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I'm updating a post from three years ago that hopefully will be helpful today. I used a spin-off of the 100-Day SDN schedule when I self-studied and was very pleased with the results (except for CARS, but that was all my fault). The SDN book suggestions are similarto mine, but I diverge in two areas, CARS and P/S. TBR is literally the worst in those two sections. Do not waste money on those books.
I've been asked about my study plan a few times, so I'm putting it into a post. I put a good amount of prep time into making my study plan before I started my hardcore review and I recommend this to everyone. Take a few days before you dive into your studies to get your plan set and your material organized. Start by looking at the AAMC guide to the MCAT to get an idea of what the test is like.
Background One size does not fit all, so I want to describe my situation and why this plan was a perfect fit for me. I studied for the MCAT during the summer following my sophomore year. I wanted to give all my attention to the MCAT, because I'm not good at dividing my time between major tasks, so summer was my best option. I had 97 days from my last final until my MCAT. According to my advisor's formula (based on SAT, ACT, and grades in selected classes) I was supposed to get a 504. This stressed me out and I don't recommend getting a predicted score, but it motivated me to make a plan and stick to it. I ended up getting 516. If I can do it, then anyone can do it. If you are a 3.9 or higher, it probably doesn't matter what you choose for preparing. For people like me (slightly below average GPA and lacking self-confidence) this plan is meant to build your foundation, improve your test-taking skills and help you overcome your test anxieties.
Materials Many study plans at SDN get questions about substituting other materials. Try to use this plan as it is, maybe substituting something if it fits your learning style better. I spent many hours looking at Reddit and SDN posts and tabulating scores of how people did with various materials, good and bad. I eliminated materials that were common amongst low scorers (people below 500). I looked for people in a similar situation to me and in the end came up with a list of materials that happened to be similar to Nymeria's SDN 100-day plan, KoalaT's plan, and Zendabi's plan. Since that time, Kaplan has become popular for reviewing, so that can substitute as needed for reviewing. I've made some modifications here, but admittedly am basing the bulk of what I recommend on my experience four years ago.
It is important to use the right materials at the RIGHT TIME. Some materials are excellent for building your knowledge and fundamentals while other materials are best suited for training and practice to master test skills. If you use this plan, do them in the order listed. A perfect example is UWorld, which is most useful in the second half of your studies. It can be extremely frustrating if you're not ready in terms of content, which wastes some good materials.
* EK or NS books (new is best) for biology review supplemented by AK videos
* Kaplan biochemistry book
* TBR chemistry books and organic books (other books are fine for review, but you'll need passages)
* EK or TPR Physics books (other books work well too)
* The Princeton Review (TPR) psychology/sociology book
* MCATKing's 300-page KA summary (the 86-page version with no diagrams can be used, but the 300 version is better)
* Next Step CARS book (*I didn't use this first time and discovered it on my second try--buy it new with no markings)
* The Princeton Review (TPR) CARS book (buy it new with no markings)
* KA P/S videos (and some B/B videos as needed)
* UWorld for P/S, CARS, and B/B but do not use for C/P)
* Jack Westin for CARS
* AAMC Question packs
* AAMC Section banks
* AAMC FLs 1-5 and unscored
* Three additional FLs
This combination is designed to train you up in steps and get you to pique going into the exam. For the first stage of your review, DO NOT WORRY about scores. You are doing passages and question to learn and review, not to gauge your preparedness. For the books, it is important to use clean materials, because you do not want to be influenced by anyone else's highlighting or answers. This is EXTREMELY important for building self-confidence at the start of your studies. Digital or paper books are fine, especially in later stages of your review.
The Stages Rather than put out a weekly schedule, I've opted to make to-do lists arranged into four sequential stages of preparation. Stage 1 is about review and possibly relearning content and foundation information. This is best done through slow and methodical review followed by basic content-heavy questions. Stage 2 is about quick recall and application, where passages are always timed. Stage 3 is about MCAT simulation through mixing different subjects and developing skills to quickly recognize what questions are asking. This is where you introduce AAMC materials. Stage 4 is about putting it all together during FLs and getting into the right state of mind for your exam.
