dont want to waste the summer

[woodhorse22]

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Hello. Starting as an undergrad Senior Fall 06, I want this summer to be beneficial to my premed career. THis summer my first priority is the MCAT because I am taking it in August and my first diag score thru the Princeton Review (TPR) was a very very very low... a 15. So, kinda scared. My science GPA is a 3. 89 and overall is 3.92. Also, I am shadowing a General Surgeon (started well before the summer really started) and also volunteering in a nursing home. Besides the mcat prep, nurshing home volunteering, and shadowing, i am not doing anything else. Can you guys think of anything else i can do that might be helpful in my career. So far, I have 70 hrs of volunteer work in the ER, 25 hours in the nurshig home, 30 hours of MD shadowing, 30 hours of ER physician shadowing, 1 year of research, and one semester of TAing Biochem ( will continue as a TA next school year as well). I am not sure if should be applying to medical school. I guess I have to see how much i improve on my next diagnostic.

If i were to send in my applications now, is it true that medical schools will "hold" my applications until they get my August MCAt scores? So there is really no point of turning the apps in early, correct? I mean have my professors lined up for LORS if needed. So, guys please tell me, should I apply this summer to med schools? I also did 2 years at a community college and then transfered out to a 4 year univ. and did 1 year wilth a 4.0 science GPA. I reall dont want to take a year off b/n med schools and undergrad because I have a easy time at the community college and I just want to move on..... IN summary, what else should I do this summer, and should apply this summer. Should I start working on my applications now????? Thanks........

Also how much do the odds go down for applying in September as opposed to applying early in June with MCAt score anticipated to arrive in mid-june. thanks..

 

[DropkickMurphy]

Relax and enjoy your summer. It could be the last chance you will get for a while.

 

[Duchess742]

hmmm...i was sort of in your sitch last summer (albeit a little less neurotic). since i was taking the august mcat, i decided to wait a year to apply, so i'm applying this june.

fyi: 15 for your first tpr diagnostic is pretty good! 🙂 it's about avg, i think. that being said, it's definitely a good starting point, but you're still going to have to work pretty hard to get a score you'll be happy with. if you're pretty concerned with your mcat score (and you should be, since that's gonna be a major factor in your application), maybe you should chillax on the activities a bit and concentrate more on studying. it sounds like you already have pretty great EC's. make them part of a fantastic application by putting in the time that's required to do well on the mcat!

 

[Duchess742]

😳

 

[Thundrstorm]

It sounds like your GPA and ECs are good, and I wouldn't put too much stock into your first diagnostic score, as I hear that they tend to be incredibly low. I would caution you not to overburden yourself this summer because you will want a few to several hours a day to study for the MCAT as the summer goes on, and that is clearly your priority right now. I don't know your financial situation, but you might want to get a part-time job because applying and flying to interviews will be really expensive. Alternatively, you could do a fun non-medical volunteer activity or class (as in dance or painting, not like a college course) to give you something interesting and different to discuss in interviews. As far as the application timing, one thing you can do is to get your AMCAS completely together and submit it right when your scores come out, with your list of schools already in mind (and obviously you can tweak the list depending on the score). Also, get copies of secondaries for schools you know you will apply to and start writing the essays so you can have a really quick turnaround.

 

[-Goose-]

Hello. Starting as an undergrad Senior Fall 06, I want this summer to be beneficial to my premed career. THis summer my first priority is the MCAT because I am taking it in August and my first diag score thru the Princeton Review (TPR) was a very very very low... a 15. So, kinda scared. My science GPA is a 3. 89 and overall is 3.92. Also, I am shadowing a General Surgeon (started well before the summer really started) and also volunteering in a nursing home. Besides the mcat prep, nurshing home volunteering, and shadowing, i am not doing anything else. Can you guys think of anything else i can do that might be helpful in my career. So far, I have 70 hrs of volunteer work in the ER, 25 hours in the nurshig home, 30 hours of MD shadowing, 30 hours of ER physician shadowing, 1 year of research, and one semester of TAing Biochem ( will continue as a TA next school year as well). I am not sure if should be applying to medical school. I guess I have to see how much i improve on my next diagnostic.

If i were to send in my applications now, is it true that medical schools will "hold" my applications until they get my August MCAt scores? So there is really no point of turning the apps in early, correct? I mean have my professors lined up for LORS if needed. So, guys please tell me, should I apply this summer to med schools? I also did 2 years at a community college and then transfered out to a 4 year univ. and did 1 year wilth a 4.0 science GPA. I reall dont want to take a year off b/n med schools and undergrad because I have a easy time at the community college and I just want to move on..... IN summary, what else should I do this summer, and should apply this summer. Should I start working on my applications now????? Thanks........

Also how much do the odds go down for applying in September as opposed to applying early in June with MCAt score anticipated to arrive in mid-june. thanks..

Don't worry about that diag score. It is a motivational tool and a means of ensuring that TPR's score-improvement guarantee works out in their favor.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

Hello. Starting as an undergrad Senior Fall 06, I want this summer to be beneficial to my premed career. THis summer my first priority is the MCAT because I am taking it in August and my first diag score thru the Princeton Review (TPR) was a very very very low... a 15. So, kinda scared. My science GPA is a 3. 89 and overall is 3.92. Also, I am shadowing a General Surgeon (started well before the summer really started) and also volunteering in a nursing home. Besides the mcat prep, nurshing home volunteering, and shadowing, i am not doing anything else. Can you guys think of anything else i can do that might be helpful in my career. So far, I have 70 hrs of volunteer work in the ER, 25 hours in the nurshig home, 30 hours of MD shadowing, 30 hours of ER physician shadowing, 1 year of research, and one semester of TAing Biochem ( will continue as a TA next school year as well). I am not sure if should be applying to medical school. I guess I have to see how much i improve on my next diagnostic.

If i were to send in my applications now, is it true that medical schools will "hold" my applications until they get my August MCAt scores? So there is really no point of turning the apps in early, correct? I mean have my professors lined up for LORS if needed. So, guys please tell me, should I apply this summer to med schools? I also did 2 years at a community college and then transfered out to a 4 year univ. and did 1 year wilth a 4.0 science GPA. I reall dont want to take a year off b/n med schools and undergrad because I have a easy time at the community college and I just want to move on..... IN summary, what else should I do this summer, and should apply this summer. Should I start working on my applications now????? Thanks........

Also how much do the odds go down for applying in September as opposed to applying early in June with MCAt score anticipated to arrive in mid-june. thanks..

So what do you do for fun? Whatever it is, do more of it.

 

[cunam_amoris]

Apply now!
I ONLY took the August MCAT and applied to two schools. One set up an interview with me the day after my scores were released to them (I did have a very nice GPA and extra-curs, etc). The other school set up an interview with me as soon as they got my scores. So yes, apply now, and do it within one week, the earlier you apply, the better--I CANNOT stress that enough. Classes everywhere are 95% filled by the end of November. So apply now! Get it in gear! Tomorrow is June 1, and if I remember correctly, that's the date to start submitting the AMCAS (at least it was when I did it), and just think of all the other nerds like me out there who submitted on Day 1!!! It's not too late, but get moving if you want to start med school next year!

Unless of course you want to bum around Europe for a year which isn't a bad idea either!

Year 1 of med school finishing up for me...aaaaaaaaahhhhhh what a feeling!

 

[plainolerichie]

Yeah, apply now, even before the MCAT.