HS student taking MCAT

[crazee8]

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Would the medical school admissions committee find it impressive if a high school student took the MCAT the summer before matriculating college and scored quite high on it (like a 35+)?

Also, would it matter if a student has national and a few international awards in activities such as debate, mathematics and science at the high school level and continued to excel in these areas in college in order to reach a distinguished and exemplary level of excellence, but at the sacrifice of having very little to no medically related work experience?

Thanks!!!

 

[sacrament]

You aren't going to be very popular around here. Or, probably, anywhere.

 

[CaMD]

>>>Would the medical school admissions committee find it impressive if a high school student took the MCAT the summer before matriculating college and scored quite high on it (like a 35+)

They might find it "impressive" but I don't think they'd think you'd be a better applicant. The age you take the MCAT at seems prety irrelevant, be it 13 or 31. If you score a 37 before college, and someone else scores a 37 while in college I think they'd look at you the same. Plus, remember that the mcat is only good for 3 years, so if you take it that summer, that means you HAVE to apply sooner, and adcoms do frown upon younger applicants as being immature. Of course there are exceptions to that but in general it is harder to get in when you're younger. (So I have heard, anyways.)

>>>Also, would it matter if a student has national and a few international awards in debate, mathematics and science at the high school level and continued to excel in these areas in college in order to reach a distinguished and exemplary level of excellence, but at the sacrifice of having very little to no medically related work experience? Also, do outstanding secondary school achievements and going to Harvard help one significantly in term of medical school admissions?

I don't think adcoms care what you did in high school, except so much as what you did in high school prepares you to excel in college. The applications only ask for activities awards after graduating so you'll not have a chance to tell them about it.

Going to Harvard (or any other top tier school) probably helps somewhat. There are 10 billion threads on this so I would suggest reading them.

 

[CaMD]

Originally posted by sacrament
You aren't going to be very popular around here. Or, probably, anywhere.

😉

 

[indo]

If you take it now and go to college for 4 years your score might be expired by application time.

 

[notJERRYFALWELL]

Sounds like someone's looking for a virtual pat on the back.

They might just think you got lucky (especially if you hadn't been exposed to organic and advanced physics topics, then you'll be under even higher pressure to improve your score (by substantially more than 3 or 4 points.. more like 43-45) by the time you would normally take the MCAT, which may or may not be a reasonable goal, especially if you got lucky. If you were to take it again (which you undoubtedly would), and wound up with one point lower, your application will get stacked below a schleugh of others who scored (and/or possibly improved over a period of 6 months-year) with scores much lower.

Save that $185 for a rainy day.

Adcoms don't care whether you were the captain of your high school's debate team any more than they care if you were the homecoming queen.

 

[sacrament]

Originally posted by notJERRYFALWELL
Sounds like someone's looking for a virtual pat on the back.

You might notice that almost all of crazee8's posts involve pointing out how smart/cultured/mature he/she supposedly is. This leads me to suspect either intentional antagonism of the troll variety, or just complete social ******ation. I'm leaning toward the former.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

You aren't going to be very popular around here. Or, probably, anywhere.

this cracked me up 🙂

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by crazee8
Would the medical school admissions committee find it impressive if a high school student took the MCAT the summer before matriculating college or freshman year of college and scored quite high on it (like a 35+)?

Also, would it matter if a student has national and a few international awards in debate, mathematics and science at the high school level and continued to excel in these areas in college in order to reach a distinguished and exemplary level of excellence, but at the sacrifice of having very little to no medically related work experience? Also, do outstanding secondary school achievements and going to Harvard help in any way?

Thanks!!!

In a word, no. Medical schools do not look favorably on high MCAT scores, national awards, or Harvard students, and especially hate international awards.

I graduated from college when I was 16, took the MCAT when I was 13, made a 42S, and got a 4.0 from Oxford (I was also a Rhodes scholar, the youngest one in history). By the time I was 18, I had presented several papers to the IHC and the WHO, had received a MacArthur Genius Grant, was a Hugh Hefner fellow, and had been a leader of a team that was nominated for a Nobel prize in physics.

