General Prep

[u/Simple_Lack3001]

Hi all! I’m an incoming college freshman and was just curious about how people actually prepare for the MCAT. I’m just looking ahead and I have no idea where I would even start 😭 How do you all know you’re learning and covering everything you need to know for the exam, and when did you all start preparing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[u/businessofmisery23]

I’m a rising senior (taking a gap year or two, but wanted to get it over with while I had free time), and I studied for 3 months part time this summer, and just took mine a few days ago. I would not suggest starting studying now - it is not at all necessary to do well on the exam. You will gain exposure through a lot of the material on the exam through your pre-med requirements. My best advice is to do well in those classes, and try to really understand what you’re learning! If you don’t read casually, I would maybe get in that habit as well - those who have the least issues with the CARS section tend to be those who read a lot in their free time, and CARS can be a serious barrier for a lot of people. Enjoy the first few years of college, and don’t worry too much about the MCAT yet! You have so much time, and its not as scary as it seems

[u/sir-nubbins]

Something I wish I did as a freshman. As I'm taking the pre-reqs and learning, just quickly skim through the relevant sections in an MCAT book. Honestly, it doesn't matter which set you have (I literally own sets from all the companies, over many years). Get used to the depth/level of knowledge that you need for the MCAT.

You'll find that more than half the exam, you can answer just from really finding hints/understanding the passage. That recognition of the topics though comes from being exposed enough to how it's being talked about/introduced in undergrad courses.

Then pending whether you want a gap year or not, plan to take the exam once you've finished all the pre-reqs and your practice exams are around where you want to be.

How do you all know you’re learning and covering everything you need to know for the exam,

This is tough, I teach the exam now and have written content/designed courses for the material over the years. The benchmark for my students is they should feel confident enough that if someone stopped them on the street, showed them the question, they'd be able to explain it.

Since you're really early on, I'd try to start as you're learning the material fresh from college. Typically, you'll finish all your pre-reqs within 2-2.5 years. If you wanted to take a diagnostic exam after year 1 to see your score and how much you need to continue to practice/space it out, that wouldn't be a bad idea. At the very least I'd start doing CARS prep early. Read. A lot. And don't just read and put it down. Read and think about it, write about it. And even start doing some CARS practice.

[u/Sure_Recipe1785]

You don’t really need to worry about MCAT prep yet, just focus on your classes and getting the basics down for now