Days before MCAT

Hey Alex,

So I was going to email you this question but then I realized a few other people in the class also work and may have the same question.

I was wondering what you would recommend doing the days before the MCAT. I work and might be able to take a day or two off before the test. Is having time to relax before the exam a good idea or does it just leave more time for being nervous? Would you advise taking a few days off (if so, how many) or not? Or would you take time off not immediately before the test but a week before, to study more or something?

Thank you in advance.
-------------------------
We will actually talk specifically about what to do two months before your MCAT, a month before, the week of, etc. during MSCT III, but here's the general idea:


The day before the MCAT is YOUR day.  You do NOT study for the MCAT, you do not talk about the MCAT, you do not take practice tests.  With exception of gathering the test materials, you don't do anything MCAT-related.  However, you don't want to just veg around all day -- you'll start getting nervous, and that's no good.  The day before the MCAT, you want to plan something to do:  go out to lunch, accomplish errands and other "activities of daily living," hang out with friends -- whatever you want.


As for the day before that (2 days before your exam), that's up to you.  I usually tell people it's not a great day for a practice test, but it could be okay to study some of the last material you want to cram into your head.  Whether or not you take off work is entirely up to you, but make sure you have something planned again so you don't have the "I'm-sitting-around-but-getting-nothing-done" nerves.


For studying in general in those last couple weeks, your goal should be 1-2 practice tests per week, with interspersed study sessions of the material, topical tests, section tests, etc.  This ends up being about 20 to 25 hours per week; if you need to take off work a little to accomplish this, you may want to do just that.  Remember that your goal should be to study hard for the MCAT this time around, and not have to deal with it again!