Stage 1: Meant to build your knowledge base into a useful pool of information. You should keep notebooks for each topic as needed. I found my iPad to be the perfect tool for this. Writing things out on paper is fine too. Taking notes and then quizzing yourself immediately after making the note is critical at this stage. I kept a separate list of shortcut equations and mnemonics. This is where starting an Anki deck can help. This proved very helpful to review right before starting FLs and in the parking lot before my actual MCAT.
How much time you spend on Stage 1 will depend on how well you know your material. I took approximately five weeks on this stage. I'm not good at making schedules or micromanaging my life, so I choose to put a massive list of all the things that fit into each stage. If you prefer to turn it into a daily planner, that works for many people.
Try to do one-and-a-half-hour study blocks of uninterrupted review with your phone out of reach. Take a half hour break between each power block review. Depending on your allotted study time each day of the week, try to do at least two blocks but no more than five blocks in one day.
Complete the following:
* Kaplan biochemistry review (only review, no passages or questions) (3 blocks needed)
* EK Biology books or NS Biology books (10 blocks needed)
* EK 1001 Questions or NS passages (6 blocks needed)
* Any General Chemistry review (12 blocks needed)
* TBR General Chemistry Phase 1 homework sets or 300 EK questions (12 blocks needed)
* Any Organic Chemistry review (8 blocks needed)
* TBR Organic Chemistry Phase 1 homework sets or 300 EK questions (8 blocks needed)
* Any Physics review (10 blocks needed)
* 400 EK physics questions (10 blocks needed)
* TPR Psych/Sociology book in its entirety (8 blocks needed)
* Next Step CARS (first 72 passages, split into 18 sets of 4) (18 blocks needed)
This requires 105 study blocks. Depending on the person and available time, expect this to take four to five weeks if you average three and a half to four study blocks per day. The important thing here is quality time over quantity of time.
Stage 2: Meant to emphasize timing and dealing with the stress that comes with it. You should mark when time is up following each passage and see where you are wasting time and where you are being careless by going too fast. I found that as I got tired later in the day, I would actually go faster because I was getting lazy. It helped to discover this early, so I had time to build stamina and focus. This stage is all about sticking to exact time limits. I used the timing listed in each individual book for their questions and 3 minutes/passage plus 1 minute/question for KA passages.
The study blocks for this stage vary with the materials you are using, so not all fit into one and a half hours. Try to alternate longer blocks with shorter blocks. Avoid the temptation to do two of the same topics in a row. I cycled from 1) gen chem to 2) CARS to 3) biology to 4) P/S to 5) physics to 6) CARS to 7) biochem to 8) P/S to 9) organic to 10) CARS to 11) P/S. I then repeated the cycle over and over until I exhausted all of my passages. Like with stage 1, it must be uninterrupted testing and review. Take a half hour break between each power block review. If you can, use one of the breaks for exercise.
Complete the following:
* EK 1001 Questions or NS passages (whatever you didn't do in Stage 1) (6 blocks needed)
* TBR General Chemistry Phase 2 homework sets or 300 EK questions (12 blocks needed)
* TBR Organic Chemistry Phase 2 or 300 EK questions homework sets (8 blocks needed)
* 400 EK physics questions (10 blocks needed)
* KA P/S passages sets of 5 broken into odds/evens (such as 1,3,5,7,9 and then 2,4,6,8,10, etc...) (22 blocks needed)
* Next Step CARS (remaining passages, split into 6 sets of 5) (6 blocks needed)
* TPR CARS (all passages, split into 16 sets of 6) (16 blocks needed)
* AAMC Question packs (as you wish--these are designed to show you that speed on free standing questions varies)
* UWorld or JW CARS passages
This requires 84 study blocks. Review after completion of a given block is essential, but make sure you focus on where you went too slow, where you went too fast, and where you lost focus.
Stage 3: Meant to focus on getting ready for FLs and mastering your testing approach. This requires realistic passages, which can be hard to come by. The most realistic passages you'll find are AAMC section banks, but there are so few of them and their explanations quite frankly suck. The next best questions at this juncture in your studies are UWorld questions, which will push you.
You should try to do the different sections at approximately the same time of day you'll be taking the corresponding section of the MCAT. Group your passages as close to 90-minute blocks as possible, which usually won't work out.
