Quote:
Originally Posted by gonnif
Rule 1: Take a Breath.
Let me add one more unpleasant fact to your stress. The general perception of adcoms and the rule of thumb for adcoms is that your third MCAT is last one they will consider. So you have to have both a strong MCAT and a strong application, include it being early. I will make the same suggestion I make to most people in your situation: consider NOT applying this cycle, figure out why your do poorly on the MCAT, spend the next year overcoming whatever issue that may b, prep your butt for te MCAT, add to your app in other ways (a class or tow, volunteering, etc) and have a strong, and early app for next season.
I am guessing that you are still in your 20's and I will say that you spend the rest of life doing medicine another 30 years or more, so waiting another year will not make a difference. So is your goal to get into medical school or to get into medical school quickly?
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I inadvertantly ended up doing this. I graduated in May 2010 and spent the next year doing absolutely nothing because:
1. I was in denial and thought I would get in somewhere with my horrible GPA/above-average MCAT (but below-average matriculant MCAT).
2. I was lazy.
Around December 2011 I stopped lying to myself and accepted that I had to do a ton of work to have a chance at matriculating. I started with doing some research at the med school near me, getting a job in a clinical lab in a top 15 hospital, and also started taking classes (some upper level Bio and some retakes) last summer. Since then I have replaced 16 credits of C-/Cs with As and have taken 11 credits of upper level Bio (As). I also just retook the MCAT on 4/5. Once this semester ends I will start shadowing and volunteering at an urgent care clinic.
Taking some time off to make sure you really want to do this and to figure out exactly what you need to do is definitely beneficial. Sure it delays starting med school, but in the end it will probably save you time compared to doing random stuff and not really addressing the weak areas in your application.