How to Study for the MCAT like a Med Student

So the other day I had to pee really badly, but the problem was that I was on the other side of the med school campus. 

So, I stormed into a random building, and ran around trying to find a bathroom. 

After climbing 3 flights of stairs up and nearly peeing my pants, I found a bathroom. 

But, as expected, on the way out of the building, i saw a bathroom right next to the entrance. 

This is kind of how I feel about the MCAT now that I have taken step 1 and step 2.

When I was studying for the MCAT, I feel like I was constantly finding “better” resources and changing my strategy. 

But, now I have post-urination clarity. 

Studying in med school has shown me all of the hacks and after a couple hours of searching — I think I have hands down the best method for studying for the MCAT. 

My brother asked me how I would study for the MCAT now. This is what I showed him.

It comes down to 3 simple steps: 

1. Learn content

2. Do Anki on content

3. Do questions on content

1. Learn content. 

The MCAT has ENDLESS resources. 

Everyone and their grandmother has created an MCAT guide/video. 

And so so so many people waste all day trying to find the best resources. 

And honestly, this would be fine if they found one or two resources and stuck to them. 

But, even the smartest people I know, often will spend hours finding the best guides on Reddit and then 2 weeks later find an “even better one.” 

When it comes through your first pass through on content, you should use 1 of 2 resources.

1. Khan Academy (if you like video)

2. Kaplan Textbooks (if you like books)

The Khan Academy MCAT video series is fantastic (and free). 

The Kaplan books are on Amazon, but just get them from a friend/buy them used. 

BUT HOLD UP. 

I need to make something clear.  

Please please please do not just start going through this content and making detailed notes. 

In school, we are taught to take notes on lectures. We then go through our notes multiple times to “study” for the exam. 

This does not work for the MCAT. 

Even the most concise notes still take up an insane amount of time and turn into a useless asset. 

Your notes are not your knowledge. 

This is why in med school, no one takes notes. 

But, how else will I remember everything? 

I gotchu. Time for #2.

2. Do Anki on content

So, if you are not familiar with Anki, it’s basically a better Quizlet. Here is a quick video — just watch the first 2 minutes. 

Now, luckily for you, people have gone through both the Khan Academy and Kaplan resources and created Anki cards on the content. 

My jobs is to show you the best ways to use them.

The best deck currently available is the AnkiHub MCAT deck. Before, I share the link with you, let me help you save 50 bucks.

This AnkiHub has this monthly subscription that can by $55/yr or $5/mo.

The reason it is a subscription is because it is updated sometimes. 

Guess what? You don’t need the updates. Science doesn’t change fast. 

If you learn what is already available, I promise you can get a 520+. 

So, what you should do is 

1. Sign up for the AnkiHub link under the $5/mo option. 

2. Download the MCAT deck. 

3. Then immediately cancel your subscription and delete the add-on.

You want to make sure you delete the add-on otherwise it will constantly tell you to rejoin the Hub.

How to optimize your Anki-ing:

Okay, so you now have downloaded the deck. 

If you look, there should be about 5800 Anki cards in the Kaplan/ KA tags. That’s a lot. 

But, there are some hacks that I learned that will drop the number of cards without affecting your knowledge.

It’s much easier for me to just show you these next couple steps so watch the video and then continue reading: (This reminds me of being in Starbuck’s second year of med school and showing this method to some of my friends)

Okay. Now, you have everything set up. 

Which brings us to the hardest part of Anki. 

The Hardest Part of Anki

Anki is simple but not easy. 

It’s not that any one card is hard. 

The hard part is doing it every day. 

It can be exhausting to spend hours every day hunched over your computer with your wrist constantly clicking. 

It’s a sure fire way to get carpel tunnel by age 25. 

But, luckily for you, us neurotic med students also have a hack for this.

We use this Anki Remote. 

I still don’t really understand why it makes such a big difference, but it is truly night and day. 

Maybe your fingers don’t have to travel as fast. 

Maybe it’s nice to be able to move even small amounts without having to stop studying. 

I don’t know and tbh it doesn’t matter. 

Just use some of the $50 you saved earlier and get it. Ankiremote.com

The last thing you want is to have spent all of this time creating the perfect Anki setup and then just quit because it’s uncomfortable.

3. Do questions on content

So, there are 2 types of questions.

1. Quick Questions

2. Integration Questions

Quick questions are like the ones in Khan Academy or end of a Kaplan chapter. 

I used to think quick questions were useless. But, I changed my mind. 

They test your ability to recall in specific info you just read. 

They are good. Don’t skip them. 

They make the next type of question easier.

Integration questions are those in UWorld and full lengths (FLs). 

These questions are largely testing your ability to distinguish one concept from another. 

This means you need to know the individual info to appropriately differentiate topics. 

There is a lot more I want to share with you about questions, but I think it needs to be a separate email. 

If you found this helpful or have any questions, please let me know. 

I read every email. 

Best,

CKR

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