Unfortunately, in all that time, I had never bothered to candy stripe. Tragically, I am now 25, a broken woman, and hoping desperately that I can get into an offshore medical school. Life is, as they say, a bitch.

 

[periodic]

This is the best thread ever.

 

[Megalofyia]

Just from personal experience. I took the MCAT when I was a senior in highschool. Made a 40S. Was the worst thing I could have ever done. Now I'm a non-trad applicant hoping to get into my state school. I peaked at 17 and my life has been downhill since. If I could do it all over again I would have just been a normal high school student worried about who was dating who and who's football team was better.

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Originally posted by crazee8
Would the medical school admissions committee find it impressive if a high school student took the MCAT the summer before matriculating college or freshman year of college and scored quite high on it (like a 35+)?

Also, would it matter if a student has national and a few international awards in debate, mathematics and science at the high school level and continued to excel in these areas in college in order to reach a distinguished and exemplary level of excellence, but at the sacrifice of having very little to no medically related work experience? Also, do outstanding secondary school achievements and going to Harvard help in any way?

Thanks!!!

probably not enough to make up for what a total toolshed that you are.

 

[trauma_junky]

Originally posted by crazee8
Would the medical school admissions committee find it impressive if a high school student took the MCAT the summer before matriculating college or freshman year of college and scored quite high on it (like a 35+)?

Also, would it matter if a student has national and a few international awards in debate, mathematics and science at the high school level and continued to excel in these areas in college in order to reach a distinguished and exemplary level of excellence, but at the sacrifice of having very little to no medically related work experience? Also, do outstanding secondary school achievements and going to Harvard help in any way?

Thanks!!!

And that is what I think...

 

[crazee8]

Originally posted by sacrament
You aren't going to be very popular around here. Or, probably, anywhere.

Why is everyone always so mean to me? 😕 I even wrote my original post in the third person in order to avoid any personal attacks. Why not just give me a serious answer?

 

[trauma_junky]

Originally posted by crazee8
Why is everyone always so mean to me? 😕 I even wrote my original post in the third person to avoid any personal attacks against me. And HollyJ are you serious? 🙂

Understanding comes with age. As Confusious once said, "Man with itchy butt, have stinky fingers!"

 

[CaMD]

Originally posted by crazee8
Why is everyone always so mean to me? 😕 I even wrote my original post in the third person to avoid any personal attacks against me. And HollyJ are you serious? 🙂

I don't know about the rest of you, but the use of the third person totally threw me off...

😛

 

[Megalofyia]

Originally posted by trauma_junky
Understanding comes with age. As Confusious once said, "Man with itchy butt, have stinky fingers!"

 

[periodic]

Originally posted by crazee8
Why is everyone always so mean to me? 😕 I even wrote my original post in the third person to avoid any personal attacks against me. And HollyJ are you serious? 🙂

It's pretty common to refer to things in the third person when you want to avoid backlash for potentially unreasonable comments.

People tend to pick up on that sort of thing, and it usually makes their annoyance greater. Why? Because it implies that you understand, at some level, the absurdity of your words.

If you had said "Hi, I'm going to Harvard and am thinking about taking the MCAT very early - what do you guys think of that? I've won a lot of awards in HS in debate, math, and science. I want to pursue those things in college, but I'm worried about not having exposure to medical work if I do. Will adcoms look negatively at that?"...your response would have been very different and more positive.

 

[trauma_junky]

Originally posted by periodic
It's pretty common to refer to things in the third person when you want to avoid backlash for potentially unreasonable comments.

People tend to pick up on that sort of thing, and it usually makes their annoyance greater. Why? Because it implies that you understand, at some level, the absurdity of your words.

