Hello all,
First off, its great to see I’m not the only 30+yr old with dreams of med school.
Having completed undergrad ~11yrs ago, my science knowledge is lacking. But I plan on taking the MCAT within a year.
I’m disciplined enough to self-study, so would a strict regimen of Examkrackers + Kaplan study materials + practice tests be enough to prep me for a 30+ MCAT score? Any sound advice would be truly appreciated.
Difficult to say. What pre-med classes, if any, are you taking in preparation? Are you an intellectual powerhouse who does well on standardized tests?
You may want to consider taking a formal MCAT prep course.
Due to my work schedule, all my prep is going to have to be self-study. The last pre-med classes I took were in college, 11 years ago.
I’m hoping that working with the gold standard book, a buddys kaplan books and tons of practice tests is going to yield some positive results.
Keep in mind that some schools require recent science coursework, especially prereqs. You may want to contact schools you’re interested in to ask. If you have a job in science or some other recent experience, they may make an exception, but those are generally case-by-case.
Similarly, make sure that you truly are prepared to take the MCAT. I can appreciate that life doesn’t always give you time to just stop work/family/etc to take classes. Just know that you don’t want to mess up the MCAT, then start a step back.
Also, some info has probably changed in the last 11 years. I can’t imagine that physics has changed much, but Bio has, especially in things like Genetics. Know that you’ll be learning some new info, not just reviewing.
And good luck!
Since you haven’t taken these classes in 11 years, I would recommend using the Berkeley Review books (along with EK 101 verbal passages and AAMC official MCAT Guide) first, they are much more exhaustive and go into more adequate detail. Listen to Audio Osmosis during your workouts or on your way to work or whatever. And then use Exam Krackers as a re-review starting a few weeks before you take the test. And don’t forget to take all the AAMC practice tests. If it were me, I would stay away from Kaplan. They would not be helpful for me if I hadn’t seen the material in that long. Good luck, that’s a big task!
That’s along the lines of what I was thinking.
Start with the gold standard book, get a feel for what I need to spend time on, then move on to the Berkeley review to get the in depth info.
For someone in my position, Kaplan does seem pretty cursory
Thanks for the well wishes!
You’re absolutely right. I’m not gonna take the test without the consistent score pattern I need. On the plus side, I do have time to hopefully identify weaknesses and work on them.
Most of the schools I’m interested in said they would waive the science class currency, although some do want me to take a couple of pre-reqs before matriculation.