MCAT Krack

Study Guide

No
Nonsense
MCAT
Strategy
 YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU SET YOUR MIND TO

Welcome future doctor. You may be studying for the MCAT for the first time, or you
may be retaking the MCAT for the third time with hopes to get better results. No
matter what your target score is, no matter what your current score is, this MCAT
strategy is designed to see it through.

Are you ready to get the MCAT score for your dream Medical School and finally leave
the MCAT behind forever? If yes, then from here on in, we need hyper-focus from
you. Do everything we say in this manual.

Helping students attain 95th-99th percentile MCAT scores is what we've been doing
for the past 25 years, so you don't have to worry about how to put together the
perfect study plan. We're about to teach you how.

This Book is
Examkrackers, Inc.
Copywright 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE 1 PAGE 10
When should I take the MCAT? Content Review
Take Your Prerequisites - 1 Read it All at Once - 11

The MCAT is Not a Marathon - 2 How to Read Anything Correctly - 12

The Gap Year is Fine - 3

PAGE 13
Choose a Test Date Now - 4
Passage Practice
How to Practice (and Review) - 13
PAGE 5
How to Know What to Practice - 14
What MCAT Prep works?
The Most Effective Plan - 5
PAGE 15
Don't Have a Plan B - 6 Zen Week
How Not to Act on Test Day - 16
PAGE 7 MCAT Study Schedule - 17
Your First Practice MCAT Exam
What to Expect - 7
Set up for Success - 8
Half Diagnostics are Inaccurate - 9
 1
WHEN SHOULD I
TAKE THE MCAT?
Hey, I'm Salty. I'll be pointing out the obvious along the
way, like if someone advises you to take your MCAT your
junior year without knowing what classes you've taken
and what your schedule that semester looks like, you
shouldn't be taking their advice.

The best time to take the MCAT is when you've completed your science prerequisites, and you can
devote 9-12 weeks prioritizing the MCAT over all other commitments. We highly recommend
limiting your MCAT Prep to twelve weeks. This prevents burnout.

Some students have asked us if it's acceptable to begin MCAT prep straight out of high school in
their freshman year. While this approach sounds safe, it's a huge contributor to burnout. While the
content on the MCAT is very wide, we've found it's superficial, basic science, which can lose
student's interest over long period of time. Disinterest makes studying feel impossible, but the
MCAT is too important for your Medical School acceptance to become careless about.

Prioritize your core prerequisite classes before considering MCAT Prep. No exceptions.
You must take these college classes before (and not during) MCAT Prep:

General Biology I & II

Keep in mind that these are not all the classes you need for
Biochemistry
Medical School acceptance. Higher division classes like
General Chemistry I & II
molecular biology make you a more favorable candidate
General Physics
Organic Chemistry I & II
for Medical School.
Psychology
Do not attempt classes crucial for candidacy during your
MCAT Prep. Protect your GPA and your MCAT score by
giving each the focus they deserve.
 2
The MCAT is Not a Marathon.
It's a sprint.
The MCAT must be prioritized before everything else in your life during MCAT Prep.

You'll need to lower your class credits, request fewer work hours if you can and forgo events that
could throw off your focus such as vacations and huge celebrations.

This is an intense, but short commitment. That's why your ideal MCAT Prep should be limited to
9-12 weeks.

If you do not have 9-12 weeks in a season that you can prioritize your MCAT exam above all
other commitments then we do not recommend prepping for the MCAT that season.

It's often argued online that slow and steady wins the MCAT race, but in our experience students
lose interest in MCAT content over longer periods of time, especially 6 month study plans. When
a student becomes disenchanted with their MCAT material they are at risk for wandering away
from the original plan that they've committed to, committing to a new MCAT plan and adding on
months onto their study plan.

This slows down score improvement, decreases their overall practice score (and confidence) and
additionally loses them money. We've found that the average Premed retakes the MCAT at least
once and spends around $4,000 on various MCAT Prep resources over two years.

The MCAT is not a marathon. It's a sprint.

No Premed should have to be studying MCAT prep for years. This exam should be a very short
experience in the grand scheme of your career. Our students are trained to reach their target
score as quickly and painlessly as possible.

If you want a high MCAT score, stop thinking of the MCAT as a long journey, and start thinking of
it as an obstacle to urgently get out of the way.

