Hey fellow MCATer,

I don't know if you are going through this, but I am. Working 8-12 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week, and studying for MCAT, is kinda getting me. I can't take offs from work, nor can I postpone my exam. I am in a situation to support my family. With this schedule, the fact that I have very very few friends (new country, fam not here) I hardly socialize. When I get home, all I feel is I am alone and exhausted. And this, in turn, is demotivating me, and my concentration is getting shattered, to an extreme where I got only 9/24 in one of the EK CARS. I try to motivate myself by saying: keep focused, you want to be a doctor, when you're in med school you will have enough good friends, you won't feel the same way, etc. But, it ain't helping.
I know this is a platform to discuss MCAT topics, but I find that every one of us, at one point, will be going through some kind of meltdown. If you went through something similar to mine, or something different, and you coped with it, please share your ideas and give me some suggestions.
Thanks for your time!

100% feel you.

just gotta keep pushing through the negativity.

sleep when you can, eat when you can.

rn im living by "if you get tired, rest. dont quit"

Thanks mate

I know what you are feeling because my current situation is almost the same.
I work 8 to 11 hours Monday to Friday and will start a part time in the weekends. I can not stop working and I had to delay taking the MCAT because I am not prepared. I hardly socialize as well but what keeps me going is the hope that in MED school I will be pursuing my dream and everything will be alright. DO NOT GIVE UP
My personal motto is Fight until you get it
Your story and mine will serve as an inspiration for others.
You need to take a break, breathe, watch a good inspirational movie and go back to study.

Hi there! I definitely can relate to the struggles of balancing work/family commitments and studying for the beast that is the MKitty. What has helped quite a bit for me is to really pare down (mentally) the amount of things I need to or want to get down per study session. For example, I would set specific goals: "I will memorize and learn the structures and properties of the amino acids" vs. "I will read X chapters tonight and hope for the best that my brain will soak it all in." It also helps when I tell myself to really slow down and not think too far ahead about what I still need to accomplish, and try to trust in the process of incremental studying. I'll be taking the June 1st MCAT and I started studying in December, knowing that I don't have much time per day to study as compared to the non-working student. Up until now, I've been watching Khan Academy videos as content refresher, and relying on the flashcards made by Mcatselfprep. I would go over some flashcards every day for about 30 min or so, repeating as needed. For the next two months, I will be spending most of my time doing practice questions (UWorld, AAMC banks, and Next Step FLs) to identify gaps and learn more content that way. In summary, take it step by step, break it down into smaller nuggets! Figure out how you best study most efficiently, and really do allow yourself to binge a couple episodes of that Netflix show every now and then. Mental and emotional health is important Feel free to reach out if you ever want to vent or rant! We're all in this together.

Hey, thank you so much for your words. And good luck with your exam, its almost there! I have been watching GoT once in a while (so late ) and trying to go out and have fun as well. I hope your exams goes out well!!

Thank you for your kind motivating words! Hope your preparation is going well!!