u/Sad-Mulberry-6700

Hey everyone, hoping to get some honest feedback from people who've been through this or are in the trenches now.

Quick stats:

• Started studying December 2025
• Test date: September 4, 2026
• Current FL score: 496 (taken April 5 and April 25, same score both times)
• Section breakdown: C/P 125, CARS 122, B/B 124-125, P/S 124-125
• Goal: 520+
• Resources: UWorld, Jack Westin, Khan Academy

My situation:

I'm a full-time undergrad taking 16 credits per quarter currently in spring quarter at UC

I can only give MCAT about 2-3 hours a day in the morning before lectures, plus Saturdays for FLs. Sundays are usually school-focused because I have exams every week.

The motivation problem:

I start the week strong on Mondays and Tuesdays — full reviews, CARS passages, UWorld sets — but by Thursday or Friday I'm fried from school and I start skipping CARS or blowing past my review time caps. I've been blowing past 45-min review caps and ending up doing 1.5-2 hours of B/B review, which kills my time for other sections and CARS. Then the next day I feel behind and the cycle repeats.

I just attempted a FL today (May 10) and stopped halfway through because I felt like I hadn't studied consistently enough for the data to be useful. C/P came in at 124 and CARS at 121 partial — but B/B and P/S I didn't even start. Felt like a waste of 4 hours so I bailed. Going to retake May 23.

On Anki:

I'm not a fan. Used the Captain Hook deck early on for P/S content review in winter and it helped a bit, but daily Anki maintenance just kills me with the 16 credit load. I'm planning to pick it back up in summer (probably Pankow deck for P/S) but right now it feels like one more thing I'd quit on.

Summer plan:

I have a full-time internship from late June through early August (~6 weeks). After that I have about a month of full-time MCAT prep before test day. So realistically I have:

• May–June 8 (finals): part-time, ~2-3 hr/day
• June 8–June 29: full-time, 3 weeks
• June 29–Aug 7: internship + MCAT (probably 4-5 hr/day max)
• Aug 7–Sept 4: full-time, 4 weeks

My specific questions:

1. Anyone gone from ~495 to 520 in 4 months while in school full-time? Realistic or am I being delusional?
2. How do you stay motivated when you're flat? Same 496 twice in a row is rough.
3. Review trap fix: I spend WAY too long on review. Spreadsheets, detailed rules, etc. Then I burn out. What's actually worked for people for fast efficient review?
4. CARS at 122 — it's not moving. Daily passages, JW. What actually moved your CARS score? Be specific.
5. No Anki right now — is that survivable for 520? Or do I need to bite the bullet now?
6. FL strategy for May 23 onward: Bi-weekly through finals, then weekly starting July. Any FL pacing wisdom?

I'm honestly motivated and I want this — I just keep hitting walls and feeling like I'm spinning. Any advice from 515+ scorers, current high-FL grinders, or anyone with similar life constraints would mean a lot.

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, hoping to get some honest feedback from people who've been through this or are in the trenches now.

Quick stats:

• Started studying December 2025
• Test date: September 4, 2026
• Current FL score: 496 (taken April 5 and April 25, same score both times)
• Section breakdown: C/P 125, CARS 122, B/B 124-125, P/S 124-125
• Goal: 520+
• Resources: UWorld, Jack Westin, Khan Academy

My situation:

I'm a full-time undergrad taking 16 credits per quarter, currently in the spring quarter at UC

I can only give MCAT about 2-3 hours a day in the morning before lectures, plus Saturdays for FLs. Sundays are usually school-focused because I have exams every week.

The motivation problem:

I start the week strong on Mondays and Tuesdays — full reviews, CARS passages, UWorld sets — but by Thursday or Friday I'm fried from school and I start skipping CARS or blowing past my review time caps. I've been blowing past 45-min review caps and ending up doing 1.5-2 hours of B/B review, which kills my time for other sections and CARS. Then the next day I feel behind and the cycle repeats.

I just attempted a FL today (May 10) and stopped halfway through because I felt like I hadn't studied consistently enough for the data to be useful. C/P came in at 124 and CARS at 121 partial — but B/B and P/S I didn't even start. Felt like a waste of 4 hours so I bailed. Going to retake May 23.