If you had said "Hi, I'm going to Harvard and am thinking about taking the MCAT very early - what do you guys think of that? I've won a lot of awards in HS in debate, math, and science. I want to pursue those things in college, but I'm worried about not having exposure to medical work if I do. Will adcoms look negatively at that?"...your response would have been very different and more positive.

Probably, but she probably would of got pimped for being from Harvard. Hey, wait a minute! I think this is the alter ego of Sqwat & Squeeze!

 

[HollyJ]

And HollyJ are you serious?

Of course. Aren't you?

From one child genius to another, people are much more impressed with things that you have accomplished than with things you say you are going to accomplish. And people really, really don't like it when people try to indirectly brag. If you're going to brag, just do it and admit that you're happy with yourself. If you need reassurance, just ask for it. Trying to angle for compliments is always transparent and almost never sucessful.

 

[Megalofyia]

 

[crazee8]

Originally posted by HollyJ
Of course. Aren't you?

LOL. I just read your post over and realized that you were being sarcastic. And yes, I was being serious.

 

[trauma_junky]

 

[HollyJ]

In all seriousness, crazee8, the reason that people get angry at you is because everyone who is applying to medical school right now has worked really, really hard to get here, and everyone -- even really great applicants -- is stressed out about making it in. Some people are worried about their grades, some people are worried about their MCAT score, and some people are just worried about the huge crap shoot that medical school admissions can be.

You haven't put the work in yet. You don't have the skin in the game that most people here do. So the people who have made sacrifices to get where they are don't take very kindly to someone asking stroke-my-ego questions. You already knew the answer to everything you asked. Were you really wondering if medical schools would like it if you got international awards?

Most of the people on these boards are really, really nice and unbelievably helpful. You can always find someone to give you advice or answers when you need them. Heck, you can usually find someone to stroke your ego or give you some reassurance when you need it, but you have to ask for it, not try to trick people into giving it to you. They're too smart for that. Please try that out next time, and I doubt that you'll get so much backlash.

 

[crazee8]

The reason I asked whether taking the MCAT before going to Harvard would be impressive or not was mainly because I know someone who took the MCAT the summer after junior year in high school and scored a 42N. I have about as extensive a science background as her, so I figured I might as well take it too, if it would be help me in any way. 🙂

 

[NE_Cornhusker1]

Originally posted by crazee8
The reason I asked whether taking the MCAT before going to Harvard would be impressive or not was mainly because I know another girl with me in the U.S. Biology Olympiad who took the MCAT the summer after junior year in high school and scored a 42N. I have about as extensive a science background as her, so I figured I might as well take it too, if it would be help me in any way. 🙂

and this one time <> at geek camp <> i stuck a bunson burner in my pu$$y

dude-re-register with a different name and a new e-mail account and consider this an ecample of what not to do.

 

[jlee9531]

to the OP...i would say adcoms would see potential however, they would probably ask why someone would take a test they know will expire in the next three years. taking it again and not getting something significantly higher just shows you havent progressed in your scientific development as you should have.

its unfortunate how most med schools will not ask for your high school achievements and will want to know things that you have done during college.

congratulations on all your achievements but they wont factor in too much at most med schools unless you repeat your endeavors at college.

no clinical experience you say? then most likely no medical school for you. luckily you have 4 years to gain some and see if you like the medical environment.

sure harvard helps im sure. what ivy doesnt really take care of their kids. but come talk to us in 4 years newbie.

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by crazee8
The reason I asked whether taking the MCAT before going to Harvard would be impressive or not was mainly because I know another girl with me in the U.S. Biology Olympiad who took the MCAT the summer after junior year in high school and scored a 42N. I have about as extensive a science background as her, so I figured I might as well take it too, if it would be help me in any way. 🙂

But that's not what you asked. You asked that, but followed it up with the national and international awards business and the Harvard thing. It's hard not to interpret that as "this old thing?" kind of compliment-fishing, especially given your posting history here.

