Are you thinking about rescheduling or delaying your MCAT test date? My name is Ayesha, and I am one of the mentors here at MCAT Mastery!
In this post, I will be sharing my reflections on why I decided to reschedule my MCAT twice!
I ended up taking the MCAT a whole year later than from when I had initially intended to, but this turned out to be a great thing to do and helped me achieve my dream score!
You can also watch my video here!
Many students believe that they must take 3-6 months off to study for the MCAT with very few other commitments. But I want you to know that's not the case!
I scored a 515 on the MCAT while being a full time student, keeping my volunteer position and part-time job, and dealing with a litigation from a car accident that had injured me a year before!
I was all set to go to dental school, but when my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I decided to go to medical school. I was in a time crunch to take the test quickly to be able to apply in the next cycle.
Whatever situation you find yourself in, we know that taking so much time off is not feasible for many students.
That's why we created this video and blog post for you to strategically plan how to study for the MCAT while working full time, as a full time student, or if you just have a busy schedule overall!
In this MCAT success story, you'll learn how Noah increased his MCAT score by 14 points (from 496 to 510) within the last four weeks before test date!
Some backstory:
Here were Noah's practice test scores after he was well into his MCAT prep:
March 8, 2020 - AAMC 1:
499 (124/126/124/125)
May 3, 2020 - AAMC 3:
500 (124/125/125/126)
May 16, 2020 - KAPLAN 4:
500 (124/126/124/126)
From March to May (2 months), his score was pretty much stagnant at a 500.
His test date: June 27, 2020
Now with around one month to go before test date, he took another practice test and scored a 496. At this point, Noah knew something had to change.
On May 20th, he signed up to work with an MCAT Mastery Mentor. When he first came to us, these were some of his biggest frustrations:
In this video post, I want to show you how I created my MCAT study plan for my January test date, which led me to score in the 99th percentile, all while working 30-40 hours and being a full-time student.
2021 MCAT test dates and score release dates have officially been announced by the AAMC!
It's time to decide on when is the best and smartest testing date for you. In this article, we'll show you how top scorers decided their MCAT exam day.
To start off, here are the US and Canada 2021 MCAT test dates list if you haven't seen them already:
My name is Hope and I'm an MCAT Mentor here at MCAT Mastery! I want to share with you some of the important lessons I learned during my MCAT journey!
Even though my experience with the MCAT was initially negative, I learned so much about myself, and about the exam, so if you’re struggling right now too, know that you can do this and I hope my advice helps 🙂
Today we want to introduce you to a future doctor with a really inspiring MCAT success story! His name is Tim Knebel and he's one of the MCAT Mentors on our team 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi I'm Tim and in this article, I want to give you some of my top strategies on how I scored a 513 on the MCAT, even when I was barely scoring a 500 just weeks before my test date.
I hope reading about my insights, my mistakes, and my successes, can inspire you and help you in increasing your own score to a competitive level, no matter how bad you might think your situation currently is.
I know many premeds are nontraditional students, so hopefully my story can help remind some of them that having a different path to medicine is actually an asset.
It started after graduating high school, when I went to community college but soon dropped out because I had absolutely no academic motivation and was dealing with a lot of personal issues.
For the next three years I worked, played in a band, and slowly got my life together which eventually culminated in me finding an intense passion for mental health and caring for people.
I also became interested in science for the first time in my life, but the thought of actually being able to study science never crossed my mind.
Strangely, the thought did cross my mind one day and after several months of thinking about what the path actually meant and whether I could do it or not, I decided that I needed to embark on the path to becoming a physician.
After three years and with no study skills from previous schooling, I went back to community college and started completely from scratch. By scratch, I mean in the three semesters I went to community college (the first time, before dropping out) I got one B and everything else was an F or W.
I spent 3 1/2 years there and then transferred to UC San Diego for Biochemistry.
The reason I'm sharing all of this is for that stereotypical "if I can do it, you can do it" factor.
I managed to claw my way from being a very dysfunctional person with a nearly incalculably low GPA and no study skills to going to a top university and getting a 513 on the MCAT.
There comes a moment in every premed journey where they are overwhelmed with not knowing how to remember everything for the MCAT.
We know because we've been there ourselves. Over the years, we've discovered many (extremely common) ways most MCAT writers are putting themselves at a disadvantage with the way they're trying to remember all the content.
The good news is that once all of these 'MCAT prep disadvantages' are taken care of, many find themselves remembering more content easily and see their MCAT scores increase as a result!
A lot of these MCAT prep mistakes are specific to the MCAT itself, others are specific to studying overall. Regardless, top scorers always addressed both types.
