advice...please

[uclakid]

Hey, everyone. I need some advice. I am taking the mcat this august, but I really really do NOT want to take a year off (i'm a junior now). In other words, I want to go to med school right after I graduate. I'm worried the august mcat is going to be a negative factor in rolling admissions...another thing is that I'm not a strong applicant at all...

someone told me that rolling admissions wouldn't hurt me because my application probably wouldn't even be looked at right away since all the better applicants' apps would be looked at first. In other words, whether I turn in the application late or early, it will be reviewed much after. Is this true?

what should I do?

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[klooless]

It is usually advised that sooner is better. Particularly in the case of applicants who are not rocket scientists. That said, if you have been studying and feel prepared for the April sitting, by all means take it in April and do your best. But if you have NOT be preparing for a least a few months, then August seems like the most practical option at this point (It's March for all intents and purposes...).

 

[Syranope2]

although i took the mcat a year before i applied, i have heard many august mcaters say you'll be fine as long as you get everything else in very early. as in, have all your amcas info and the essay done before june, and then submit it as soon as possible. get all your LORs collected before the end of the school year. turn in all secondaries within a week. make sure that the only thing your schools are waiting on is those mcat scores, so as soon as they get them, your file can be evaluated.

 

[premedmadness]

Syranope is right. I took the August MCAT but finished my AMCAS in mid-July. I had all my letters of rec complete in June. After the August MCAT, the secondaries started coming, and I completed them as they came in... finish those fast, even if your MCAT score isn't out yet! Thankfully, taking the August MCAT didn't hurt me. However, if you are going to wait to take the August MCAT rather than April, make sure that you study hard and take it very seriously, because it will be your last chance to get a good score.

 

[jlee9531]

well if you are not a strong applicant, its gonna be another factor that could play against you. and actually non-rolling schools would be better in this case because they basically review most of their applicants before they send out any acceptances, while on the other hand rolling admissions tend to look at files on a first come first serve basis and will offer acceptances throughout the year.

as the cycle gets closer to the end, there will be fewer and fewer spots to get into and might cause the adcom to look at applications a bit more carefully while sending out their final acceptances.

but if you do everything early like the above posters and have good numbers...then you should be ok.

 

[Adapt]

You are taking a gamble. Basically, you're letting it all ride on one big day. If you're able to hit the mid 30s, you're pretty much set. If you hit a 28 or 29, then you will have a tough time and this is when it will hurt you.

A 3.6 gpa and 28 MCATer who applies in June may get accepted due to rolling admissions while a 3.6 gpa 31 MCATer who applies in October may not, simply because he applied later. Sad but true. I would say 4 months makes a lot of difference and if you're able to pull off a decent score in April you should definitely go for it.

 

[SMW]

I am of the opinion that if you are a srong applicant (> 3.4 GPA, >29 MCAT, stellar essays, LOR's and EC's), and you need until August to prepare for the MCAT, then you shoud take the time to prepare to do well. I took the August MCAT the summer after graduation, because there was no way I would have been ready in April, applied to 23 schools, got interview offers at 14, interviewed at 13, got 5 acceptances, 6 waitlists, 2 post-interview rejections. Just because you take the August MCAT dies not mean you need to delay your application. Have everything in the moment it's possible (making sure that what you submit is as good as humanly possible), so that come Occtober when the Agust MCAT scores are ready to hit your file, your fiile is only waiting on those scores.