In 2013, the pre-med community was buzzing about a certain guide that circulated all over the web. It was straight-forward and most importantly it was free! — If you haven’t heard of it already, I’m talking about SN2ed’s MCAT study schedule, which was a top-used alternative to commercial prep like Examkrackers, Kaplan or Princeton Review.

I get the appeal. It’s a pretty nifty way to study for the MCAT… if we were still in 2013. The reality is that changes are coming to the MCAT and SN2ed’s guide does not include these changes. The MCAT 2015 is going to be a whole lot different and, unfortunately, it seems that SN2ed’s study schedule hasn’t been updated since it was released. If you know of an updated version, please let me know in the comments.

Is SN2ed’s Guide Useful at All Anymore?

In short, yes it is, but you first need to be very aware of the changes that are in the upcoming MCAT 2015. These include:

• A new Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior section which covers the socio-cultural reasons for behavior.
• An updated Critical Analysis and Reading section.

These new additions are clearly not in SN2ed’s study schedule. To make matters worse, the Natural Sciences section is getting an update in 2015 which includes plenty of new material that you need to look out for.

Now, that’s not to say that the work SN2ed has done is completely useless now. The guide they have put together is full of excellent material (especially when it comes to the sciences) that is useful as a way to gauge that you have the material covered. So, rather than live by the study schedule verbatim, I suggest you use it as a means to test whether you know all of the content. Then, you can develop your own plan to study all of the new material you need for MCAT 2015.

The Alternative

Well, first I have a few things here on INQUARTA that could help you prepare.

• Making Sense of the MCAT 2015 Changes — This article explains all the changes in detail on what the MCAT 2015 is all about. Check this out first before you start preparing your study plans.
• MCAT 2015 Practice Tests — I have two here which you all might find useful.
• Video: Logic and Critical Thinking on the 2015 MCAT — A multi-part video which explores just what to expect on the new verbal reasoning section on the MCAT.

On top of all this, I have something even better — the MCAT Club. With hundreds of hours of content, this is my ultimate project. It’s been updated to focus on all those MCAT 2015 changes we talked about and it’ll make up where the guide by SN2ed just can’t.  Give it a look.