MCAT: Guide to the 100th Percentile

Hello friends!

In this issue of Open Note, I’ll be sharing my tips for the MCAT (the standardized test for medical school admissions). Before reading this post, you may want to watch my MCAT video guide, where I break down my schedule and study strategies.

The written guide below will provide additional tips & answers to common questions I’ve received.

Important: Please view these strategies as “descriptive” and not “prescriptive”—take only what is helpful & don’t worry about tips that aren’t useful in your personal context. Remember that everyone’s starting point, end goals, timeline, etc. are different, and no two study plans are the same.

Who am I?

Hi! This may be important context. I’m Caroline, a May 2022 grad from Columbia University with a dual BA in Biology & Medical Humanities.

When did I take the MCAT?

I studied for the MCAT the summer between sophomore and junior year (2020). I took the MCAT the September of my junior year and scored a 527 (100th percentile) with 132 in B/B, 132 in C/P, 132 in P/S, and 131 in CARS.

• B/B = Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

• C/P = Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems

• P/S = Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

• CARS = Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

Am I going to medical school?

Yes, I’ll be matriculating in a couple of months—excited to share more about this soon! Feel free to follow my YouTube channel, Instagram, & newsletter to be the first to know!

How I felt approaching the MCAT

Usually, the MCAT is taken in the winter/spring of your junior year if you’re planning to matriculate directly from undergrad into med school.

• If you are taking gap years, you can use the same timeline, just shifted to adjust for your plans.

I initially planned to take the exam in the winter of my junior year but was able to prepare enough to take it when junior year started.

To be honest, I didn’t start thinking about the exam until I was planning my junior year schedule & saw my friend selling her MCAT books online. These two events made me hyper-aware and slightly 😰 about the timeline going forward—i.e. How am I supposed to complete all my prereqs + study for the MCAT + continue my other activities + do well in school over the next couple of years?

If you’re feeling stressed right now…

1. DON’T WORRY. Take a deep breath (for real). Remember that you’re in control of your reactions to things: a little bit of nerves can be good, but being overly worried doesn’t change the reality.

2. When you feel like you’re in a time crunch, remember that there are 24 hours in a day. I received this advice from a mentor long ago. It’s obvious, but saying it aloud makes time seem a little more abundant. 😊

3. As a pre-med, you probably like a bit of a challenge, right? 😉 But, everyone needs support at times. The philosophy of the Stoics has helped me through challenges and I wish I found out about it earlier! Here’s a newsletter post & podcast episode I made about my favorite Stoic ideas. It’ll be worth taking a quick read/listen before going on!

Onto the study plan

Preliminary observations: I didn’t have a solid plan going in, nor did I know anyone who was studying for the MCAT at the same time. However, I did have internet access :) so I used online resources to get a feel for how others approached the test. I also did know one current med student who I asked for advice from (thank you M!).

Usually people divide their studying into three stages:

1. Content review (reviewing or learning the concepts)

2. 3rd party exams (practice exams from non-AAMC companies)

3. AAMC exams (the official practice exams from the AAMC)

I divided my studying into two stages:

1. Content review/self-studying

2. “Hard prep” (see below for description/rationale)

1. Content review/self-studying

Overview

• I spent around 1.5 months doing content review for ~6+ hours/day. I had already taken general chemistry, physics, and biology in college (so these merited less intensive review). But I hadn’t taken organic chemistry, biochemistry, psychology, or sociology, so I had to self-study these.

• The recommended courses (above) are definitely helpful, but you can self-study if you are able to dedicate the time. Please note that I studied over the COVID summer, which gave me more time.

• Before doing any content review, take a diagnostic exam (full- or half-length). Test prep companies generally provide a free initial exam that you can use to see where you are. Based on your score, set goals for yourself (e.g. 510+, 520+, or whatever makes sense for you).

Tips

• I used the Kaplan 7-book set because this was the set my friend was selling. I felt it went into sufficient detail and did use other resources when needed (described below) to solidify concepts.

• Studying what is familiar makes you feel good, but it may be more effective to prioritize the least familiar material.

• Starting is the most difficult part. Choose a topic you know you’ll enjoy more than the others. I started studying P/S first because this subject seemed the most engaging to me.

• Don’t be afraid to change it up! I tried studying organic chemistry using books only, but it was too difficult. So, I used YouTube and found AK Lectures, who makes these amazing whiteboard videos on a wide variety of science topics.

• For B/B, I handwrote all my notes and drew diagrams, filling up two entire spiral notebooks. I also wrote out the most important physics and math concepts in a notebook. This is not for everyone, but it was helpful for me to draw out the pathways when studying biochem.

• It’s often not the most helpful to do the post-chapter questions in MCAT prep books. I’ve found them to test very niche, prep company-specific topics. See “Hard prep” for my recommendations.

• I studied CARS last and used Jack Westin and Khan Academy. Third-party CARS practice isn’t the most representative, but it is good practice nonetheless. Note that Khan Academy is partnered with the AAMC (until 2026, as of the date of this publication). There are a lot of passages you can use to practice—don’t fret if you can’t get through the majority of them. Rather, use them as a way to learn new vocab and test your reading & comprehension speed.

