Help! Early & lots of stress, or v.v.?

[Sophie]

I'm really in need of advice. I just spoke with my premed advisor and she said it would be greatly to my advantage to take the April MCAT rather than the August one if I'm applying this year. The problem: I'm a postbacc, and have to take 18 units each quarter throughout the year. There's really no way I could cut back.

In Winter I'll have:
O Chem 140B
Metabolic Biochemistry
Physics 1B
Spanish 1B

and in Spring I'll have:
O Chem 140C
Genetics
Physics 1C
Spanish 1C

I also work P/T, have a few volunteer activities, and a needy b/f .

I'm not a stellar applicant, but I'm a bit above average.. hopefully by the time I'm done with this year I will have an overall GPA of 3.72 and a science GPA of 3.81.

Basically, I just want to know whether it would put me at a disadvantage to take the August MCAT. If option A is I take it in April, am stressed, and get into school X, and option B is I take it in August, am less stressed, and don't get into school X, I would choose A every time. I just need to know how significant of a difference this would make.

And if people have taken the MCAT while keeping up difficult schedules (which I'm sure tons of people here have), I'd love it if you'd post and say so. I could use the support.

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[HollyJ]

Hey Sophie,
I'm a postbac too, and I took my MCAT last April. That semester, I was taking ochem, physics, biology, and biology lab, was working full-time, and was volunteering 10 hours per week. So it can be done! I had ZERO time to study for the MCAT, though, so beware.

Here's my question, though: Why do you need to take the Spanish, the genetics, and the biochemistry? I know that people say that they are helpful for the MCAT, but I think having the extra time to study (and stay sane) would probably be more to your advantage. I took the MCAT with only the bare minimum, and I did fine.

I am really glad that I took the April MCAT. I do think it's a pretty big disadvantage to take the August test, but less so than getting a lower score because you're not prepared.

PM me if you have any questions or need moral support.

Good luck!

 

[purplmarsh]

I PMed you.

 

[spumoni620]

Originally posted by HollyJ
Hey Sophie,
I'm a postbac too, and I took my MCAT last April. That semester, I was taking ochem, physics, biology, and biology lab, was working full-time, and was volunteering 10 hours per week. So it can be done! I had ZERO time to study for the MCAT, though, so beware.

Here's my question, though: Why do you need to take the Spanish, the genetics, and the biochemistry? I know that people say that they are helpful for the MCAT, but I think having the extra time to study (and stay sane) would probably be more to your advantage. I took the MCAT with only the bare minimum, and I did fine.

I am really glad that I took the April MCAT. I do think it's a pretty big disadvantage to take the August test, but less so than getting a lower score because you're not prepared.

Good luck!

wow holly, amazing! hats off to you.

yeah, i guess the cold hard truth is that taking the aug mcat does put you at a disadvantage, the extent of which depends on how competitive you are. as a postbacc myself, i was considering taking the aug mcat as well and decided not to. i told myself i'd study for the april one and if i didn't feel ready/prepared i would just take it in aug. so you can plan at least tentatively to take it in april. btw, PLENTY of aug ppl get in, but i think you have to work a bit harder (i.e. get all your stuff in early w/o mcat scores, study harder & perform very well on the aug mcat.) oh and i agree w/holly - why do you have to take those extra non-prereq classes? if you can put those off, you'll be golden for taking the april mcat.

good luck!

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by spumoni620
wow holly, amazing! hats off to you.

Hee -- it was a REALLY long semester.

 

[jlee9531]

why have the regrets?

take april and suck it up

 

[exmike]

what is V.V. ?

 

[Sophie]

Holly: Oh my gosh... Now I feel bad about complaining.

purpl: Got it and sent you one back. Thank you.

spumoni & Holly: I'm taking Biochem because several of the schools I want to apply to either require it or strongly recommend it. The Genetics is because my premed advisor told me that only taking Bio 1, Bio 2, and Bio lab will not count as a full year (I'm on the quarter system) and that Biochem doesn't count towards the year either. So in order to fulfill the 1 year Bio requirement I have to take an additional Bio class and a few schools recommend taking Genetics, so I figured that would be a good option.

