Welcome!

Hello Friends!


Welcome to my MCAT blog.

Yes, the name is a Katniss pun.
During the MCAT I journaled a lot and I've since turned those thoughts into blog posts. I was inspired to create this blog because many of the blogs I read gave me great advice for studying for the MCAT, so I just wanted to do the same. Another blog you should definitely check out it my friend Chloe's (http://mcatsurvivorstale.blogspot.com/).  Her blog really helped me out a lot.*Disclaimer* Everyone studies for the MCAT differently! Everyone has their own study habits and experiences. So what worked for me might not work for you. I just want to give just one perspective of many of how the MCAT went. If you have any comments always feel free to leave a comment!
They say to confidently apply you need around a 75% percentile, or a 508. So shoot for a 127 in each category.It's daunting. It's scary. But you can do it. Stay positive :)

Overview of the New MCAT

So as y'all know, the MCAT changed in April 2015.

Here is a break down of a lot of the changes in the MCAT 2015.  (Click Images for better resolution)

Content

Topics added and removed from the MCAT 2015

Number of types of questions added and removed

Scoring

The Bell Curve of the MCAT

Percentile compared to New Score Scale

 Here are some of my quick personal pros and cons:

Pros: 

• They took out A LOT of Physics which I always bombed
• They added a lot of psych/soc, which is actually really interesting and fun to learn. They did this so that potential doctors would have practice in critical analysis and more interdisciplinary topics.
• They added biochem which I love (side note please take biochem before this test or you will be so lost). 
• You get more time per question.

Cons: 

• It got almost 2x as long (7.5 hours) and added a lot of more material. 
• The test itself isn't that difficult but it's the timing and the stamina. By section 3 I always take a quick 5 minute power nap because I am so drained. 
• Not too many people took it before me so I really didn't know what to expect.
• Since it is so new, a lot of the testing companies were just guessing at what type of material appeared on the test. A lot of what Princeton Review told me ended up not being true. 
• No one knows what the "New 30" is. According to many people, 30 was score you needed on the old MCAT to confidently apply. Since so few people have taken the new one, the scores aren't that standardized yet and so no one knows what that target score is. I've heard that it's anywhere from 506 to 510, so I didn't even know what score was good enough or not! It was so stressful.

This is the best guesstimate that I found in terms of conversion:

For the composite score (total score):                             For a single section:
Old - New                                                                          Old - New

---------                                                                          ---------

03 -- 472                                                                          01 -- 118

06 -- 476                                                                          02 -- 119

09 -- 480                                                                          03 -- 120

12 -- 484                                                                          04 -- 121

15 -- 488                                                                          05 -- 122

18 -- 492                                                                         06 -- 123

21 -- 496                                                                          07 -- 124

24 -- 500                                                                          08 -- 125 * "Average"

27 -- 504                                                                          09 -- 126

30 -- 508                                                                          10 -- 127

33 -- 512                                                                          11 -- 128

36 -- 516                                                                          12 -- 129

39 -- 520                                                                          13 -- 130

42 -- 524                                                                          14 -- 131

45 -- 528                                                                          15 -- 132

Sections of the MCAT

Okay so I'm just going to break down each section of the MCAT and how I studied for each:

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems 

Relevant courses: Physics 6A, 6B, 6C. Chemistry 14A, 14B, 14C, 14D. Biochemistry 153A. LS2, LS3

This is probably the section that most resembles the old MCAT. It's nice because UCLA classes cover most of the material you see in here. For this section I mostly did all of the modules online and skimmed the book and it turned out okay. 

• Physics: 
• There are a LOT of different physics topics they could cover but only about 2-3 physics passages on the actual test. I took this as a good excuse to not focus on physics as much that as much. That being said, I hate Physics and never really wanted to study for it anyways. I pretty much bombed every physics question on the test but did very well in Chem so my score balanced out. I really do regret not practicing physics a lot more though because I definitely could have gotten a few more points from it.
• You have to know physics equations. Sorry bout it. The day before my test I sat down and wrote every equation about 3 times just to absorb it. I didn't really end up needing them on the actual test but it's good to know for your confidence's sake.
• The questions definitely focus on physics relating to physiology though. There was a lot of material about the heart as an electrical circuit, lenses in the eyes, sound waves in the ear etc. So if you want to focus on certain topics it would be those. 
• Chemistry: 
• Something to note about the new MCAT is that Biochem is everything! Even in the Chemistry section Biochem is everywhere! 
• Topics that appeared A TON were Acids and Bases and Thermodynamics. I watched a ton of Khan Academy to relearn a lot of this stuff. 
• Lavelle and Tienson are your homies. Take those classes and take good notes.
• O-Chem
• Not much to say here. There were just a couple Orgo questions on the test. Testing companies tell you to expect mechanisms and stuff but I wouldn't freak out about it.
• Probably the biggest thing to learn is types of reagents that are good for certain reactions but thats about it. If anything 14C material appears on the test moreso than 14D.

