Struggling to improve your MCAT timing? You're not alone. A good MCAT timing strategy can ensure that you finish the test and help you increase your score. Mastering MCAT timing is one of the toughest challenges when figuring out how to study for the MCAT.
But fear not! In this guide, we're diving deep into the art of improving your timing on the MCAT. From understanding why every minute counts to practical tips and strategies, we've got you covered. Get ready to optimize your MCAT prep and efficiently conquer every section of the exam with confidence.
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Why is MCAT Timing Important?
MCAT timing is important because it affects your ability to finish the exam, impacts your performance under pressure, and influences your overall score.
The MCAT exam is 7.5 hours long and includes 230 questions; proper timing ensures you can complete each section within the allocated timeframe, maximizing your chance to answer each question. Additionally, effective time management reduces stress and anxiety, allowing you to maintain focus and perform at your best under pressure.
Admissions expert Dr. Neel Mistry scored in the 97th percentile when he took the MCAT, and one of the keys to his success was getting familiar with the length and format of the exam.
“Taking regular practice test helps develop the mental stamina required to sit through a 7.5-hour test without letting it drastically affect your performance.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD
What Comes First: Mastering MCAT Timing or Content?
Prioritize content study and grasping concepts first in your MCAT prep. After you have begun to master the concepts and skills that the MCAT tests you on, you can focus on improving your timing. In doing so, you won’t end up learning incorrect strategies that prioritize speed over accuracy and negatively affect your score.
Former BeMo student, Anna, found working with an MCAT consultant was critical in helping her improve her MCAT speed.
“Peter was open to my questions and had plenty of strategies to improve my speed. He provided constructive feedback to make my overall passage summaries more concise, which I really benefitted from. He was articulate with his explanations, making it easier to benefit from his expert advice.” – Anna, former BeMo student
Want to see some of our top MCAT timing tips summarized? Check out this infographic:
MCAT Sections and Recommended Timing
Proven Tips to Help You Improve Your Overall MCAT Timing
Practice Timed Testing
Gradually transition to timed practice tests as you gain confidence in content mastery. Utilize realistic passages and diverse question types to replicate test conditions accurately. Develop a timing strategy by periodically checking the clock or setting timed milestones throughout the practice session. Initially challenging, consistent practice will gradually acclimate you to the timed environment, making it almost second nature.
Use Strategic Passage Ordering
Before tackling questions, spend a brief moment assessing the difficulty of each passage. Rank them accordingly, starting with the easiest and progressing to the most challenging. Consider factors like familiarity with topics and complexity of graphs or charts. This strategic approach optimizes time management by prioritizing passages with higher chances of correctness. Allocate no more than a minute or two to this process.
Pre-Select Your Answers
Regardless of the question type, formulate your own answer before reviewing multiple-choice options. This preemptive approach helps cut through potentially confusing wording, enabling efficient elimination of incorrect options. By independently generating an answer, you can quickly identify the closest match among the provided choices, enhancing overall speed and accuracy.
Want BeMo's help with your MCAT prep? Listen to one of our student success stories:
Strategies to Improve Your MCAT Timing on the Science Sections
The MCAT tests scientific concepts and analytical skills; relying on memorization won't suffice. Section-specific strategies are essential for improving speed.
Active Learning
To ace the MCAT, embrace active learning. This means engaging with the material in ways that promote a deeper understanding, rather than just surface-level memorization.
- Understand Concepts Deeply: Rather than trying to memorize facts, focus on understanding the underlying principles and mechanisms. This will help you apply your knowledge to different types of questions. For instance, when studying biochemistry, ensure you understand how metabolic pathways interconnect rather than just memorizing individual reactions.
- Practice Explaining Concepts: Teaching others is a powerful way to solidify your understanding. Try to explain complex topics to a study partner, or even to yourself out loud. If you can explain a concept clearly and concisely, you are more likely to retain the information.
- Create Visual Aids: Visual aids such as diagrams, flowcharts, and mind maps can help you organize information and see the connections between different topics. For example, drawing out the pathways of glycolysis or the Krebs cycle can help you visualize and remember the steps involved.
- Use Flashcards Effectively: Flashcards are great for reinforcing key concepts and terms. Utilize spaced repetition systems, which adjust the frequency of flashcard reviews based on how well you know each card. This method helps to move information from short-term to long-term memory.
Maximize Passage Reading Efficiency
Prioritize understanding the question rather than focusing on distracting details.
- Skim the passage swiftly before addressing questions.
- Don't dwell on confusing passages; revisit if necessary.
- You don't need to grasp every detail; focus on key points.
- Finish passage reading within 5 minutes; focus on relevant parts guided by questions.
- Highlight key phrases and main points as you read, focus on keywords, chemical formulas, or experimental variables.
- Identify experiment objectives, controls, hypothesis, variables, and results.
Dr. Neel Mistry, physician and admissions expert, thrived in biology classes but admits he struggled with this section of the MCAT. Determined to overcome this hurdle, he used the strategies mentioned to improve his score.