You can finish your MCAT Prep in Cabo, just as long as it's
a quiet place by the pool in Cabo.
 THE
GAP
YEAR
IS FINE
Sometimes students wonder if taking a one year gap after college graduation to apply to
Medical School will effect their Medical School candidacy.

The Gap Year, when used correctly, is a positive addition to your Medical School and your
MCAT score. Communicating how you spent your gap year to better yourself as a Medical
School candidate is key, whether it was volunteering or studying for the MCAT.

Keep in mind that Medical Schools are acclimated to most of their applicants being what is
known as "non-traditional" students who pursued other careers and returned to their college
education in order to become doctors.

In weighing the decision if you need more time to achieve higher grades, take the
prerequisite classes you need and attain a higher MCAT score; or look more like a straight-
path candidate, always choose what will gain you higher scores.

The Summer after graduation is typically when students feel

they've achieved the GPA they want, they can move back in with
family with little to no work commitments and they have no
social life to distract them from a season of MCAT Prep.
 4

Choose a test date now

When AAMC registration releases the MCAT test dates for the following year, you will want to
register right away. Do not wait on this.

If you know that you have 9-12 weeks to commit to MCAT Prep in the next application cycle,
register for your seat in the local testing center as soon as possible.

Seats in your city are likely to fill immediately and we do not recommend traveling to an
unfamiliar city to take this exam. Finding accommodations for travel, sleep and food, and
understanding your new route to the testing center on the test day all increase anxiety.

We've observed students who scored in the 98th percentiles in every practice exam struggle to
achieve the same score on test day when an anomaly occurs such as a disruption in the testing
room, awkward conversations before sitting down or feeling nervous about being late to the
exam due to traffic or unfamiliarity with the route.

It's important not to create these anomalies for ourselves by procrastinating.

Registration is also significantly less expensive when done sooner, rather than later. The MCAT
locations and dates for the following year are most commonly released by the AAMC in late
September.
 5

WHAT MCAT PREP

WORKS?

MCAT plans are not one-size-fit all, but some MCAT plans
just don't fit anyone. Let's be objective.

There are many different learning styles that appeal to different students, but the latest
psychological evidence suggests that while the idea of different learning styles may appeal to
students, they actually don't exist (yet this myth prevails in test prep marketing).

Instead of offering students a buffet of schedules and study plans to choose from (which may or
may not work), we've taken our data from achieving 99th percentile scores for over 25 years, and
rely on a tried and true learning method. That is why we are a test prep after all.

Lecture Test Review

If you want to retain MCAT science content (or any content) while simultaneously improving at
passage practice, you'll need to regularly test yourself after every chapter you read or every
lecture attend.

You'll then want to review your test answer choices, and practice arriving at the correct
answer. You'll find as we go onto the schedule at the end of this book that this method is the
foundation of a simple and strong MCAT plan.

Some methods that don't work nearly as well towards achieving better test scores include
walking through a test with others (it's not a test then is it?), reading without testing, testing
without reviewing your answers, and attending lectures or watching videos without reading.
 6

Don't Have a Plan B

Having a second MCAT test date in mind when registering for your official MCAT test exam can
be detrimental to your full commitment to your first choice test date.

It's important that students do not intentionally plan to retake their MCAT exam.

Other students will tell you that retaking the MCAT is one of the biggest struggles that can
happen during MCAT prep because their first MCAT attempt can convince them that they're
not capable of scoring any higher.

This can be mentally defeating, and students who are retaking the MCAT need to work hard to
push pass this false limitation.

Instead of having a second MCAT date in mind, simply choose the MCAT date with a 9-12 week
plan prior to the test date that provides you with the most focus and free time.

There are few exceptions to this rule such as a dire change in life circumstances mid-MCAT prep
where the student couldn't possibly focus on studying.

When these life emergencies happen, we recommend not going into an MCAT exam where you
could not complete your MCAT course or can no longer sit down to focus.

Breaking your hand counts as an emergency that might

prolong your MCAT date if it slows down your speed.
 7
YOUR FIRST MCAT
PRACTICE EXAM
Often called your diagnostic exam, your first MCAT exam will be the
first time you sit for this 7.5 hour test. We recommend taking this
immediately at the beginning of prep, even before beginning your
content review.

