The Medical College - Page 7
General Study Guidelines
The following nine suggestions should aid in
your preparation for taking the MCAT.
1. Your first step should be to familiarize
yourself with the major topics that must
be mastered for each of the subtests (see pages
143–144). This will give an
overview of areas that may require greater or
lesser emphasis in your study
schedule.
2. It is probably desirable to begin your study
with the subject that you are most
knowledgeable or comfortable with. Thus the
learning process, which under the
circumstances should be a productive one, will
also serve to reinforce your self-
confidence as you prepare for more challenging
segments of the exam.
3. Consider utilizing a study plan that
involves a preliminary review of the mater-
ial, before initiating intensive study. If
areas of weakness are identified during
the initial review, seek to fill in the void
without excessive delay. This will
lessen your anxiety due to concern over your
knowledge gap. Excessive worry
over your deficiencies can seriously impede
preparation for and attainment of
your goal.
4. Determine the inherent sequence of the
information you seek to master. Try to
master it within the context of a logical
"framework" rather than as isolated
data.
5. You should try to determine your most
successful study techniques (such as
repeated reading of material outlining the
subject, written summary of the text,
or verbalizing the highlights of the
information being studied).
6. Before you commit information to memory, be
certain that you comprehend it
fully. It is more difficult to unlearn
erroneous material and replace it with a cor-
rect version than to learn it right in the
first place.
7. The length of your individual study session
should be reasonable and adjusted
to the state of your physical and mental
well-being. If fatigue sets in during
your learning period, take a break or terminate
it. Pushing yourself beyond your
limit will be unproductive because of
inefficiency, and consequently potentially
frustrating.
8. The major determinant of success on the MCAT
(like any other exam) is reten-
tion of the material learned. Meaningful
information--that is, knowledge asso-
ciated with principles or concepts--is retained
longer than nonmeaningful infor-
mation--this is, isolated facts. In both cases,
however, repetition at spaced
intervals after initial learning will enhance
retention. Thus, frequent, short,
intense review periods will definitely enhance
your incorporating the material
for an extended interval.
9. Getting a good night's (REM) sleep after an
initial intense study session in the
evening is important, because (dream) sleep has
been shown to consolidate
long-term memory, thus enhancing
retention.
Specific Study Guidelines
One can and should prepare for each of the four
specific subtests. Preparation for these
should be an integral part of your overall
study plan.
Science Subtest Preparation
As indicated in the preceding section, a
preliminary review of the major topics in the
physical and biological sciences will provide
you with a general assessment of your
strengths and weaknesses. This can be done
using well-written college textbooks or
reading the Science Review chapter in Barron's
How to Prepare for the Medical College
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