M C A T prep for beginners in UK, Canada and Australia

How can I prepare for the M C A T exam in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

Test preparation should not be targeted towards your strength or weakness but you should also seek how to manage your time. 

You need to create a study plan to help you prepare for the exam.



P S - You have to seek counsel from your pre-health advisor about preparing and applying to medical school.

How to create a study plan for the M C A T Exam in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

This guide will help you plan for your MCAT Exam

Some steps will require more time than others; however, the amount of time you spend on each step will depend on your level of preparedness and the time you have available to study and practice.




The six (6) steps you will take to prepare are as follows -

1. Find out everything you can about the exam
2. Figure out how much you know
3. Gather free and low-cost resources to help you prepare
4. Create your study plan
5. Study and practice
6. Prepare for test day

From finding out everything you can about the exam to creating your study plan are steps to create your customized study plan. 

They are important first steps but they require a small portion of your preparation time.

The study and practice step may take little time or it may consume the majority of your time, depending on how prepared you are when you start studying.

Lastly, I will advice you to set aside time to take a practice exam thereby preparing for test day under similar testing conditions and evaluate your readiness.









Find out everything you can about the M C A T exam

When preparing for the exam, you need to know what's on the exam, how much time will you have, how it's scored, when to register, disciplines, concepts, skills, topics that are covered, rules, the process for medical school admissions and what you can and cannot bring to the testing center.







Figure out how much you know

Take an A A M C full-length practice exam to identify your strengths and weaknesses in the content areas covered by the exam. 

The full-length practice exams offer a detailed breakdown of your correct and incorrect answers. 

They will help you identify which disciplines, concepts, and skills are familiar or unfamiliar to you. 

Being aware of the subjects that need your attention will help you gather the resources and implement strategies to acquire the knowledge and skills the exam covers.



P S - I recommend that you take a full-length practice exam in one sitting to experience what it will be like to take the actual exam. 

The more you practice taking the exam under actual testing conditions, the more prepared you will feel when you walk into the testing center. 

Practicing under actual testing conditions is an important test taking strategy.

Gather free and low-cost resources to help you prepare

Pull together an inventory of all the exam preparation resources available to you. 

Your resources for studying will differ from your resources for practicing your first set of resources will focus on studying for content, and your second set of resources will focus on practicing and applying your knowledge.




P S - As you select your resources and strategies, remember they should be part of an active study plan. 

Your study plan should not be only passive learning (such as watching videos or reviewing textbooks and notes); your plan should have active learning strategies to re-enforce learning, summarize what you read, explain the concepts in your own words, and apply ideas to real-life scenarios. 

You should use your study and practice resources together to reinforce your learning and test your knowledge along the way. 

Study and practice step will provide you with some tips for ways to use resources in tandem.






Create your study plan

Create your study plan by completing the Schedule, Areas of study, and Resources and strategies sections of the Study Plan Schedule template with in 2-3 hours.



List all your academic, professional, and extracurricular obligations in your schedule and how many hours each activity requires. 

Then include how many hours you have available to study each day.



List the areas you want to study. 

Determine how you want to study and practice. 

Do you want to start with your strongest area? 

Do you want to alternate between a section you are comfortable with and a section you’re less confident with?



List the resources and strategies you will use to study content. 

Remember, studying content typically comes before practicing application of the subject area. 

The only exception is when you take your initial practice exam to assess your knowledge.

P S - Your study plan will likely change and that's okay. 

After a few weeks of studying, you may find you need to adjust your timeline or the number of hours allocated for specific disciplines, concepts, or skills. 

If the material you listed is too much or too little for the number of days or weeks, adjust your plan accordingly. 

The earlier you start planning, the more flexibility you will have in your study schedule. 

lastly, Note any milestones that may impact your test date deadline







Study and practice

Your study plan should include a mix of strategies to help you learn, integrate, and apply new concepts and strengthen your existing knowledge and skills. 

After studying content areas, make sure to give yourself opportunities to practice and apply them. 

                    

Here are some strategies you might use the following -





Start each day by reviewing what you studied or practiced during the previous day based on the content areas you have identified as priorities in your study plan. 

Reviewing small chunks of information regularly and practicing questions that cover the content will help you retain the content.



Practice timing yourself while answering practice questions. 

Review answers and take the time to understand why you answered them correctly or incorrectly. 