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills 

CARS section is the section that you either love or you absolutely hate. This was always either my best or my worst section. This is just like the SAT critical reading portion but way more intense. You have 130 minutes to finish 9 passages of 5-7 questions each (AKA 10 minutes per passage). 

• There really isn't anything you need to study to help your prep for this part because the sections vary anywhere from Descartes & theory of the mind to the history of Asian pottery. If anything, taking Philosophy GEs will help you out because you will have experience reading an analyzing hard concepts. Even just reading the New York Times regularly will help you out with this type of critical analysis. 
• I always took about 3-4 minutes to read the passage and 6-7 minutes to answer the questions. I would use the highlighting feature by right clicking and dragging over important ideas. Some people like to preview all the questions but it takes a lot of time trying to click from page to page so I would just read the passage first.
• It really helps identifying the question types as well. There are inference, new information, structure, main idea, weaken/strengthen questions etc. After each test I took I would go back and see what kinds of questions I got wrong, and I saw that I was really bad at the inference questions. That way I knew what kinds of questions to devote my time to.
• I tried to do a passage every night and timed myself before I went to bed. Just 10 minutes of my day. The more you do the more confidence you have coming into this section which tbh is more important than actual skill. You just can't afford to waste time second guessing yourself.
• Don't be afraid to skip around passages. SAVE THE PHILOSOPHY SECTIONS FOR LAST! Really. If you start with a hard passage and it takes a ton of time you're already losing time and it just kills your vibe and makes your confidence drop for the rest of the section. Start with the easy ones and save the hard ones for last. 
• Practice and timing is everything! On my actual test I lost a lot of points because I took too much time on a section and only had 12 minutes for my last 2 passages. I ended up guessing a lot on those two and it totally could have been avoided if I paid attention to the time. 

Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 

Relevant courses: LS2, LS3, LS4, Biochem 153A

This section may seem really difficult because they throw really complicated science journal articles at you (like binding of CPFX and BSA?!) and expect you to be able to figure out what's going on, but just keep in mind that its designed for you to be able to figure out how to answer the questions without having background knowledge of the science behind it. It's okay to feel like you're not going  to know everything because there is no way you're going to remember every single little detail. You can figure it out.

• Biochemistry:
• DO NOT EVEN THINK OF TAKING THIS SECTION WITHOUT TAKING BIOCHEM 153A FIRST. I will forever thank Heather Tienson for prepping me so hard for this section. Biochem is everything.
• Memorize the amino acids. All of them. Letters and abbreviations and structures. Memorize all the different types of enzymes. Memorize it all.
• Memorize all of the processes relating to metabolism: glycolysis, TCA, Amino Acid synthesis, gluconeogenesis, pentose phosphate pathway, ketogenesis everything. You don't have to know every single intermediate but definitely the rate determining steps is important. 
• The day before my test I sat down and practiced writing out all of the amino acids, hormones and steps in TCA cycle. It really did make me feel prepared
• Let me repeat myself: 153A is life. Don't take it too early before your MCAT or else you'll forget everything.
• Biology:


• Go over a lot of the bodily systems especially cardiovascular, renal, nervous, endocrine systems. Memorize all the hormones. I mean this stuff isn't that hard to study it just takes a long time.
• Khan academy is awesome. I would go watch videos after I read the book and it really helped me understand the body systems more. 
• Go over all of that protein synthesis DNA replication molecular biology stuff from LS3.
• LS4 really isn't all the necessary tbh except for maybe Meiosis
  
  

Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior 

You really don't need to take any psychology or sociology courses before this because this stuff isn't hard to learn at all. If anything, what helped me most were classes from my major like Society and Genetics 5 which discussed a lot of the common topics that showed up. This is my favorite section because the material is so interesting, but I know a lot of people who really didn't like it too. I always finished 40 minutes early. You don't really need to read the passage most of the time to answer the questions. 

