Anyone here take MCAT after 2 years no science?

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emericana

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Graduated in Dec 2008 with a molec bio degree.
Took two years off to find myself, as I originally wanted to do research but then realized it really wasnt for me after finishing college. Never considered medicine throughout my degree.

Recently I have been shadowing a podiatrist and love it and want to go to Pod school. Need a 25 or so on the MCAT to ensure in I believe?

I have not taken gen chem or physics in around 5 years or so. The bio and ochem stuff is a bit more fresh in my mind but its all a bit hazy.

I just started the kaplan classroom course and plan on studying 2-6 hours every day and take the test in january.

Anyone else do something similar? Take a bunch of time off? What has everyones results been?
 
I recently took the mcat 9/9/10 after being away from school for 4 years. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in biochemistry. As far as general chem/bio/physics and o-chem goes, i took those courses back in 2003/2004. So it has def been a while since i've seen that material.

Since I just took the mcat, i wont have my results back until oct. But I didn't think that it was hard to re-learn a lot of the material. I think the biggest challenge was physics and probably biology (chemistry/organic chemistry have always been my strengths). I studied for approx. 2 months without any prep course and was able to do well on the science sections for all the AAMC practice exams. I averaged about a 13 on PS and a 11-12 on BS.
 
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i just took it too (9/11), so can't tell you how i did. but my aamc practices were fine and my prereqs for this were 7-8 years ago. i used EK and because it was all so long ago i did a lot of content review (more it seems than most around here), which helped me resolidify it all. january is plenty of time so you can do it!
 
I have been out of school 1.5 yrs and just took the mcat.

since i placed out of gen chem in college, i hadnt had that for about 7-8 yrs. in addition, i took a year off between high school and college. my college physics class was a joke compared to my high school one and i learned relatively nothing, so essentially i hadnt taken physics since high school either.

in my experience, if you learned something well the first time and try to restudy it, although it may take a bit more time and practice to get back into the swing of it, it's not too challenging.

the mcat tests the basic concepts and applies them to new situations. you dont need to know every detail, if you can understand the rules really well. personally i think it was actually pretty nice to get a different perspective on the test.

if anything, i would worry about your concentration level. i had always heard that it goes down but never really believed it until this year. i used to be able to sit for days and days without stopping. now i get restless after a few hours.

this is just my opinion though, everyones different. i know some ppl who think its a disadvantage to have been out of school...
 
Thanks a lot for the motivation guys!

Just started studying yesterday and am doing a combination of kaplan and exam krackers. i have a exam krackers pdf i am using and am doing the kaplan course.

Doing 4 hours of physics today and will continue to do 4 -6 hours of physics a day until i get it.

i am taking 2 classes part time at night to strengthen my gpa also..

the classes are computer courses which i am naturally good at (was honestly considering going back to school for comptuer scinece masters) so it will be a fun way for me to relieve myself from the hell that is mcat/hard science courses!
 
I graduated 2008 with a degree in Cell Biology & Neuroscience. I placed out of Bio and all my classes were on a micro scale, with my only systems focus coming from a A&P class in high school. Gen Chem and Physics were both first year classes and Orgo second year, so it had been a while.

I got between a 32 and a 35 on the five AAMC practice tests I took and wrote the 7/8/2010 exam, getting a balanced 37. I studied about four months with exam crackers supplemented by wikipremed while working full time. Once you get started, things will probably start clicking. It's all still up there, you just have to shake it out.
 
Hi guys. I am new to student doctor forum. I am 28 and have been a nurse for 4 years now. I initially, out of high school was premed but family circumstances stopped me. Now 4 years later I have never stopped wanting to be a doctor. I am so limited as a nurse, and not happy being a nurse. I still regret daily not pursuing the dream to become a doctor so I know I need to do this. So I want to take the MCAT in May but I do not remember any of the sciences! I looked over the aamc guideline and it is so overwhelming! I truley do not remember alot of this stuff! I signed up for the Kaplan but I am trying to reteach myself the sciences, or at least the basics before the Kaplan class starts in January.

Any recommendations? I heard EK was good... and emericana how has the studying worked out for you so far?

What do you guys feel like has best helped you to relearn or self teach the sciences?
 
