerized exams. While you may want to skip the tutorial, this is a good time to simply collect your wits and calm down. I’ll share more test-day strategies in another article.

95 minutes – Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems

10 minutes – Break

90 minutes – Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

30 minutes – Lunch break inside the testing center. I don’t recommend the full break. Can you imagine testing on a full stomach while nervous??

95 minutes – Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

10 minutes – Break

95 minutes – Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior

5 minutes – Void question You just sat a 7 hour exam- are you sure you want to void? At least get your score because voiding still counts as having taken the exam.

5 minutes Satisfaction Survey – Why not?

2021 MCAT Testing Dates

Registration opens in phases with early registration in the Fall and later registration in the winter. Check the AAMC website for details

The exam fee is $300, but assistance is available for qualifying students. FAP Details

If you’ve taken the 2014 exam and wish to test again, you can submit both exam scores. Each medical school will decide how much longer they will accept the old exam, but the AAMC will likely report old exam scores no later than 2019.

Another benefit of this new exam is the resetting of testing limits. No matter how many times you’ve taken the old exam, you are allowed to take the new one according to the following schedule:

3 exams in one testing cycle (one year)
4 exams in a 2-year testing cycle
7 exams total

Please don’t take the exam seven times! If you score poorly, please take the time to evaluate where you went wrong, work hard to improve your weak spots and ensure that you are ready to test again.

Preparing for the MCAT

This is a LONG exam and cannot be approached lightly. While some will recommend just 3 months to prepare, I recommend 6 months or more depending on your initial score and academic background.

Here are some tutorials to help you prepare:

How long do YOU need to prepare? MCAT Prep 3 Phases
How long given your schedule? Hours to Months Breakdown
Have you taken a practice full length yet?
None yet? Best time to take your first full length
Yes, but need to improve? Video: All About MCAT Full Lengths
Do you know how to Review your Full Lengths? 3 Steps to Raising Your MCAT Score With Full Length Practice Tests

Re-learning the Required MCAT Information

The AAMC believes that if you do well in your science courses, you will have learned everything you need to know for the MCAT. And this may be true for some students – a very, very, tiny group of atypical students.

In working with hundreds of pre-med students over the last decade, I find that students do much better if they take part in some form of guided MCAT prep. This includes a self-guided review of old course material following the MCAT guide or signing up for a reputable MCAT prep course.

I can personally walk you through your MCAT prep with tutorials, cheat sheets, tips, tricks and more along the way. Start by downloading my FREE guide ‘MCAT Exam Strategy – A 6 Week Guide to Crushing the MCAT’ through this link

I have a brand new FREE guide along with a Companion Guide in the works.
Check it out: Ultimate MCAT Prep Guide!

In Conclusion

The new MCAT is a very different exam designed to test your true ability as a potential medical student. The sections are longer and there are more questions per section. However, if you are well prepared and plan accordingly there’s no reason you won’t ace the exam and conquer that next step towards your dream of becoming a physician.

What about You?

What questions do you have about the new MCAT? Are you excited about the changes or nervous?

Let me know by leaving a comment below!