Yes, you are ready. This assessment is necessary to know which

sections you're weak and strong in. It will be an entirely new
experience where you will learn how you perform in a long sitting,
how you react to confusing research passages and how much content
you recognize during the exam.

Do not avoid this exam. It's common for students to want to wait until
they've read a little bit more content. This provides a false sense of
security. It's more important to know how far you are from your target
score and which sections you need to increase your score in. Fight
your fears and save yourself time
in the long run.

What to Expect
The first practice exam score for most students, regardless if they
had a perfect GPA in their Premed Program at college or not, is
low. It is typical that they do not break the 500 mark when
acclimating to the MCAT for the first time.

This is normal because:

You have just subjected yourself to a 7.5 hour exam for the
first time which is mentally draining.

You were likely shocked by how basic science could be

presented in such a complicated context. You may even be
convinced you did not really learn the science now.

You were scared of missing the main idea on passages, feeling

tricked by questions or not being able to finish, causing you to
lose time thinking clearly.
 8
How to Set Up for Success
Don't worry if you receive a lower score than expected, but
let's make sure that your experience is an accurate one.

Always take your full length practice exam in an environment

like your official MCAT testing center.

This means in a moderately silent, non-distracting seated area

and not in your living room, in front of the television set or at
the dinner table with family having conversations around you.

Always take your full length practice exam at the same time of
day you're going to take your official MCAT.

This means you should not take your full length practice exam
late at night and work through it through the crack of dawn.

Always take your full length practice exam in an online

simulated testing center, with sections and breaks timed
exactly as they would be on the official MCAT (and not a
minute longer).

This also means not pausing in the middle of the full length
exam to speak with a friend and not lounging in a seat that is
not upright while you take the exam.

It's important to replicate the conditions of your official MCAT

exam as closely as possible in order to produce accurate
results of what your score would be.

This experience should be identical to the real thing in order

not to get into the habit of taking the MCAT under conditions
that will not occur on your official MCAT.
 9

Half Diagnostic Exams

are inaccurate
Half Diagnostic MCAT Exams are typically used to gage a student's content knowledge, passage
performance and testing acclimation in 2-3 hours rather than the 7.5 hour commitment, and
they're notoriously inaccurate. Don't bother with them.

Their inaccuracy is due to the fact that:

Every section on the MCAT is not covered in real time and therefore the amount of minutes
you would spend per passage is inaccurate.

Since you are not sitting for the 7.5 hour exam, you are not truly seeing how much stamina
you would have over the longer duration of time.

Your real score cannot be calculated without the full 7.5 hour exam experience.

There is an inaccurate number of passage-based and stand alone questions under inaccurately
timed conditions that you would have on the official MCAT, making your need for either more
content review or passage practice unclear.

You are not experiencing the short breaks inbetween 90 minute sections in their correct order,
and therefore not accurately recording how you would react to switching from one in-depth
exam to another.

As you can tell there are a lot of inaccuracies that come with half diagonistic exams, with the
biggest risk being that you get the wrong idea of what your official score would be on the MCAT,
and put your efforts into wrong subjects or into an MCAT plan that will not work for you.

It's best just to sit for a a 7.5 hour full length practice exam.
 10
CONTENT REVIEW
Let's settle this once and for all, in order to get a phenomenal MCAT score you need both content
review and practice. Practice is where score improvement occurs, but without knowing your
MCAT content you will waste your time practicing answering questions incorrectly.

The MCAT will present basic science content in contexts you have never seen before. This test
format is intentional. The MCAT is not designed like your previous college exams that will test if
you memorized a model. It will test if you understand how to apply that model. This mirrors the
experience of a doctor who is exposed to different clinical contexts.

When students under timed pressure read MCAT passages that test their basic knowledge in
ways they're uncomfortable with, they become shocked and begin doubting themselves. This
increases the time they spend thinking about irrelevant things on the MCAT exam and before
they know it, they're out of time, and out of points to score.

The only way to muscle through the nature of the MCAT is to have comprehensive content
review and passage practice.

You can't take a good swing at the passages without

knowing good form.
 11

We'll teach you to be handy with

content on all six MCAT subjects
on any given MCAT passage.

Read It All At Once

We've completed a schedule at the end of this book that will teach you how to read all six of
your MCAT books in your Complete MCAT Study Guide at once. Follow our schedule to
learn from your books simultaneously. Do not complete one book at a time.

