How To Study For The MCAT Within 3 Months and Score 510+

February 2, 2024

minute read

Top MCAT scorers know a cold truth about the MCAT that most average scorers don’t (and they use this to their advantage)...

They know that the MCAT was designed, as it’s main purpose, to identify the most viable med-school candidates; those who are most likely to succeed in med-schools.

They want to identify the outliers – those who clearly stand out from the average applicants.

So how do they ensure that only the outliers reveal themselves?

More...

They create a brutal test that no premed has ever experienced before…

They fill it with confusing, vague passages with questions that trick you, surprise you, and sway you into choosing ‘trap’ answers.

They make it 7.5 hours long – demanding almost inhuman mental and physical test-taking stamina from you.

They make you memorize and understand a substantial amount of information on massive subjects (PLUS they throw in CARS in there!).

They make you stretch your information retention and memorization abilities, but more importantly, they force you to learn how to think critically...

When they KNOW that most premeds have never really had to exercise their critical thinking abilities.

Especially with the release of the new exam, they’ve made the MCAT an even more critical-thinking based exam. Content now plays a much smaller role but they still make you know ALL the content.

Why was it created in this way? To ensure only the most viable med-school candidates, those who know how to get through this field of mines, can receive consideration for med-school.

What you probably don’t know is that if your MCAT score doesn’t hit a certain threshold, they don’t even look at the rest of your application. It's a clear-cut filtering strategy.

Every year, approximately 60% of med-school applicants get rejected. According to the most recent AAMC stats:

From 2017 to now, the average MCAT score for those who students who got accepted to med-school has risen every year. Today it's at 511.5. In 2016, it was 508.

On the other hand, the average GPA of students who get accepted to med-school is staying that same at around 3.7. Which tells you something about how important the MCAT score is.

Total Applicants

Total Matriculants

It's getting more competitive every year.

So what's the biggest factor top MCAT scorer's give credit to in order to maximize their chances of being part of the 40% of med-school acceptances?

It begins with perspective...

How To Study For the MCAT: Putting on the 510+ Scorer "Rubik's Cube" Perspective

Trying to get a "med-school worthy" score on the MCAT is like trying to solve a Rubik's cube. Have you ever tried to solve a Rubik's cube?


Just like when you're about to start studying for the MCAT, at first you’re kind of excited to try out the Rubik's cube...

But when you first try it, you soon find yourself disappointed. You see the result of your first attempt and you think about your goal, which at that point seems so far and distant that you’re not sure if it’s possible to achieve it in such a short period of time…

It gets frustrating, confusing, overwhelming. Before you know it, you want to just toss everything to the side and never think about it again. Unfortunately, unlike the Rubik's cube, the MCAT is not something you can just toss to the side.

If you want to secure your future as a doctor by getting into med-school, you MUST figure out how to solve the problem of getting that 510+ that will make you competitive. You also have to figure it out within a given time frame before your test date (most premeds have 3 months or less to study).

At some point as you're working on the Rubik's cube, you come to realize there are some people who solve it easily and quickly. They make it look super easy. These people have clearly mastered the art of solving the Rubik's cube!

You conclude that they may be some kind of genius. But if you dig a little deeper, eventually you see that they're just aware of special methods, techniques, and strategies that automatically leads to solving the Rubik's cube...

You realize that the only difference between you and these so-called 'geniuses' who solve it with ease, is that they just practiced solving it 'the right way' with the right strategies, over and over and over again, until they mastered it.

If solving the Rubik's cube determined your future and came with time pressure, you would jump to find out these special strategies to solve it properly. You'd immediately ask these masters how they solved it and what strategies they used.

Unfortunately, we know most premeds are trying to solve the Rubik's cube called the MCAT on their own. Confused about where to begin. Confused about how to make progress.

Maybe they see a little progress, but it's just not efficient progress. Day after day, they're approaching it in the wrong way. Frustrated at why they can’t hit their score goals.

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to figure something out, we miss the obvious solution... 

In this case like we mentioned, it's to simply follow in the same footsteps of those who have already achieved what we want to achieve. Those who have figured out how to solve the '510+ MCAT within 3 months' riddle with ease. Those who know the right methods and strategies and have already proved that they can make it happen.

Which is why we conduct ongoing research and hold paid interviews with 510+ (now 515+) MCAT scorers to bring you the most credible, most proven, most effective MCAT prep strategies in the world.

Throughout our research, we’ve seen premeds who have improved their MCAT scores from 507 to 521, from 500 to 521, from 50th percentiles to 90th percentiles…. And the list goes on. Sometimes they were able to do it in a matter of weeks. 18 days is the record so far. 

Sometimes it took two attempts to see the improvements. What was different the second time? They learned and used the right strategies. They figured it out and so can you.

For years we've provided premeds with top scorer strategies which have helped thousands of MCAT test-takers improve their score, who were once exactly where you are now; standing face to face with the biggest challenge of their premed careers.

Our hope is that when you use proven top scorer MCAT strategies and start seeing an improvement in your MCAT score, you'll realize that med-school isn't some distant goal...