Complete the following:
* Any Biology Passages from EK, NS, or UWorld you haven't done. (6 to 8 blocks needed)
* UWorld C/P questions (just a few to stay fresh) (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank B/B (break into two sets of 50 questions) (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank C/P (break into two sets of 50 questions) (2 blocks needed)
* UWorld P/S passage sets of about 59 questions (6 blocks needed)
* UWorld CARS passage sets of about 53 questions (7 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank CARS sets of 50 questions (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC Unscored Practice Exam (All Day)
This requires 27 to 29 study blocks plus one full day. Review is critical here. You want to spend two hours reviewing for every hour of practicing. You need to hone your strategies and fill any knowledge gaps that may still exist.
Stage 4: This is what you've been building towards your entire time. You must become a test-taking robot with logical mental reflexes when you see any question. You should try to space FLs at least three days apart, if possible, although this proved to be impossible for me. The two days between FLs should be dedicated to a day of thorough postgame analysis of every question and another day of fine-tuning. I found EK books and AK videos to be very helpful during that third day. EK questions are excellent for rapid-fire review and AK videos are thorough. EK explanations are iffy, but at this point it doesn't matter. You will know the material well and don't need them for learning.
You should do four commercial exams and four AAMC exams during your last month. I chose to mix and match sections from three different sources. I did this at the suggestion of my big sib, and it was genius. It kept me on my toes and prevented me from getting conditioned to one style of writing. I then used the CARS sections from the exams I hadn't taken for additional review. I used three different sources for FLs and did one section from each source and then randomly chose the source for P/S. No one company seemed better than the next. Any parts of exams you don't use during FLs can be used for Stage 3 practice.
Complete the following:
* Commercial Exam 1
* Commercial Exam 2
* Commercial Exam 3
* AAMC FL 1
* AAMC FL 2
* AAMC FL 3
* AAMC FL 4
* AAMC FL 5
I saved the AAMC exams for the end. You will notice a change in the wording of the questions as you jump from one source to another. This is important, because although AAMC exams are the best resource, they are not exactly like what you will see on your actual exam. Getting used to abrupt changes in style helps prepare you for test day.
I've been asked about my study plan a few times, so I'm putting it into a post. I put a good amount of prep time into making my study plan before I started my hardcore review and I recommend this to everyone. Take a few days before you dive into your studies to get your plan set and your material organized. Start by looking at the AAMC guide to the MCAT to get an idea of what the test is like.
Background One size does not fit all, so I want to describe my situation and why this plan was a perfect fit for me. I studied for the MCAT during the summer following my sophomore year. I wanted to give all my attention to the MCAT, because I'm not good at dividing my time between major tasks, so summer was my best option. I had 97 days from my last final until my MCAT. According to my advisor's formula (based on SAT, ACT, and grades in selected classes) I was supposed to get a 504. This stressed me out and I don't recommend getting a predicted score, but it motivated me to make a plan and stick to it. I ended up getting 516. If I can do it, then anyone can do it. If you are a 3.9 or higher, it probably doesn't matter what you choose for preparing. For people like me (slightly below average GPA and lacking self-confidence) this plan is meant to build your foundation, improve your test-taking skills and help you overcome your test anxieties.
Materials Many study plans at SDN get questions about substituting other materials. Try to use this plan as it is, maybe substituting something if it fits your learning style better. I spent many hours looking at Reddit and SDN posts and tabulating scores of how people did with various materials, good and bad. I eliminated materials that were common amongst low scorers (people below 500). I looked for people in a similar situation to me and in the end came up with a list of materials that happened to be similar to Nymeria's SDN 100-day plan, KoalaT's plan, and Zendabi's plan. Since that time, Kaplan has become popular for reviewing, so that can substitute as needed for reviewing. I've made some modifications here, but admittedly am basing the bulk of what I recommend on my experience four years ago.
It is important to use the right materials at the RIGHT TIME. Some materials are excellent for building your knowledge and fundamentals while other materials are best suited for training and practice to master test skills. If you use this plan, do them in the order listed. A perfect example is UWorld, which is most useful in the second half of your studies. It can be extremely frustrating if you're not ready in terms of content, which wastes some good materials.