• The online courses that Princeton provides is alright. It didn't help too much. The thing that helped me the most was sitting down with the book, getting 4 different colored highlighters and highlighting every single freaking vocabulary word. When correcting my test every question that I got wrong was because I didn't know the vocabulary word. 
• There really isn't too much material for this part. I saw some of the same questions/topics appear every single time I took a test. You do need to memorize all of the different theories and all of the different mental illnesses though, but it's fun.
• The tesing companies haven't really covered all of the material that appears in this section since it is so new. However, Khan Academy covers everything and more! I really wish I started using it earlier on to help me out in this section because there were definitely some vocab that Princeton didn't cover that showed up. 
• https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat

A Day in the Life of MCAT studying

Everyone finds their daily pattern that they are comfortable with. This was mine in the summer:

7:00 - Run/Yoga/Workout
8:00- Make Breakfast
9:00-12:00 MCAT Class
12:00-2:00 Lunch/Lag Time
2-5 Research/Internship/Student Gov Stuff/Study depending on the day
5-8 Dinner/Lag Time
8-11 Study/Hang out with friends depending on the day
12-7 Sleeeeep :)

What to do during the MCAT
1) DO Prioritize your self-care
This is #1 for a reason. If there is anything I learned during the MCAT it was how to take care of your mental health. This is so crucial because if you never make time to relax, you will be more stressed, which makes you unhappy, which makes it harder to study. Make sure you prioritize your happiness, I did this in a number of ways:

• During the MCAT I also trained for the Nike Women's Half Marathon (and I'm not good at running.. at all). That way I prioritized my own health before the MCAT every day. I ran maybe 3 times per week, did yoga 2-3 times per week (Yogaworks) and went to the gym once per week. Honestly exercising every day kept me from losing touch with myself. Even if I had a hard day, or procrastinated, or wasn't being productive, at least I did something for myself every morning #endorphins. Even if you don't like working out, just checking in with your body and mind can go a long way
• I also made sure I cooked! I would always leave breaks for cooking because it's something I love doing. Also, eating healthy def also plays into how well you do on the MCAT. When I eat junk food, its very gratifying temporarily but it always lowers my self esteem later on. Cooking with lots of vegetables and staying away from sugar made me feel better about myself and it made me less stressed out in general.
• SLEEP. Keeping a strict sleep schedule is so important. I always got 6-7 hours of sleep per night which is my optimum sleep time. I always went to bed early and got up early because my actual test started at 7:30AM, so I wanted to prepare for that. In my experience, pulling late nights for the MCAT kind of makes you more stressed out which is exactly what you dont want to do.

2) DO maintain your social life

• It's really easy to become a hermit during the MCAT studying, but sometimes you really just need to be around people to feel "normal". I always reserved maybe one or two nights per week to go out with my friends, go to a movie, or to dinner or just chill with my roommates. Just because you're studying all the time doesn't mean you have to give things up 
• I also just want to note that it *may* be difficult to hang out with your friends who are also studying for the test. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all of the people I was taking the MCAT with, many of whom are my close friends, but it's just really hard to be in an environment where the MCAT is everyone's life and its really stressful because you can't not help talking about the test! It's really nice to hang out with people who aren't studying for the same things as you. I spent a ton of time with my friend who's a polysci major and my other friend who was applying to med school. It's nice to talk to people who have already been through your process, and/or have no idea what the MCAT is.

What not to do during the MCAT

1) DON'T just do the MCAT

• Its really nice to have distractions and hobbies. If you have another thing you can do concurrently do it! Whether that be research, a job, an organization  etc because it really helps to wake up in the morning and look forward to something that isn't the MCAT. I REALLY recommend that you don't take classes at the same time as the MCAT because every minute you study for that class you will feel an intense pressure studying for the MCAT instead. Too stressful.
• On the flip side, don't do TOO much. I definitely made that mistake by doing 6 hours of research per week, 5 hours of internship, 4 hours of working for a professor and 10 hours for my student orgs every week. It really took too much time away from my studying and it caused me to fall behind in my . So really just pick 1 or 2 things to do while you're studying.

