Did you take a lag year or study for mcats during the spring semester?

[adelle218]

How do people manage to take the mcats in May and study during the semester with the rest of their classes? Is it worth the stress or is it better to just take a lag year (and delay your whole life by a year) but have plenty of time to study for the mcats?

At first I was very against taking a lag year but now I am thinking I should....any help/advice/personal stories would be much appreciated!

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[NickNaylor]

There are other options. I think the best way to do it would be to take a January test so that you can do some studying during the semester and then devote your winter break to final studying.

As long as you take a somewhat lighter schedule and are disciplined, you can make it work.

 

[Appless]

There are other options. I think the best way to do it would be to take a January test so that you can do some studying during the semester and then devote your winter break to final studying.

As long as you take a somewhat lighter schedule and are disciplined, you can make it work.

+1. I did this, i was on the quarter system and during the quarter i was studying for the mcat, i took 12 units only, with only 3 classes it was easy to balance everything. Though i didnt take a full year off, i had about 8 months after graduation before i started med school.

How do people manage to take the mcats in May and study during the semester with the rest of their classes? Is it worth the stress or is it better to just take a lag year (and delay your whole life by a year) but have plenty of time to study for the mcats?

At first I was very against taking a lag year but now I am thinking I should....any help/advice/personal stories would be much appreciated!

I think the lag year was a good thing in some ways. You get time off, hopefully you can use a lot of that time to unwind and have fun before your non stop studying begins. I cant really see too many downsides to the lag year. Doing interviews and such while in school was kinda a pain (i did this), skipping that would be nice imo. You get free time off for fun, and you get a lot of time just to not have to always think about studying. The only downside to the lag year was for me, I didnt have parental support or anything so i really didnt get to have too much fun, as i was working 2 jobs 60+ hrs a week to support my family. Considering most people applying arent in my situation i dont think you would have to do that. As long as you dont have to do that, I would recommend a lag year

 

[Snarkalark]

i studied for it during the spring semester while i took 12 units. wouldn't recommend it if you want to enjoy your life, but i did just fine on the test and in my classes.

 

[LoveTheRunner]

If you get out of school in late April/early May, then the spring studying isn't bad. I did maybe 5 hours of mcatting each weekend starting after winter break (18 credit spring semester, bioengr), then had 19 days before May 22nd exam where I put in 10-12 hrs a day. Don't expect to enjoy any full weekends though. For me it was about coursework mostly. I had biochem and human phys in the fall, so I wouldn't have had as much of a benefit from that had I gone with the January testing

 

[flakpilot]

I decided to take a year off for many reasons. First, I tried studying during winter semester this year while taking Orgo I, Physics I, a psych class, duing an independent study, voluntering and the kaplan course. I really tried, but it was hard not only because kaplan expects to study 4 or 5 chapters from Thursday to Saturday, which I could've done if I wasn't taking any other classes, but because I hadn't taking Orgo II, or physics II and was just learning orgo I and physics I, which was kinda suicidal. Also, thanks to the fact that I took summer classes since I started I need 3 years and a half to graduate, not 4, so I can easily take winter semester off next year to study for the mcat, then take my last classes during the fall and then only have about 8 months free, not a whole year. Also, taking another year to apply would allow me to be a better applicant by giving me the chance to volunteer more, do more research, etc. And the time that I will have free before starting med school, I can use to do other stuff I like and prob won't have time to do later.

Believe me, I didn't want to take another year, because I felt like I was losing time, but after talking to advisors and consulting it here in SDN, I realized it was the best option for me. Hope this helps! sorry for the long reply.

 

[Medwell]

or is it better to just take a lag year (and delay your whole life by a year) but have plenty of time to study

...what? when, in your opinion, does "your whole life" begin?

 

[cfx]

I don't think it's necessary to take an entire year off just to devote to studying. If you don't want to study during the semester, can't you just use the summer?

Take a gap year if you want one, but by the fact that you consider that "delaying your life," it doesn't sound like you do.

