How to Use Winter Break to Maximize Your MCAT Score
Winter break is the single most important stretch of MCAT prep all year. After months of juggling classes, labs, extracurriculars, and 10,000 other obligations, this is often the only window where life finally slows down.
But here’s the catch:
Winter break only becomes a “score accelerator” if you plan for it intentionally.
In a recent 1SM info session, Founder Joseph Kellum and senior tutor Addie Smartt broke down exactly how students should structure winter break, how to study depending on your test date, and how to avoid the procrastination spiral that ruins so many January and spring exams.
Why Winter Break Matters So Much for the MCAT
Most students try to balance MCAT studying with a full semester of coursework — and almost everyone overestimates how much they’ll get done. Winter break is the reset button:
No midterms
No lab reports
No club meetings or long evenings in the library
It’s the first time students can study uninterrupted.
But that freedom can also backfire. Students tell themselves “I’ll start tomorrow” and end up losing half their break.
The fix: plan your winter break schedule before winter break starts.
Winter Break Strategy by MCAT Test Date
If you’re testing in January or February 2026
Winter break is crunch time. Your prep should be:
AAMC-heavy
Exam-logic oriented
Built around full-lengths
Focused on timing, decision-making, and pattern recognition
This is not a content-review window. It’s an exam execution window.
If you’re testing March–May
You must develop urgency now. Winter break should focus on:
Establishing consistent routines
Selecting your resources
Building strategy (not just content)
Getting through foundational UWorld sets
Identifying how you’ll handle AAMC material later
Most students have never studied for a test 3–4 months in advance. Winter break is where that mindset begins.
If you’re testing June–September
You could theoretically “take the break off,” but you can give yourself a massive advantage if you lay the groundwork now. Even a light winter break runway will make your summer infinitely more productive.
Students who wait until May to open a book almost always run out of time.
Should You Start MCAT Prep Over Winter Break If You’re a Sophomore?
Short answer: yes — unless you’re a freshman.
The 1SM rule of thumb:
Sophomore or older → starting over winter break is smart
Freshman → too early
Students planning a gap year → depends on bandwidth, but still beneficial
How to Study for the MCAT Over Winter Break: The Core Pillars
1. Content Review: Active, Not Passive
Active learning beats passive learning every single time.
Videos alone rarely work — they’re too easy to mentally check out from.
Instead:
Use textbooks (Kaplan recommended)
For each chapter: Say the learning objectives out loud, identify gaps. take purposeful notes (don’t rewrite the book)
Create diagrams
Practice reasoning, not memorizing
And avoid the “I must know every detail before I move on” trap. Perfectionism kills progress.
2. Anki: The Foundation of Facts
Milesdown → great for most students
AnKing → more comprehensive but heavier
JackSparrow → only for future 528 scorers with massive study time
P/S is the highest ROI section for Anki
Chem/Phys is the lowest ROI (equations alone don’t answer questions)
Most importantly, If you can’t stay consistent with Anki, don’t use a giant deck. Only do what you can keep up with.
3. UWorld: The #1 MCAT Learning Tool
Never use Tutor Mode.
It artificially inflates scores and destroys diagnostic value.
Use timing — even slow timing is better than none.
Start with 1.5×–2× time if necessary.
Reviewing matters more than doing.
Expect:
~15–16 minutes for 10 questions
45–60 minutes reviewing those same 10 questions
Students who don’t review thoroughly don’t improve.
Track mistakes in three buckets:
Pure content gap
Logic/comprehension error
Bigger conceptual weakness (e.g., “circuits,” “kinetics,” “EKG passages”)
Build a weekly “Fix This” list — and review it separately from UWorld time.
4. AAMC Materials: Save Them for When They Matter
AAMC content should be used in the final 1–2 months, not early. Why?
AAMC questions reveal exam logic
Their explanations are weak
Their question volume is too small to wast
To schedule your FLEs, assign the newest full-length the weekend before your exam, then work backward.
UWorld MCAT Percent Correct → Score Conversion (Approximate)
“What does my UWorld percent correct translate to on the MCAT?”
A rouge guide:
50% correct → ~495–500
60% correct → ~505–510
70–75% correct → ~515
80%+ correct → ~518–520+
These estimates depend on:
When you started UWorld
Whether you’re calculating your recent average (recommended)
How you review
Students hitting 70%+ in the second half of UWorld are strong MD applicants.
What About Full-Length Practice Conditions?
Start every FL at 8:00 AM
No music
No breaks beyond what the AAMC gives
Practice with earplugs or over-ear headphones (depending on your testing center)
Test somewhere outside your home whenever possible
The goal: Replicate the stress and structure of the real exam.
Quick & Dirty Study Guidance
Take AAMC FL 5 or 4 the weekend before your exam
Work backward through the full-lengths
Evenly distribute:
AAMC Section Bank
AAMC CARS Q-Packs
Keep UWorld alongside
Finish all AAMC materials by the week of your exam
This schedule alone has produced major score jumps for committed students.
Why Locking in During Winter Break is the Highest-Leverage Decision You Can Make
Most students waste winter break. Not because they’re lazy — but because they don’t know exactly what to do every day.
That’s why we built the 1SM Winter Break MCAT Bootcamp.
This program removes every single decision that normally slows students down:
What to study
In what order
How long
Which AAMC materials to use
How to review full-lengths
How to practice test-day logic
What weaknesses to fix
How to integrate UWorld + AAMC
How to adjust based on your performance
Bootcamp is the opposite of “figure it out yourself.” It’s five weeks of doing the right things, in the right order, with expert feedback every day.
That means:
22+ hours/week of high-intensity live instruction
Full-lengths every weekend with guided review
AAMC-driven curriculum built entirely around test-day logic
Targeted drills for timing, reasoning, and exam execution
A personalized diagnostic after Week 1 so you know exactly where to focus
Optional weekly check-ins if you want continuous accountability
If you want winter break to change your MCAT score, this is the program built for that moment. Check out the first week’s schedule here.
