MCAT Resources
Studying for the MCAT was brutal for me. Full disclosure, I took it three times. THREE. I really didn’t have to do that to myself, but I was hopeful to improve my scores each time. In the end, I ended up with the same score twice (just a different distribution of points).
Truthfully, I do not feel confident in my ability to tell other people how to study for the MCAT. However, I know there is value in sharing my experiences because other people can resonate with how I felt or it can be a step in learning more about the process.
I do recommend thinking about your learning style which I have a whole blog post on. I also recommend thinking about when you are taking the MCAT, how much time you can devote, and many other aspects of just the process of studying. Learning Style Blog Post: https://www.thecuriousmedstudent.com/find-your-learning-style/
The AAMC should also be your main source of information, here is a link to their website in regards to the MCAT: https://students-residents.aamc.org/prepare-mcat-exam/prepare-mcat-exam
This blog post will also contain affiliate links to Amazon.
Studying
Before diving into resources, I want to give a warning: do not get sucked into the pre-med world of anxiety. Social media platforms like Reddit, Student Doctor Network, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and so many others make it very easy for you to feel inadequate about yourself. Remember all of these sources, including my own, are the blind leading the blind. Lots of people want to help, but too much advice can be overwhelming and contradictory.
There are also going to be many people who judge you for your methods, and tell you that you are doing something wrong. If it works for you, keep at it. This mindset from other people never leaves, and it will follow you through medical school. Usually, it’s just another student projecting their anxiety onto you and telling you that what you are doing is wrong.
Personally, I made the mistake of watching many Youtubers who studied for the MCAT in an insanely short period of time and then scoring extremely well. I won’t name who specifically, but many of their videos made me feel horrible. At some point, I realized they were only good at memorizing information and were probably lucky to have a photographic memory. It’s very easy to feel bad about yourself when other people share their “success” stories.
I recommend sticking to content focused on providing information about resources and study techniques rather than individuals sharing their experiences (ironic, I know).
Finally, studying is really hard. When making your schedule, be realistic with yourself. Studying for 8-12 hours a day is not sustainable. It is possible, no one is saying you can’t do it. It’s just not the most effective way of studying because there will be burn out. When creating your schedule, be realistic and incorporate time for exercise, meals, breaks, chores, free time for yourself, as well as ensuring you get the right amount of sleep (this is usually 7-10 hours depending on the person).
Also, I recommend making your own schedule. I paid $200 during my third MCAT attempt for a schedule made by a prominent social media account. It was not helpful. I ended up with the same score previously. You are more than capable of making your own. You just need to recognize you should take some time to make it. For Step 1 studying, a professor at my school recommended taking 6 hours to make our schedules. Although I hope it does not take that long, you should really slow down and look at all the resources, think about your study methods, and take time to make an effective and realistic study schedule.
Use this link to guide your study plan: https://offers.aamc.org/mcat-study
Timeline
Make sure you know when you are taking the MCAT or planning to take it. If you are taking it while you are in your undergraduate courses, please think about which classes you have not taken yet. I’ve heard many people say the MCAT material was much easier after taking the specific content related class. However, you do not need to take the class before the MCAT. If you decide to take the MCAT before one of the classes, you need to be aware you will likely need to do more self studying.
You also want to make sure the courses are designed or at least covers the material needed for pre-medical students. At my university, there was a biology course that was specific for health science majors such as nursing students, occupational therapy students, physical therapy students etc. They did not cover detailed biology needed for the MCAT. There was another biology course specific to general biology majors which covered material needed for the MCAT.
Main point: read the course descriptions and speak with your advisors or the professors to ensure the course is right for you.
Topics on the MCAT
To make sure I cover all the bases in this post here are the sections of the MCAT and the corresponding undergraduate courses: https://students-residents.aamc.org/prepare-mcat-exam/whats-mcat-exam
Section 1: Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems Section
Physics 1 and 2
General Chemistry 1 and 2
Organic Chemistry 1 and 2
General Biology 1 and 2
Biochemistry 1
See link below for more details:
Section 2: Critical Analysis and Reasoning skills (CARS)
English (usually English or related courses are required for graduation at many universities)
For more details, I suggest reading the link below:
Truthfully, I never “cracked the code” to the CARS section. It required a lot of practice for me (which I did do) but in the end, it was still challenging. To provide background, I am a native English speaker and grew up in the United States, but it was still challenging. I watched many different videos on how to read the passages, what resources to use, and I did many practice passages. In the end, it was still my lowest scoring section. I did get into medical school, and I can promise that the CARS passages have not felt anything like what I’ve done in medical school thus far.
Section 3: Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
Biochemistry 1
General Biology 1 and 2
General Chemistry 1 and 2
Organic Chemistry 1 and 2
See link below for more details:
Here is a specific video that will help you gain points on the third and fourth sections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcNbOTAQCG8&t=4s&ab_channel=PremedDisciples
Section 4: Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior Section
Introduction to Psychology
Introduction to Sociology
General Biology
Again, specific breakdown can be seen below:
Note: you can take more than what is recommended if you are interested/if it’s for your major or minor. For instance, Biochemistry Majors usually have to take more biochemistry classes, but for the MCAT, just biochemistry 1 will suffice.
