Transcript for: Effective MCAT Study Strategies from Vikram Shaw
Hi everyone. I'm Vikram Shaw, MCAT expert in 528 score. Today, I'm gonna tell you
how to study for the MCAT. We'll go over the exact same strategies I used to achieve a
perfect score on the MCAT. (dramatic music) Your MCAT score is a critical component of your medical school application. If you're applying to medical school, you must take this exam and
scoring well in the test will greatly increase you admissions odds. But the secret is, there's more
to scoring well in the MCAT than just being really really
proficient in the sciences. In this video, I'll share seven
high-yield study strategies so you can achieve your
best score on the MCAT. Tip number one. Develop a study schedule early. The first thing that I did
when studying for the MCAT was build a comprehensive study schedule. On average students spend
about three months studying for the exam and you should
build your study schedule as soon as you've selected your test date. Many students wonder, why is it so important to
build a study schedule? Building a study schedule is
important for two reasons. One, it holds you accountable and two, it provides a day by day, week by week and month by month
roadmap to your test prep. This means, you won't
need to spend extra energy figuring out what material
you should be focusing on each time you sit down to study. Accountability is important
when studying for the MCAT as it is often easy to fall behind. Once you've committed to a test date, you can build a study
schedule that will ensure you're prepared, come test day. The roadmap is important in your test prep so that you can see how far you've come and where you still need to go. At the end of each week, you can look back at what
you've accomplished that week and have clarity on what you'll need to tackle the following week. (dramatic music) Tip number two, build flex
days into your study schedule. Burnout is very common
among premed students who are studying for the MCAT. For that reason it is absolutely necessary that when you study for the MCAT, you build flexibility
into your study schedule so that you can catch up
when life, school or work inevitably get in the way. (dramatic music) There are a couple ways to do this. Option one, build a flex
day into every week. Designate a day of the week that you don't plan any MCAT studying. If you fall behind on
studying during the week, you can use this day to catch up. If you stayed caught up all week, you can use this day to
relax and take a short break from the test so that you can come back reinvigorated the next week. Option two is to leave
one to two open weeks at the end of your study
schedule before your test date. In other words, pretend that you're taking the
MCAT one to two weeks earlier than your scheduled test date so when life gets in the way, you can adjust your study
schedule to take advantage of that flexibility time. (dramatic music) When I studied for the exam, I treated it as a nine to
five job for eight weeks. Importantly, I didn't
treat it as a 24/7 job. (dramatic music) This helped me stay focused
during the eight hours of productivity during the day while giving me a break in the evening. In addition, I did not study
for the exam most weekends and this allowed me to
approach the exam refreshed and ready each week. Though many people study for the exam while juggling other responsibilities, it is still very helpful
to specifically outline the amount of time that you will study. No more and no less. Again, this will help
improve your efficiency and prevent burnout so you can
achieve your highest score. (dramatic music) Tip number three. Value perfect practice over practice. A famous football coach named
Vince Lombardi once said, "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." (dramatic music) Practice on the MCAT involves taking as many passages as you can. Perfect practice involves taking passages, reviewing your mistakes, writing down what you need to learn and most importantly,
studying to make sure you don't make those same mistakes again. (dramatic music) I can't emphasize this enough. Thoroughly tracking, writing
down and studying your mistakes is the single best way to
improve your MCAT score. (dramatic music) As a general rule of thumb, you should spend almost as
much time reviewing the passage as you spend taking the passage. You should also spend time
studying what you missed, which is a key step that
students often forget. You should approach each test
with a new body of knowledge in a solidified understanding of what you have missed before. So, before taking your
eighth full-length exam, make sure that you've gone
through the previous seven, written down what you missed and study that information carefully. Tip number four. Emphasize practice and study content based on what you miss in practice. One of the biggest
mistakes that students make is studying low-yield
content that is unlikely to show up on the exam. For example, you are better off knowing the 20 amino acids backwards and forwards than knowing how to solve
a projectile motion problem involving a rock flying off of a cliff The MCAT is more likely to ask questions in a biological context so be aware of where
you're spending your time, especially if you're
