Schedule While Studying for the MCAT

[amm631]

I had a quick question. How do you think med schools would look at someone who took less credit hours (say 14) the semester they took the MCAT? I'm scheduled to take 17 now, but am deciding whether to take one less class and free up more time to study for the MCAT. I don't really need the extra class to raise my GPA. Thanks for your advice.

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[imtiaz]

They don't care. Nobody looks at your courseload while studying for the MCAT. They look at the score you got on the MCAT. Do what you have to do in order to do well on it, that's all that matters. I doubt they have the time to examine 8,000+ applications THAT closely (ie. in terms of the courseload while studying for the MCAT). 14 hours is not a "light" courseload, especially if it's composed of pre-med requirements. Just do well on it, if that means dropping a class that you don't need then go for it. Good luck.

Imtiaz

 

[DocKwi]

I agree! Don't take classes that will hamper you MCAT scores. Do the best you can. I took 14 hours both semesters of my freshman year. I'm a biology premed major and I think you should be fine with taking 14hrs and studying for the MCAT. I would not take 17! Goodluck!

 

[Lt. Ub]

I only took 14 hours, and I studied hard for the MCAT for 3 months. And it paid off big time. The adcomms were MUCH more impressed with my score than they were un-impressed (if at all) with my 14 hour workload. The very first things they see about you are your Name, MCAT and GPA - they don't comb through your transcripts until a little later down the road. And it's already been said - they don't care about a light load for a semester. Put your heart into the MCAT for just a little while - you don't want to play the "what-if" game if you didn't provide yourself the time to study.

[This message has been edited by Lt. Ub (edited 11-20-2000).]

 

[doof]

DROP THE CLASS! first off, everyone that replied is right: adcoms place a much greater emphasis on your mcat score vs. course load. second, 14 units is not bad at all! in fact, i had several quarters where i took LESS than 14 units, and wasn't studying for the mcat.

[This message has been edited by doof (edited 02-06-2001).]

 

[Crafty]

I agree with everyone else's comments. I had always heard that adcoms want to see you take challenging course loads while in college to demonstrate your ability to handle the work in med school. However, I never took more than 14 hours throughout my entire college career, and it has not been brought up at any of my interviews. I have been accepted to a good med school, so at least for me, the light course loads weren't an issue. Just make sure if you do take lighter loads, you are doing something productive outside the classroom.

So my advice is to go ahead and take a lighter semester and rock the MCAT. Good luck!