MCAT Study Tips | How I jumped from a 505 to 520

[@LuigiGonzales]

Congrats on getting into UPenn! I recently got accepted into a medical school too and I can't wait to start! Definitely looking forward to more of your videos!

[@dotMDlive]

Big congrats on getting into medical school too! 🥳

[@Lee.Axel00]

Wow, this video is exactly what I needed! Your tips on how you jumped from a 505 to a 520 are super inspiring. Feeling more confident about my MCAT prep now. Thanks for sharing your journey and strategies!

[@tianahill4528]

I hope I can pass MCAT I Don't haves a job am 36 years old all my dreams related to MCAT,if I can choose between my life and MCAT I would choose MCAT

[@southerngabito3311]

I've always believed MCAT is not all about studying, you need God's grace to pass

[@johnsongilbert6799]

So sorry about that am still looking forward too take my MCAT exam on April just studying hard and praying to God I know I can make it.

[@Joshua-uv6vt]

MCAT exam is so difficult & I don't know the reason why it should be?

[@carislinkon3356]

I failed my MCAT exam 2 times first was 2012 second was 2018 and I lost money on review questions and also wasted a lot of time studying which never helped me .

[@stephenmc8271]

Sorry for your predicament, license is for everyone just have to work hard and believe you’ll make it.

[@shs-vg5wy]

Hey Michael I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your journey to med school and making all these amazing videos. I’ve been learning so much from your videos. Please keep posting and updating!!!

[@GoblinMixes]

Congrats brother

[@sebastianarora1969]

Keep making vids man! You’re inspiring!

[@austinchen2484]

Thank you so much for making this video! The resources are super helpful as well 😀

[@TheOneZepphyr]

Congrats on the amazing score and all your successes! Love your videos, man, keep them up thru med school, you’re a natural! Best of luck at Penn, and excited to call you my future colleague in medicine!

[@ziiamkyz]

you've become my favorite youtube channel !

[@dotMDlive]

Thanks for your support! :)

[@Happy-jg9fg]

Congrats on the jump! :)

[@chichicheng4874]

Thank you so much for the tips! Been following your videos coz I also have an interest in doing research and med school. I love the tape on your sweater!

[@justinlee1742]

Step 4. Do all this while working on an incredible research project (yes, I remember)

[@jayrollo1352]

Real talk

[@DanRaoPkMnTrNr-MEHGIKARP]

btw Khan Acedemy is retaining the MCAT prep until 2026!

[@nl5455]

Why would Khan Academy remove it by 2026?

[@ShaVaughn]

THANK YOU!

[@Backbreadker]

Thank you so much for this video! What did your daily schedule look like once you entered "Phase 2" (practice test/practice questions phase)? How did you arrange research and shadowing blocks of time with MCAT practice tests?

[@dotMDlive]

Honestly it was pretty similar! There's only two major differences I can think of. (1) On the days I was doing practice tests, I had to invert my MCAT and research blocks, meaning I did my practice test in the morning/early afternoon, would finish up research by around 8 pm, and take the evening and next day to go over my test. (2) On the days I wasn't doing practice tests, I had less "discrete" chunks of time and everything was mixed together. I would do research throughout the day and go over Anki flashcards or listen to MCAT podcasts on spotify while waiting for an incubation step or centrifuge in lab, just trying to find any free time to practice throughout the day.

[@kiyoonnam855]

Which MCAT podcasts do you recommend on spotify? Also thanks a bunch for all your videos, they're very very helpful c:

[@dotMDlive]

@@kiyoonnam855 I remember passively listening to MCAT Basics from MedSchoolCoach, although frankly I don't remember how useful they were. I was more hoping for content absorption through osmosis 😂

[@chidinma7289]

The sample test provides a score? I saw on the AAMC website that it wasn’t scored

[@dotMDlive]

Yep, thanks for pointing that it. I think my answer to your question accidentally got cut out of the video while I was editing 😅 Although it isn't scored, there are sample test score estimators (not related to or provided by the AAMC) that are available on the internet. Based on those metrics, my converted sample score was estimated to be 505.

[@brandonsaavedra2407]

Awesome vid! Do you recommend UWorld?

[@Ivy-qm5bq]

Do it! But consider the AAMC bundle first

[@dotMDlive]

I've heard it's great as a question bank, although I personally didn't use it. Would second Ivy here in the earlier comment - AAMC question packs are as close to test-likeness as you can get!

[@BrawnBrainsBeauty]

Congratulations!! Do you by chance still have the link for the Anki Decks you used?

[@dotMDlive]

Unfortunately not, but all of the ones I used were made by users on Reddit! If there's a topic you wanna study using Anki I would probably start there

[@animeluv8989]

What’s your opinion on altius materials? Effective/not?

[@levibeam100]

This was very insightful! Starting pre-med this fall and want to get a giant head start to maximize my score. Like you, I am also thinking about going the MD/PhD route. Thank you so much! I have a question though, do you know what PhD you want to get? Or are you considering a few options?

[@dotMDlive]

Great to hear you're interested in pursuing an MD-PhD! To answer your question, I was admitted to the bioengineering department for my PhD but I'm still debating between a couple of areas of research within the department. My prior research experience is primarily in synthetic biology and cellular engineering, but I'm currently thinking about transitioning to medical imaging and computational research.

[@zumanakhair1227]

Very insightful video, thanks! How did you study for CARS?

[@dotMDlive]

Honestly, I wish I had good advice for CARS... I know it's often the hardest section to improve on and I was extremely privileged to be happy with where my CARS score was during my baseline practice tests and so I didn't have to worry about it too much while studying. If it's any help, started off with an *extremely* low score during my initial critical reading practice SAT tests in high school. Some of the most useful tools I took away from that that I also used for CARS was (1) I underlined every word with a pen (or I guess using my mouse on the MCAT since it's digital) as I was reading since I have trouble following the lines and get them mixed up, (2) I used LSAT prep books to practice, and (3) I tried to actively summarize the author's main points to myself after every paragraph.

[@adrienne2838]

Do you know Ben Harrison?!

[@jawadhaque9612]

Which specific TBR books did you buy?

[@dotMDlive]

I actually got the whole 10-book set second-hand and used all of them except their CARS book I believe. I think their CARS book just had mostly practice tests iirc and they were insanely difficult imo, so I didn't get a lot of utility out of it personally

[@jawadhaque9612]

@@dotMDlive Thank you so much. Also, do you recommend the Kap Complete 7-Book Subject Review or Kap Self-Study Toolkit ?

[@dotMDlive]

@@jawadhaque9612 I actually personally used Kaplan MCAT material tbh so not sure if I'm able to comment on those particular resources. I did like Kaplan's Quick Sheets for review right before the exam if that's helpful, it's like a short PDF document that's free and available online

[@jawadhaque9612]

​@@dotMDlive Thank you so much.