A comprehensive 10-week MCAT program covers all four tested sections: Chemical and Physical Foundations, Biological and Biochemical Foundations, Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations, and Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills (CARS). The curriculum typically balances content review with practice questions and full-length exams, with the first 4-5 weeks focused on building foundational knowledge and the remaining time dedicated to practice tests, strategy refinement, and weak-area drilling. Most programs incorporate at least 4-6 full-length practice exams to build stamina and identify patterns in your performance.

If CARS is your challenge, dedicating 25-30% of your study time to this section is realistic for meaningful improvement. This means spending roughly 10-12 hours per week on passage reading, question type analysis, and timed drills. Many students find that improving CARS requires both strategy work (understanding question stems, elimination patterns) and volume practice—working through hundreds of passages over 10 weeks to develop intuition for how test makers construct questions. Connecting with a tutor who can diagnose whether your issue is reading speed, comprehension, or strategic approach can accelerate your progress significantly.

Most effective 10-week programs include 4-6 full-length practice tests, typically administered at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 to track progress and build exam-day stamina. Beyond full-length exams, you should be completing 50-100+ shorter practice question sets focused on specific content areas or question types. The value isn't just in taking tests—it's in analyzing every wrong answer to understand whether you missed it due to content gaps, misread the question, or ran out of time. This diagnostic work is where personalized instruction really helps, as a tutor can identify patterns in your mistakes that you might miss on your own.

Both present different challenges. The science sections (biochemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology) require solid content knowledge that takes time to build, while CARS demands strategy and pattern recognition that improves with practice. Many students find chemistry concepts like thermodynamics or acid-base equilibria need the most review time, while others struggle with integrating biology and biochemistry concepts across multiple topics. A 10-week timeline works well for science prep if you have foundational knowledge; if you're starting from gaps in general chemistry or biology, you may need to allocate more time there and less to other areas.

Test anxiety usually stems from either lack of content confidence or poor pacing experience—both addressable in 10 weeks. Building confidence requires consistent practice with timed conditions so the exam format feels familiar by test day. Taking full-length practice tests every 2 weeks and reviewing them thoroughly helps normalize the experience and identifies where you're rushing or freezing. Additionally, developing a pre-exam routine, managing time strategically during the actual test, and using breathing techniques during practice tests can all reduce anxiety. Many students find that working with a tutor on test-day strategy and pacing concerns helps them feel more in control when it matters most.

Most successful 10-week programs require 25-30 hours of study per week—roughly 4-5 hours daily if you're preparing Monday through Friday, or distributed across 6-7 days. A typical week might look like: 8-10 hours of content review/problem sets, 8-10 hours of practice questions and drills, 4-6 hours on weak-area focused work, and 4-6 hours for full-length exams (one every other week). This pace assumes you have foundational knowledge; if you're filling significant content gaps, you may need to front-load more hours early on. Connecting with a tutor helps optimize your schedule—they can help you identify which areas actually need the most time investment rather than spreading effort evenly across all topics.