If I Had to Retake the MCAT: What I'd Keep, Stop, and Add
I went from a 493 on my diagnostic to a 510 on test day. That's a 17 point jump, and looking back, most of it didn't come from studying harder. It came from studying differently.
If I had to do it all again, here's exactly what I'd keep doing, what I'd stop doing, and what I'd add.
What I'd Keep Doing
These are the strategies that genuinely moved my score. I'd do all of them again without changing a thing.
Anki — but only after learning the content. Anki is great for retention, definitions, and equations. But it only works if you use it in the right order. What I'd do differently: I wouldn't learn cards for topics I hadn't reviewed yet. Time your Anki review with your content review, not ahead of it.
Full-length exams. Full lengths build stamina, expose your weaknesses, and let you simulate test day. That means no phone, no notes, no outside contact, no water — the whole thing. The biggest lesson here: reviewing them was almost more important than taking them. By test day, it just felt like another full length, and I felt at ease.
Equation review. This was one of the biggest factors in improving my Chem/Phys score. The key is focusing on relationships between variables, not memorization alone. I used an equation sheet to practice daily — writing every equation from memory, not just reading it. (Link in bio if you want mine.)
What I'd Stop Doing
Taking endless notes. I filled an entire iPad during content review. Looking back: I rarely reviewed them, they took a huge amount of time, and practice questions taught me more than the notes ever did. Before you take a note, ask yourself honestly: "Will I actually look at this again?" If the answer's no, skip it.
Trying to learn everything. The MCAT is huge. You cannot learn all of it equally well, and trying to is a losing strategy. I'd focus much more on high-yield topics, frequently tested concepts, and the patterns that show up again and again across practice material.
What I'd Add
Learning how the MCAT actually works. I wish I had focused earlier on eliminating answers, roman numeral questions, using clues from the passage, and reasoning through questions when I'd forgotten the content. The MCAT is a skill, not just a knowledge test — and skills need to be practiced separately from content.
Practice questions, earlier. I would start applying content much sooner instead of waiting until I felt "ready." Practice questions reveal your actual weaknesses, teach you MCAT logic, and improve your reasoning in a way passive review never will.
More confidence. My practice scores fluctuated constantly, and it messed with my head every time. One bad score doesn't define your potential. And on certain questions, your intuition is more valuable than you think — trust it more than you probably do right now.
The Biggest Lesson
Studying that feels productive isn't always studying that actually improves your score. That gap is where most of my wasted months went.
493 → 510.
Save this for your future MCAT self.