When students refuse to read one MCAT book before finishing another, they spend too
much time on each individual book. By the time they complete all six MCAT prep books, they
forget what they learned in the first book they read. This wastes your time, practice material
and money.

The MCAT is also an interdisciplinary exam, making it beneficial for you to connect topics
that will appear across biological and physical science sections. Examkrackers books teach
you how to think about these topics cross-functionally.

The books on the MCAT you'll need for this schedule are:
Examkrackers MCAT Biology I: Molecular Biology
Examkrackers MCAT Physics
Examkrackers MCAT Chemistry
Examkrackers MCAT Psychology & Sociology
Examkrackers MCAT Biology II: Systems
Examkrackers MCAT CARS
 12
HOW TO READ
ANYTHING CORRECTLY
This won't only raise your MCAT score,
but it will raise all your grades across
your studies going forward.

There's one way to study that will make memorization effortless, and that's by reading
each chapter three times. This is the Examkrackers reading method that will force you
to understand the science and make content retention easy so you can focus on
passage practice. Many students are resistant to this method because of their busy
schedules, but this method actually saves time studying.

Your First Read

This read should be casual, relaxed, as if you were reading a novel. Do not take notes
during this first time reading your chapter. This first read will familiarize you with the
material you will later be tested on.

Your Second Read

This read should be meticulous, slowly, with your pencil in hand and taking notes. Since
you were already familiar with the chapter during the first read, you'll find that instead
of spending hours taking notes on what you already know, you will skip wasting time
taking notes on what you've already memorized. This makes your study time more
efficient.

Always take an active break after this read.

Your Third Read

After lecture or having taken your 30-minute mini-MCAT exam (available in the back of
for every chapter in every Examkrackers book), you will need to review your correct and
incorrect answers. Never focus on why you answered a question incorrectly, and
instead practice arriving to the correct answer.

After your review or class, return to your chapter for a brief third read. In this read you
will focus on rereading the sections of concepts you missed on the exam and adjusting
your notes with your improved understanding taken from review.
 13
PASSAGE PRACTICE
For a high MCAT score, content review is necessary for the MCAT but passage practice is
where score increase takes place. Both are essential for the MCAT.

For reference, these are the three kinds of practice and how Examkrackers evaluates them in
their usefulness to your MCAT score:

Full Length MCAT Practice Exams are essential practice to attain a good MCAT score. Not
only should you practice Full Length MCAT Exams continuously throughout your 9-12 week
program, you should get started talking full length practice exams immediately in order to
acclimate to the 7.5 hour duration, section order and breaks.

Timed Passage Practice is better than untimed passage practice because it increases your
speed in reading, eliminating answer choices and recognizing the author's the main idea,
under accurately timed conditions for your official MCAT. This is why we offer our 101
MCAT Passages Workbooks for every MCAT subject in an online interface identical to your
official MCAT under the accurate timed conditions for every section.

Stand-Alone Question Practice are questions reviewing MCAT content, but are not based
on an MCAT passage. In your official MCAT every section will be mixed with passage-based
questions and stand-alone questions. In the manner of flashcards, stand-alone questions
help you better memorize and understand the science tested on the MCAT.

HOW TO PRACTICE (AND REVIEW)

Think of practice as nothing more than regular testing. Testing improves your memorization,
understanding and application of the content on the alien passages the Official MCAT will throw at
you. In our MCAT schedule, you'll practice with a 30-minute mini-MCAT exam using real passages
at the end of each chapter.

For best results, take these exams with no interruptions, in a setting similar to your official MCAT
testing center. Also log on to your student portal at our website to take all your exams from your
Complete MCAT Study Package (the six MCAT textbook set) in an online interface identical to the
official MCAT.

Make sure to review your answer choices as soon as possible to when you've taken the exam. This
immediate review improves content retention. Focus on how the answer explanation or your
instructor teaches how to solve the problem for the correct answer. Don't bother wasting time
trying to figure out how you arrived to the incorrect answer. It's more important to get into the
habit of solving for the problem than over-analyzing your mistakes.
 14

How to Know What to Practice

We've found that it's common for students on their third week through their MCAT Prep to say, "I
need to focus on CARS, on Biology, on Physics and on Chemistry." But that isn't really focusing is
it?