studying on a tight schedule. As you progress further
in your medical training, you'll begin shifting your
test preparation attitude from studying content to
completing practice problems. In fact, USMLE step one
and step two preparation relies almost exclusively on
completing practice problems and then reviewing the content. The MCAT is very similar in this regard. Students who complete practice problems and then study what they missed tend to do very well compared to students who rely too heavily on content review. Before you take the MCAT, you will have taken hundreds
of practice problems, many of which come from the people who write the test also known as the American Association of
Medical Colleges or AAMC. As a result, you will have
a good idea of the topics that you tend to miss questions on. For example, if you keep missing questions on thermodynamics, then
go back to the book and study thermodynamics so that you approach your next full-length with an understanding of both the topic and how the MCAT likes to
ask questions on that topic. (dramatic music) Tip number five. Go through all of the AAMC
materials at least once. I often recommend saving
the AAMC materials for the final phase of
a student's test prep. This does not mean however, that you should be rushing to complete all of the AAMC question packs in the week leading up to your test. Rather, you should schedule the
AAMC resources appropriately so that you have time to
complete them without rushing, while also going through all
of the questions at least once. Make sure to give yourself enough time to make it through these resources. Since the AAMC writes the exam, these are going to be the
most test-like questions you will complete during your practice. (dramatic music) Tip number six. Simulate real testing conditions when taking full-length practice exams. I often hear stories of students scoring in the 515, the 520 range
on their AAMC practice exams and then scoring 5 to 10
points lower on the real thing. (dramatic music) Many students score very well
on their AAMC practice exams leading up to test day and then score a few or several points lower on the actual test. There are a few reasons why this happens. (dramatic music) First, it is very important that you simulate test-like conditions on your practice AAMC full-length exams. Try to find a quiet location where you will not be disturbed
while taking the exam. In addition, make sure you
begin the exam at 8:00 a.m. You should take all of your breaks both when you practice and
when you take the real exam. (dramatic music) The breaks are a time for
you to use the restroom, fill up on snacks and water and recharge for the next section. In line with simulating
real testing conditions, it is very common for students who are excited to see their score to rush through the Psychology
and Sociology section, which is the final section of the exam. You should not rush through
this section on test day, so there's no reason for
you to rush through it when you're practicing. Remember, Psychology and Sociology make up 1/4 of your overall score. Additionally, you should
not have the mindset, I will just guess on this question since it is a practice test and review it after I submit the exam. Part of taking the exam
is encountering questions that you might not know how to approach. Treat these questions like they're happening on the actual test and approach them as you
would any other question. By trying to reason through
these more difficult questions, you begin learning how to answer them despite maybe not knowing
exactly what the right answer is. (dramatic music) Tip number seven. Stick to your strategy on test day. Students often find the
first section of the MCAT, Chemistry and Physics to be the most difficult
section of the exam. On test day if they get a
difficult Chem/Phys section, that may throw them off
for the rest of the exam. So here, I'll make a football analogy. It is often said that, the
quarterback of a football team must have a short memory, so that if he throws an interception, it does not rattle his confidence the next time he has the ball. (dramatic music) In the same way, you
should have a short memory while you're taking the MCAT. If you are spending
10% of your brain power during the second section of the exam, thinking about the first
section of the exam, that is valuable brain power
that you could be spending on the second section of the exam. In other words, don't dwell on
a difficult previous section and allow it to hurt your score
on the remaining sections. In addition, students often deviate from the strategy they practice with when they take the real exam. Test day is not the day to stop using your strategy
or change strategies. Stick with your strategy even if it feels like it is not working. By simulating test day more closely during your other practice exams, you can build the confidence to stick with your strategy on test day. (dramatic music) And that's how to study for the MCAT. If you found this video helpful, give it a thumbs up and subscribe so you don't miss out on new videos. And if you'd like to receive a free MCAT
question of the day, so you can get every last bit of practice in before test day, click the link in the description.