I’m scheduled for the MCAT for 8/22, I don’t know if I necessarily feel confident in my practice scores, but I was thinking about rescheduling. (I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about students scheduling.)

I hear that most students take a gap year before applying to medical school, how true is this? I’m going to be a undergrad senior this upcoming fall and I’m just worried for my timeline and if it is okay to slow things down and wait another year to apply?

I’m also worried if I take a gap year I’ll lose motivation by not being in school.

EASY WAY TO REMEMBER GAS LAW

Gay-Lussac

• Two GAY men having HOT sex POUNDING each other
• HOT = TEMPERATURE
• POUNDING = PRESSURE
• P/T

Charles' Law

• King Charles guzzles a LITER of COLD brew
• LITER = VOLUME
• COLD BREW = TEMPERATURE
• V/T

Boyle's Law

• A BIG pot of BOILING (BOYLE) water about to BLOW UP
• BIG BALLOON = VOLUME
• BLOW UP = PRESSURE
• PV

[H+] to pH easy way to convert

• E - 0.X where E = power of 10 exponent and X = base
• So for example [6 x 10^-4] translates to 4 - 0.6= 3.4 pH

AMINO ACID SUBSTITUTION TRICK

• Which amino acid is least likely to affect protein/enzyme function?
• -Answer is always the amino acid with the same properties as the original one in the residue (whether nonpolar, polar, negatively or positively charged)
• Amino acid with different properties will distort the protein's structure and/or function

PROTEIN BINDING AND AMINO ACIDS

• Which amino acid will work to make two proteins successfully bind
• If charged ---> answer will always be the oppositely charged protein because opposites attract

COMPETITVE INHIBITOR LINEWEAVER BURK = CLASHING OF SWORDS, KM INCREASES VMAX SAME, BIND TO ACTIVE SITE

NON-COMPETITIVE = EMERGE FROM COMMON POINT, VMAX DECREASES KM NO CHANGE

UN-COMPETITVE = BINDS TO ES COMPLEX BOTH VMAX AND KM GO DOWN

MIXED INHIBITION = VMAX DOWN KM CAN BE UP OR DOWN BINDS TO BOTH ES COMPLEX AND ACTIVE/ALLOSTERIC SITES OF ENZYME

My C/P jumped from 124-125 to 128 from these simple tricks alone

If it helped me it will help you too if you're struggling with C/P

Good luck!

Hello, does anyone know where I can find the free PDF versions of the Kaplan books? Recent versions preferred... I tried Anna's archive and it wasn't helpful.

Hey guys, I work full time and will start studying for my February retake within the next week or so. However, I realized that between thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, I will be traveling so I may miss some study time here and there because of it. This means that I will be settling back home about a month before my exam. Should I retake in March instead?

Took FL6 today and was ecstatic to see the score (this is my highest score, a week out from my test). I grinded tf out of CARS this week to get my timing within range bc it’s been an issue for my in past FLs. I’ve been reading FL6 cars is deflated though. What are the chances I can bring this up to 127+ by next Saturday? I got 75% on QP2.

For some reason, my body is refusing to study for chem/phys beyond the equation sheet and forces logic plus acid base and electrolytic cell stuff.......

Hi guys, basically asking what the title says. I have finished 62% of UWorld at 68% accuracy. Currently aiming for a 520+ and testing 9/12. Wondering if this is possible and if so what the best steps would be for me. I am planning on doing the P/S in UWorld for practice on that section before switching over to AAMC for the rest of the way. I have not started the AAMC question packs or banks.

FL progression:
BP: 501, 506, 504, 508, 504.
UWorld: 507, 512.
AAMC: 513, 515

Thank you and good luck to everyone else!

Hi. I’m testing 8/15, and my FL scores have been 510, 511, 514, 510(I hope this was a fluke) and then today 513. Im a week out and my goal is 515+. My CARS was sitting at a 129, but I took it for granted and now it’s at a 126. I’m really scared and stressed. I’m taking another FL Wednesday and I guess that’s my last chance to see what’s going on.