Aside from comprehensive content review with continuous schedule of Full Length MCAT
Practice Exams and mini-MCAT exams after each chapter, you can choose to implement additional
practice to increase your performance but it should be managed wisely to prevent burnout.

For example, the typical 9-12 week MCAT prep consists of 2-3 hours per day of MCAT reading,
lecture and review altogether. But if a student added additional 90-minute, timed passage practice
on all six subjects of the exams he would be studying all day long and likely, burnout.

As an MCAT test prep its our obligation to prevent burnout, no matter how tempting a challenging
MCAT study plan can sound to over-achieving Premeds, so here's how you decide what to
practice:

Look at your lowest section score across your first three MCAT practice exams. Perhaps you
have two that are increasing slower than the rest. The MCAT section you're performing the
worst on provides the greatest margin for score increase, as this is where you can hope to gain
the most points on your exam. Work in daily, 90-minute timed passage practice on your
lowest section or lowest two sections.

If you're repeatedly not scoring well on your chapter review questions or weren't tested
enough in your college prerequisite classes, then consider practicing stand-alone questions for
content review. This frequently happens in Chemistry and Physics which is why we provide
1001 Question Workbooks for each.

Realize that an improved score on your CARS section will improve your score across all of the
other sections since it tests your skills with the MCAT research based passage style format
itself. Use timed passage practice and the lessons provided in your Examkrackers CARS
textbook to improve this section.

I have now given them the secret

formula to understanding what to spend
their time practicing on. My premeds
will never be at the mercy of
overpriced MCAT programs again.
 15

ZEN WEEK
By your last week of MCAT prep before you take the exam
there's no nothing you could do to significantly improve, s
there's no reason to worry any longer.

If you've selected the test date according to the Examkrackers 9-12 week schedule, your official
MCAT test date should happen in the next 1-2 weeks after your MCAT Prep ends. The gap
between your last MCAT lecture and your test date can bring about a lot of nerves, but it's
important to remember that making great-leaps of effort to improve during this time will typically
lower your MCAT score rather than improve it.

We call this week, Zen Week, to remind you that you should keep peace of mind and try to stay
calm before the official MCAT, confident that you have given your best effort in your 9-12 week
MCAT prep. If you've followed our schedule and taken Examkrackers Full Length MCAT Practice
Exams consistently as we've laid out, your official MCAT Practice exam score should be slightly
higher than your score on your last full length MCAT practice exam.

It's very important not to engage in cramming behaviors that may have rewarded you on past
college exams, such as pulling all-nighters or having six hour long study sessions the day before
the test. These approaches will not work for the MCAT, because the MCAT does not solely test
what you know like your past college exams.

Instead you should relax and continue on your normal sleep schedule; and food and exercise
routine that you've kept throughout your 9-12 week MCAT program. This will yield the most
predictable results.
 16
HOW NOT TO
ACT ON TEST DAY
... or how to not allow your nerves to get the best of you

There are a few things you should never do on test day that are important
to remember, and knowing these things will help you on all future exams.

Do not talk about your exam before the exam. Do not listen to the
worries other students have about their exam if they happen to be
talking about the exam before the exam begins. This is essential to
protecting your confidence. Remember that these students may not
have practiced according to an MCAT plan proven to yield results, and
therefore, what's true for them, will likely not be true for you. Don't
allow them to project their experiences onto you, especially
immediately before the exam.
Do not overthink about specific strategies
before the exam, especially ones that weren't
recommended by us during your MCAT prep.
Simply allow yourself to perform like you have
been during past practice exams.

Do arrive on time and prepared to the exam,

which is why you should have rehearsed your
route to the practice exam in the days before.

These simple rules are designed to protect your

mindset going into the exam.

Now that you've read how to get an excellent MCAT score, we're going to give you the proven
self study schedule that shows you when to read and what to read, page by page, day by day.

Do not deviate from our recommended schedule without consulting our customer service. You
can read us at our website at Examkrackers.com.

Remember that any change to our schedule that you may feel is minor, may be based off tested
data that we know yields the highest results. Work exactly as we say and you will see those
results.
 17

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 1
 18

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 2
 19

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 3
 20

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 4
 21

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 5
 22

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 6
 23

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 7
 24

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 8
 25

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 9
 26

MCAT STUDY SCHEDULE

WEEK 10