DID Anyone take the MCat their Soph year

[Sherif]

If so, would you recommend it if i feel ready and done with the pre req or just wait till Junior year

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[Blade28]

I took the August MCAT after my sophomore year. I'd taken o-chem in freshman year, as well as calculus-based physics (tested out of bio and g-chem), so I felt I would be adequately prepared. Of course, I took Kaplan too.

 

[ASDIC]

i know a friend who took it sophomore year and got a 38...but he got accepted to a BA/MD program and the ADCOMS didnt require a mcat.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

I'm a sophomore right now and will be taking it this August. I think its a great option if you find that you can complete your pre-reqs in your first two years.

 

[finnpipette]

I took it the august after my sophomore year...it worked out great for me. I took chem/ochem during the first two years, bio during my second year and physics the summer after my first year. I took kaplan to review before the test and it ended up working out really well.

 

[Taleof50]

i took it the august after my sophomore year too. i think it's great to get the MCAT out of the way. you also have all summer to study. if you're done with your prereqs, go for it - it's better to do it before you forget stuff.

good luck.

 

[hamhamfan]

Originally posted by Taleof50
i took it the august after my sophomore year too. i think it's great to get the MCAT out of the way. you also have all summer to study. if you're done with your prereqs, go for it - it's better to do it before you forget stuff.

good luck.

Another bonus is that we get to fret over personal statements and secondaries right now while everyone else is studying for the MCATs.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

I took my mcat august after sophomore year. It has its advantages such as one less thing to worry about during spring semester. The only prereq that i hadn't taken yet was physics II, I did reasonably enough that I won't be retaking.

 

[cwb]

Quick question, I'm considering taking it this August, (I'm currently a sophmore) I will have taken ochem 1 ochem 2, gchem 1 gchem 2, pchem, physics with calc 1 and 2, math up to diff eq, however i will have only taken bio 1, are these enough classes to do well enough to take the mcat or should i wait till next spring...? Also, do mcats ever get "outdated" in a sense that if if I took it this summer it might look bad applying next summer? Thanks in advance...

 

[Sherif]

i guess try a bio section on the test and see how u do

 

[astrisize]

I took the MCAT in April of my sophomore year because I was going abroad for year that July. I'd taken orgo and physics freshman year and was in bio at the time I took it. I think if you feel ready, go for it. Good luck!

 

[docmemi]

i know someone who took it after soph year and got a 40. really you should take it only after you finish the pre-reqs and when you feel you are ready...maybe that could be after your feshman year or several years after you grad undergrad. but, its a great position to be in if you knoe your score earlier on. good luck.

 

[Gleevec]

I took it the summer after my sophomore year.

This is generally what students who have AP credit for all the prereqs (and thus take orgo freshman year) and don't want to retake their AP classes do.

 

[musiclink213]

i was thinking about taking it this august (after my soph year), but i'd only have one semester of physics done by that time, and I'm going to paris for 6 weeks, so i don't want to spend that whole time studying for MCAT. but i think it'd be easier to take it in the summer so you can really focus on it and not have to worry about it with all of your other classes if you take it in april of junior year.

 

[dutchmaster]

I took the MCAT the summer after my sophomore year. It went really well, i scored a 34Q. It was nice because i had more time to study for it in the summer. I needed the extra time because i didn't take kaplan either.

 

[scrabbler]

Originally posted by cwb
Quick question, I'm considering taking it this August, (I'm currently a sophmore) I will have taken ochem 1 ochem 2, gchem 1 gchem 2, pchem, physics with calc 1 and 2, math up to diff eq, however i will have only taken bio 1, are these enough classes to do well enough to take the mcat or should i wait till next spring...? Also, do mcats ever get "outdated" in a sense that if if I took it this summer it might look bad applying next summer?

I think you'll be fine with bio 1 if your bio background is strong. Have you taken AP bio? How was your bio in college? I placed out of intro bio and took physiology, which I found helpful. Taking physiology plus spending a small amount of time to review was fine for me. I thought the bio in the MCAT was really not too bad, especially since many of the answers are right in the passages for you, but you should take a practice test and see for yourself.

MCAT scores do get "outdated" after a while but certainly not if you take them August 2004 and apply in 2005. I have many friends who did this, and if you're planning to attend med school right out of college, I think it's a great option for several reasons:

1. You can plan much better which schools you're going to apply to early on knowing your MCAT score (you would find out your April scores in late June, even though you can submit your AMCAS early June). I think this is a really important part of the process if you want to spend your money carefully - research schools ahead of time.

2. You have a chance to retake in April and not become a "late" applicant, which can have disadvantages.

3. If you've just taken your prereqs in freshman and sophomore year, it'll be much fresher in your mind.

 

[idq1i]

Hey, did anyone take the SAT in grade school? Would you guys recommend it? Will I be at a disadvantage?

 

[jhrugger]

i wouldn't rush it. so long as you continue taking science courses you may want to wait til next year. summer is still the better option in my opinion, because seeing my friends during spring semester have to balance mcats with an otherwise furious workload doesn't look fun (understatement).

with that said, if you feel prepared now, take it. i took it last summer (after soph year) and did alright, but may retake later because these upper level bio classes really do help scientific reasoning that is necessary for the mcat.

goodluck

 

[J33]

I agree with most people on this thread...take the mcat summer after soph year if you've finished the pre-reqs. I took it the summer after my sophomore year, and did really well. I recommend taking it asap after you finish your pre-reqs. In my opinion, upper level science courses don't really help. All of the science on the mcat is pretty basic, and there is nothing beyond what you learn in pre-reqs.

I started preparing for it after school let out at the end of June, and worked a full time job, and it was still a million times easier than my friends who had to juggle a full courseload with the mcat in the spring of junior year.