I took the MCAT in January of 2020, I studied for roughly 4 weeks. The general consensus is that you should study between 200-300 hours for the MCAT, some people prefer to spread this out over months, and others prefer to do it in a more compressed time frame. I think the decision on how long you should study should be made based on how much free time you have to spend studying. Personally, the only free period of time I had away from school and work was winter holiday, so I decided to study then. My strategy paid off, and I scored a 518, or in the 96th percentile

Though I started studying during the winter holiday, I roughly planned out how my days would look and what content I’d cover each day. I spent on average 12 hours per day, excluding days where I took practice tests. The resources I used were the 7-Book Kaplan MCAT set, ANKI, Jack Westin Cars Passages, Khan Academy, the AAMC Section Bank, and all 4 of the AMCAS Official Practice Tests. Some people choose to purchase a course, though I wouldn’t recommend this if you feel that you are able to maintain a strict study schedule on your own. The classes that prepared me most for the MCAT were Principles of Chemistry, Foundations of Biology, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry. I would also recommend taking psychology, but this subject is the easiest to self study.

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The first week I dedicated to content review and went through a book per day (excluding the CARS book). I wrote down every concept in each chapter and marked it if it was “high yield”. I did not read the book in depth, but rather skimmed until I came across something I felt weaker on. The MCAT tests knowledge you should have already learned in your pre-med courses, so you shouldn’t need to deeply read the practice books. This took roughly 6 hours per book on average, the remaining 6 hours I broke down between doing ANKI flashcards for about 2 hours, Jack Westin CARS passages for 2 hours, and reviewing the difficult concepts of the day for another 2 hours. After I had gone through the content, I took my first practice exam. The AMCAS Practice Tests provide information on what questions you missed, what concepts that question tests, as well as the correct answer. I spent the weeks following each practice exam going over each question, regardless of if I got it right or wrong. For questions I got wrong, I would study the concept more in depth by either referencing the book or going through the related modules on Khan Academy. I did this a total of three times. I compiled a list of all the questions and concepts I missed and spent the final week looking over them. I took the 4th practice test two days before the real exam to determine where I stood.  

My overall experience with taking the MCAT was pleasant, I made sure to use all my time and not rush too much. I recommend that you take your breaks in their entirety to forget about the previous section and focus on the next one.