Michael's Opinion

Admittedly, the MCAT is likely the one of the most, if not the most, stressful examinations that you will take up to this point in your medical career. That being said, a key to success with the MCAT is to remain calm and keep a levelled head. Remember, the MCAT is designed to be a test of aptitude and most of the information required to answer the questions can be found in the passages. It is your job to tease out that information and appropriately apply it to the questions. You do not want to become overwhelmed by the vast amount of material. Take two deep breaths and go.

If you are like me and have zero motivation to study, then I would suggest taking a MCAT prep course. Personally, I took the Princeton Review, which is on the costlier side. With enrolment in the course, you get access to their physical and online resources including practice tests and questions (including the AAMC practice examinations), a comprehensive review of all required knowledge in the form of textbooks, Princeton Review certified instructors, as well as feedback on writing samples. Though, I found the latter to be rather unrepresentative of the actual MCAT. For those of you who have not taken first year science courses or are in need of a refresher, the Princeton Review textbooks provide a very comprehensive and easy-to-read review of all testable material. Just a disclaimer, however, I am unfamiliar with the material provided by the Princeton Review’s competitors so it is worth investigating which course/material fits your needs best.

Candidates taking the test today are lucky because the MCAT recently received a facelift. With computerization, the MCAT became a much gentler and shorter experience. Even if you decide against purchasing the full set of sample examinations from the AAMC website, I would suggest practicing on the free test that the site has made available to everyone. It is important to be familiar with the tools that will be at your disposal during the test. Be aware that the search and notes functions are not yet available on the actual MCAT even though they appear in the practice tests.

The best advice I can give you to be successful is to practice, Practice, PRACTICE. Above all else, practicing with the sample examinations and mimicking the conditions of test day will be your best preparation for the MCAT. Like I said before, the majority of the information required to answer questions will be found in the passages and not in your memory. Thus, this test is unlike the typical undergraduate multiple choice tests. The ability to efficiently extract pertinent information will improve with practice. So, practice! That being said, you still need to have some basic knowledge to do well. So supplement your practice with studying.

That’s about all I have to add! Happy MCATing!