As a bonus, top scorers carried these insights with them to med-school, to dominate there as well. It is our knowing that once you understand and implement these insights for yourself, you too will be well equipped to do extremely well in med-school once you master the MCAT 🙂
With that said, in this article we want to cover a common study mistake we see a lot of students making when it comes to the way they try to remember everything for the MCAT.
Are you considering joining or creating an MCAT study group? Are you already in one and want to find a better one? Or do you want to learn how to better utilize the one you're already in? If so, then this article was written for you.
Our focus at MCAT Mastery is on one thing; how can you hack your MCAT studying. In other words, what are those few key things you can do to get maximum results in your MCAT score.
This is why we've interviewed and researched 90+ percentile MCAT scorers over the last 6+ years, constantly refining our understanding of the highest yield paths to a top score.
And guess what? Being in an MCAT study group is a great hack (IF you know how to create/choose and utilize one to its full potential).
When she first took the MCAT in her junior year of undergrad, Annabella didn't know how to study for the MCAT and ended up scoring a 496.
A year later, she gave herself 10 weeks to study while working full time.
3-4 weeks in, her score hadn't really improved. However in the next 6 weeks she managed to improve her score by 19 points and achieve an awesome 515 MCAT score!
How did she do it? What did she do differently the second time?
We're about to find out 🙂
Imagine this...
You take your baseline test at the beginning of your MCAT prep, and you score a 500! Not bad right?
In fact, you're kind of pumped because you have 4.5 months before you write your MCAT! That's a lot of time to improve your score by 10 or more points! Especially since you're investing in a big-name MCAT prep company to help you study...
So you take the exam 4.5 months later, you get your score and you can't believe your eyes when you see that you scored a 501! Just a ONE point score increase from your baseline test!
This is the true story and situation of today's featured top scorer, Jennifer Nedimyer...
Is your Bio/Biochem score suffering on the MCAT? Did you recently do a practice exam and were surprised at how low your Bio/Biochem score was? Do you need to increase it as soon as possible?
If so, you're in the right place...
Maybe you know all amino acids and most of the content, but you feel like something isn't connecting. Maybe you've asked people for advice and all you hear is "just do more practice passages". Maybe you're worried that you haven't taken a Biochem course and won't know how to do well in this section.
We've heard it all and we have your solution...
What you need are PROVEN tips, strategies, and thought processes on how to approach B/B passages.
Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of MCAT test takers increase their scores to competitive levels. As we research and interview 515+ scorers and their strategies they used to dominate the MCAT, we also single out those who score over 130 (we usually single out 132 scorers) in particular sections and try to drill down on the most powerful strategies they used for those specific sections.
In this post, we’re going to provide you with some of the most effective 130+ Bio/Biochem MCAT scorer strategies which you can apply right away to increase your B/B score fast and get over that 130 level yourself.
Timing is a huge issue for a lot of MCAT test takers and it's something we want to address in this article.
The most counterproductive thing to do is to be taking your exam while worrying about time; constantly checking the clock and calculating how much time you have left and how much you’ve already used up.
That pressure alone is enough to cloud your thinking, making it harder to remember what you studied, and overall make you less effective during the exam.
To overcome this hurdle, top scorers used some specific MCAT timing strategies. We’ll share a few of them here with you...
Hey future doctor!
Picture this...
You've given yourself 8 weeks to crush the MCAT and get a 510+ score.
Beginning of your MCAT prep, you score a 498...
But that's no problem because you start studying extremely hard. You know if you spend the time and energy, you can achieve your goal...
4 weeks later (halfway through your MCAT prep), you do another practice test...
And you get a 499!
At this point you're panicking, you're demotivated, you're confused, and don't know what to do next.
All that work for a 1 point score increase!
This is exactly what happened to Troy Dolmetsch, today's featured MCAT Master:
Be honest…
Before you began studying for the MCAT, you thought it wasn’t going to be so bad…
You figured you’d have a good shot at getting a 510+ or a 515+ MCAT score if you just spent enough time memorizing the content…
But then you got your first practice exam score back and…
Ouch! Reality hits you in the face like a ton of MCAT prep books!
That’s what happened to Peter Kim, our featured top scorer in today's MCAT Master Interview.
Peter's goal MCAT score was a 515, but when he was 75% of the way into his MCAT prep, he did a practice test and scored a 499.
Extremely discouraged, Peter knew something had to change.
In this article, we've done a full step-by-step demonstration for you of how a 130+ CARS scorer would go through all the paragraphs of an AAMC CARS passage, analyze all the questions and all the answer choices, and consistently identify the right answer choice.
It's our hope that with this and the many other CARS passage dissections we have for you, you are able to get a better understanding of how all the strategies we talk about, are applied in different scenarios.
