The Med School Pulse

So, when you begin to prep for the MCAT, it’s very exciting. You have tons of resources! You make an ambitious study schedule! You are excited to tackle the content, master the strategies and conquer the MCAT!

Fast forward to approximately three to six weeks later. You’re exhausted. You’re overwhelmed. You start fantasizing about life post-MCAT and all you can think about is how great it would be to have a regular sleeping/showering schedule. In case you need them, here are some very useful resources about how to structure your study time and how important sleeping and exercising…

Recently, my friend Pat Boyle wrote up a post on Med School Pulse about choosing an MCAT test date.  Let’s take a look today at the other side of that question – now that I have an MCAT test date, when should I start studying?

To answer this question, let’s look backwards.  Visualize with me that day in late August when you get that white coat you deserve at your dream medical school’s White Coat Ceremony.  Now take it back a year.  The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) – the application system for medical school – first accepts …

As pre-med students, you’re always on the go.  There’s so much to do in preparing for medical school – juggling challenging science classes, taking leadership roles in extracurricular activities, volunteering, shadowing, and working on research.  Add on top of that studying for the MCAT and you’re often concerned about balancing your time. Since many of you may be getting ready to register and study for the new 2013 MCAT, we wanted to tackle one of those classic questions about setting up your MCAT study schedule:  “How many hours should I be studying?”

Two months ago, my family was graced with its newest …

In our last two articles, we’ve introduced several tips and schedules to help you find study time in your packed premed schedule. Now, in our final entry of the Ideal MCAT Study Schedule series we are going to discuss the best way to approach your study materials to get the most out of those precious study sessions.

Looking back on the sample schedules we discussed last time, you should note that we are trying to get in at least 20 hours of studying a week; at some point during those 20 hours, you should try to fit in at least:…

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 …

I often get questions from my students about how to effectively schedule studying for the MCAT. With so many other drains on your time, trying to squeeze in 300+ additional hours of studying can seem like a daunting task, and it’s with that in mind that I would like to introduce this first entry in a three-part series dedicated to helping you build the “Ideal” Study Schedule.

While the notion of an “ideal” schedule will certainly change from person to person, there are a few constants that you’ll need to keep in mind. In our initial discussion I’d like …

Choosing your MCAT prep can be a difficult task in its own right, even before you crack open the books and start studying. Walk into any bookstore or search the internet for MCAT study materials, and you might be overwhelmed by the number of choices available to you. Throughout the years, people across all industries (academic, test-prep, self-help, etc.) have published study aids and materials meant to help students achieve their goals on the MCAT, and the sheer number of options can be overwhelming. To further frustrate your efforts, try asking a friend or classmate for recommendations on …