Who To Study With

Hey friends!

There are a few other topics that relate to studying that I hoped to offer my two cents on since they worked so well for me. One of them is who to study with.

Let me preface this by saying that if you are already set in your ways on how you like to study (i.e. alone, with a buddy, in a group, etc.) then 100% stick to what works for you. This is not the time to completely change up your study habits. But if there's people out there like me who can study in almost any environment and are maybe looking for some guidance on what might work for the MCAT, then I'm here to offer some advice.

So, onto the topic at hand. In my opinion, studying for the MCAT is best done either 1) with a study buddy who is NOT studying for the MCAT with you, or 2) alone. Here's my thoughts on why these two approaches worked so well for me, and why they might work for you.

1. Studying with someone who is NOT also studying for the MCAT. So, here's the thing. Most pre-med students can be a pain in the behind to study with. This is old news. We're a hyper-competitive, cutthroat bunch all striving towards the same goal: getting the best score possible and crushing the person next to us. I remember sitting outside my MCAT classroom, waiting for class to start, and having to listen to other classmates go on and on about how far ahead they were in the schedule/reading, their scores, how many practice tests they were taking, etc. and it drove me crazy. All of this sounds like a very stressful scenario, no? So, why force yourself to study in an environment like this? For the majority of the studying for all my important standardized tests thus far (2 MCATs and 1 NREMT exam for EMT license), I studied with only one other person, usually either my boyfriend or one of my best friends at UCLA who was also a psychobiology major but not pre-med. Having these people to study with gave me companionship, someone to talk and vent to if needed, and no extra anxiety or distractions specifically related to the MCAT. And, most importantly, they had my best interests at heart. I didn't have to worry about hearing about any bragging from how they were doing on the MCAT stuff, because hey they were normals (actually my boyfriend at the time was pre-med as well, but he was a year ahead of me and aced the MCAT so he actually often gave me tips and help, so that was a rare benefit of studying with a pre-med:) ). They also knew when I was super stressed out and would often offer to go grab me food or coffee or make me take a break when it looked like I was losing it, something I know no other pre-med would offer to do. Point being: if you are going to study with someone, study with someone who truly cares about you and wants the best for you. It'll help out immensely. 

2. Studying alone. If you don't like studying with someone who's not taking the MCAT, then my next best suggestion is to study alone. This is because of the same logic as the previous paragraph. I am an incredibly competitive person, and I know being forced to study with other hyper-competitive people who really don't have my best interests at heart would not serve me well in the long run for studying for this test. So, if you can't find a study buddy, go it alone. You'll have less distractions and you again won't have any hard core pre-meds driving you crazy.


Hope this helps! Again, this is not the end all be all, just some thoughts that worked for me that hopefully might be able to help some other poor lost souls out there



~I'm a great believer in luck, and I believe the harder I work the more I have of it~