MCAT Study Guide

Written By Arturo Toro

MCAT study guide with what to do at different stages leading up to the exam! This is sorta a summary of the recommendations we give all our students! Hope you find it helpful : )

MCAT Study Guide laid out month to month

  • Non-trad students may need 5-10 months to study

  • Science maors may expect to study for 3-4 months

Over 3-4 months out

  • Take baseline exam from non-AAMC resource (focus content review on weaknesses)

  • Mostly focus on content review with books like Kaplan or Princeton

  • Start incorporating about 10 questions daily from question packs like Uworld

Three months out!

  • Should be about done with content review (Kaplan/Princeton Review)

  • Work from 10 questions daily up to 20 questions daily. This KEY, the biggegst mistake we see that separates high scorers from low scorers is waiting a while to start with practice questions

Two months out!

  • Work up to 40 practice questions daily with UWorld

  • Take first AAMC full length, then another AAMC later that month

  • Later in the month, incorporate AAMC sample questions to get a feel for the real deal

One month out!

  • Three AAMC full lengths this month! To make sure you’re on track

  • Continue with UWorld focusing topics you find challenging to more efficiently study

  • Last week: Focus on things that are memorization heavy! Sleep! Eat!

  • This MCAT study guide should be flexible, focus on what you’re struggling on. Studying is a dynamic process of being honest with yourself about what you’re weak on or what material you don’t like. If you don’t like circuits questions, it likely means you should do more of them!!

General Thoughts!

  • Sleep well; 7-8 hours minimum!

  • 4-6 hours of studying daily is ideal. When not doing questions, do reading or videos

  • Later in the day, watch videos when you’re too tired to read

Arturo Toro
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