MCAT: 4 Habits For Improving Your Score
When it comes to exams like the MCAT everyone is looking for easy ways to make big improvements. A disclaimer though: to do well you'll need to work really freakin' hard. Period.
That's not to say that small things can't add up and make a difference. It's just that the biggest differences will come when small things become habits.
With that in mind, here are 4 things I did daily while studying for the MCAT that helped me improve my score:
ONE: The Question(s) of the Day.
You can get Kaplan's questions sent straight to your inbox. I did, and it helped me ease into my studying every morning over coffee. I also bookmarked this page which gives you a daily question for each section. You don't need more than that. Trust me.
TWO: Read a scientific paper every morning.
For me, the hardest part of the MCAT was getting through the science passages. I was constantly short on time, and I'd get questions wrong not because I didn't know the material, but because I didn't read the passages correctly. If you're having similar trouble, try reading a paper every morning... one with lots of diagrams and genes with names like Sirt4. That'll do it.
THREE: Download apps for studying on the move.
My go-to apps were the Amino Acid tutor and the Kaplan flashcard app. The Kaplan app is actually "free" when you buy these MCAT flashcards. Even though I rarely used the hard-copies the app was enough to make the purchase worth it. I used it to study for the Behavioral Sciences and Biology sections, and it was perfect for making the most of my long commutes.
FOUR: Study the difficult stuff regularly.
I created an MCAT deck on Anki and used it to review difficult content every morning. Anki has a really cool Image Occlusion card type which makes it super easy to study things like pathways and chemical structures. The hard stuff takes time to master, so review review review regularly.
You don’t have to do all of these and there will definitely be days where you don't get to any of them. That's pretty standard. The important thing is that you try and figure out which ones are really worth your time, and which ones are easiest to incorporate into your own routine. I hope this helped, and if you have anything to add leave it in a comment so that others can benefit from it too. Happy Hustlin! xx
