Some Study Tips for Rocking the MCAT
52Rock the MCAT!
First, let's assume that you've already taken and passed your science classes. These tips are not a substitute for using review books or courses, but could be helpful additions.
Biology: Find a copy of Campbell/Reece Biology textbook, and start reading the book from chapter 1, but the read the DIAGRAMS, PICTURES, AND CAPTIONS ONLY. When you're done with the first half of the book and get to the kingdoms, skip ahead to the physiology chapters and do the same thing. This might take a whole weekend, but it's a great review and helps you refresh your diagram reading skills. (This is obviously in addition to memorizing a volume of material listed in any MCAT review book)
Chemistry & Physics: Get lots of practice problems (from any review book), and work through them doing all CALCULATIONS IN YOUR HEAD. This may be tough at first, but it will train you to think about calculations in a more efficient way, get better at estimating, and get you to shake off memorized techniques that you've been using as a substitute for actually understanding concepts. If you find yourself struggling to this in a section, pull out your textbook and work problems the old-fashioned way, all-the-while thinking about how you could solve them without paper (assuming more round numbers like on the MCAT). Test how comprehensively you understand major concepts by explaining them to non-scientists (explain to your parents how a battery works, using language they can follow).
Organic: This is a tough topic to cram, but one really helpful practice is labeling charges on lots of molecules; being able to quickly recognize polarity and identify nucleophiles, etc. will be a big help. I'd also make sure to get a review book (I used one by Examkrackers) for reviewing this subject since the MCAT doesn't cover lots of material from your classes (unlike in the other subjects). Make sure you go over your lab techniques sometime during your preparation!
Verbal: Find newspaper editorials in the NYT and WSJ, and try to identify all of the political (or other) biases of the writers. Compared to the regular articles, the editorials are a lot less neutral - figure how exactly what makes them so!
In case you're wondering, I scored in the 96th percentile and thought these were the most helpful tips from my experience. Good luck!!