Consider the strategies below to help you review your answers, learn new concepts, and strengthen existing knowledge.

Prepare a set of questions to ask yourself after watching a video or reading a text-book chapter, such as -

How would I explain this to a classmate?

What is a real-life example of this concept that would be relevant to me or someone else?

Does this differ from what I previously understood, and if so, why?

What additional information can I seek out to enhance my understanding of this topic?

Create your own flashcards and vocabulary lists.

Study with a partner or group. 

Assign topics to teach each other, use each other as sounding boards to think out loud, and share notes. 

Create questions and quiz each other.

Study different topics in each study session to make connections and integrate concepts.

If you have questions or don't fully understand a topic or concept, keep track of all your questions and check in with your professor or advisor during office hours.

Summarize what you learned from memory by compiling lists and drawing compare-and-contrast charts or concept maps. 

Check the accuracy of your summaries by using lecture notes, textbooks, or Khan Academy tutorials.



Join online forums to ask and answer questions about the topics and concepts.

P S - Don't forget to schedule time to review content already studied to cement your learning. Cumulative reviews are helpful during this step. 

Learning from your errors is an important part of any study and practice strategy. 

No matter the strategy you use, learn from your errors and apply what you learned by repeating your strategy.







Prepare for test day

It has been weeks since you first took a full-length practice exam. 

Now it's time to take a second full-length practice exam that includes a scaled score to see where you now stand. 

Take it under the same conditions as the actual test the same timing and breaks, ideally at a location outside your own home, in one sitting. 

After you take the practice exam, review your results and consider your next steps.

Are you happy with the results? 

Do you need more time to study and practice, or are you ready to take the exam? 

You may adjust your study plan based on your practice exam results. 

You also have the option to retake the practice exam.

P S - It is important that you only take the M C A T exam once you feel that you are fully prepared

Where can I find out what content is tested on the M C A T exam in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

This is the Exam Content

The exam has four multiple-choice test sections:

Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems

Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems

Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior

Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

The Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems section includes:

59 questions consisting of:

10 passage-based sets of questions

4-6 questions per set

15 independent questions

The Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section includes:

53 questions consisting of:

9 passages

5-7 questions per passage

The Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems section includes:

59 questions consisting of:

10 passage-based sets of questions

4-6 questions per set

15 independent questions

The Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section includes:

59 questions consisting of:

10 passage-based sets of questions

4-6 questions per set

15 independent questions

The first, second, and third sections listed above are arranged into 10 foundational concepts, or big ideas in the sciences. 

They draw from disciplines in academic year-long courses in general chemistry, organic chemistry, introductory physics, and introductory biology and from introductory courses in biochemistry, psychology, and sociology. 

Multiple-choice questions in these sections will ask you to combine your scientific knowledge from multiple disciplines with your scientific inquiry and reasoning skills. 

The Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills section includes questions that test your ability to comprehend and analyze information you read in passages taken from a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. 

This section requires no specific content knowledge.

Here is how the exam looks like below;

Exam overview

Section	Number of Questions	Time Allotted
Test-day certification		4 minutes
Tutorial (optional)		10 minutes
Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems	59	95 minutes
Break (optional)		10 minutes
Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills	53	90 minutes
Mid-exam break (optional)		30 minutes
Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems	59	95 minutes
Break (optional)		10 minutes
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior	59	95 minutes
Void question		3 minutes
End-of-day survey (optional)		5 minutes
Total content time		6 hours and 15 minutes
Total 'seated' time		About 7 hours and 30 minutes

P S - Total seated time does not include check-in time upon arrival at the test center.

What resources do you have to prepare for the M C A T exam in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

A A M C offers official prep practice exams and question sets, flash-cards and the official guide to the Exam.

Do I need to take a M C A T prep course in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

Some examinees prepare for the exam through self-study and do not enroll in a test prep while others prefer to study in a more structured setting and enroll or choose to take a preparation course offered at their academic institution.

Do the A A M C M C A T official prep practice products contain the same practice questions in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

Yes! They are the same.

Do I need to buy another M C A T study guide if have it already in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

Yes! But you need to cross-check the version you have with other study guides because A A M C makes changes when they want to publish latest version of study guides.

Who do I contact if I have technical issues with my A A M C M C A T official account in United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

For technical issues, call 202-828-0600