MCAT Mental Health Tips from a 520 Scorer

If you’ve been feeling the crunch, you’re definitely not alone. Many of our tutoring students are sharing these same struggles (we all sure experienced it!):

→ Overstudying to the point of near-collapse

→ Scrolling forum posts at 2 AM and constantly comparing (we see you, Reddit lurkers)

→ Setting epic, untouchable goals that just heap on the stress

→ Always feeling like there’s a ticking time bomb we all know as “the MCAT”

Luckily, one of your top mentors, Hanes, who scored in the 97th percentile on his MCAT, just dropped a fresh video on how to conquer these challenges without losing your sanity. 

He’ll walk you through the power of realistic goals (no 12-point leaps overnight, please), the best ways to achieve mental wellness in your MCAT routine, and more. Enjoy!

48% of Premeds Report Frequent Stress

The typical pre-med will try to add MCAT studying on top of classwork, extracurriculars, family obligations, and a job until the pressure just builds and builds.

Eventually, this leads to mental fatigue and burnout when it comes to MCAT testing. That’s why I’m here to shed some light onto the importance of mental health when it comes to your MCAT journey. 

Hey I'm Hanes Graffe, and in my own MCAT journey, I decided to make a change and to spend more effort focusing on something that often goes undiscussed in the MCAT world: mental health.

According to a study by Kaplan Test Prep, a whopping 26% of premeds report that they experience stress pretty much always. Another 48% of premeds report that they experience stress frequently. This alarming statistic only shows the constant pressure that premeds face during their MCAT and other parts of their application.

In my own MCAT journey, I focused on incorporating positive habits while eliminating anything that could negatively impact my well-being.

Eliminate These Bad Habits in Your Studies

Let's start with the things that would be helpful to eliminate from your current MCAT routine. 

The first thing to eliminate is overstudying. It is super important to limit your studying to very specific hours of the day so that you are not constantly being bogged down by thoughts about what you should be studying, various CARS passages, or different Anki flash cards that are just swelling through your mind. 

Instead, it's helpful to create specific times that you're studying and specific times that you're not studying. 

The second thing to eliminate is constant comparison to others. This one was a big part of my own journey, wellbeing, and mental health during the MCAT. 

I would constantly pull up my phone, scroll through Reddit, and look at how well people were doing, how well people were improving their scores. I would constantly compare my performance to theirs on different full-length exams. How were other premeds doing on the Q packs? 

This constant comparison, both online as well as friends and peers at my own school, was not helpful. I wasn't focusing on the right things, and it ultimately just made me feel ineffective and it speeded up my road to burnout. 

The last thing to eliminate is unattainable expectations. A great way to eliminate unattainable expectations is to make S.M.A.R.T goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

A big part of making smart goals for me was making them achievable. If you are scoring low in the CARS section, it's not a smart goal to try to boost 10 points in a small time frame. Yes, this does happen, but is it exceedingly rare and it is very hard to get to. 

Instead, focus on smaller steps, maybe shoot for a small improvement and then another incremental improvement. Work your way up slowly with SMART goals instead of trying to make big jumps in scores or big jumps in time improvement. 

Now let's move on to things that you can integrate into your MCAT routine to improve your mental acuity and optimize your internal and external environment. 

What Can I Add To My Study Plan to De-Stress?

The first thing to add into your MCAT plan is truly restful and efficient study breaks. I cannot tell you how important these breaks were for me. Instead of just pulling out your phone and scrolling through social media or YouTube, I found it much more helpful to have restful and efficient study breaks. 

This often meant getting up from my desk, walking outside, getting some sunshine, and grabbing a bite to eat. I also practiced breath work during meditation. These are just a few things that you can throw into your routine. Avoid activities that aren't restful, such as anything involving a phone or being online. Anything that can raise stress levels, or cortisol from you adrenal cortex, should be phased out.

The next thing to add into your MCAT routine is something I find myself telling just about all of my MCAT one-on-one students. That's to focus on the three pillars of health: diet, sleep, and exercise. These are things that we hear day in and day out, but they are so important for improving our quality of life and mental health. Additionally, studies show a strong link between students who focus on these factors in their lives and improvements in their test scores and performance.

You can look up some recommendations online, but I recommend aiming to get enough sleep every night. Make sure that you're going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. 

Focus on whole foods as well as water for your primary beverage. If you can, try to get outside and get moving at least a little bit each and every day. Moving your body can actually increase the size of your hippocampus!

The Fourth Pillar of Health

The last thing that I would love for y'all to add to your MCAT routine is what I call the fourth pillar of health, which is social connection; adding in quality time with friends and family. 

During my last month of MCAT prep where I was just so focused on AAMC material and doing my full lengths, I was studying for hours a day, everyday. 

I found that my favorite part of the day was closing my laptop and going on a walk with my little sister or calling up another family member. For me, these times of the day were perfect for just decompressing, talking about other topics besides the MCAT, and just not worrying about anything coming up in my study schedule. 

Instead, I could really just focus on the quality time with my loved ones, and really that helped me de-stress from all my studying during the day.

If you like this post, be sure to check out other YouTube videos as well as our outstanding group of MCAT mentors that would love to work through this journey with you to help you figure out the best course of action. 

We want to help you study well and be successful for the MCAT, without getting burned out.

Conquering the MCAT and maintaining your mental health during the MCAT is a challenge that many premeds face. As you embark on your MCAT prep journey, remember that success is not defined by overstudying and overexerting yourself. It is all about taking your mental health seriously during this preparation time. 

As you navigate this rigorous exam, we hope that Hane’s tips and strategies can be a guiding light, illuminating the strategies to help you overcome your own MCAT challenges when it comes to your mental health and wellbeing. 

At MedLife Mastery, we're here to support you every step of the way. 

We help students get accepted into medical school through services like our affordable application coaching and advising alongside our private MCAT tutoring options! You are not alone in your journey and we are here to support you.