2) DON'T make studying your life

• Its about a 10-12 week time that you'll probably be studying for this test. The LAST thing you want to do is burn yourself out too early. I actually didn't study at all for the last 2 weeks before the test because I just couldn't bring myself to look at any more practice problems, and it was really bad. 
• You may hear people tell you to study for 10 hours per day, you may have people tell you that they only studied 3 hours per day. It's really down to you and how you find your balance. Personally, I studied 5-6 hours per day (including the MCAT class). A lot of times I didn't finish all of the readings or assignments, and a lot of times I deviated from the schedule provided. I just did enough work for me to feel comfortable with the materials. If I felt myself getting tired I would take a break. If I wanted to sleep early I would. I just listened to what my mind and body told me.

These are just my life habits during the MCAT. But you do you! Find your balance, find your habits, and make sure that you do what makes you happiest. 

Studying Tips

Strategy
I noted above how to study for the different sections, but throughout all of the subjects I had a similar pattern. This is the general pattern for my study techniques:

• First I would go through the books and make notes. I would summarize each of the books into a packet of 10-15 pieces of blank paper. That way, when I needed to look up something it was much more efficient to not go back to the books.
• After I finished a topic, I would do passages on that subject. I used the Princeton Online materials, but you can also use exam krackers, Khan Academy, the Princeton Science workbook etc. 
• After that, I would look to see which subjects I was still struggling with, and then I would go to Khan Academy to watch videos on it and do their practice problems. 

This would be my routine each day, amounting to an average of 6 hours a day of studying. 

Resources/Services
(Click on the headings for the links to the websites)

• 1) Princeton Review
  So there are many testing services that you can use, the big ones including Princeton, Berkeley and Kaplan. I've heard pros and cons for all of them, but I really can't speak for Berk and Kap since I didn't use the materials.
  Overall I really liked Princeton Review! I chose it because most of my friends were using it and overall I heard some really great things! The package I got included 10 weeks of in-person teaching (3 hours/day 4 days/week), the MCAT books and the online modules/tests. The in-person teaching was okay overall. I felt like I needed it because I'm the type of person who goes to class everyday, but I'd say you could definitely go without it. I had some really great instructors who taught me a lot about test taking strategies, but then I had some really bad instructors too. For the modules, they tell you to do one everyday but I maybe completed about half of them just because it was a lot. The practice tests were really great as well; I ended up taking about 7 of them and they were pretty representative of what the test is like! This is wayyyyyy more materials than you will ever need but its good to have too much than too little. 
• 2) Khan Academy
  AWESOME! USE THIS RESOURCE! Khan Academy is an online tutoring website and its FREE! Most of us have used it at one point or another, but they developed a ton of new material specifically for the new MCAT. The collection contains more than 1000 videos and 2800 practice questions and you can watch all of these videos and do practice passages. All content in this collection has been created under the direction of the Khan Academy and has been reviewed under the direction of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges). It was most helpful for the Psych and Soc section because Princeton missed a few topics here and there. Also, whenever I needed to review a topic really quickly but didn't want to page through all of my giant MCAT books, I could just watch a quick video, do some practice questions, then move on with my life.
• 3) AAMC
  This is the official MCAT website where you're going to end up viewing your score, so AAMC materials will be the most representative of what you will see on the real test. This is especially helpful if you're self studying because they have all of these little question packs that you can buy to practice for $15. I also REALLY recommend everybody to buy the two practice tests that AAMC has released for $25 and $35. The AAMC practice test I took was most like my real MCAT, and it was a little different from the Princeton ones. If it's too expensive to buy you can definitely share these resources with your friends and split the price. 
• 4) Pomodoro Technique
  Studying for the MCAT for 3 months can get really tedious and it's hard to stay productive. Therefore I utilized the Pomodoro Technique, a method that this guy developed to be the most efficient worker possible. It consists of:
• 25 Minutes of Working (without any distractions)
• 5 Minute Break
• 25 Minutes of Working
• 10 Minute Break
• And then repeat this another time
  This is really effective because it gives you a tangible time to stop working and it give you structured time to be distracted. Traditionally, after 4 pomodoros (or working periods) you stop for a 30 minute break. For me, I like working in blocks of 3-4 hours before taking a break, so having these 30 minute working periods worked great for me.
• 5) Stay Focusd
  This is a fantastic tool to use if you get distracted by Youtube and Wikipedia a lot like me. StayFocusd is a plugin you can use to block your facebook page for an alotted amount of time when you study. It's just a good way to stay on track.

