The New Year is almost upon us, and many people are starting to think about their New Year’s resolutions. If you are a premed planning to take the MCAT this upcoming year, consider incorporating your MCAT goals into your resolutions. More than simple MCAT tips, setting clear, measurable goals in the form of resolutions can help you stay organized and motivated.
This year, commit to these three trackable goals to maximize your study efforts and boost your confidence before test day.
MCAT Tips for 2025: New Year’s Resolutions for Premeds
1. Complete 7 Full-Length Practice Exams Before Test Day
Full-length practice MCAT exams are the best way to simulate the MCAT and build your stamina. Resolve to complete seven full-length exams under test-day conditions before your scheduled test date.
How to Track It:
- Schedule specific dates for your practice exams in your MCAT prep schedule, such as every other Saturday. Having a set time to get these exams done is crucial to following through.
- Log your scores and section breakdowns after each test to monitor your progress. The exams you take are only as good as the review you do afterwards, so take note of your strengths and weaknesses as you knock down each full length. If you’re a Blueprint MCAT student, our in-depth analytics track it all for you to make it easy! Take a free practice test to try them out!
- Set a goal for incremental score improvements, like increasing your score by 2–3 points after each exam. Don’t be tightly adherent to this goal. However, having a “shoot for the moon” goal will keep you motivated and remind you why you are studying so hard!
By committing to a specific number of exams, you’ll stay accountable and ensure you’re ready for your exam date.
Further Reading
2. Review 20 Practice MCAT Questions Per Day
One of the best MCAT tips is to engage in daily practice. Daily practice questions are key to reinforcing knowledge and improving your critical thinking skills. Resolve to review at least 20 practice questions every day, focusing on both correct and incorrect answers to understand your reasoning.
How to Track It:
- Use question banks from Blueprint MCAT and the AAMC, and log the number of questions you complete daily.
- If you’re not a Blueprint student, create a simple spreadsheet to track the topics you cover and your accuracy for each question set. If you are a Blueprint student, let our platform do the manual work for you! Then focus your energy on reviewing and understanding the material with help from Blue, our AI MCAT tutor!
- Set weekly goals, such as reviewing 140 questions (20 per day). If you fall short one day, you can make it up the next day.
This resolution ensures you consistently engage with MCAT-style questions, which is crucial for test-day readiness.
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3. Master 1 MCAT Topic Per Week
With the MCAT covering a broad range of subjects, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Break your content review into manageable chunks by focusing on mastering one specific topic each week, such as kinematics or amino acid properties. This makes the insurmountable task of learning everything on the MCAT much more manageable and reduces your cognitive load.
How to Track It:
- At the start of each week, choose a topic to focus on and write it in your MCAT schedule.
- Use flashcards, videos, and summary sheets to learn key concepts, and quiz yourself to ensure retention.
- At the end of the week, take a short quiz (10–20 questions) or revisit related practice questions to confirm you’ve mastered the material.
By the end of a few months, you’ll have systematically covered many of the MCAT content areas, leaving time for reinforcement and practice.
Bonus Resolution: Reward Yourself for Milestones!
To keep motivation high, pair each resolution with a reward system!
- After completing a full-length exam, treat yourself to your favorite snack or an episode of a show.
- If you hit your goal on the number of practice questions for the week, try out that new restaurant you’ve been wanting to go to or bake that recipe of cookies you’ve wanted to try.
Final Thoughts
Tracking progress on these resolutions ensures that you’re not just preparing for the MCAT, but doing so in a structured and measurable way. By sticking to these tangible goals and MCAT tips, you’ll set yourself up for success and build the confidence needed to excel on test day.
Ready to start on the path toward your MCAT score increase? Get access to tons of free MCAT resources today when you create a free Blueprint MCAT account!
Whether you need the flexibility of a Self-Paced Course, the instruction of a Live Course, or 1:1 attention of a private MCAT tutor, we have the MCAT prep option that works for your learning style! With resources such as a powerful AI-powered MCAT QBank, representative full-length practice exams, and more, you’ll get all the practice you need to reach your goal score.