* EK or NS books (new is best) for biology review supplemented by AK videos
* Kaplan biochemistry book
* TBR chemistry books and organic books (other books are fine for review, but you'll need passages)
* EK or TPR Physics books (other books work well too)
* The Princeton Review (TPR) psychology/sociology book
* MCATKing's 300-page KA summary (the 86-page version with no diagrams can be used, but the 300 version is better)
* Next Step CARS book (*I didn't use this first time and discovered it on my second try--buy it new with no markings)
* The Princeton Review (TPR) CARS book (buy it new with no markings)
* KA P/S videos (and some B/B videos as needed)
* UWorld for P/S, CARS, and B/B but do not use for C/P)
* Jack Westin for CARS
* AAMC Question packs
* AAMC Section banks
* AAMC FLs 1-5 and unscored
* Three additional FLs
This combination is designed to train you up in steps and get you to pique going into the exam. For the first stage of your review, DO NOT WORRY about scores. You are doing passages and question to learn and review, not to gauge your preparedness. For the books, it is important to use clean materials, because you do not want to be influenced by anyone else's highlighting or answers. This is EXTREMELY important for building self-confidence at the start of your studies. Digital or paper books are fine, especially in later stages of your review.
The Stages Rather than put out a weekly schedule, I've opted to make to-do lists arranged into four sequential stages of preparation. Stage 1 is about review and possibly relearning content and foundation information. This is best done through slow and methodical review followed by basic content-heavy questions. Stage 2 is about quick recall and application, where passages are always timed. Stage 3 is about MCAT simulation through mixing different subjects and developing skills to quickly recognize what questions are asking. This is where you introduce AAMC materials. Stage 4 is about putting it all together during FLs and getting into the right state of mind for your exam.
Stage 1: Meant to build your knowledge base into a useful pool of information. You should keep notebooks for each topic as needed. I found my iPad to be the perfect tool for this. Writing things out on paper is fine too. Taking notes and then quizzing yourself immediately after making the note is critical at this stage. I kept a separate list of shortcut equations and mnemonics. This is where starting an Anki deck can help. This proved very helpful to review right before starting FLs and in the parking lot before my actual MCAT.
How much time you spend on Stage 1 will depend on how well you know your material. I took approximately five weeks on this stage. I'm not good at making schedules or micromanaging my life, so I choose to put a massive list of all the things that fit into each stage. If you prefer to turn it into a daily planner, that works for many people.
Try to do one-and-a-half-hour study blocks of uninterrupted review with your phone out of reach. Take a half hour break between each power block review. Depending on your allotted study time each day of the week, try to do at least two blocks but no more than five blocks in one day.
Complete the following:
* Kaplan biochemistry review (only review, no passages or questions) (3 blocks needed)
* EK Biology books or NS Biology books (10 blocks needed)
* EK 1001 Questions or NS passages (6 blocks needed)
* Any General Chemistry review (12 blocks needed)
* TBR General Chemistry Phase 1 homework sets or 300 EK questions (12 blocks needed)
* Any Organic Chemistry review (8 blocks needed)
* TBR Organic Chemistry Phase 1 homework sets or 300 EK questions (8 blocks needed)
* Any Physics review (10 blocks needed)
* 400 EK physics questions (10 blocks needed)
* TPR Psych/Sociology book in its entirety (8 blocks needed)
* Next Step CARS (first 72 passages, split into 18 sets of 4) (18 blocks needed)
This requires 105 study blocks. Depending on the person and available time, expect this to take four to five weeks if you average three and a half to four study blocks per day. The important thing here is quality time over quantity of time.
Stage 2: Meant to emphasize timing and dealing with the stress that comes with it. You should mark when time is up following each passage and see where you are wasting time and where you are being careless by going too fast. I found that as I got tired later in the day, I would actually go faster because I was getting lazy. It helped to discover this early, so I had time to build stamina and focus. This stage is all about sticking to exact time limits. I used the timing listed in each individual book for their questions and 3 minutes/passage plus 1 minute/question for KA passages.
