HELP me! I need serious MCAT advice.

[MDJerome]

Hi guys, well here's my story:

I am a graduating senior currently registered for the July 18th test date. My goals were to apply and get into medical school by 2010, otherwise I'm a year behind.

I have a 3.4 GPA, some EC's, volunteer work, and leadership positions under my belt.

Unfortunately for me, I haven't began crackin down on the MCAT and so I have less than a month to prepare for it. I have my sister's old Princeton Review books (2007) and plan on studying from them (independently, won't be taking any courses). I was considering moving it to August 14th so that I can have 3 months to study intensely but I've been told that I won't get in by the time my MCAT scores are released and I have applied.

Now I'm just really nervous about the whole thing, and I need some advice, words of encouragement. Is it possible to study for the MCAT in less than a month? 3 months? I forget a lot of the material I've learned over the years and have to reteach myself. Is it too late to take the MCAT in August? I have no one to really talk to. My sister is no help at all! Please help!

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[fewcherpeedsdoc]

i guess this is a sympathy post since no one has responded.....

anywho, first off dont stress so much. its not good when you're trying to study. now figure out an effective plan that you know will help you learn the material quickly so that you can move on to practicing problesm and tests. stick to the schedule. if you know you can cover 50 pages of review information per day, then you'll know how many days you'll need to knock out the review textbooks. i would say that 2-4 weeks of practice would be enough. studying for the MCAT in less than a month could be done, but not many do that. its quite hard to get a good score with that little bit of time.

i woudl say since your gpa is like mine that you shoudl know that applying early (june 2) is the best time to increase your chances. your chances are significantly less if you take the test in aug...

come on, you cant really expect ppl to encourage you or post on here when you're the very one who's not studying hard. i had no one to talk to who was going trhough the same stuff as me, but i was able to get through it. if you cant really stay motivated, then maybe medicine isnt the perfect career choice? just something to think about. i sometimes think the MCAT is a lot easier than what will come in the future...

 

[dundunham]

I'd start off to take a practice test see where I'm at with my scores.... and then see how well I do... maybe you can sacrifice aamc test 3 to test this to get close to the real thing.... then see how well you do.... are your scores pretty good? then ok .. it means you've got some mcat intuition going for you so perhaps taking a few practice tests can just solidify your studying. Now if you don't do well on this practice test, you need to just wait it out and take it either in august or september and then apply next year.

I'm also in a situation where I've already finished my courses and can apply but need to boost my mcat score, but I tell you... if you aren't ready for the mcat, don't rob yourself of taking it once with a bang and coming out with an awesome score and just applying early for the next cycle. I know people who spend thousands of dollars and many years and even some who took this more than 4 times to get a high score on this test (yes they extended their application 4 or more years just to pass this damn test). So, don't think you can get away with just a month of studying. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky? I've also met people who get into med school with a 24 which does happen. So, first thing is to relax and perhaps try a practice test to see where that takes you. I def. would not recommend you rush things. good luck

 

[SN2ed]

Take the 3 months. You need a solid MCAT to make up for your GPA and you're selling yourself short by even thinking about 1 month. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT APPLYING. Think about applying AFTER you have a good MCAT score. If that means you apply early next year, then do that. There's nothing wrong with taking a year off. Think of it as time to further build your application and relax before you jump into medical school. You won't be able to have another break like that for years. Lastly, unless those TPR books are the Hyperlearning ones, you need better study material. Yes, there is an enormous difference between the TPR books in bookstores and their Hyperlearning series.

 

[MDJerome]

Take the 3 months. You need a solid MCAT to make up for your GPA and you're selling yourself short by even thinking about 1 month. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT APPLYING. Think about applying AFTER you have a good MCAT score. If that means you apply early next year, then do that. There's nothing wrong with taking a year off. Think of it as time to further build your application and relax before you jump into medical school. You won't be able to have another break like that for years. Lastly, unless those TPR books are the Hyperlearning ones, you need better study material. Yes, there is an enormous difference between the TPR books in bookstores and their Hyperlearning series.

Thanks to everyone who replied, especially this. They are the hyper learning series. This is probably a silly question but does the MCAT score I get this year be used for application next year if needed? Or must I retake the mcat?

 

[SN2ed]

Most schools accept scores that are 3 years old. For instance, the oldest MCAT accepted for the 2010 admission cycle would be from 2007 for most schools.

 

[sportsfreak]

well i am in a similar situation, I started studying for 2 weeks...I think its still possible to get ready for the July 18th exam...what i would do is study one chapter from each science every day...since most books have 15 chapters per subject this would mean u can study 4 chapters a day and be done with eh sciences by July 12ish...which will give u time to also do some exams...I know i skipped verbal but i have no idea how to get ready for verbal either

gl

 

[BasalGanglia]

Hi guys, well here's my story:

I am a graduating senior currently registered for the July 18th test date. My goals were to apply and get into medical school by 2010, otherwise I'm a year behind.

I have a 3.4 GPA, some EC's, volunteer work, and leadership positions under my belt.

Unfortunately for me, I haven't began crackin down on the MCAT and so I have less than a month to prepare for it. I have my sister's old Princeton Review books (2007) and plan on studying from them (independently, won't be taking any courses). I was considering moving it to August 14th so that I can have 3 months to study intensely but I've been told that I won't get in by the time my MCAT scores are released and I have applied.

Now I'm just really nervous about the whole thing, and I need some advice, words of encouragement. Is it possible to study for the MCAT in less than a month? 3 months? I forget a lot of the material I've learned over the years and have to reteach myself. Is it too late to take the MCAT in August? I have no one to really talk to. My sister is no help at all! Please help!

First of all.. RELAX! Who cares if you're a year behind? At least you're doing what you need to do and aware of your responsibilities! I know you're worried about your GPA and yes, GPA is important but you don't have a horrible GPA AND there are other factors schools look at! It can be discouraging look at other people's posts about their 4.0 GPA and their amazing stats but the truth is, not everyone is telling the truth and you never know what school they went to to earn their amazing GPA. I've come to realize that YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY. If you are worried and think you can't do this then you can literally beat yourself up about it and not accomplish anything.

That being said, only you know how much preparation you need. If you really have to reteach yourself everything than you probably do have to take the later MCAT date. Why cram everything and do bad..? You'll just waste time, money and discourage yourself even more. Be realistic, if you gotta wait another year to apply then do it. As long as you are taking the right steps to get into medical schools then you are in good shape. Who cares if you are 22 applying to medical school? Who cares if you're 50 applying to medical school? Chances are.. its mainly you and your own set expectations. Well good luck and keep your head up.

 

[dundunham]

I agree with BasalGanglia.... med school has people of all ages... and being nervous about it and rushing it is not the way to go. And yes, we are our worse enemies...