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Five Things That are Ruining Your MCAT Practice

Burton

November 4, 2016

MCAT Tips & Strategies

ruining mcat practice — *Photo courtesy of anna gutermuth*

Struggling to reach your MCAT goals? Can’t break through a certain score ceiling? Here are five things that are ruining your MCAT practice.

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Five Things That are Ruining Your MCAT Practice

Social Media. “I’ll just spend five minutes on [Facebook, Instagram, etc.]” and then all of a sudden two hours are gone. To maximize your studying efficiency, avoid going on any social media until your studying block of time is done. To be even more thorough, consider disconnecting yourself entirely for the duration of your studying time.
Not Setting Goals. Practice demands goal setting. Without goals for your MCAT practice, there will likely be less structure and less discipline during study times. The goals don’t need to be gigantic (e.g. get all 50 questions right) and can even be quite small as you start your MCAT preparation. The key is to have goals and to strive to meet those goals during each day of your studying.
Focusing on what you do well. While it may feel good to be getting a high percentage of questions right on subjects you know well, it is ultimately doing yourself a disservice. The point of preparing and practicing for the MCAT is to work on your weaknesses so that on test day, you will excel. Without working on the subjects you are weakest in, it will be difficult to achieve success on test day.
Exhaustion. While studying for the MCAT is difficult and demands a lot of your time, taking care of your health, sleep, and well-being is also important. To be in a good psychological and physical state of mind, be sure to get adequate rest, nutrition, exercise, and breaks. Schedule these in as part of your study day and you’ll feel better and do better in your studies.
Going for the home run. Studying doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing event. While scheduled large chunks of study time are great, so are little review sessions. Take some flashcards with you during lunch and learn the amino acids. Memorize some physics formulas while waiting for the bus. These small but steady gains will make all the difference come test day.

Author

Burton

Burton is an MCAT blogger. He was an undergraduate at Harvard, where he majored in History before switching gears to pursue a career in medicine. He did a post-baccalaureate and is currently a fourth-year medical student at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is applying for a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Outside of things medical, he’s a huge sports fan and loves football, basketball, and baseball.

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