Places at UCLA to Study
My friend Chloe who's MCAT blog I used to read told me that studying in the same place is not beneficial because it causes you to get too comfortable in your studying location, so its good ot change environments. Below is a list of some of my favorite places to study around Westwood:

On Campus:

• Kerckhoff Coffee House
• Pros: Kerckhoff is my spot. I love the warmth, and the bustling activity, and the comfort of the coffee and other students around me. 
• Cons: Its really loud and busy, so if you don't like that maybe it's not the best place for you.
• Powell Library
• Pros: Not many. I hate Powell so much. The only reason I went was to go to the CLICC lab to take my practice tests. 
• Cons: Everything. You can smell the stress in the air. But this is just my opinion. 
• Biomed Library
• Pros: A much better library. I took a lot of my practice tests here. 
• Cons: It's not the prettiest place, but it's open late and has a lot of space. 
• Anderson Library
• Pros: Probably my favorite library at UCLA. Lots of light and table space.
• Cons: It's a little far from the apartments. 
• Law Library
• Pros: It's a super nice library. Really quiet and filled with all of these hard working grad students
• Cons: No food allowed. You have to sign in. Sometimes they don't let undergrads in.
• The Hill
• Pros: If you can find someone to swipe you you're set. Theres tons of spots like covel, the landing study room etc.
• Cons: Not sure what the summer hours are of if its crowded over summer

Off Campus:

• Coffee Bean (5AM-11PM)
• Pros: The two in Westwood are my go tos. Even if the wifi isn't working, you can always get onto the Med Guest Wifi.
• Cons: Sometimes too crowded
• Koala Tea (12PM-12PM)
• Pros: Wifi is aight. It's a comfortable place to study. 
• Cons: They kick you out if its during peak eating hours and you're not eating anything
• Starbucks (4AM-2AM)
• Pros: So many Starbs to chose from! The one on Weyburn just got good wifi and is almost 24 hours. Free coffee refills with a gold card (basic) ;)
• Cons: Dark, cold, always crowded.
• Expresso Profeta (7AM-7PM)
• Pros: Coffee is SO good! Good Wifi
• Cons: No outlets at all, but great for reading books. 
• Denny's (24 Hours)
• Pros: Yo it's 24 hours. Outlets. Also the food at Dennys is always comfy. Also Palominos is across the street so you can go get a drink after you're done studying haha.
• Cons: A bit far if you live in North Village
• Elysee Cafe (6AM-11PM)
• Pros: Yummy foods and good coffee. Decent wifi. 
• Cons: Food is a little pricey
• Hammer Museum (11AM-5/8PM)
• Pros: The Spinny Chairs are SO Stress relieving. It feels like you get out of WW without leaving. Cute little cafe to study at with $3 French press and good food. Good Wifi!
• Cons: They close early, and the study space is part indoors, part outdoors which some people don't like. 
• Literati Cafe (7AM-11PM)
• Pros: Such a great little spot to study! I used to go here at least 2 times per week. Comfy, food, coffee, outlets all you need in life. 
• Cons: Really noisy and crowded sometimes. Sometimes the wifi doesn't work. Need a car to get there. Food is overpriced. But I still love this place.
• 8Expressos (6AM-11PM)
• Pros: Love this spot as well! It's really cute and great to study at. Lots of comfy chairs and outlets. Pretty quiet and filled with studying people.
• Cons: The coffee isn't that great. It always takes me a few trys to get on to the wifi. You also need a car to go here

50 Shades of MCAT Music

This is a really Misc post, but I actually wrote this about a month before I took the MCAT and just wanted to share it:

So a lot of people make a playlist for the MCAT. There’s some research that shows that listening to certain music before your practice test can enhance your performance on the real thing apparently. But the MCAT is not just one emotion or song. Here are just a few of the different moods and songs I’ve accumulated throughout this process.