2. "Hard prep" phase

Overview

• I define “Hard prep” as the period of most MCAT gains, consisting of practice exams + question banks. Oh, and REVIEW is critical in this stage.

• Many people separate out their 3rd party exams from the AAMC official exams (leaving the AAMC ones for last). This is a totally valid strategy. However, I preferred to sprinkle the AAMC exams in between my 3rd party exams. Since the AAMC ones are most representative, I used them as checkpoints to keep myself on track.

Tips

• The MCAT is a longggg test, and it’s important to simulate testing conditions when you take the practice tests. Put your phone away, only take breaks as indicated, etc. This way, you’ll be improving your stamina and getting used to conditions the day of.

• If you can, try waking up early and taking the test at the same time you will be taking the actual test.

• Resources: I really like the UWorld question bank, the BluePrint MCAT 6-exam bundle, the AAMC question bank + flashcards, and the AAMC official practice exams. I also used three free Kaplan exams and 1 free Princeton Review exam. If you’re short on time, focus on the AAMC materials as they come from the official source.

• If you’re interested, I provide a breakdown of my score progress and how I split up the exams in my MCAT guide video.

• Review, review, review. It took me longer to review my practice tests/question banks than to actually do them! I highly recommend that you review every question you do, even if you got it right. You can learn as much from the answer choices that aren’t correct as the ones that are! :)

Additional Tips

• Anki was great for Psych/Soc near the end of my study plan. If I could go back, I would have used Anki earlier! I didn’t create my own Anki deck because I found that the MileDown one was super comprehensive already. I tried using Anki for the science subjects, but it didn’t turn out to be that helpful (but hey, it might work for you!).

FAQs (from you guys 😄)

During the content review phase, did you study one subject a day or multiple?

• It depends! If I got in the zone, I would stick with the same subject for the day, but if I felt like I needed a break and still wanted to be productive, I would choose to switch it up (e.g. learn a new biochem pathway after spending a couple of hours on optics).

Did you finish all of the questions in the UWorld question bank? How many questions did you do per day?

• I believe I got close to finishing all the questions (very possible I did not finish the CARS questions) 😅. UWorld lets you create question “groupings” to mimic each test section, so I would do around 40 questions in one go. Usually I would do one or two of these groupings a day (and review them).

• Another tip: Don’t get hung up on your “percentage correct” in these Qbanks. If anything, it’s good to get things wrong when you’re practicing—it means you have the potential to improve! Focus on understanding, not on the score.

How did you get through the Qbanks?

• Building off of the above, I would use the auto-generated question groupings and make sure to review the questions afterwards. UWorld gives very nice diagrams and explanations for their questions (even for the answer choices that were not correct), which is super helpful. If there’s any question bank question without sufficient explanation, there is likely an explanation online you can search for!

How did you review your practice tests? Did you keep a mistake log or Anki cards?

• I started off by making a Google Sheet question log for each test. I found this did not work well for me (the user interface made it hard to search quickly). I switched to a good old document format, where I ordered questions by topic (e.g. within C/P, I’d have sections for “galvanic cells” and “periodic table”). After each test or question bank, I would add what I learned to the document until it became one large document.

• I would include explanations for questions I got right, in addition to reasonings for questions I got wrong.

• I played around with the format: Would one large document work better, or should I keep separate documents for each test? I found that one large document worked best for me because it meant I didn’t have to keep track of multiple files. One “master” document also allowed me to CTRL+F to easily find what I was looking for.

Could you provide more details for biochem studying?

• Biochem comes with a lot of memorization (of metabolite names, for example). But it also helps if you understand the changes that are happening within each biochemical step. Drawing out the pathways and using mnemonic devices helped me a lot. Also, try to think in terms of patterns (e.g. gluconeogenesis and glycolysis are basically the reverse of each other, with a few key differences).

How did you use AK lectures?

• Quick passively, tbh. 🙂 I handwrote notes from the videos and organized the lectures by topic in my notebook. You can also watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed as a review. I had to watch at 1x because it was my first time being introduced to many of the topics.

What do you think about translating lectures into Anki cards as active learning?

• That sounds like a good idea! If you have the time for it, go for it! I’ve heard that’s how many medical students like to study.

• Don’t sweat it if you try it out and it doesn’t suit you. Time is an important factor. If it takes you too long, there are also pre-made decks out there that work wonders.

I hope this guide is helpful for you as you embark on your MCAT journey! Study hard, but don’t forget to take breaks & do things that make you happy. Sending my best wishes!

🎥 Latest Uploads

Some of my most recent videos, in reverse chronological order 🙂 

That’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed this issue. As always, cheers to being inbox buddies!

❤️ Caroline

P.S. If you have any feedback/comments for me, please reply to this email or contact me on my website: carolinechen.me. I’m always happy to hear your thoughts on content, what you find useful, and what can be improved with some “re-thinking.” :D