The study blocks for this stage vary with the materials you are using, so not all fit into one and a half hours. Try to alternate longer blocks with shorter blocks. Avoid the temptation to do two of the same topics in a row. I cycled from 1) gen chem to 2) CARS to 3) biology to 4) P/S to 5) physics to 6) CARS to 7) biochem to 8) P/S to 9) organic to 10) CARS to 11) P/S. I then repeated the cycle over and over until I exhausted all of my passages. Like with stage 1, it must be uninterrupted testing and review. Take a half hour break between each power block review. If you can, use one of the breaks for exercise.
Complete the following:
* EK 1001 Questions or NS passages (whatever you didn't do in Stage 1) (6 blocks needed)
* TBR General Chemistry Phase 2 homework sets or 300 EK questions (12 blocks needed)
* TBR Organic Chemistry Phase 2 or 300 EK questions homework sets (8 blocks needed)
* 400 EK physics questions (10 blocks needed)
* KA P/S passages sets of 5 broken into odds/evens (such as 1,3,5,7,9 and then 2,4,6,8,10, etc...) (22 blocks needed)
* Next Step CARS (remaining passages, split into 6 sets of 5) (6 blocks needed)
* TPR CARS (all passages, split into 16 sets of 6) (16 blocks needed)
* AAMC Question packs (as you wish--these are designed to show you that speed on free standing questions varies)
* UWorld or JW CARS passages
This requires 84 study blocks. Review after completion of a given block is essential, but make sure you focus on where you went too slow, where you went too fast, and where you lost focus.
Stage 3: Meant to focus on getting ready for FLs and mastering your testing approach. This requires realistic passages, which can be hard to come by. The most realistic passages you'll find are AAMC section banks, but there are so few of them and their explanations quite frankly suck. The next best questions at this juncture in your studies are UWorld questions, which will push you.
You should try to do the different sections at approximately the same time of day you'll be taking the corresponding section of the MCAT. Group your passages as close to 90-minute blocks as possible, which usually won't work out.
Complete the following:
* Any Biology Passages from EK, NS, or UWorld you haven't done. (6 to 8 blocks needed)
* UWorld C/P questions (just a few to stay fresh) (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank B/B (break into two sets of 50 questions) (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank C/P (break into two sets of 50 questions) (2 blocks needed)
* UWorld P/S passage sets of about 59 questions (6 blocks needed)
* UWorld CARS passage sets of about 53 questions (7 blocks needed)
* AAMC section bank CARS sets of 50 questions (2 blocks needed)
* AAMC Unscored Practice Exam (All Day)
This requires 27 to 29 study blocks plus one full day. Review is critical here. You want to spend two hours reviewing for every hour of practicing. You need to hone your strategies and fill any knowledge gaps that may still exist.
Stage 4: This is what you've been building towards your entire time. You must become a test-taking robot with logical mental reflexes when you see any question. You should try to space FLs at least three days apart, if possible, although this proved to be impossible for me. The two days between FLs should be dedicated to a day of thorough postgame analysis of every question and another day of fine-tuning. I found EK books and AK videos to be very helpful during that third day. EK questions are excellent for rapid-fire review and AK videos are thorough. EK explanations are iffy, but at this point it doesn't matter. You will know the material well and don't need them for learning.
You should do four commercial exams and four AAMC exams during your last month. I chose to mix and match sections from three different sources. I did this at the suggestion of my big sib, and it was genius. It kept me on my toes and prevented me from getting conditioned to one style of writing. I then used the CARS sections from the exams I hadn't taken for additional review. I used three different sources for FLs and did one section from each source and then randomly chose the source for P/S. No one company seemed better than the next. Any parts of exams you don't use during FLs can be used for Stage 3 practice.
Complete the following:
* Commercial Exam 1
* Commercial Exam 2
* Commercial Exam 3
* AAMC FL 1
* AAMC FL 2
* AAMC FL 3
* AAMC FL 4
* AAMC FL 5
I saved the AAMC exams for the end. You will notice a change in the wording of the questions as you jump from one source to another. This is important, because although AAMC exams are the best resource, they are not exactly like what you will see on your actual exam. Getting used to abrupt changes in style helps prepare you for test day.
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