ChemFreak
Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:52:55 +0000

MCAT review books and other review materials such as old exams should be saved for a 3-6mos (6 mos being really too long) before the test. One reason for this is that you don’t want to have exhausted all the good stuff for when you really need it. And just by being in class and learning the material you are studying for the MCAT. As someone who took the MCAT just a few mos ago, I can tell you that the MCAT will not require you to relearn all you premed classes. The MCAT barely scratches the surface of what you learn in class. Review books will help you refresh the material when it is time for the test, and if you learned the material properly the first time this is more than enough. I thought the MCAT was almost a reading comprehension test.

The one thing I would actually strongly strongly suggest you do for the MCAT now is start studying for verbal. The best way to do this is as Shades suggested, start reading critically. If you read a lot already (and I don’t mean textbooks) then start reading. I think the New York Times is an excellent idea since it has a broad range of topics. Verbal passages on the MCAT are all over the place, from ones more medicinally related to anthropology to fiction.