For those who did great on the MCAT and got into med school, a little help?

[hopetobedoctor101010]

For those who studied MCAT and did well (515+), what books do you recommend and what were your study schedules like? I need to do really well on my exam.

I am planning to take it for the first time in January 2019 or May 2019. I made my fall semester light deliberately so that I could study for it.

What materials did you find helpful to go about studying? Tips, tricks, websites, anything is appreciated.

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[Zenabi90]

The first thing you need to decide is if you're going to do a gap year or not. MCAT scores are only valid for 3 years, after that you must retake. Keep in mind that there is now a lifetime limit of 7 takes, including voids and no-shows.

Application cycle starts in May for matriculation in the fall of the following year. For example, those applying during this cycle, which started in May 2018 will be (hopefully) matriculating in Fall of 2019. The cycle ends whenever a school decides it ends for them. Some schools have hard dates where they will no longer accept primaries/secondaries. Some schools will continually accept applications until their last interview date, which will again depend on the school.

If you are planning for no gap year, assuming you graduate May/June of 2020, you will be aiming for matriculation in the Fall of 2020. This means that you will need to apply for the cycle that begins in May 2019. While the MCAT is also a particularly large hurdle, consider that the rest of the application will need to be complete, AND you will NOT be able to include any grades from your senior year during the initial application. Those will be supplied separately in update letters to applied med schools as needed. So you need to have your schools chosen, ECs ready, meaningful experiences paragraphs done, personal statement with unicorn quality polished to a high shine, MCAT done, and GPA fixed by end of June 2019.

For information on study strategies and materials, there is a wealth of information available. I suggest you do a quick forum search, the search engine is your friend. There are also stickied threads, including the 509+ Study Strategies thread and the Study Plans thread, that make for a great starting point. Neither is very long, and generally worth reading in their entirety.

Don't be afraid of gap years. They're becoming increasingly more common. I have a lot of classmates who are already married, have had alternate careers, and/or at least one gap year (I have 6). The one thing we all have in common: a wealth of experience and wisdom that simply isn't there for fresh college grads.

TL;DR: Only consider no gap year if you'll be happy with your overall GPA and application by the end of your junior year. Otherwise focus on raising GPA by getting 4.0 the rest of the way (upward trends help), broadening and deepening your application, and take multiple gap years as needed.

 

[deleted931910]

On top of what's already been said:

Information for how to apply is found here: https://students-residents.aamc.org...ical-school-amcas/how-apply-med-school-amcas/
The AMCAS application opens for submission on June 1. You can take your MCAT whenever you want, ideally before you apply. Most people take it the winter or spring of the year they're going to apply. (e.g. people applying now for the 2018-2019 cycle took it in spring 2018 or winter 2017-2018).

As far as MCAT materials go, most people use TPR, Kaplan, Examkrackers, NextStep, Khan Academy, and AAMC resources. At the end of the day, your success on the MCAT depends a lot more on you than it does your resources. Any of the above are excellent options. I personally used Kaplan and scored a 519.

I studied for the MCAT over one summer while working full time in a research internship. I took 7 full length practice exams throughout the summer and went over each exam in detail afterwards. I also read through each Kaplan book multiple times and took notes, and watched Khan Academy videos as a supplement. Studying during the school year is a little different, since you will study less each day but have longer to do so. Just make sure you balance MCAT studying with school, at any point you feel like you're sacrificing one for the other it's time to make some changes. Your current GPA is a tough sell to a lot of MD schools, and you can compensate with a higher MCAT. However, you certainly don't want your GPA to fall further while preparing for the MCAT.

There's nothing wrong with taking a gap year or several, however, I personally don't think getting a post-bac degree is the most efficient use of time. Instead, maybe consider doing clinical work, volunteering, doing research, etc to boost your application.

Best of luck!