Advice needed!

[Jr MD]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey all

Didnt do so hot on my April 27th MCAT with a 23.. :/ But its all good! I'm staying positive, thanking God, and planning my next attack. I have 3 options and wanted to get some advice from yall! I studied on my own during an OCHEM II and physics II semester.m ( not my best idea but I thought I could do it) so this time around I want to take a class. Here are my options:

1. Take a class starting on june 9 through august 22 and take the test again on august 22 or 28 and still turn in my application next week.
2. Wait till next year and start studying in may and take it in august after I graduate and apply in 2015
3. Study throughout the year now and take a class in december 2013 and take the test in January 2014 and apply in 2014.
4. Go DO

Really dont know what to do. Been praying and I'm waiting on an answer but I'd really appreciate some input! I have a 3.68 cumulative and a 3.75 science gpa with solid pre reqs. Thanks!!!!!!

 

[DrLeon]

Hey all

Didnt do so hot on my April 27th MCAT with a 23.. :/ But its all good! I'm staying positive, thanking God, and planning my next attack. I have 3 options and wanted to get some advice from yall! I studied on my own during an OCHEM II and physics II semester.m ( not my best idea but I thought I could do it) so this time around I want to take a class. Here are my options:

1. Take a class starting on june 9 through august 22 and take the test again on august 22 or 28 and still turn in my application next week.
2. Wait till next year and start studying in may and take it in august after I graduate and apply in 2015
3. Study throughout the year now and take a class in december 2013 and take the test in January 2014 and apply in 2014.
4. Go DO

Really dont know what to do. Been praying and I'm waiting on an answer but I'd really appreciate some input! I have a 3.68 cumulative and a 3.75 science gpa with solid pre reqs. Thanks!!!!!!

If you plan to devote the summer to your MCAT studies and nothing else, then I see nothing wrong with submitting your app early (holding for MCAT score), so that you can be considered for this cycle still. This is a good idea only if you can show significant improvement in your score by August.

While DO can be a very viable option for you, don't elect to go that route because you feel you are not good enough to be an MD. If you make the choice to fill out the AACOMAS please do so knowing that going to a DO school is a great path to becoming a physician. Also, you will need to bring the score up some for DO schools, depending on where you apply

 

[Ambitionista]

If you are even remotely interested in a gap year I think a lot of people on SDN would recommend you to take one and avoid the gamble of applying without a score you feel comfortable with.

Have you identified what went wrong during your first MCAT? Are you confident that you will be able to raise your score come Aug 22? If it was just do to lack of time to study, are you sure you need until Aug 22?

I'm in a similar boat. I haven't taken the MCAT yet but just recently made the decision to postpone my exam to later this summer. My premed advisor recommended that I postpone and submit my AMCAS early if I am confident that I will get a good score and if not to take a gap. I think you should determine whether or not you're interested in a gap year and then whether or not you're sure you will improve your score to where you want it.

Hope that helps!

 

[iave9963]

Hey all

Really dont know what to do. Been praying and I'm waiting on an answer but I'd really appreciate some input! I have a 3.68 cumulative and a 3.75 science gpa with solid pre reqs. Thanks!!!!!!

I apologize in advance for my misspellings, it's early and I have to use the restroom but too lazy to get up right now.

Dr. Leon has a good point. IF and ONLY IF, you can devote the entire summer to studying for the Mcat, I see no problem with you submitting your primaries early. This also comes with a risk in the sense that if you do retake mcat and don't score significantly(4+) higher, it will hurt you even more as you will probably have two draw backs, the fact that you took mcat twice, and the fact that you didn't score any higher letting adcom know your first test score wasn't a fluke of some kind. I for one believe with a science gpa of 3.75 you could, with a little work, score a lot better. Would you mind sharing with us your previous study methods? Have you checked sdn for study tips? Also what Mcat course are you taking? Please please please stay away from Kaplan. I hear only the WORST things about them. I bombed my first Mcat, but realized it was just because I didn't study worth a damn, so I restarted studying in Feb and took my exam in may and scored significantly better. Sometimes it just all depends on the method. Only entertain option 2-4 if you know you won't be able to devote your entire waking summer to Mcat studying.

 

[survivordo]

Don't apply with a 23. You studied under sub-optimal conditions, I am surprised you even managed a 23 while taking those classes and only studying when you had time. I would suggest taking the summer to study right and then seeing what you end up with. I suspect you will be in a much better situation.

Survivor DO

 

[iave9963]

Don't apply with a 23. You studied under sub-optimal conditions, I am surprised you even managed a 23 while taking those classes and only studying when you had time. I would suggest taking the summer to study right and then seeing what you end up with. I suspect you will be in a much better situation.

Survivor DO

+1 simplified version of what I said, thanks SD

 

[Jr MD]

Thanks you guys for your opinions. I did SN2s plan..it was the worst semester of my life. My only regret with studying this summer is that I am somewhat burnt out from studying soooooo much. I really want to enjoy this summer because last summer was summer school and the SMDEP program. My mom says I'm being lazy but...it was pretty unfortunate that my MCAT urned out his way...I just really really don want to do this the wrong way a second time...I've been praying and I'm just asking for advice 🙁