u/Fluffy_Entrance303

▲ 19 r/Mcat

Posting this for anyone like myself who felt defeated during MCAT prep while studying for P/S and the only online advice being the 300 page doc (which I found to have a bunch of extraneous info) or to continuously spam Anki decks...

My 3 month study timeline- I read the Kaplan Review P/S book, then created a study document, then did all UWorld questions and AAMC section bank questions. I added to the study document as needed to reflect any info covered on UWorld/AAMC resources that wasn't in Kaplan (which wasn't much tbh).

For the study document, which I am so glad I did and highly recommend- I copy/pasted ALL foundational concepts & their topics (listed on the right side of the tables in the official "What's on the MCAT Exam?" PDF), then used the Kaplan review book to answer/explain just about every listed topic. While taking the exam, there were several questions that were very easy by virtue of having made the massive study doc and writing detailed answers for all foundational content. As the MCAT P/S moves even further from memorization and deeper into conceptual questions, I think these types of study guides will become even more useful.

I truly tried to get into Anki, especially since I'll probably have to start using it at some point in medical school, but personally I hate flashcards and couldn't bring myself to do more than a day or two of Anki before giving up. Hope this approach is helpful for someone else- the benefit truly came from writing/answering everything for myself!

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u/Fluffy_Entrance303 — 16 days ago

currently drafting out my activities & experiences list and the first (in chronological order) will be caretaking for a parent with cancer (also going to designate this as one of the most meaningful exp). side note - i'm very confident in including this as an experience and have confirmed with multiple advisors!

for those who have done this before- which experience type did you select? i don't see an "unpaid clinical" type so i'm not sure whether to list as "community service/volunteer - medical/clinical" or "other." the "community" aspect doesn't seem exactly right but "other" is pretty broad. also, what was your approach in determining the total hours?

(if the designations i'm looking at are not updated, pls lmk.)

thank you all!

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u/Fluffy_Entrance303 — 16 days ago