 

[MaryLennox]

i tried to study during spring semester but couldn't hack it. so i pushed my MCAT back to mid june and spent a hardcore month studying between finals and my MCAT.

it worked for me but it's not necessarily the best strategy. i wasn't complete anywhere until august. but i think it was worth it in terms of a score boost- I am sure that extra month i spent tacked on several points to my score.

the best combination is always applying early + a high score. if doing this means an extra year off, don't sweat it. a year goes by really fast. plus you can fill it up with volunteering and maybe shadowing, so a year off can really make a significant impact on your application.

(it can be hard to find people who will let you shadow if you aren't currently a student, though, so find people to shadow while you still are one so you can keep doing that with them after you graduate.)

 

[adelle218]

Thanks everyone for the replies!! they were very helpful!

I think it's definitely possible to study for mcats in spring semester (i'm a biochemistry major so my course load won't be that light but not all that heavy- taking 2 hard classes and 2 easy fall and spring) but my scores most likely won't be as high as they could be....taking the exam in january isn't really an option since i still have to finish pre-reqs this year....

Also if I took a lag year i would probably just take the exam in august instead of May giving me more time to study...but also making it too late to apply...
and lastly i don't plan on being a full time student my senior year (i will be a junior this fall btw) i'm just gna take like 12 credits the whole yr just to finish my major requirements so another year off doesn't really seem all that appealing, but then again neither does studying for mcats, finals, and med school apps all at the same time....

I guess i still got time to decide...but it's still driving me crazy lol

 

[duress]

...what? when, in your opinion, does "your whole life" begin?

it's funny s/he should say that because I always assumed 'your whole life' ENDS when you start at medical school

bring on the lag year

 

[DNM]

I am an incoming junior this year and I was debating exactly the same thing. I've decided to finish my classes this year, work / volunteer / study a lot during the summer, and take the MCAT towards the end of summer. Then senior year I will be able to apply with my MCAT already done and have time to retake should I need to. I'm hoping that in the long run this will make school less stressful and help me do better, but only time will tell!

 

[chrisoc13]

There are other options. I think the best way to do it would be to take a January test so that you can do some studying during the semester and then devote your winter break to final studying.

As long as you take a somewhat lighter schedule and are disciplined, you can make it work.

I agree with this. Or take it in May. I studied from October to May, my school gets out 3rd week of April and I took it May 1st. At first I was considering pushing it back but then I decided not to and just see what happened. Turned out that was enough studying. It helped that I was taking Physiology and Ochem that semester so studying for class = studying for the MCAT. But regardless there is no need to take time off just to study for it. You reach a point of diminishing returns if you do that.

Also, glad I made cole's sig haha

 

[mvenus929]

How do people manage to take the mcats in May and study during the semester with the rest of their classes? Is it worth the stress or is it better to just take a lag year (and delay your whole life by a year) but have plenty of time to study for the mcats?

At first I was very against taking a lag year but now I am thinking I should....any help/advice/personal stories would be much appreciated!

1) It's the MCAT. One test. Just saying.

2) I studied during spring semester, while taking genetics, human physiology, orgo II and a history class. I made my schedule so that I had breaks in between my classes, and I would go to the library and study then. I kicked it into high gear towards the end of April and took the test in the middle of finals week. Obviously, this is not the best course of action for everyone, but it worked for me.

3) You are not delaying your whole life by taking a gap year. You are just living it in another way. If this is your attitude, a gap year might seriously do you some good. Just saying.

 

[TheFogHat]

Diagnostic MCAT-27
Actual MCAT - 37
12 Credits
2 Months of Studying, 1 Day off per Week

Lag Year, hahahaha sooo ridiculous.. Do people actually do that?

 

[adelle218]

@ foghat- which diagnostic test did u take- a prep class one or amcas one etc..?

at this point i'm leaning towards lag year....

 

[Asyouwereatrio]

I took my MCAT in March 2010. I took a prep course that ran from January to March 2010. That coincided with an academic quarter at school in which I took 16 quarter units...There wasn't a drop in grades because of lack of study time and I would say my MCAT score wasn't too shabby..not great, but not amazing.

Definitely do-able..but in retrospect, I had no life..very little time to yourself. Weekends of MCAT class and 5 days a week of class/research..not fun. Plus community service on the weekends.