It is possible to put them off until summer or later, but the problem with that is I'm in a 1 year program, so tuition isn't too bad right now, and it's at a flat rate for however many classes I want to take. After June I'll have to pay for each class separately, at around $500 a pop. Plus, I need to start working F/T asap (I'm worse than broke), so if I can have it all done by August I'll have more months to work.

As for Spanish, that's my 'fun' class, and it's fairly easy, so eliminating it wouldn't help my schedule too much. Plus, it's something I really want to know, and I'm not sure when else I'll get such a good opportunity to learn it. And I'm getting in good with the monolingual Spanish-speaking future grandmother-in-law.

jlee: Good point. Regrets are what I most fear in this whole process.

exmike: v.v. = vice versa. It means "the opposite", basically.

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by Sophie

exmike: v.v. = vice versa. It means "the opposite", basically.

haha ok i might not know what v.v. stands for, but i DO know what vice versa means. thanks for making me look like a '****

 

[Sophie]

Originally posted by exmike
haha ok i might not know what v.v. stands for, but i DO know what vice versa means. thanks for making me look like a '****

Sorry!

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by Sophie
Holly: Oh my gosh... Now I feel bad about complaining.

No no no -- I only mentioned it because you wanted examples of people loading up on their MCAT semester. You sound like you have a really full plate.

spumoni & Holly: I'm taking Biochem because several of the schools I want to apply to either require it or strongly recommend it. The Genetics is because my premed advisor told me that only taking Bio 1, Bio 2, and Bio lab will not count as a full year (I'm on the quarter system) and that Biochem doesn't count towards the year either. So in order to fulfill the 1 year Bio requirement I have to take an additional Bio class and a few schools recommend taking Genetics, so I figured that would be a good option.

It is possible to put them off until summer or later, but the problem with that is I'm in a 1 year program, so tuition isn't too bad right now, and it's at a flat rate for however many classes I want to take. After June I'll have to pay for each class separately, at around $500 a pop. Plus, I need to start working F/T asap (I'm worse than broke), so if I can have it all done by August I'll have more months to work.

As for Spanish, that's my 'fun' class, and it's fairly easy, so eliminating it wouldn't help my schedule too much. Plus, it's something I really want to know, and I'm not sure when else I'll get such a good opportunity to learn it. And I'm getting in good with the monolingual Spanish-speaking future grandmother-in-law.

Yikes, it does sound like you're a little stuck. You can totally do it -- it's amazing how easy school is after "real life." Are your classes going well now?

This is going to go totally contrary to the "worse than broke" problem, but you might consider taking an MCAT prep course this spring. I just sat in on the TPR class (full disclosure: I work for them) but I didn't do any homework, and it really streamlined my MCAT prep, since that's all I did to study. I wouldn't really recommend that in normal circumstances, but you do what you have to, right? If money is an issue, you might check with your local TPR or Kaplan office about scholarships.

 

[spumoni620]

yup, again i concur w/holly. it sounds like you do need to take those classes. is it possible you can p/f or audit some of the nonprereq classes?

btw, i know another extremely busy person who didn't have time to prepare solo for the mcat. her only studying, besides taking the necessary prereq classes, was attending the tpr classes and doing the tpr homework. she did really well on the mcats...so that's a really good piece of advice of holly's. for someone who's really swamped w/other things, it might seem counterintuitive but taking a class actually really helps carve out some time in a busy schedule for mcat work.

good luck!

 

[Sophie]

Thanks again, holly and spumoni. I'd already been considering TPR for exactly the reason you both mentioned - setting aside some required MCAT study time, so it's good to hear that that works. So far my classes are going great, and I am taking Spanish p/f, which helps a lot. You're totally right about school being easier after having experienced "real life"... when compared to the admin and paperwork stuff I had been doing at work studying is fun.

Good luck to you, too, spumoni!

 

[Sophie]

I just found out the April test is on my birthday. I think I'll take that as a sign.

and *bump*