The Med School Pulse

One of the questions I get asked most frequently as a teacher is, “Exactly what questions will I see on my test?”  If I knew the answer to that question, I would be making tons of money setting everyone up with their personalized MCAT answers. Although I can’t tell anyone exactly which questions they will be answering on Test Day, I do want to help out all of my intrepid MCAT studiers today and correct a common MCAT misconception.

Misconception: When I take my test, all of the material will be 100% familiar

Here’s the deal- yes, you have been …

With the London Summer Games upon us, the whole world is tuning in to watch the athletes that have spent years preparing and rehearsing for their particular sporting events. There are a lot of things to take away from London Games’ athletes, particularly their hard work and dedication to following their dreams.  Just like studying for the MCAT there are long hard training days where self-doubt can creep in! So what can we learn from these elite athletes?

Physical Sciences –This is the first section of the MCAT and one that most pre-med students need to spend a significant amount …

Every Monday morning during the months of September through December, professional football players gather at their respective team’s facilities tired, weary, and groggy from the previous day’s game. They spread out based on their positions and assemble in dark rooms where video projectors display game film while position coaches break down the plays screen-by-screen. The players hate this. They just finished playing barely 24 hours ago. The last thing they want to do is watch the game again. If they won, they want to storm the practice field and keep up their positive momentum. If they lost, they want to …

In my last post we discussed several tips for making the most of the limited study time that you have available as a premed. Now, in Part 2 of our series on the Ideal MCAT Study Schedule we’ll take a look at three different types of premeds and how each can properly utilize a day to get the most out of their studying.

One quick note before we get started: you will notice in reading these I really make a point of taking active breaks. It is important to only study for a max of around 2-3 hours, unless …

Now that 2012 is upon us, I’m sure that all of you, like me, are hard at work on your many New Year’s Resolutions.  Granted, I haven’t had time yet to get in that extra trip to the gym, and it’s tough to eat healthy when it’s so easy to grab a burger on the way home. But really, I’m sure I’ll get down to business next week and we’ll all be well on our way to accomplishing our goals for 2012 by the end of the month, right? Right?

Many of you undoubtedly have high aspirations for the coming …

As we head into the end-of-year holiday season and the winter break, those of you planning to take the MCAT in 2012 are giving careful consideration to your selection of an MCAT test date.  While most of you will likely choose a test date sometime in the spring or early summer, you should be aware that the January test dates – there are two of them – provide some real benefits and opportunities that are unique to this slightly-off-the-grid testing window.

I can hear some of you already:  why in the name of all that is good and pure …