1) Hello World, I’m ready! (happiness) 

Originally posted by justarounddbend

You know that scene in 500 days of summer when JGL walks out the door in the morning and its fucking fantastic, and theres dancers and fountains and the UCLA marching band in the background. Yeah. Thats the kind of vibe I need to get out of bed to study sometimes. Something light to make the day a bit more bright.

• You Make my Dreams- Daryl Hall and John Oates
• Mr. Brightside - Killers
• Beautiful Day- U2
• Love on Top- Beyonce
• The Tide is High- Atomic Kitten
• Quesadilla- Walk the Moon
• Someone New- Hozier
• Mircale Mile- Cold War Kids
• Feel Again- One Republic
• Let’s Go- Matt and Kim
• All Star- Smash Mouth

2) I’m Flawless (confidence)

Originally posted by beyoncw

Some days youre walking to the library to do a practice test and you just think “Damn lemme kill this rn”. So you throw on your headphones and call up yo girls Nicki and Bey. Female empowerment FTW. 

• Run the World- Beyonce
• Flawless- Beyonce
• Hollaback Girl- Gwen Stefani
• Maneater- Nelly Furtado
• Bitch I’m Madonna- Madonna
• Feeling Myself- Nicki Minaj and Beyonce
• Work- Iggy

3) What Doesn’t Kill you Makes you Stronger (motivation)

Originally posted by kelly-clarkson

Those everyday moments when you don’t think you can do it and you think you’ve spent 2 months studying for nothing. Maybe you just need someone to tell you that YOU CAN DO IT. That person is Kelly my friends.

• Fight Song- Rachel Platten
• Invincible- Kelly Clarkson
• Brave- Sara Bareilles
• So What- P!nk
• What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger- Kelly Clarkson
• I’ll Make a Man Out of You- Mulan

4) The Infinite Variations of Fuck You

Originally posted by katiethelatey

So many expressions of frustration of anger. So many songs that we can listen to when we’re running out our frustrations, or lying on the floor in our living room perseverating about life. Sometimes it just feels good to emulate Kayne. Screw it all. 

• Stronger- Kanye
• Fuck You- Lily Allen
• Fuck You- Cee Lo Green
• Started from the Bottom- Drake
• Remember the Name- Fort Minor
• Bitch Better Have My Money- Rihanna
• POWER- Kayne
• Lose Yourself- Eminem
• 0 to 100- Drake
• Literally anything by Tyler the Creator, or Kanye, or Drake or Eminem etc

5) Breatheee you got this (calming)

Originally posted by tamtamanjavidze

The best advice someone has given me so far is to not freak out. If you freak out and care about it so much you’re not going to do as well. In the long run it doesn’t matter. You can take it again. Maybe it’ll leave to better paths you might not have considered. In the end it’s just a test. Life will go on regardless. You will be a doctor someday. Benedict Cumberbatch says so.

• 1957-Milo Greene
• Pumpin Blood- NONONO
• Cecelia and the Satellite- Andrew McMahone
• What’s Up- 4 Non Blondes
• Always Life This- Bombay Bicycle Club
• Eat- Zion T
• Take It Easy- Eagles
• Quelqu'un m'a dit- Carla Bruni
• Like Real People Do- Hozier
• Anything by Chopin <3

The Best Advice I received about the MCAT

1. Don't freak out. The more you want it, the more elusive it is. You think that if you don't score well it'll be the end of the world. But this is what a Med Student at Michigan Ann Arbor told me: 
   "I took the MCAT when I was your age, I studied so hard and stressed out so much and didn't do well. So instead I got a Public Health degree. During that time realized I still really wanted to pursue medicine, so I retook the MCAT, did much better and applied. I got into Med School 2 years after graduating college, but I wanted more than that. So I deferred for a year and taught English in Spain and it was the best year of my life"I clung to this story during my time studying, because it convinced me that no matter the outcome life will lead me to great happy things. Even if I don't get into medicine right away there is a world of opportunity out there.
   
2. Don't study too hard. This is a biggggg one. When you're studying for something for 6-8 hours per day for 3 months of course you're going to burn out. I actually barely studied at all my last 2 weeks because I couldn't handle it anymore. Pace yourself. You don't have to pull all-nighters and you don't need to know ever detail. Self-care and breaks are essential. Pick a day here and there to do absolutely nothing. It's so refreshing.

