can't sleep, help!

[suckermc]

guys, im sorry to bother you again but i am having issues with mcat etc. and need advice.

and the advice i get from my mom (give up) and various others, well..

i want to get in, eventually, and apply once, i hope but i am having so many black thoughts.

1) in analyizing my low mcat score over and over again, the only thing i could think of besides all the other things i mentioned on other forums is that it has been ..what, 5 years since i've taken chem? when i am studying now, i seem to remember, and what i don't im using EK, TPR and my sisters ap books (college chem that is) ......the first time around i didnt pay much attention to chem , so im trying to hit all my weaknesses..
should i take chem 1 over again while studying for the mcat again or retake all of inorganic and wait till next april? i plan to retake my courses because my school had a p/f basis, but would this help or hurt me? i really dont want to take the cbt test, but would this be better?

2) as a non trad how bad is it looked to take multiple mcats and redo classes?
does any adcom say, look, this dude's a turd, had to take classes and an mcat over?

3) should i go to the schools i want to apply to personally (not all, of course, just the ones i am near) and show them what i have so far and ask what i need to be competitive?or would that look stupid?


4)lastly, and this might be a stupid question again, but i am not sure now how to determine if i am ready for the mcat. i took so many practice tests for august , went over them, and scored high 20's for aamcas and mid 20's for tpr. i wouldnt have done it in august if i didnt see improvement or a decent score on them. so how do i gauge this now? do i trust the practice tests..or what?

5) just a side note: does anyone feel , here, as being older premed, that yr running a race..that everyone is ahead of you? am i the only one?

i apologize for whinging. its just that since mid october this has been bothering me. i dont want to give up, i just want to get it right.

thanks for listening

 

[DrHuang]

1) try berkeley review books for chem...it seems that you require a more in-depth chem book and i think berkeley review chem books will do the trick.

2) no, i dont think itll hurt to retake your classes and MCAT...maybe consider a post-bacc or SMP

3) I would just shoot them an email...no need to go in person

4) Its hard to gauge the practice tests...on most of them, I scored 34+ but on the real deal I only got a 30...there was a AAMC one that gauged my score well but i forgot which one that was...maybe go on the MCAT forums and look around for advie there.

5) nah, youll be fine

just study hard and concentrate on the MCAT

 

[QofQuimica]

3) should i go to the schools i want to apply to personally (not all, of course, just the ones i am near) and show them what i have so far and ask what i need to be competitive?or would that look stupid?

Definitely do this, and do it now before you do anything else. Not only will you NOT look stupid, you'll get advice straight from the horse's mouth about what you need to do to make your app competitive. It will save you from unnecessarily retaking coursework or otherwise doing relatively unproductive things when you could be doing something else that would be more helpful for you. Also, you will develop a contact at that school, and you can continue to correspond with this person as you move further along in the application process. I did this at several schools, and it was immensely helpful.

Best of to you.