“Although biology is my favorite subject, the hardest part I found was making sense of the passages/experimental studies and their findings within the given time limit. I found the passages to be extremely dense at times but breaking it down into simple terms and focusing on the key results helped.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD
Contextualize the Information
When you contextualize information on the MCAT, it enhances understanding by connecting concepts to real-world applications. This aids in comprehension, retention, and the ability to quickly apply knowledge during the exam. It also promotes critical thinking skills essential for success on the MCAT.
This is important when interpreting graphs or diagrams on the MCAT. While science passages often include visuals, not every question refers to them. Don't spend time deciphering graphs if not prompted directly; focus on parsing essential information instead. Graphs can aid comprehension, but prioritize identifying key details and determining the context to save time.
Dr. Neel Mistry agrees that learning to contextualize is an extremely helpful skill that he used to get a high score on the MCAT.
“For me, contextualizing involved thinking practically and applying concepts to real-life examples. For example, I did this when reading up on a variety of concepts. It made it more interesting and easier to remember the information.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD
Want to know how to increase your MCAT score? Watch this video:
Strategies to Improve Your Timing on the MCAT CARS Section
Practice Active Reading
Enhance your MCAT CARS strategy by improving proficiency through active engagement with diverse reading materials. Summarize main points and author's arguments daily to bolster comprehension and speed. Consistent practice over several weeks will significantly improve passage understanding, ensuring efficient navigation within the CARS section.
Identify CARS Question Types
Achieve mastery on MCAT CARS questions by discerning their types and having a strategy to optimize answering in less time.
Practice identifying question types and applying relevant strategies during mock tests. Learning these skills is crucial, and seeking guidance from an MCAT CARS tutor or MCAT prep course may be beneficial for those struggling to develop this proficiency during preparation.
Use Strategic Answering Techniques
Start by addressing each question in order to maintain focus and retain passage details. Use previously mentioned techniques like highlighting or note-taking to identify the main theme and key points of each passage. Then, eliminate incorrect answers and evaluate the remaining choices based on their alignment with the main theme and key points of the passage.
Admissions expert Cathleen Kuo has an important reminder for students about how different sections of the test have some overlap, and how you can use that to your advantage. For example, her strategy for preparing for the MCAT CARS section also helped with the MCAT Psychology questions.
“I focused on practicing CARS passages to enhance my reading comprehension skills and ability to extract key information from dense texts. This approach helped me navigate through lengthy passages and extract relevant information efficiently, improving my overall performance in other sections of the test.”- Cathleen Kuo, M.D.c
Studying for MCAT CARS? Check out this video:
FAQs
1. HOW MUCH TIME DO I HAVE TO COMPLETE THE DIFFERENT MCAT SECTIONS?
You have 90 minutes to complete the MCAT CARS section and 95 minutes each for the MCAT Biology, MCAT Chemistry, and MCAT Psychology sections.
2. HOW MANY QUESTIONS DO I NEED TO ANSWER ON THE MCAT EXAM?
The MCAT has 230 questions. The MCAT Chemistry, Biology, and Psychology sections each have a total of 59 total questions per section. The MCAT CARS section has a total of 53 questions.
3. HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I SPEND READING THE MCAT PASSAGES AND ANSWERING EACH MCAT QUESTION?
You should spend an average of 9.5 minutes per passage. For the MCAT science sections, you should spend about 9 minutes, and for the MCAT CARS section, you should spend no more than 10 minutes. Of this time, 5 minutes should be spent reading the passage. The individual time allocated for specific passage-based questions can vary from between 1 to 2 minutes. For discrete questions, spend no more than a minute answering the question.
4. HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY SPEED FOR THE MCAT CARS SECTION?
Enhance your MCAT CARS speed through active reading and identifying key themes in passages; focus on answering questions efficiently without getting caught up in all the details.
5. HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY SPEED FOR THE MCAT SCIENCE SECTIONS?
Improve your MCAT science section speed by ensuring you have a deep understanding of concepts, highlighting key information, and using question types to guide your approach to answers.
6. IS THERE ANY MCAT SECTION I SHOULD SPEND MORE TIME ON?
MCAT sections are timed individually, which means you must complete and submit one section in the given time before being allowed to start the next section. You don’t have the option to return to a previous section once it’s submitted.
7. IS IT A WASTE OF TIME TO TAKE NOTES DURING THE MCAT EXAM?
No! In fact, the AAMC provides note-taking materials during the MCAT, and we recommend you make full use of these materials. You should be highlighting the key phrases in each passage as you read it and also noting the key themes, hypothesis, evidence, and arguments in each paragraph. That will help you save a lot of time when answering questions, as you will have a handy “guide” to the most critical aspects of the passage.
8. SHOULD I PRIORITIZE MCAT TIMING DURING MY MCAT PREP?
Although MCAT timing is important, we recommend first working on building your knowledge base of scientific concepts and key skills and learning how to identify question types and answer questions. Once you find you are consistently getting 90% or more of the answers right during your practice sessions, then you can move on to learning time-saving strategies.
9. WHAT HAPPENS IF I RUN OUT OF TIME WHEN TAKING THE MCAT?
If you run out of time during the MCAT, you won't be able to answer all the questions in that section, and that will negatively affect your score. If you do run out of time on a section, focus on doing your best on the remaining sections.
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