   

   Never underestimate the importance of self care 

   
   
3. If you want to be a doctor, you will be a doctor.  A pediatrician at RRMC told me that once. She said as long as you really want it, you can do it. There may be obstacles along the way, you may have to take the scenic route to get there. But eventually you will achieve your dream, and you will look back at this moment as if it were just a small hiccup in the road.

   

   Corny I know.. 

Practice Tests

Princeton provides a bunch of practice tests for you online. AAMC now offers two, and I would take those closer to your test date because those are most like the real MCAT. In all I took 8 tests, but personally I feel like I would have been fine with 6. Practice tests are 7.5 hours long and exhausting and you definitely don't want to burn yourself out.

• You don't have to follow the Princeton recommended practice test schedule. Theres really no point in taking a practice test 2 weeks into studying because you're just going to get a bad score. Start taking them when you feel comfortable, space it out, create your own schedule for taking tests.
• I scheduled it to take my first test halfway through my course. After that I took about 1 per week, and then after my course ended I took 2 per week, so about 8 tests total. Definitely don't take more than 2 tests per week because you need 2 days to review the test and any material you needed to cover again. I definitely would wait to start taking tests because you need to have the basic background studying done first before you really get a representative score. 
• 
  

  MCAT Test	Date Taken	Score
  Princeton Course Test 1	7/19/2015	506
  Princeton Course Test 2	7/30/2015	500
  Princeton Course Test 3	8/1/2015	N/A
  Princeton Course Test 4	8/8/2015	507
  Princeton Course Test 5	8/14/2015	507
  MCAT Complete Test 1	8/17/2015	506
  MCAT Complete Test 2	8/21/2015	508
  MCAT Complete Test 3	8/24/2015	505
  AAMC Practice Test	8/29/2015	~506

• So these were my practice tests and the days I took them. My score never really went up in practice, it just naturally fluctuated up and down. For test 2, I really didn't try that hard and that was a BIG mistake. Because then for test 3, I was so anxious that I got 1 hour through the test and had to leave the library because I thought I was going to start hyperventilating. After that, I got my stuff back together and kept getting the same score. Something to note is that at least last year, Princeton graded you really HARD. For myself and some other people who took the test with me, they got their highest score if not higher on the real thing. I was concerned with my practice scores, but my score jumped up a ton on the real thing. So don't be super discouraged with the practice scores you get. 

• Take the tests as if you were taking the real thing! That means waking up early, packing lunch the night before, taking it on a desktop computer, getting to Powell or wherever as soon as it opens, and taking the test seriously. The second test I took I really didn't try hard at all and got a way lower score. Even though I knew this wasn't representative of my abilities, it still messed with my psyche and lowered my self esteem SO MUCH. Because of that I lost so much confidence in myself and it impacted my following scores. Take it seriously.
• The MOST important part of practice tests are corrections. I would spend the 2 days following the tests going back through ALL the problems and putting them on a google doc along with what I needed to improve in. Its really important to go through even the questions you got right because a lot of times you just guess. Below I posted a sample of my correction sheet and how I formatted it.
• 

Crisis Day

Crisis Days do happen.

I just want to let you know and prepare you for it in case it happens, because there were just some days that I was 100% sure I couldn't do it, that I didn't think I was smart, or hardworking or prepared enough for this test. 

There was one particular day when I went to take me 3rd practice test, and I just could not do it. I sat down in Powell (bad idea to take a test in a place you hate) and 1 hour in I just couldn't concentrate. I just couldn't keep going. I felt like the walls were closing in on me, so I left. And I sat outside on the grass and cried because I didn't know why I couldn't do it. Luckily I had some amazing friends nearby who came to get me, who told me to take the day off and start fresh the next day. They told me to just not do anything MCAT related, so I went to the store, bought a book, went to Santa Monica and read by myself at the beach, called 2 of my friends were are MCAT veterans and asked for their advice and I was able to calm down a lot and regain my confidence. And then the the next time I came back a lot stronger than I was before. So moral of the story, don't take a practice test when you're really not feeling it. Don't force yourself. It's okay to feel scared and incapable, and it's okay to take days off completely. In the end keeping your confidence and self-esteem up is key to this studying process, and there will be ups and downs. But in the end everything works out for a reason. <3 You got this.

See next page for more posts!