Before going through this, it would be helpful if you're already familiar with a lot of the top scorer CARS strategies we mention throughout our blog and emails. But if not, you'll still find this valuable (you might just miss a few things here and there).
In order to follow along you’ll need to have access to the AAMC CARS Question Packs (Volumes 1 and 2).
Here we’ll be covering Passage 15 from Question Pack 1. Before moving on, make sure you have it open.
In this article, you’ll learn P/S strategies and tips from 130+ P/S Scorers and how they increased their Psych/Soc score on the MCAT incredibly fast!
Most students know the importance of achieving a balanced MCAT score. You don’t want there to be one ‘problem’ section that sticks out.
If Psych/Soc is a problem section for you, you’re in the right place…
Imagine this. It's the last week before the MCAT and your biggest MCAT prep fear has come true...
You just took a practice exam and you're not scoring ANYWHERE near the score you need to get into the med-school you're aiming for!
What do you do!? This is definitely a scenario that calls for a lot of anxiety and panic.
Well, that's exactly the situation Rachel found herself in...
And in this article, you're going to learn exactly how she managed to take her score from "disappointing" to hitting her target score in less than a week!
With her MCAT prep insights and strategies, we hope you can replicate her results for yourself and increase your MCAT score significantly in just a week, regardless of how far you are from your MCAT test date!
Throughout our ongoing 90+ percentile MCAT scorer research and interviews over the years, we've come across many non-traditional MCAT test takers.
We find their MCAT success stories especially inspiring because they're often struggling with additional pressures and challenges that the average MCAT scorer doesn't face.
Recently, we interviewed Valentina Viertel...
A graduate student and a stay at home mom who was pregnant for almost her entire journey as she was studying for the MCAT!
In fact, she was 24 weeks pregnant when she took the MCAT!
Not only that, but as you'll find out in her interview below, it had been 5 years since Valentina graduated college and almost 10 years since she took some of the pre-reqs!
The most amazing part?
Even with all of these additional barriers...
Valentina managed to increase her MCAT score by 19 points and achieve a 514 (91st percentile) MCAT score.
Are you looking for effective MCAT strategies to add to your MCAT prep?
We've noticed a lot of our students come to us needing strategies when they're dealing with plateauing MCAT scores and a sense of urgency because the MCAT date is too close for comfort.
We hope you have some time before your MCAT test date, but if not, don't worry because in this article we'll cover 5 effective yet easy-to-apply MCAT strategies that can lead to a very quick score increase, no matter what your starting point is...
The fact that you're even reading this and have found this article is evidence that you're thinking ahead and smarter than most of the students who are going to be writing the MCAT with you on exam day. Why is that?
Because anyone who achieved a competitive MCAT score, did it by applying strategy to their MCAT prep.
Are your science sections suffering on the MCAT?
Do you feel like you know a lot, if not all, of the content but something is just off because it’s not reflecting in your score?
Are you looking for logical ways to approach those confusing science passages?
Do you want a quick score increase especially on the Chemistry/Physics section of the MCAT?
Hey Future Doctor,
We have a question for you...
What's better than getting a jolt of inspiration from the success of someone who was once where you are now (struggling with the MCAT), and is now where you hope to be soon (with an amazing MCAT score and med-schools knocking at your door)?
Answer: Finding out exactly what steps they took to get there so you can do the same!
In this post, you're going to get both: the inspiration + the steps 😉
Over the years, we’ve helped thousands of MCAT test takers increase their scores to competitive levels and it’s obvious that Chem/Phys and CARS are two of the most challenging sections for most.
As we research and interview 515+ scorers and their strategies they used to dominate the MCAT, we also single out those who scored over 130 (we usually single out 132 scorers) in particular sections and try to drill down on the most powerful strategies they used for those specific sections.
In this post, we’re going to provide you with some of the most effective 130+ C/P scorer "quick strategies" which you can apply right away to increase your C/P score fast and get over the 129 mark yourself.
Are you frustrated with not being able to consistently get over the 500 hump on your MCAT practice exams?
Or maybe you've already written the MCAT before and couldn't seem to break that 500 barrier?
You're not alone. We've come across many MCAT writers in our community who faced the same frustrations...
Who doubted their abilities and their future...
But ended up achieving a competitive, balanced 510+ MCAT score.
Today, they're in med-school and on their way to becoming doctors.
So our first piece of advice is to not worry. You'll be fine. As long as you're willing to adjust your current MCAT study process, you'll see your score improve.
With that said, let's begin with discussing how you can get over the 500 mark on your next practice test...
Are you spending days studying for the MCAT and still seeing low scores?