It's closer than ever before and it's well within your reach. We created MCAT Mastery to show you how you can get to the point where you have your choice of which school's invitation you want to accept. 

By the time you constantly practice using these strategic methods, you'll easily be juggling very impressive scores with your practice exams just weeks before your actual test date...

How To Study for the MCAT: Applying the MCAT Strategies 510+ Scorers Use

Without using proper MCAT strategy, most premeds fall for all the traps and tricks because they’re not used to this type of examination.

When times get difficult during MCAT prep, top scorers remind themselves, and you must too, that you don’t have to be the smartest person in the room to get a high MCAT score, you just need to be the most strategic.

The trick is to use the best, trusted, credible strategies so you don't waste your time using ones that don't work.

For example, when you apply these top scorer strategies, you will know how to correctly analyze questions to get hints that other people miss, which can lead you to consistently finding the right answer even if you know nothing about what the question is asking (which will definitely happen).

You’re guaranteed to see sentences on the MCAT where you have no idea what the author is talking about. Question creators do this on purpose to throw you the average premed off. Top scorers on the other hand, know exactly how to handle these types of scenarios.

With the most effective MCAT prep strategies, you're also able to create the most optimized timetable and study schedule that allows you to space out MCAT prep in the smartest way which will lead to more efficiency and maximum results.

Whether you have a month left before the MCAT or whether you’re just starting out, there are always efficient steps you can take to schedule your study session.

Top scorers also have strategies to finish all sections with enough time so you're not forced to rush or make hopeful guesses. Timing is one of the most common problems for MCAT writers everywhere.

With the right strategy, you can get to the root of your timing problems and with one tweak in your approach, increase your MCAT score significantly.

You also need to apply strategies to keep yourself motivated, focused, and in high-performance mode, so you don’t lose studying momentum and forget information and/or lose precious time.

Losing any of these key factors during MCAT study could prove detrimental. With the right strategy, you'll know exactly how top scorers pace themselves and approach the MCAT to never risk losing these critical MCAT prep elements.

One of your most powerful uses of MCAT strategy will be developing the ability to gain a perfect balance between understanding the passage/questions/answer choices and finishing the passage/section on time.

This will be a direct result of knowing how top scorers apply passage-based deduction strategies. You'll understand strategies on how to take apart an MCAT passage the way AAMC (the creators of the MCAT) want you to but won’t tell you. 

There are so many right answer hints you can get from a passage that most people miss but top scorers pick up on, through simple deduction that anyone can learn. 

You'll also know you're on the right track when the strategies you use will allow you to distinguish between and remember the most important MCAT concepts and avoid unnecessary information that can cloud your mind during exam time and practice exams.

One of the best parts is that with the right MCAT strategies, you'll be able to boost your critical thinking abilities, analysis and reasoning abilities, and problem solving abilities, through taking practice tests in a strategic way (yes, there’s a strategy to applying what you know properly).

This will ensure you’re well prepared before the exam date with full confidence and no anxiety to paralyze you during the exam.

We've just listed out a FEW of the dozens and dozens of benefits of using reliable MCAT strategies. There's a lot more but the key is for you to realize that top scorers have done a lot of things right, but they’ve also done a lot of things wrong...

They learned these strategies the hard way. A lot of top scorers spent months making mistakes with their MCAT prep and figuring out the right methods and processes to scoring 510+ on the MCAT.

Truth is, most premeds spend months and never end up figuring it out.

They continue with studying the hard way. Making mistakes. Wasting time. Being forced to consider pushing test dates. Spending months trying to get scores to increase without seeing much improvement.

So now that you know what it really takes to score 510+ on the MCAT within a short period of time… You have three options:

1 - Spend the next few weeks, or even months, depending how long you have before you write the MCAT, trying to prepare for the MCAT doing what you’ve been doing so far.

Or if you haven’t started studying yet, you can start trying to figure out how to start preparing to defeat this 7.5-hour monster in the most efficient way.

Either way, you’re essentially trying to solve a Rubik's cube in record time without knowing the right process and methods – kind of ‘winging it’ and hoping for the best.

After that if you don’t reach your destination, if your score doesn’t reach your target range, it’s a lot of time wasted and a lot of emotional pain to recover from.

You might push your date further or worse, you might choose to still write the MCAT and likely get a score you’re not happy with. This is what every average premed ends up doing.

2 - You can spend time and effort absorbing MCAT prep and strategy advice from friends, forums, a prep company, and hope you’re learning the right stuff, in the right order. This usually leads to more confusion because not everyone says the same thing.

Hopefully at the end of it your score will have increased to the point where you’re scoring around your target score goal. If it doesn’t work, that’s a lot of time and energy wasted when there has always been a simple, better, faster, and more reliable way to do this…

3 - Learn the proven strategies from multiple mentors who have already written and mastered the MCAT and are now on their way to becoming doctors, so that you have a guaranteed map and blueprint to hit your maximum MCAT score that gets you into med-school.

No more wasting time.

In fact, we have a way you can get all the top scorer strategies you need to know to get your guaranteed competitive MCAT score in a step-by-step way.

To get you these strategies, we created a top scorer MCAT strategy guide.

