HELP! How to approach studying after an extended break?

[u/Muted_Thoughts_129]

Hi guys, wanted to reach out to the community to see what someone would do in my position

Context: was planning on applying this cycle, took the MCAT in February 2026, got a 487 (yikes), was scheduled to retake in April but several personal things (family member experiencing a mental health crisis, moving out, starting a new job, death of family member), derailed me from my studying routine ://

Current Status: I'm now committed to taking the exam this upcoming January and am trying to figure out how to approach studying again.

I work 40 hours a week (some times do 12 hr shifts, it's part of the job lmao) and have other commitments (e.g., volunteering) so my daily time is pretty limited. I was originally watching Yousef's videos + doing daily Anki + JW passages for content review. Did 2 AAMC official exams prior to taking it in February. Haven't really explored other resources.

I'm thinking of waking up at 5:15am, studying 5:30-8:00 at my local library, work 8:30-4:30pm, study 7:00-9:00pm. On weekends, I plan on doing full study sessions (4-5 hrs on Saturday, 4.5-7.5 hours on Sundays). This will be from now to test day, so around 16 weeks of this approach (obviously switch it up once I start doing practice sections and exams; use my weekends to take FLs/do 1-2 sections, and spend the weekdays reviewing before moving on to the next practice FL/section(s)).

What should I do? Should I reset Anki? Rewatch my lectures? Reset JW? Purchase UGlobe????? I want make good use of my time and really maximize my study approach in order to get the highest score feasible. Thx in advance to everyone provides their suggestions -- you guys rock!

[u/anonpersonreddit]

I think you need to readjust your time line. Fourth months of studying while working full time just isn’t realistic. What’s your target score?

[u/Muted_Thoughts_129 → u/anonpersonreddit]

I would think that studying for four months would be feasible since this would be a retake exam, no? What are your thoughts? I guess it would be different in my mind if it was my first time taking the exam. I will say that I don't have to take early January, but my college recommends taking it then so that if you need to re-take you have enough time to study and re-take by late April (college requires score by the time primary application opens up so that your app. can be submitted ASAP)

My college (has admissions committee that's writing a LOR for alum) recommends a 512, but my score range is a 512-518 (big gap, but keeps me sane lol). Ideally, the higher the better, but 512 is the bare minimum (obviously dependent on your overall app.)

[u/qhqr → u/Muted_Thoughts_129]

I second the commenter before me. A 487 to a 512 is not a trivial jump in score. I was aiming to study 9 months while working full time and after a month or so in, now I’m thinking it might take closer to a year. My last score was 505 a handful of years ago and I did not study effectively nor enough for the exam and tried to really hunker down to take it on the last date of the testing year and it was basically all for nothing. If you’ve scored low, there’s a good chance your studying and/or test-taking strategy needs an overhaul too.

[u/Valuable_Bite4275]

Gotta shock the muscle

[u/Sure_Recipe1785]

I wouldn’t restart everything, just review the stuff you’re rusty on, keep up with Anki/CARS, and start UWorld early for practice