Resources
Finally getting to the main topic of this post! I spent a lot of money on studying for the MCAT. I did try to save a lot of money at times, but it was very easy for me to justify buying more resources. It didn’t help that my parents were also ready to pay for anything to help me out.
Additionally, the information that the MCAT covers should already be covered in your university courses. The review books and video resources should be add-ons to help you review most of the material. In some cases, you will find that you need to learn the material for the first time but that is where Khan Academy, review books, and textbooks come into play.
Main Resources
Khan Academy: One of the scary things that happened around 2020 for the pre-medical world was Khan Academy announcing that they were taking down their videos. I had already gotten into medical school, but I remember feeling so sad because these videos were my main source of content review. Thankfully, there was such a big stir that the AAMC now supports them. Until 2026 as of June 26th, 2023, Khan Academy will still have these videos.
The videos are free. They cover the topics that are on the MCAT, and they have some practice questions and passages. I highly recommend this resource because it is free.
https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/mcat
Official AAMC: The Official AAMC resources are the best to use because these are materials from the test writers themselves.
My recommendation is to see if you qualify for the Fee Assistance Program. FAP will cover the costs for one year. You have to apply each year to get it renewed. However, if you do not qualify, these are the resources you should save money for. I do recommend doing a free practice exam from another testing company first to get a baseline, and then using these materials closer to the end of studying. That being said, it also depends on which of these materials you purchase because they have different question banks and practice exams.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/prepare-mcat-exam/practice-mcat-exam-official-low-cost-products
Blueprint (Previously called NextStep): In my studying, I chose to purchase practice exams to get used to the exam itself. I was essentially “saving” the official materials until about 2 months before my official MCAT date. At the time, the test company was called NextStep, it is now Blueprint. I used their exams to get used to the MCAT. I found these exams to be difficult compared to the actual AAMC materials. However, it has also been about three years since I took a MCAT exam so they could be more reliable now. The company has also grown a lot since I used the exams, so I would look around to see what they offer.
https://blueprintprep.com/mcat/qbank
Uworld: During my third MCAT attempt, I had run into the issue of using up a lot of available exams and resources. One of my friends recommended I purchase UWorld and I really enjoyed it. I can’t remember what type of question banks they offered at the time. I will say that Uworld offers materials for USMLE Step 1 which I purchased, and my medical school purchased the Uworld USMLE Step 2 for students to use throughout year 3. My point is they are a reputable company who writes very good questions. I do have qualms from my Step 1 studying, but they are unrelated to the MCAT materials.
General MCAT Prep Books: There are a lot of different companies out there. Making this blog post, there are definitely more available than when I was studying in 2019. In this case, I would spend some time searching for the right prep books. However, you do not need prep books unless it’s how you learn best. The Khan Academy videos do cover the same material so if review books do not work for you, I do not recommend buying these types of books.
At the time, I ordered a set of The Princeton Review books that were a little outdated for that time. This time period was when the MCAT changed so companies were still trying to produce accurate review books. I would recommend Kaplan, The Princeton Review or ExamKrackers for books for all the subjects if that is your way of learning.
Anki: I’ve already made a post about Anki and there are many resources online about it. I recommend trying it to everyone to see if it works for you. Personally, Anki helped with my retention for the Psych and Soc section of the MCAT. I have a minor in psychology but there are just so many terms to remember and I found the Miledown deck and the notes to be incredibly useful.
Miledown is a Reddit user who created a free study guide after they took the MCAT. They also created the Anki deck to correspond with the study guide. I highly recommend trying it out because it is a free resource. Below are links to the Reddit post (no account needed) and Anki’s download page. There are many Anki look-alikes but this is the official one.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Mcat/comments/cckw41/my_anki_deck/
Specific Books:
I had major deficits in the first two sections of the MCAT. For that reason, I ended up purchasing two books for the first section which I link here:
I also needed more CARS passages so I used the NextStep and ExamKrackers book. These books are just passages so I highly recommend it if you need more CARS passage practice:
Other
Barron’s Flashcards: I used these at the beginning before I knew about the Miledown flashcards.They are typical flashcards and I liked them because I could read the concepts while walking or cooking. They are not necessary for success. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1438075545?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=thecuriousm06-20&linkId=bb259a614d5270e6383e3c016d311f83&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
White Board: I bought this wet erase test board to simulate my MCAT experience because I found it difficult to replicate the exact experience with regular dry erase white boards. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0979017580?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=thecuriousm06-20&linkId=be62d70b13f814ff5efdc315949709bb&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
Since it’s been about three years, I can’t remember all the costs or details of these resources. However, I think using the official AAMC resources are the best bet to success because they literally write the exam. These are all the resources I used for my three MCAT attempts. Do your research and be thoughtful about how you prepare. Remember that everyone will claim they have the best resources to help you with your preparation. The bottom line is making sure you know what will help you. I hope this post was helpful!
