How to prep over the MCAT over the Thanksgiving holiday
If you’ve got time off on your calendar coming up for Thanksgiving, you may want to capitalize on the break to ramp up your MCAT studying. But the break is also a time for celebration, rest, and family. And if you’re a student who just had a busy week of midterms right before the break, you also want some time to recuperate and catch up on sleep ahead of upcoming finals. There’s a balance to strike between rest, fun, and productivity!
Quantify your time
Take a look at your travel plans, holiday plans, family plans, and figure out where you actually have time blocks you can set aside for MCAT studying. Is it early in the morning, before hanging out with family? Are there days you want to set aside for MCAT, and days you set aside for family? Getting concrete with your plans means you’re more likely to stick to them.
Be honest & reasonable
Overplanning and overestimating how much you can finish during the break is a recipe for getting discouraged. Be honest, and set goals that are actually achievable.
Make plans for studying you can fit in
If you have a lot of travel, or days when there are only short pockets of time you can fit in studying, then adjust your study plans accordingly. Focus on completing and reviewing quizzes, use flashcards, or rehearse your understanding of a high yield topic you’ve reviewed before. Waking up early and setting aside the morning, and then stepping away for the rest of the day for family and holiday activities is often an effective way to carve out time for MCAT
Taking a full length practice test during the break
You ideally want to take all your practice tests in conditions that mimic the real MCAT as much as possible. This means taking it in one sitting, starting in the morning, following the break schedule, and without interruptions. Talk to your family ahead of time to let them know, and tell them why it’s important. You may not be able to abscond to a library due to holiday closures, so grab your noise cancelling headphones, put a “do not disturb” sign on the door, and put your phone on airplane/DND mode. Schedule your full length on a day that you can also spend time soon after reviewing the test, and learning from your missed questions.
Stress
It can be hard if your family doesn’t understand the time demands of preparing for the MCAT. You may hear, “oh, you’re smart, you always study for your test the day before and do fine–you worry too much!” And that’s true that you’re smart and do well on your exams…but the MCAT isn’t just some undergraduate test. It isn’t even like a lot of other standardized tests your family may be familiar with! Know that your compatriots in the premed community know how much work this takes.
Be sure to take time for yourself this holiday season. You can be productive, but you also want to rest, enjoy family and friends, and take time for yourself. Figuring out work-life balance is something you’ll be doing throughout your medical career, so being mindful of that process is worth working on even now.
Happy Thanksgiving!