On Anki:

I'm not a fan. Used the Captain Hook deck early on for P/S content review in winter and it helped a bit, but daily Anki maintenance just kills me with the 16 credit load. I'm planning to pick it back up in summer (probably Pankow deck for P/S) but right now it feels like one more thing I'd quit on.

Summer plan:

I have a full-time internship from late June through early August (~6 weeks). After that I have about a month of full-time MCAT prep before test day. So realistically I have:

• May–June 8 (finals): part-time, ~2-3 hr/day
• June 8–June 29: full-time, 3 weeks
• June 29–Aug 7: internship + MCAT (probably 4-5 hr/day max)
• Aug 7–Sept 4: full-time, 4 weeks

My specific questions:

1. Anyone gone from ~495 to 520 in 4 months while in school full-time? Realistic or am I being delusional?
2. How do you stay motivated when you're flat? Same 496 twice in a row is rough.
3. Review trap fix: I spend WAY too long on review. Spreadsheets, detailed rules, etc. Then I burn out. What's actually worked for people for fast efficient review?
4. CARS at 122 — it's not moving. Daily passages, JW. What actually moved your CARS score? Be specific.
5. No Anki right now — is that survivable for 520? Or do I need to bite the bullet now?
6. FL strategy for May 23 onward: Bi-weekly through finals, then weekly starting July. Any FL pacing wisdom?

I'm honestly motivated and I want this — I just keep hitting walls and feeling like I'm spinning. Any advice from 515+ scorers, current high-FL grinders, or anyone with similar life constraints would mean a lot.

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone, hoping to get some honest feedback from people who've been through this or are in the trenches now.

Quick stats:

• Started studying December 2025
• Test date: September 4, 2026
• Current FL score: 496 (taken April 5 and April 25, same score both times)
• Section breakdown: C/P 125, CARS 122, B/B 124-125, P/S 124-125
• Goal: 520+
• Resources: UWorld, Jack Westin, Khan Academy

My situation:

I'm a full-time undergrad taking 16 credits per quarter (currently in spring quarter at UC

I can only give MCAT about 2-3 hours a day in the morning before lectures, plus Saturdays for FLs. Sundays are usually school-focused because I have exams every week.

The motivation problem:

I start the week strong on Mondays and Tuesdays — full reviews, CARS passages, UWorld sets — but by Thursday or Friday I'm fried from school and I start skipping CARS or blowing past my review time caps. I've been blowing past 45-min review caps and ending up doing 1.5-2 hours of B/B review, which kills my time for other sections and CARS. Then the next day I feel behind and the cycle repeats.

I just attempted a FL today (May 10) and stopped halfway through because I felt like I hadn't studied consistently enough for the data to be useful. C/P came in at 124 and CARS at 121 partial — but B/B and P/S I didn't even start. Felt like a waste of 4 hours so I bailed. Going to retake May 23.

On Anki:

I'm not a fan. Used the Captain Hook deck early on for P/S content review in winter and it helped a bit, but daily Anki maintenance just kills me with the 16 credit load. I'm planning to pick it back up in summer (probably Pankow deck for P/S) but right now it feels like one more thing I'd quit on.

Summer plan:

I have a full-time internship from late June through early August (~6 weeks). After that I have about a month of full-time MCAT prep before test day. So realistically I have:

• May–June 8 (finals): part-time, ~2-3 hr/day
• June 8–June 29: full-time, 3 weeks
• June 29–Aug 7: internship + MCAT (probably 4-5 hr/day max)
• Aug 7–Sept 4: full-time, 4 weeks

My specific questions:

1. Anyone gone from ~495 to 520 in 4 months while in school full-time? Realistic or am I being delusional?
2. How do you stay motivated when you're flat? Same 496 twice in a row is rough.
3. Review trap fix: I spend WAY too long on review. Spreadsheets, detailed rules, etc. Then I burn out. What's actually worked for people for fast efficient review?
4. CARS at 122 — it's not moving. Daily passages, JW. What actually moved your CARS score? Be specific.
5. No Anki right now — is that survivable for 520? Or do I need to bite the bullet now?
6. FL strategy for May 23 onward: Bi-weekly through finals, then weekly starting July. Any FL pacing wisdom?

I'm honestly motivated and I want this — I just keep hitting walls and feeling like I'm spinning. Any advice from 515+ scorers, current high-FL grinders, or anyone with similar life constraints would mean a lot.

Thanks in advance.