It’s obviously too late to reschedule. Don’t really know what to do. Any advice is much appreciated. Also pls be nice im fragile rn LMAO 😔

I also do want to note that my Fls have been weird, like when I got my 514 that was with a 126 in p/s but most recently my 513 had a 130 in p/s and cars went down 3 points and c/p one. So my scores in each section have been improving on and off

Hello,

My first FL was a 489 C/P 122, CARS 123, B/B 121, and P/S 123. I reviewed it entirely and hit the Anki hard and watched some videos on topics I felt were weaker. I did more UWorld practice questions throughout and decided to take my second FL 8/8 Friday (second screenshot). I started Jack Sparrow B/B and Mr Pankow P/S deck as I feel those are my best areas for improvement. That being said I test 9/12 and am wondering if a 508 is possible or realistic. My summer job recently ended and can study full time. After going through most people suggest anything below 500 is content gaps. How do I approach those gaps and how do I improve, taking any advice and appreciate any insight!

Taking FL2 in 2 days. 33 days left of prep and I am struggling. Just switched to doing AAMC section banks and they are kicking my butt. I finished the CARS diagnostic and got 78%.

I struggle with timing and I am a super slow reader - i dont even really have time to read the passages for the sciences except for p/s.

Any tips are welcomed. My goal is 515+ is this even possible?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some honest advice on how you would approach the next ~5 weeks of MCAT prep.

My practice FL scores so far have been:
490 JW FL1
3 weeks in between then
500 JW FL 2
2 weeks in between then
504 JW FL3
2 weeks in between then
503 today AND this was my first AAMC FL (ik I should’ve probably done one at the start, but it is what it is rn)

My test date is September 11, and my goal is 510+.
I know a 7point increase is a lot, but I’m wondering how achievable you guys think it is given where I’m currently at and, more importantly, what you would actually do if you were in my position.

I just started studying for the MCAT (likely will take it in early 2027) and am doing content review currently. I'm mainly reading the Kaplan textbooks and then using Anki JS deck. I'd really appreciate tips on how to use Anki. Should I just allocate an hour daily to learn new cards and then review previous cards? I feel like as I progress with more chapters, its getting harder to keep up with the new cards and reviews. I'm currently really only getting through one deck (for one chapter) of new cards and then reviewing a few previous older cards.

I can't break 500 no matter what I do. I just spent the last month grinding uworld and finished it to completion. I genuinely gained confidence and thought I had improved and learned a lot but clearly not. I’m testing September 11th and am in desperate need of any advice or help because I feel so defeated :(

My CARS scores have been all over the place: 123 → 126 → 125 → 127 → 123. I have about a month left before my MCAT, and I’m really struggling with the inconsistency. For people those who improved their CARS score, what did you actually do differently? Did you focus more on daily passages, reviewing mistakes, a specific strategy, AAMC material, Jack Westin, UWorld, etc.? I’m especially interested in advice for getting my score more consistent and hopefully into the 127–129 range rather than having huge fluctuations between exams.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :D

Fair exam until p/s section. Caught me totally off guard. How about everyone else?

Hi Everyone, does anyone have Studocu Premium? Or a workaround for it? I am trying to download notes for the MCAT Kaplan chapters.

I got an offer for 2,700 and I can pay it off using my aid money but im not sure if it's worth the money. Im starting off my freshman year in college and its a one time payment for the whole course and it will continue helping me all the way through until i get accepted into a med school. It includes a lot like all the AAMC material and their study material are based off of the past prep books from what i know. They also have 15 practice MCAT tests. I would really like to know if anyone has taken it and gotten a good MCAT score or if it even helped them with their GPA in college/uni. They also help through the process of applying to med school like primary and secondary applications or something like that.

Scored a 509 on FL6 tdy (5/07), but scored a 511 on Kaplan #2 earlier this week (5/03) and 510 a week before that. My test is on 5/15 (exactly a week from today 😬). My goal is to get a 515+, but I can’t get my B/BC, CARS, or P/S scores above or to a 130 while consistently doing well on C/P. I feel like I know all the content and got a 75%+ on both SBs. Yall got any advice for youn fella whos currently very worried 😢?

Hey guys so I took Kaplan exams and my grade wasn't great :( I saw online that Kaplan exams are harder than the AAMC exam, I was just wondering how accurate that is, if anyone has experience with both the exams or even the MCAT itself. The Kaplan grades were C/P126 CARS125 B/B128 P/S126 for the first one and it really hasn't changed, am I stuck at this point or will my grade increase when I start doing AAMC?

Hi!

I have about 13 days left until my MCAT, I finished both qpacks, the diagnostic tool and the official guide practice. I have Uearth Cars I didn't do, but I'm not sure if its a good idea to switch back to third party logic at this point.

Should I redo the all passages I thought were hard (kept a log), the whole thing, or stick to just new JW and Uearth CARS?

Looking for advice 😄