Do you feel you're doing a decent job at memorizing and understanding concepts, but still not scoring as high as you want to?
For most premeds there comes a point during MCAT prep where you hit a brick wall. A certain score or a score range that you can’t get beyond.
Depending where you are in your MCAT prep it might be getting over the 500 mark, the 510 mark, or maybe it’s getting beyond mid 120’s on the CARS section.
Regardless, the walls are normal and come up almost inevitably for most students. But this can get extremely frustrating…
We truly feel you on that one. When your scores aren’t improving, and especially if you’ve gone days or weeks without seeing that improvement, things get scary.
But don't worry, it's not your fault. You just need to take a new perspective...
Dear future doctor,
If your MCAT score isn't increasing fast enough...
If you got a disappointing score on your recent practice exam...
If you feel like you have a super long way to go before you reach your MCAT score goal, that you absolutely NEED in order to open doors to med-school...
The first thing we want to say to you is...
It's going to be okay.
How do we know?
What if we told you that almost every 90+ percentile MCAT scorer felt the same way, at some point during their MCAT prep?
What if we told you that there came a point in every "current med-schoolers" MCAT prep journey where they felt 'stuck', where they felt like there was not enough time, where they feel like there was way too much information to study, where they felt like med-school admission might just be unattainable...
Yet today, those same students are on their way to becoming physicians.
Over the the years at MCAT Mastery, we’ve seen premeds who have improved their MCAT scores from 499 to 512, from 489 to 513, from 500 to 521, from 505 to 517, from 50th percentiles to 90th percentiles (and the list goes on)... in a matter of weeks.
If you still don't believe us, we have many case studies/success stories here on this blog and on our YouTube channel of real premeds who skyrocketed their scores to a competitive level in less than 30 days. We recommend you check those out, plus most of us (the tutors here at MCAT Mastery) have done the same.
Now after hearing countless success stories, interviewing dozens of top scorers, and having gone through it ourselves, we can truly say that clearly, something "clicks" for every top MCAT scorer, that enables them to skyrocket their MCAT score very quickly.
There comes a moment where they just 'get it'. Our ultimate goal is to give you the key insights you need to make it 'click' for you too.
The highest score you can get on the MCAT is a 528.
In this article, we're about to show you how you can go about achieving the closest score you can possibly get to that elusive 528. We're going to show you how you can achieve your maximum MCAT score.
Achieving your maximum MCAT score isn’t a result of just studying “harder” or studying more. It’s about studying better and studying smarter.
If you’re not seeing your score progress, it’s because there's something missing from the way you're studying for the MCAT, or there's something you're doing that's holding your score back.
If you want to get your score as high as it possibly can be, you need to raise the effectiveness of your current MCAT study habits, mindset, and strategies...
If you're like most premeds, the effectiveness of your MCAT prep is probably much below 70% and with some simple tweaks and changes to your MCAT prep style, you can maximize your efficiency, and consequently, your MCAT score.
In this article, we're going to cover proven ways to maximize your MCAT prep mindset, habits, strategies, and more, so that in the next week or two, you can start seeing tremendous progress...
Is the CARS section of the MCAT turning out to be one of your biggest challenges during MCAT prep?
Do you finish reading a passage and have no idea how to move forward with identifying the right answer?
Are you struggling with timing, comprehension, and identifying the most important points in CARS passages?
Lastly, are you hoping to increase your CARS score as soon as possible?
If so, this CARS strategy article was written for you 🙂
One of the biggest failures we see in those who are studying for the MCAT, is that they don't invest time and energy into maximizing their mental and physical performance abilities during this critical phase of their lives...
A phase on which the fate of their medical future rests.
When you’re just beginning to prep for the MCAT and creating an MCAT study plan, a lot of feelings show up...
On the one hand, it’s kind of exciting to get the only remaining barrier to med-school out of the way. It’s just one exam – and you’ve written many exams before!
On the other hand, it's also kind of scary! There’s a lot riding on this one exam. It holds A LOT of power in whether or not you get called for an interview.
Plus, it’s extremely comprehensive of the sciences, with subjects like CARS and Psych/Soc thrown in there. Not to mention it’s a whopping 7 ½ hours long…
So we can understand why so many students come to us feeling stressed, worried, frustrated, confused and lacking in confidence, when it comes to preparing for the MCAT.
If you’re feeling any of these things, don’t worry, it’s normal and you’re in the right place...
By the time you’ve reached the end of this article, you'll know how to create the most optimal MCAT study plan, plus you’ll have everything you need to approach this beast of an exam from a place of calm, confidence, and clarity 🙂
Don't worry, we gotchu!