Hi guys. I am new to student doctor forum. I am 28 and have been a nurse for 4 years now. I initially, out of high school was premed but family circumstances stopped me. Now 4 years later I have never stopped wanting to be a doctor. I am so limited as a nurse, and not happy being a nurse. I still regret daily not pursuing the dream to become a doctor so I know I need to do this. So I want to take the MCAT in May but I do not remember any of the sciences! I looked over the aamc guideline and it is so overwhelming! I truley do not remember alot of this stuff! I signed up for the Kaplan but I am trying to reteach myself the sciences, or at least the basics before the Kaplan class starts in January.

Any recommendations? I heard EK was good... and emericana how has the studying worked out for you so far?

What do you guys feel like has best helped you to relearn or self teach the sciences?
Get Berkeley Review for everything except Verbal. Get EK for Verbal. Also, read the sticky posts at the top of the MCAT forum. All your questions will be answered.

Good luck.
 
I'd been out of undergrad for over 5 years when I took the MCAT. Some of my pre-med classes I took in the late 90's so I was closer to 8 years out from the pre-med classes. I did fine on the MCAT, however, I did not work or go to school for the 3 months leading up to the exam. I basically lived and breathed it during that time. And yes, I practically had to relearn physics and organic chemistry. General Chem and Biology were easier to absorb. Basically, all I'm trying to say is, it's doable, given the proper effort. (non trad btw)
 
Hi guys. I am new to student doctor forum. I am 28 and have been a nurse for 4 years now. I initially, out of high school was premed but family circumstances stopped me. Now 4 years later I have never stopped wanting to be a doctor. I am so limited as a nurse, and not happy being a nurse. I still regret daily not pursuing the dream to become a doctor so I know I need to do this. So I want to take the MCAT in May but I do not remember any of the sciences! I looked over the aamc guideline and it is so overwhelming! I truley do not remember alot of this stuff! I signed up for the Kaplan but I am trying to reteach myself the sciences, or at least the basics before the Kaplan class starts in January.

Any recommendations? I heard EK was good... and emericana how has the studying worked out for you so far?

What do you guys feel like has best helped you to relearn or self teach the sciences?

Hey! Sorry it took me so long to respond. Studying is going way better than when I first posted this thread. I am killing myself pulling 10 hour days but it is all coming along.

What I have learned so far....

Kaplan is a waste of 2k.

Exam krackers and Princeton review are awesome.

Sometimes I supplement what I do not know with the original textbooks for the classes.

As predicted bio and ochem came back ok and I'm teaching myself gen chem and physics from scratch.

Very hard but doable.
 
Hey! Sorry it took me so long to respond. Studying is going way better than when I first posted this thread. I am killing myself pulling 10 hour days but it is all coming along.

What I have learned so far....

Kaplan is a waste of 2k.

Exam krackers and Princeton review are awesome.

Sometimes I supplement what I do not know with the original textbooks for the classes.

As predicted bio and ochem came back ok and I'm teaching myself gen chem and physics from scratch.

Very hard but doable.

I guess it comes down to the individual and the preferential study method. I personally thought Kaplan was the best investment I could have made (except for Kaplan Verbal) and I thought Examkrackers was way overrated (except for EK Verbal -> golden)

But I'm more of a conceptual learner and EK wasn't thorough enough for me. However, Kaplan was extremely thorough and there were no blanks left after getting through their material. I should mention however that I didn't take the classroom course. I took the online course and just utilized their wide array of materials.
 
Hey! Sorry it took me so long to respond. Studying is going way better than when I first posted this thread. I am killing myself pulling 10 hour days but it is all coming along.

What I have learned so far....

Kaplan is a waste of 2k.

Exam krackers and Princeton review are awesome.

Sometimes I supplement what I do not know with the original textbooks for the classes.

As predicted bio and ochem came back ok and I'm teaching myself gen chem and physics from scratch.

Very hard but doable.

If I were you, I would take a week or two reviewing Gen Chem and Physics from Khan Academy.

Honestly, you will be able to get that 25... Not saying it's easy, but if you are decently smart, go through all four science subjects on prep books, and take practice AAMCs, you should be good to go.
 
I am in a similar situation. I don't know my pre-recs well b/c I took most of them at a very easy, state school. I am using the Kaplan review books as an outline, and am going back to my textbook to teach my self physics and orgo. I'm also working problems from the EK 1001 book for physics to make sure I really understand the material. I am hoping to be ready by the April MCAT. I wanted to know how can I properly prepare for actual MCAT like passages. I tried some passages on subjects that I though I knew well but still couldn't do the problems? I felt like the passages were nothing like what I covered...
 
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