Summary: Episode 46: There are 4 steps to planning out your MCAT strategy: 1. take an old MCAT test first, 2. read 1-2 books and listen to MMC podcast, 3. focus on your weak areas, 4. repeat steps 1-3. “Today we’re going to be discussing a successful MCAT preparation strategy. This is in response to a Medical Mastermind Community members question about how to best put all the different resources and recommendations. Let me read the question, and then I will respond. This gentleman says “I would like to take the MCAT this summer.” This is the first … Second of January, 2014. “I’m not clear what would be a successful prep strategy for the MCAT. He looked at Master the MCAT page but didn’t see a specific plan, mapping it out. I think here he means in terms of like a calendar schedule when all those resources should be use. He said “I heard in podcast not to study from textbooks, at least not alone.” What I gather from what I’ve seen on the Medical Mastermind Community. This would be a strategy one should use. Number one: begin with a practice test to see where one is the weakest in certain areas. I do agree with that, don’t be too overwhelm by the score you get, but it is nice to have a base line so you can measure progress as you do. This practice test should be the original old MCAT test that you can get and pay for from the AAMC. Association of American Medical Colleges. Look them up, you can buy actual old MCAT test, given not too long ago and they also want too either. Use only those to really guess what your scores is going to be. Step two, using MCAT review book and Medical Mastermind Community podcast to go over subject areas themselves. Let me clarify the step. Because he actually write on his steps I think they’re very good. An MCAT review book we’ve talked about some of the most common ones are and he says later that he has the silver bullet MCAT, I recommend that. Gold standard MCAT is kind of big and bulky, and Kaplan review book as well. That’s as good as it gets, he was wondering if he should take the Princeton review self phase course, to augment the MCAT strategy. I’m not so sure, what you want to be aware of here, is taking a two mini resources. What I say here for step number two, is to pick one maybe two review books to start off with. Because you’re going to be reviewing two years worth of undergraduate premedical work or maybe a year and a half into that. That’s a lot of material to cover fast. You can quickly try to do too many resources and not be actually retaining the material. Pick one, or two review books yes that’s good. Pick anyone of them that’s fine. Personally, I’m a fan of gold standard MCAT and silver bullet MCAT. Not just because I like Brett Ferdinand a lot, Dr. Ferdinand was interviewed on this podcast a few times back in the fair beginning days. Maybe it’s time to get some updates from him. Kaplan reviews good, I did one of their $2000 courses as well, it didn’t really bring up my score though I was too embarrass to ask for my money back. I know they have a guarantee but traditionally everybody bought Brett Ferdinand. Focus too much on memorizing materials specific Science content material as we’ve talked about a lot in the past and as I teach on the Mastermind Community. Not how to think, and the MCAT is getting better, and better all the time about assessing how people think, not just what they know. They specifically want to see how you use what you know, with new information given in the passage, and how do you assimilate it and use it to either predict certain scenarios. They will put you in scenarios on the MCAT that you can’t possibly have prepared for. The reason is because they want to see how you think. Pick one or two review books. Let me clarify what MMC podcast he’s talking about here. He’s talking about the fifty Mp3 file[...]
