MCAT: 40th percentile -> 80th percentile

lipson1026
Jul 26, 2021
3 min read

Hello lovelies :) In todays blog post, I will be breaking down how I went from a 498 to a 510. I will preface this by saying that I took my first MCAT after my junior year of college... I was burned out from school, too poor to afford study materials, and naive to the amount of studying that was necessary to do well on the MCAT (yikes - a recipe for disaster). My second attempt at the MCAT was two years into my gap year where I did my research on proper study techniques/resources, could afford the necessary materials, and could put in the necessary time for studying!

Please enjoy a selfie of me 1 month into studying for the MCAT... Morale was obviously still high at this point!

MCAT Exam:

There are 4 sections on the MCAT
- Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
  - 44 passage Qs & 15 stand-alone Qs; 95 minutes
- Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills
  - 53 passage Qs; 90 minutes
- Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
  - 44 passage Qs & 15 stand-alone Qs; 95 minutes
- Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
  - 44 passage Qs & 15 stand-alone Qs; 95 minutes
Each section is scored from 118 to 132. This means the total score ranges from 472 to 528.

Study Materials:

Kaplan MCAT Complete 7-Book Subject Review
- https://www.amazon.com/Complete-7-Book-Subject-Review-2020-2021/dp/1506248861
300 Page Psych/Soc Document (Khan Academy/MCAT Bros)
- https://da9d3767-4f58-4e0a-a735-2068978470d5.filesusr.com/ugd/69e71c_6fb066f455db442685a7472e0226b51b.pdf
UWorld
- https://gradschool.uworld.com/mcat/
Anki
- u/MileDown's Anki Deck (can find this deck on reddit)
AAMC CARS Prep
- https://store.aamc.org/aamc-mcat-official-prep-cars-diagnostic-tool.html
AAMC MCAT Section Bank
- https://store.aamc.org/aamc-mcat-section-bank-online.html
AAMC Full Length Exams
- https://store.aamc.org/mcat-prep/full-length-exams.html
*FREE* Altius ½ length MCAT Exam
- https://altiustestprep.com/freetest/
*FREE* Kaplan ½ length MCAT Exam
- https://www.kaptest.com/mcat/free/mcat-free-practice-test
*FREE* Kaplan Full length MCAT Exam
- https://www.kaptest.com/mcat/free/mcat-free-practice-test
*FREE* Blueprint full length MCAT Exam
- https://blueprintprep.com/mcat/free-resources/free-mcat-practice-bundle

Preparing for the MCAT:

Key Points:

Studied for 2 months straight (~5-8 hours/day)
Alternated between subjects when reviewing material
- Ex.) Day 1 - Ch. 1 Chem, Ch. 1 Biochem, 3 CARS passages, Anki flash cards
- Ex.) Day 2 - Ch. 2 Chem, Psych/Soc, 2 CARS passages, Anki flash cards
- Ex.) Day 3 - Ch. 3 Chem, Ch.2 Biochem, UWorld physics problems, 1 CAR, Anki
Keep an excel sheet or book to make sure you keep track of which chapters/material you have reviewed.
Reviewing Material
- Read every chapter of every book in the Kaplan 7-b00k set (except for the Psych/Soc book). Alternated between subjects each day.
  - Took notes on high-yield topics and made small illustrations on notecards to tape on wall in front of me so I could easily reference that topic when studying (see picture above)
    - Typed notes for some subjects and then did hand-drawn notes for topics like Biochem pathways, amino acid structures, chemistry/physics problems.
- Did Anki flash cards everyday
- Did 1-3 CARS passages everyday (CARS was one of my weaknesses, so I made sure to practice often)
- Did UWORLD questions that correlated to the topic I reviewed that day
MCAT section bank/practice tests
- Save your AAMC full lengths until you feel you are ready and when you are prepared to take the test exactly as you will on test day!! Try the free MCAT tests by other companies (Altius, Blueprint, Kaplan, etc.) before using your AAMC FL. These are the gold standard tests, so don't waste them!
  - Side note: Do not get discouraged if your practice scores are lower than expected
    - For example, I scored a 502 on my Altius exam and a 505 on my Kaplan FL, but I scored a 510 on my actual MCAT.
- I took 4 practice tests and did the AAMC section bank twice before taking my actual MCAT exam (I would suggest doing even more practice tests for practice)
- After each test, review the questions thoroughly and make sure you understand why you got it wrong or why you got it right if you were just guessing. Keep an excel sheet like this one:

Practice each test like you are taking the real thing!! That means no extra breaks, only use the allotted time to complete each section, and take the test in a quiet area where there will be no interruptions.