As an MCAT student concerned about crafting your perfect exam strategy, you might be feeling overwhelmed. You may have heard about numerous MCAT strategies – highlighting the passage, taking notes, reading the questions first, skipping around, etc. Which should you choose? And even once you settle on a larger strategy, you’ll find various ways to…
4 Things Your MCAT Score Says About You
Why are standardized tests so important? Do they really reflect your abilities or capabilities? Do they really test what you need to know in order to become a physician? According to most medical school admissions committees, the answer is a resounding YES. How you perform on your MCAT says a lot about how you’ll perform…
Affordable Online Test Prep [Episode 198]
We are now getting calls from applicants who plan to plan to apply in the summer, fall, and winter to matriculate in 2018. A few have all their ducks lined up – test score in place, school visits planned, a GPA they’re proud of, and maybe they’re just rounding out their profile to put icing…
Do You Measure Up to the DO Applicants Who Got Accepted Last Year?
In reviewing the matriculation data for the 2016-17 cycle from AACOMAS, there are several trends that can inform your application strategy and increase your chances of acceptance. Last cycle, 185,602 applications were submitted by 20,720 applicants, and 6,778 were accepted. In other words, 32.7% of applicants matriculated at DO school. Let’s take a look at…
Firecracker – A Dynamite Way to Approach Med School Education [Episode 187]
Today’s guest is Ben Williams, founder and CEO of Firecracker. Firecracker is, according to its website, “an adaptive learning platform that uses amazing content coupled with spaced repetition to help medical students crush their exams.” Ben graduated from Harvard College in 2005 with a BA in Biology and Health Policy. From 2006-09 he co-founded and…
The MCAT: What do You Actually Need to Study? [On-Demand Webinar]
You could take class after class and sift through site after site and review notes and more notes on material that may or may not appear on the MCAT…or you can just view our webinar, The MCAT: What You Actually Need to Study, presented by Clara Gillian, MCAT Content Director at Next Step Test Prep,…
Making Your MCAT Study Plan
It’s official – you’ve registered for an MCAT exam date, acquired prep materials, and figured out exactly how many months you can set aside to study. You’re ready to get started! While this can be an exciting time, for the majority of students, it’s when paralysis sets in. How much time should you spend on…
Review of the Next Step Test Prep Online MCAT Course
After organizing and leading an MCAT summer prep program for five years with the UC Davis School of Medicine Postbaccalaureate Program, I worked with Kaplan and Princeton Review extensively. Those two companies were our best MCAT prep options at the time. The Berkeley Review wasn’t able to support programs outside of the bay area during…
Deciding When to Take the MCAT
If you are planning on applying to medical school Summer 2017 or 2018, it’s time to make some decisions about when you will take the MCAT, if you have not already done so. Since the exam carries so much weight, identifying and following through with a strategy that will work for you can help you…
How Long Do You Need to Study for the MCAT?
If you’re planning on taking the MCAT in the next year or two, you’ve probably asked yourself this question: how many months do I actually need to set aside to prepare? The answer to this question is enormously important – the MCAT is a content-intensive and difficult test, so you need to give yourself plenty…
How to Help Your Child During MCAT Preparation
Do you want to help your pre-med child get into med school…without having to nag or stress them out? This series has loads of concrete, actionable advice that will help your premed discover their competitive advantage and get accepted! The MCAT terrifies most students. Rightly so; it’s a grueling exam that requires enormous dedication while preparing…
Individual Mobile Test Prep and the MIT Sloan MBA Who Created It [Episode 156]
Would you like to combine a slick, personalized mobile test prep app with access to individual tutoring? Stick around! Meet Elad Shoushan, a former pro-basketball player in Israel who attended the Technion, Israel’s MIT, got into coding big time, and worked for GE Healthcare. Just before starting at MIT Sloan he founded a little start-up…
A Cure for MCAT Anxiety and Lots More MCAT Advice [Episode 153]
Are you suffering from a case of MCAT anxiety? We’ve got the prescription for you in this week’s podcast episode. Meet our guest. [0:30] Meet Bryan Schnedeker, National MCAT Director for Next Step Test Prep and a standardized test expert. He scored 44 on the old MCAT and a perfect 180 on the LSAT, and has…
Stay Away From the 5 MCAT Offenses!
Your MCAT score plays a critical role in the evaluation of your med school application. Before taking the MCAT, make sure you know what common mistakes to avoid. Watch the 5 MCAT Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make webinar, presented by Alec Lee from MPrep, and enter the MCAT arena armed with the information and advice you…
MCAT Expertise + Harvard MBA Experience [Episode 145]
Today’s show has something for pre-meds looking to prepare for the MCAT and for MBA wannabes interested in Harvard Business School. << Click here to listen to the show >> Meet Alec Lee [1:15] Alec is the co-founder of the online prep course M Prep. He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2011…
6 Last-Minute Tips for MCAT Day
You’ve got a big day ahead of you – are you ready? Have you done everything you possibly can so this day goes off without a hitch? I’m not talking about the actual MCAT studying – that’s something you certainly can’t leave till the last day! – I’m talking about all the organizational and practical…
The New MCAT Topic that Nobody is Talking About
When the AAMC revamped the MCAT in April 2015, there was a lot of discussion and hype surrounding new subjects on the exam: biochemistry, sociology and psychology. While those new topics are important, the AAMC actually added another new topic to the exam that most students are unaware of: the design and implications of scientific…
The Evolution of the MCAT
Wondering about the history of the MCAT? The AAMC published a timeline of major changes to the exam: Related Resources: • MCAT Scores, MCAT Prep, and MCAT2015 • Improve Your MCAT Score for Medical School Acceptance • Your MCAT Score and GPA – Free Resources
Learning By Osmosis: Premeds, Med Students Take It All In! [Episode 125]
Dr. Rishi Desai believes that people should teach what they are good at and study in the way they learn best. And here’s the cool part: His work makes that possible. Tune in to our conversation with the doctor who is changing the face of medical education! Rishi’s Story (2:38) Commiserating with a self-conscious…
An MCAT Examinee Talks About His MCAT2015 Experience
This interview is part of a new series, featuring interviews with MCAT2015 test takers, offering readers an inside look at the exam experience and some of the top MCAT test prep services out there. And now for a chat with Donald who prepared for the exam using Next Step Test Prep – and scored a 515…