MJB said:
Thank you. I'm strongly considering the online course...as it is just about an hour drive one way to the learning center where the course is taught.
hi mjb,
i am reapplying to schools in june when amcas opens and planning on taking the august mcat. i'm in a slightly diff position than you, seeing as how i already applied one cycle, so schools will be looking at my old mcat score (30). i was thinking that i would just check "no" for the box asking if i'm planning on taking the august mcat, and when the scores come out, to just send to them. that way they will go ahead and review my "complete" file, and the august mcat score in october will just be like an update. what njmdb said was right. this year, a LOT of successful applicants took the august mcat and got early interviews and acceptances, as long as their scores were good. they all submitted early though, so schools had reviewed their files and all they were waiting on were the mcat scores. the only disadvantage to this will be the "blind" choosing of schools, but sounds like your top choice is solid either way. go for it!
in terms of kaplan, i know some people think it's great. but for me, i worked a full-time job, took classes, and volunteered. i ended up quitting the volunteering after i decided i just didn't have enough time to do it all. DON'T TAKE THE CONDENSED COURSE! kaplan especially, gives you a LOT of homework, which you have to do in order for the class time to be of any use to you. and even then, i thought it was a waste of time when doing homework for subjects i didn't need to spend extra time on, sitting in class with a lot of people eating up time asking questions about things i already knew. also, my kapaln instructors were all pretty green(still in college and just took the mcat the previous time before) and they kept switching them on us. anyways, i would get out of work at aroun 6pm, rush to kaplan class 3 times a week, afterwards it would be around 9pm, i would go to borders(by the time i get books out and start studying it is 9:30pm) and study till they kicked me out at 11pm(they actually start blaring over the speakers taht it's time to leave at 10:40pm). so i only had about an hour and a half of study time 3 days a week, on an empty stomach(too tired to pack dinner in the morning), and a lot of that time was eaten up by doing homework for kaplan, instead of focusing on my own weak spots. kaplan almost felt like another class i had to play catchup with, OUTSIDE of my own mcat studying.
the one thing i think was great about taking kaplan, is that every other saturday would be an all-day test simulation with your whole class. there is no substitute for this! if you don't take kaplan, try to find some way to mimick this as close as you can.
also, kaplan exams are off-base. start taking the amcas published mcats early. i thought the physics and verbal tests were especially different, and for verbal it take s a while to adjust to the different types of passages/questions/answers they're looking for.
all in all, i felt like i was not as prepared as i should have been when i took the mcat. (i also had to stress out about taxes. deadline was day before mcat, april 15th! yikes. and had to endure monstrous toothaches because i had to postpone getting my rotten wisdom teeth out until after the mcat.) i regretted spending the 1500 bucks.
i think non-traditionals are motivated enough to keep themselves accountable to a study schedule on their own. i mean, we do it anyways, right? seriously, the college students i took classes with would cheer when class ended early, and would collapse into fits of giggles during the bio sessions anytime the instructor mentioned the word "sex" or any organ involved (anybody here remember SEVEN UP??).
GOOD LUCK MJB! EITHER WAY I KNOW YOU'LL DO GREAT!!
