Exclusively Studying for MCAT over Summer

[thedude777]

Hey Everyone,

Sorry this is going to be pretty long lol. TL;DR: Would it look bad if I did nothing over the next two months and just studied for the MCAT?

So I stayed home for the summer because I thought it would be easier to study for the MCAT, which I am signed up for at the end of August, and live here than at my college (I stayed at my college last summer and it was pretty difficult in terms of food, transportation, etc. since they shut down a lot of things during the summer). I decided to also pursue research with a professor at a local university from June through the end of July since I don't have too much prior research experience and I thought it would look bad to do nothing but study for the MCAT. However, I was left alone most of the time without that much experience in the area and I also ended up not finding the project that interesting. When I asked about switching to a different project that had more grad students, which would allow me to learn more and be trained better and more interesting, she told me that unfortunately the lab was low on funding right now and the grad students on all the other projects would take some time to train me in so there was no point. She essentially "fired" me, in a nice way, from this lab, just saying that it didn't seem like a very good fit. That happened on Friday, so I spent the weekend in a dilemma and decided to post here.

So my question is, what should I do now? This professor offered to try to help me find another lab in the same department that I could join but I'm not sure whether it would be worth doing so at this point - after this experience, I'm not sure that in general, I could really contribute that much to any lab during just 1-2 months. I do have a bit of research experience so far in undergrad and am joining a more "legit" lab next year - my senior year). Plus I am taking a gap year so I figure I could try to do a year-long research project at this same local university or through the NIH post-bac program and thus get more experience and be able to contribute. Unfortunately, most of the clinics and hospitals in my area are pretty competitive for volunteering and mostly want at least 6-12 month commitments, if not more, which I can't do and don't want to lie about.

The internship, for the two weeks I did it, had a long commute and rather odd hours so I didn't really get much time to study for the MCAT so far. To assess where I was at before studying, I took a full length Kaplan practice exam on Saturday and scored a 499 (124 in Chem/Physics and Bio/Biochem, 126 in CARS, and 125 in Psych/Soc.) - I think that seems like a pretty bad score since 500 is the average. My grades in some of the prereqs and my overall sGPA are also not quite where I want them to be, so I know I need to do even better on the MCAT to compensate. That's why I'm wondering if I should just use these two months to study and hopefully improve my score by quite a bit. If I did nothing over the summer, would it look bad or even show up to adcoms (since I would be resume the activities I did before leaving for the summer until the end of college)? Or do you think it would be better to do something, regardless of what it is, over the summer?

Thanks!

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[UbiquitinAsian]

Also don't get discouraged by Kaplan full length tests, they are the worst indicator of how well you will actually do. They are good for getting down timing and content review, but not indicative of the real deal.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I highly doubt they will care you decided to spend your summer MCAT studying. Honestly most people don't do much with their summers, even if they say they do.

 

[JJRousseau]

The beauty of focusing on the MCAT is that you should not just be focusing on the MCAT. That is you have 2 months with no life goal distractions except studying for a single exam. Thus, you should focus on wellness too - go for long walks, have dedicated relaxation time, exercise etc. Perhaps late Saturday afternoons, have a study beer. The point is you are giving yourself the time to study for the exam in a healthy way. Liberate your summer with a realistic, strict study schedule, execute and enjoy the non-study time.

 

[hartTXlonghornn2021]

you getting "fired" from your lab was honestly a blessing in disguise. I was in a similar situation to you... I had a summer research internship at a local university working ~40 hours per week with an MCAT scheduled in August. I figured I could easily work and study simultaneously (right cause when you're working you don't have anything to do on the weekends/after work!!!). Well I was definitely wrong! After being in the lab all day you are tired and will not wanI was very unprepared to take the MCAT at the end of the summer and ended up voiding my exam. I subsequently took it after my Christmas break.

Take it from me! I would thank your supervisor and spend the next couple months studying for the MCAT because that is going to be a much bigger deal than working in a lab for the next month and a half. Treat studying for the MCAT like a job and you will be glad you did!

EDIT: Also want to add that Kaplan exams really deflate your score! I scored 5 points higher on the real deal versus my highest Kaplan score so do not let that deter you.

 

[thedude777]

This is coming pretty late as I forgot to check SDN after this post until now, but thanks for all the advice and encouragement everyone! As you've all said, I am definitely glad in retrospect that that happened as I don't think I could have properly studied for the MCAT otherwise.