Huge thank you to everyone who has been congratulating me! As promised, here are some tips that helped me score a 524 on the MCAT. I’ll do another thread with what I did personally step by step but I think these general tips would help more people:

1) you don’t need to spend a ton of money to do well! I did not use a formal prep course and I used an older edition of study books that were gifted to me from a friend (shout-out Sam Zinga and Sarah Lucas). There are so many useful materials online for free

2) A lot of people were asking what books I used. I had Kaplan and Princeton review sets but personally I preferred TPR bc they were more comprehensive. The Kaplan books are more condensed if you prefer that format, both are very good and widely used!

3) On the note of test prep companies, keep in mind their questions are often way harder than the real MCAT. I’ve heard this is to keep you anxious + buy more materials. I would read a chapter and often be unable to answer many of the review questions at the end but did well

4) AAMC test prep materials are most reflective of the actual exam since they make the test. I would suggest waiting to use their content until close to your test date so it is fresh in your mind. I waited too long and didn’t get through all of it so be careful

5) AAMC makes a complete exam content description which is really useful for prioritizing what to study. There is a LOT of information but you don’t need to know absolutely everything to do well. If you’re low on time, you may want to skip things that make up <5% of 1 section

6) I suggest taking a diagnostic test early on to figure out your strengths. Next step allows you to take 1 half length and 1 full length for free. The half length is great for early on before you’ve started studying intensely. For me, I realized not to waste time on CARS

7) That being said, I don’t have any tips for CARS. I’ve always been a fast reader and detail oriented. I’ve heard khan academy has good practice and of course the AAMC practice passages are great, but I’ve also heard that’s one of the harder sections to improve in by studying

8) For physics, formulas are key!! Even if you don’t remember a formula, the units in the question and answer options can help you figure out what you should be doing. Think about how you can get from the information given to the units in the answers (i.e. dimensional analysis)

9) If you’re not studying yet and just looking to prepare, take your intro classes seriously! All the required premed ones are important and a neuroscience, psychology, or human physiology class would also help. I didn’t take those and had to self-study those subjects a lot

10) Research experience is also really valuable. The MCAT is increasingly based on scientific reasoning rather than knowing random facts. If you have experience with experimental design and reading scientific papers, those questions will be easier for you. Practice makes perfect!

11) Also, it’s important to have a good support system especially studying in this time in history. I love my family but my premed friends who could relate to what the process takes really helped me feel understood when I was struggling

12) Above all, be kind to yourself and try not to compare yourself to others. Always just strive to build on wherever you started. I was privileged to have had great professors throughout undergrad to gain a solid science base and lots of supportive students to ask for help