You can literally just download this PDF and start reading it in the next few minutes.

This is the ‘guaranteed map and blueprint’ you can use to hit your maximum MCAT score that gets you into med-school.

Many premeds including Amanda and Tony have already used these proven strategies in this guide to take their scores to the competitive 510+ level…

Amanda Naylor
MCAT Score: 514


"Using the strategies in this guide, I was able to achieve my goal score and then some… This guide is perfect for MCAT test takers..."

Click image to enlarge

This guide helped me plan my studies, which was very important for me as a self-study MCAT test taker. The MCAT Mastery guide covers all areas of MCAT prep very well. Using the strategies in this guide, I was able to achieve my goal score and then some. Specifically, I used the Feynman Technique... Choosing a concept I needed to understand better, simplifying my explanation to an elementary school level, revising my explanation as difficulties arose, and utilizing analogies. This strategy is perfect for MCAT test takers and has helped me both in MCAT prep and graduate school. Thank you, MCAT Mastery, for sharing your useful guide!

Troy Dolmetsch
MCAT Score: 512


“The MCAT Mastery Guide is what I turned to when my practice exam scores stalled… my only regret is not getting the Guide sooner!” 

Click image to enlarge

The MCAT Mastery Guide is what I turned to when my practice exam scores stalled and my self-studying needed to be revamped. The strategies offered through MCAT Mastery made total sense to me, yet I had not seen these sort of tips offered in other study resources. After reading my MCAT Mastery resources I immediately restructured my mindset and my study habits, which made the difference in obtaining a desirable score on test day. The MCAT Mastery Guide is applicable for all types of students with strategies that are both easy and worthwhile to implement; my only regret is not getting the Guide sooner!

On the strategy guide download page, we have a lot more reviews of past premeds who have used this strategy guide to increase their MCAT scores and achieve their competitive 510+ scores.

Like these future doctors, you too just need to follow a simple roadmap, or an instruction manual. No more burning emotional and mental energy, and precious time, and worse, not having anything to show for it.

Remember, the MCAT is a filtering strategy. They’re looking for the outliers and comparing only the outlier applications to see who they’ll accept.

Which means unfortunately, without a competitive MCAT score, everything you’ve worked for over the years, the references, the grades, the extracurriculars, the labs, none of that matters.

A competitive MCAT score is what gets your actual application in front of admission committee's eyes.

This is the reason we are deeply committed to bringing you the wisdom of strictly those before you who managed to gain the most obvious advantage for getting into med-school…

A highly competitive MCAT score.

With their wisdom, we know for a fact that you can also get a score which will give you the best shot for getting into med-school.

510+ scorers realized there's the hard way to go about MCAT prep and then there's the easy way.

Just like they did, you probably have dozens of questions about how you can improve your score and you’ve probably been trying to figure it out all by yourself.

The easy way is where everything has already been figured out FOR you. The answers are now ready for you to just pick up and use.

Most premeds just needed someone to go fetch credible, proven, reliable solutions and bring them to you in a clear, concise manner – and we did just that...

All the top scorer MCAT prep strategies we’ve compiled from our years of research at your fingertips. The best and the only strategies you’ll ever need to dominate the MCAT this year, at your fingertips. 

It’s the easy way, packaged.

You can download the MCAT strategy guide here.

Even if you don't get the guide, at the very least be sure to sign up for our free 510+ scorer MCAT strategy email course here.

The MCAT might seem scary, but once you see behind the scenes of how to solve it, you'll find yourself smiling at how unnecessarily stressed you were...

We know you got this , 

The MedLife Mastery Team
Your MCAT Success Mentors

P.S. When things get desperate, a lot of premeds resort to spending hundreds or more on ‘tutors’, redundant prep companies, ‘strategy courses’ and ‘strategy FB groups’, all created by people who think they know what the right way to study for the MCAT is...

Usually there’s no real proof like a high MCAT score to back up their offers. Be smart with who you choose to learn from. Credibility is the most important factor because this phase of your life is literally determining your future.

side note!

Have you joined the Free 10-Day 510+ Scorer MCAT Strategy Email Course yet? We'll send you a different 510+ scorer MCAT strategy everyday for 10 days! Enrolment is free for a limited time.

See Course Schedule

Your MCAT Success Mentors

About the Author

We're a team of future doctors passionate about giving back and mentoring other future doctors! All mentors on the team are top MCAT scorers and we all are committed to seeing you succeed in achieving your physician dreams ???? To help you achieve your goal MCAT score, we take turns hosting these Live MCAT Courses and are also available for 1:1 private tutoring!

70+ MCAT Strategy Video Lessons + Notes - Free!

The Free Top Scorer MCAT Strategy Video Course

Learn from multiple 515+ scorers on how to:

  • Master MCAT content quickly and for the long-term
  • Breakdown MCAT questions and identify correct answers
  • Plan your MCAT prep schedule to ensure you stay committed
  • Take and review practice exams in the most strategic way
  • Cultivate the right MCAT success mindset
  • Know how to study as a retaker to ensure this is the last MCAT prep
  • And much more!

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