About to become a senior, take MCAT in september or Gap Year?

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

I'm currently doing Research Fulltime in the summer and have my last year of college left.
I was having trouble deciding on whether or not I should study for this last version of the old mcat and take it in September or take a gap year and take it in 2015.

I graduate in May 2015.

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[Optimus-Prime]

I personally would shoot for the old one, late as possible; then apply early in the cycle of the following year

 

[plumazul]

I'm currently doing Research Fulltime in the summer and have my last year of college left.
I was having trouble deciding on whether or not I should study for this last version of the old mcat and take it in September or take a gap year and take it in 2015.

You can take the "old test" through Jan. 2015. There have been additional test dates added in Oct., Nov. and Jan. to handle the rush of students. If you take the MCAT in Sept. you should probably do a gap year anyway.

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

any other opinions? I graduate in May 2015.

 

[DrCharlemagne]

any other opinions? I graduate in May 2015.

What other options would there be?

You could take the old MCAT in Jan 2015, take the gap year and coast into a nice early application cycle.

You could take the new MCAT in Feb of 2015, take the gap year and coast into a nice early application cycle.

Or, you could try to log jam a rapid application in this, the way everyone else who is trying to dodge the new MCAT is, take the MCAT this July/August and cross your fingers with a less than timely application. Whether this would be suitable for you would depend on the remainder of your application, whether you can study around the research, and how well you handle standardized testing.

Also bear in mind if you're hoping for pubs to come off this research project, giving it a year or two to move through the publishing process would only improve your chances.

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

What other options would there be?

You could take the old MCAT in Jan 2015, take the gap year and coast into a nice early application cycle.

You could take the new MCAT in Feb of 2015, take the gap year and coast into a nice early application cycle.

Or, you could try to log jam a rapid application in this, the way everyone else who is trying to dodge the new MCAT is, take the MCAT this July/August and cross your fingers with a less than timely application. Whether this would be suitable for you would depend on the remainder of your application, whether you can study around the research, and how well you handle standardized testing.

Also bear in mind if you're hoping for pubs to come off this research project, giving it a year or two to move through the publishing process would only improve your chances.

Well my question is when should I be studying for the mcat?
Also to prevent this current situation of my having to reconsider or apply rapidly...what is the proper timeline and sequence of actions for application?

 

[SpaceHamsterBoo]

?

 

[DrCharlemagne]

Well my question is when should I be studying for the mcat?
Also to prevent this current situation of my having to reconsider or apply rapidly...what is the proper timeline and sequence of actions for application?

Your question kind of doesn't make sense. Are you trying to avoid a gap year, or the new MCAT?

The ideal situation, if you wanted to apply this year and have no gap year, would entail your being prepared to submit your primary pretty much now, take your MCAT within the month (if you can find a seat) and be ready to turn around secondaries by mid-July through August. The major time sink you're negotiating is AMCAS transcript verification, which last year took some applicants up to two months (or longer, check the old threads about AMCAS verification times). Some people have reported submitting their primaries before taking their MCAT, but AMCAS won't release your primary until it's complete with MCAT scores, so if you took the MCAT in August with the intention of applying this year, your primary would not go out until September when the scores came back.

If you don't mind a gap year, but don't want to take the new MCAT, then you would want to begin hammering your MCAT prep now to be prepared for the test in August. Whether you can study while working full time is up to you, much as to whether you can study for the MCAT and your senior year classes would be up to you. If you're happy with the scores you get back from your test in August, then you can begin preparing your application materials over winter break/spring semester to be ready in time to submit the day AMCAS opens in 2015 (usually the end of May/beginning of July). You could also spend this time pre-writing secondaries for your schools so whatever you're up to during the summer won't interfere. If you're unhappy with your MCAT score from the August sitting, you would still have time to bust your chops for either the old or the new test in time to apply next year.