MCAT Retake: From 499 To 515 On The MCAT In 7 Weeks!

MedLife Mastery Podcast: Show Notes

About The MCAT Master Interview Series

Welcome to the MCAT Master Interview series!

We’re on an ongoing mission to put together THE formula for achieving a top MCAT score.

We’ve been doing this by gathering the most effective MCAT study strategies from verified top scorers, and then we bring them to you in the form of blog articles, daily emails, YouTube videos, strategy courses, through tutoring sessions and anything else that can help you along on this journey to reach YOUR maximum MCAT score.

We’ve been researching and holding interviews with top MCAT scorers for many years now, until recently we thought "Why not let you all in and give you a seat at the table during these interviews!”.

So, that’s what this series is for ????

We hope by listening to these interviews, you learn proven MCAT study strategies you never thought of, that you can start implementing right away!

And most importantly, we hope you feel an increase in inspiration and motivation because the MCAT journey can be very tough and it can be easy to fall into negative mental cycles...

But as you’ll learn from these success stories, every top scorer had to deal with the struggles, the challenges, and through perseverance, through strategy, through mindset work, they all made it to the top score that was right for them. ???? ???? ????

About Julia Deziel

When Julia first started prepping for the MCAT, she found herself scoring around a 496 on practice exams. She ended up taking the MCAT officially, and scored a 508.

Although it was a fairly good MCAT score, it was below her goal. She knew that if she had the potential to do better, she should definitely go for it. For this reason, she set out to take the MCAT again, only to score a 499 on a practice exam right away!

She had less than 7 weeks to her second test day so feeling discouraged, she decided to enlist the help of one of our MCAT mentors.

By working on her mindset and learning the best ways to improve on her weaker sections, Julia was eventually able to increase her score to a 515 by her second test date! Which is a 16 point increase in less than 50 days!!

Although improving by this much is a difficult feat, Julia is proof that it is absolutely possible with the right work ethic!

In this episode, we dive into Julia’s MCAT journey, how she studied and managed her time, as well as the most effective strategies that ultimately helped her reach her score goal the second time around.

Topics Discussed

[1:55] Julia’s background and her inspiration in becoming a doctor
[3:38] What she did differently the second time around to achieve her score goal
[8:40] The resources she used in preparation for the MCAT
[11:30] Overcoming the biggest challenges in the Chem/Phys section and how she kept herself motivated
[14:03] How her MedLife Mastery tutoring experience prepared her for success
[17:11] Her study schedule and strategies for each section
[25:07] What she did on the actual exam day and her reaction when she got her score back
[30:20] Some golden nuggets for aspiring doctors who feel discouraged in taking the MCAT

Memorable Quotes

Always remind yourself of the bigger picture to keep yourself motivated.
Perspective and balance is so important in the MCAT journey.
Anki flashcards are life-saver, they are super comprehensive.
The questions are pretty tricky sometimes so knowing how to read the passages and pick out what is important and what isn’t is super helpful.
Highlighting keeps you focused.
Doing practice problems everyday and learning how to highlight is effective for the CARS section
If you find a term that you are not familiar with, even if it wasn’t the right answer, put it on the flashcard set because it may show up again.
It’s all about strategy, not just just content.
Knowing how to take the MCAT exam is often a lot better than knowing everything and every piece of content that's going to be on the exam.

Resources Mentioned

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Join over 11,000 premeds in the MedLife Mastery Community learning how to improve their scores for free at https://medlifemastery.com/freecourse

Learn more about each mentor on The MedLife Mastery Team here.
Work with an MedLife Mastery Mentor: https://medlifemastery.com/mcat-tutors

Julia's Testimonial for MedLife Mastery Tutoring!

"I absolutely loved working with [my tutor]! She helped me hone helpful strategies section-by-section and provided me with the confidence I needed to score well. I'd taken the MCAT once before last year and got a 508, and I just received a 515 after working with her! My original frustration was running out of time on the first section, and [my tutor] was so helpful in helping me figure out how to better manage my time and do the math quickly. I also figured out how to master the memorization required for psych/soc. I am so thankful for MedLife Mastery and happy with my improved score!!"

Additional Reading -- MCAT Success Stories:

Your MCAT Success Mentors

About the Author

We're a team of future doctors passionate about giving back and mentoring other future doctors! All mentors on the team are top MCAT scorers and we all are committed to seeing you succeed in achieving your physician dreams To help you achieve your goal MCAT score, we take turns hosting these Live MCAT Courses and are also available for 1:1 private tutoring!