The first thing that you need to do before you even start to do anything committing for the MCAT is evaluate whether or not you are ready right now. While some say that you may take the MCAT more than one time (up to two or three), it is not recommended. Depending on the school and rigor, schools may take your best individual sections as your score, or average out the scores, or take the lowest score, no matter what. So in the end, you want to take the MCAT once, and a knockout once. Read as much as you can about the MCAT and what it entails to prepare for it. Also worth evaluating is if a career medicine is what you like. If you are gritting your teeth down for studying because “you really don’t like to study,” then maybe a career spent studying, even after graduation, is not the best for you. Evaluate if you have what it takes, because us tutors here do not want you to waste your resources, time, and effort on anything.
This is where we start to come in! A sort of intake interview will help us gauge how many hours a day you have available to study, and based on that when an ideal test day would be. Be prepared to bare all, because preparing about the MCAT is about putting everything on the line and using every minute of the day that you can to study, even if that means you will have to skip that Game of Thrones or Dexter episode. It’s okay. Even though we give up these luxuries for now, we get to be doctors!
Us tutors will help formulate a goal that is both attainable and within your desire to score. Be sure to check the MSARs (Medical School Admission Requirements) to see where you stand with your pre-preparation test score and where you want to end up, according to the schools you hope to gain acceptance. This is a careful balance between your own personal information that you have on your GPA, extracurricular activities, and experiences. Once this is decided, it is important for us to set score-goals along the way so that there is a plan of attack to attain the desired score.
Tutors are here to answer any questions you have on the material itself. The MCAT exam is not hard because the exam is written in a difficult way, it’s because the material is hard too! We are here for any questions on conceptual questions, and easy tips and tricks for solving classes of problems, including verbal and problems involving math alike.
Tutors will help fine-tune your problem-solving skills so that you may finish each section with enough time to go over all of your responses before you move on the next section, all while maximizing your time.
Tutors will take you through the test-taking process and what it is like. This in itself is an experience that can change how you perform on the exam. This is why so many practice tests are taken, so that any discomfort caused by the exam-taking cannot be because of the exam format or the like. Tutors will review rules, regulations, tips for test day, and even what to eat!
“Nasya is a private MCAT tutor in Chicago who has been working with MyGuru for several years. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.S. in Biology, and will be attending the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School in 2014.”