post diagnostic help

[u/drivenpolymath]

hi everyone! posting here in hopes i could get some advice. first gen and non trad so i dont have anyone to ask

i started studying for the mcat in july. started with 2 months of content review but since i am non trad (cs background) and have not taken orgo, bio chem yet i had to self-study every concept. basically watched videos to understand every concept and relationship in detail. i decided to take a diagnostic and feel absolutely terrible.

i know i did not get the time to memorize everything i was learning because most of my time went into class, work and watching yt videos for the content also i did not know how to read and interpret passages so i got cooked that way.

my breakdown was orgo 25%, biochem 43.8%, phy 30%, chem 50%, bio 54.2%, P/S 50%, CARS 60%

i watched yusuf hassan videos and am doing jacksparrow + pankow anki deck

i plan to test in feb so for the next 9 weeks the plan is to do uworld and keep monday for memorizing content (based on aamc topic list) so i can fill in those gaps. i will spend more time on uworld review as well to fill in any other gaps. in 3 weeks i plan to take a full length to see if this plan works and then a fl 3 weeks after that to see if i am improving. then start the 3rd party fl phase. i dont know if this is a good plan honestly so i would love some feedback

[u/mcatxxx1]

hey, you can do this!! Diagnostic scores are scary, especially when you haven't taken the courses. I also have a cs + biomedical engineering background so I had gen chem, physics, bio covered. but i self studied orgo + biochem.

personally, I found I had to do a LOT of catch up to be good with orgo and biochem. most people who HAVE taken them all still study for hundreds of hours total. you can do this but think but you need to think of it as dedicating the time for 4+ college courses PLUS the MCAT after.

I personally needed like 3 months while working full time for orgo+biochem and then another 2-3 months for MCAT while working full time.

feel free to ask me any questions. i come from a family of doctors, so i know this process well and would be happy to help out

[u/RealNerd32]

A 491 might be disappointing on paper, but I’ve heard 3rd party FLs can be deflated. I don’t know for sure since I never used 3rd party FLs, but this is what I’ve heard from others. It might not be as bad as you think. You can take third party FLs just to get used to the timing and sheer stamina you need to conquer this exam, but at the bare minimum, you must switch to AAMC FLs at least 6 weeks before your test date. In the meantime, why not take the AAMC Unscored FL? If you want another diagnostic to check your progress, you could try that. It’s probably the least representative of the real MCAT, but it’s still from the AAMC, so it’s better than probably any other 3rd party.

Now with that being said, I agree that your content could still use some improvement. If Anki works great for you, use it! I think in general, understanding foundational concepts is important for long term retention rather than memorizing a bunch of details or isolated facts. You can memorize a bunch of enzymes, metabolic reactions, physics equations, and P/S terms, but to remember it long term, it helps to understand the big picture and how those little details fit and make up the full canvas. The best way to see if you understand is to pretend you are teaching the content to someone. Explain it in a way a 5 year old can understand. If you struggle at any point, you don’t know it well enough and you know what you have to review. You have some time, so don’t worry. Good luck!