Couple of Questions

[CM45]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi, I just finished my first semester of college this winter, and I plan to finish my undergraduate degree by 2013, so I just have a couple questions.

1.) Although I am still a freshman I am still nervous I might not be able to score good enough on the MCAT to get into a medical school, so I was hoping someone could guide me to some good books that I could checkout at my campus library that could help me become more familiar with [FONT=verdana, geneva, helvetica]physics, general chemistry,biology and organic chemistry. Also if there is anything that could help me with the verbal reasoning and writing sample part of the exam. I am hoping this will help prepare me for the upcoming courses over the next few years, and maybe help me stay sharp for the MCAT when I do begin to prep for it.

2.) I should finish my pre-med courses by the end of my junior year correct? Than I would take the MCAT in April of my senior year? I wanna make sure I will have taken all the courses needed to be prepared for it.

3.) I plan on studying for the MCAT about 6 months before the exam, so I know I will need a guidebook and a practice test. Is there anything else that would be mandatory for prepping for this exam? I am also thinking about taking a prep course, but I am not sure which one just yet.

If there is anything else I might need to know please let me.

Thank you
.

 

[GoSpursGo]

1. I don't recommend pre-studying that far in advance; whenever I've tried it, I learned stuff wrong. Don't get ahead of yourself.

2. Yes, you should finish your pre-med courses by the end of junior year, but unless you're planning on taking a year off, you should take the MCAT at the end of junior year; applying to med school takes a full year, and you'll be doing it as you finish senior year.

3. You will want to take many, many more than just one practice test. Personally, I think a prep course is good, as it forces you to stay on top of things. I recommend Kaplan, as it worked for me, but many have had success w/ other courses.

 

[CM45]

1. I don't recommend pre-studying that far in advance; whenever I've tried it, I learned stuff wrong. Don't get ahead of yourself.

2. Yes, you should finish your pre-med courses by the end of junior year, but unless you're planning on taking a year off, you should take the MCAT at the end of junior year; applying to med school takes a full year, and you'll be doing it as you finish senior year.

3. You will want to take many, many more than just one practice test. Personally, I think a prep course is good, as it forces you to stay on top of things. I recommend Kaplan, as it worked for me, but many have had success w/ other courses.

Thats what I wasn't sure about, so I should take the MCAT in April of my Junior year, and I just need to make sure I have all the science courses finished by then?

 

[GoSpursGo]

Thats what I wasn't sure about, so I should take the MCAT in April of my Junior year, and I just need to make sure I have all the science courses finished by then?

Yes, though a lot of people I know take the MCAT as they're finishing up Physics 2. This doesn't seem to hurt them, as most of the physics 2 you need is covered fairly early on.

 

[Disinence2]

6 months for the MCAT?!?

I just got done with my 4 weeks for step 1. In my opinion studying for a test for any time more than 6 weeks won't drastically change your score.

If you do well in your biology, chemistry, and physics courses then you should be fine on the MCAT. Its verbal that's the tricky one. There's many strategies to doing better on verbal. Its not like taking an English course will help you at all. Its all about doing a ton of MCAT verbal practice questions until you get a feel for the test.

Hope this helps!

In short. Don't worry about the MCAT quite yet. Do amazing in your undergrad courses, and you'll learn everything you need to know.

best of luck

 

[GoSpursGo]

6 months for the MCAT?!?

I just got done with my 4 weeks for step 1. In my opinion studying for a test for any time more than 6 weeks won't drastically change your score.

If you do well in your biology, chemistry, and physics courses then you should be fine on the MCAT. Its verbal that's the tricky one. There's many strategies to doing better on verbal. Its not like taking an English course will help you at all. Its all about doing a ton of MCAT verbal practice questions until you get a feel for the test.

Hope this helps!

In short. Don't worry about the MCAT quite yet. Do amazing in your undergrad courses, and you'll learn everything you need to know.

best of luck

I obviously haven't gone through the process yet, but I would think that MCAT and step 1 are two different beasts. You have to study for the MCAT while you're still taking a full load of classes, while most med schools schedule in those 4-6 weeks after MS2 for med students to completely focus on step 1. So to me it seems like it might take longer to get ready for the MCAT since you can't usually just drop everything and study 10 hours a day for it.

But that's just my opinion...

 

[mvenus929]

1) Don't prestudy. Go through your courses, and learn the material right the first time and you'll have a much easier time when it comes to studying for the MCAT.

2) You don't have to take the MCAT by April of the year you apply. Back in the old days of paper exams, you had to take it either in April or August. Now, you can take it in January, April, May, June, July, August, and September. But yeah, taking it in/after your senior year will set you back a year.

3) When you do start to study for the MCAT, I suggest Exam Krackers, and Audio Osmosis. And, of course, a whole bunch of practice exams.

 

[SnarkyMD]

Oh, slow down sweetheart!

1) I'm sure your college has required English courses. These will generally help you become a quicker and more analytical reader. One of your biggest tasks between now and the MCAT (and you have plenty of time!) is to become a quick reader and able to pick out important details, and synthesize quickly. The writing portion is a cookbook essay and can be picked up in a week prior to taking the test.

2) It's a good goal to finish most coursework by Junior year, especially the science courses. I wrapped mine up by the end of sophomore year so I could take the MCAT that summer, but this was back in the day of paper exams. Now you can take it when you need to.

3) If you can afford it, and need some structure to keep you on task for studying, I recommend a class like Princeton Review or Kaplan.

But slow down a bit! Take this time to get good grades, have interesting experiences, and become a better person! Med schools want applicants to excel in ALL areas.