I don't think that you're really an evil troll or that you're socially ******ed, but I do think that you need to take into account the feelings and reactions of the people you're talking to, even if they're just on the internet.

 

[Gleevec]

This thread is hilarious, esp. crazee8.

 

[TheFlash]

Originally posted by crazee8
Why is everyone always so mean to me? 😕 I even wrote my original post in the third person in order to avoid any personal attacks against me. Why not just give me a serious answer?

Man, you are so full of it. You're a Katherine Aull wannabe. I think you saw her scores and are now displacing them on yourself. Nonsense.

TF

 

[Tezzie]

Crazee right now you should be thinking more about college. Where are you going to fit in most, meet new people from different parts of the world, make lifelong friends, get exposed to new cultures, take advantage of the opportunities that each school has to offer and the list goes on.

Thinking about the MCATs NOW and thinking about how much Harvard is going to help you in the admissions process NOW just shows immaturity.

If you are so smart as you claim you are maybe you should spent more of that energy and wisdom towards other things.

 

[finnpipette]

haha. you're such a loser. get a life.

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by sacrament
You aren't going to be very popular around here. Or, probably, anywhere.

 

[Brickhouse]

Originally posted by periodic
This is the best thread ever.

Absolutely, the best ever. I'm about to get fired I'm laughing so hard right now.

 

[Sonya]

i'm usually very reluctant to deems someone a troll. yet I feel you deserve the name...

man, if you are so smart, get the hell out of high school. the american school system is the worst place to waste your brain or youth, okay. I've been there, and left.
If you truly DO want some advice, i'd be glad to give it to you. I've been in a similar situation, since I finished college at 18. E-mail me [email protected]

If you're parent really are physicians, they can answer these questions well...

 

[care bear]

taking the MCAT now will show the adcoms that you are a very intelligent girl. similarly, your HS awards will show that you had determination and motivation from a young age.

none of this exempts you from any of the things you are expected to do in college. you will still be expected to prove your capability by taking the MCATs nearer to the time you apply, and having 2 stellar scores on record as opposed to one will do little or nothing for you.

and i hope that your achievements in college will match and exceed your achievements in HS, because 1. the adcoms will not care about anything pre-matriculation at college and 2. it would in all seriousness be a shame to waste so much talent basking in the glow of past accomplishments.

spend your college years helping the people worldwide that you speak with so much compassion about. definitely get clinical experience. win international awards in something else. get published. basically, appreciate that you rocked high school, and accept that high school is over. the slate is clean, and if you feel that you are capable of so much more than the average 'easy' premed requirements, then please for the sake of yourself and others, go out and live up to that self-assessment.

THAT is what will look great to a medical school admissions committee.

 

[Bones2008]

Originally posted by crazee8
Its really not that hard to get a high GPA or MCAT score as the prerequisites are really easy.

I really don't empathize with people who say being a premed is so tough because it isn't.

...I have very little time to do the typical "premed" activities.

I shall address these in order:
1)Go to college, become more than just a textbook, and then tell me that.
2)Ditto, but adding further that it's a lot of hard work.
3)Being a doctor is more than just book-learning. When was the last time you walked out of a doctor's office thinking, "Wow, he knew the pKa's of all the amino acids."? In addition, if you don't have time to do the typical "premed" activities, it's likely that medical schools won't find you a good candidate to be a "doctor."

You need to get drunk. I would like to now address how you could go about doing this:
1)Find or steal some alcohol
2)Tell yourself that 10 hours in one night of studying is enough 😕
3)Drink the booze

Good luck.

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by crazee8
LOL the "skin the game..." You make it seem like being a premed is the hardest thing in the world. Its really not that hard to get a high GPA or MCAT score as the prerequisites are really easy.

I really don't empathize with people who always complain about how premed is so tough. Go to any third world nation and you'll see starving people dying every day in the struggle to overcome the social milieus of poverty. If you are so stressed out all the time, and made "so many sacrifices," lol, perhaps you should reevaluate your goal of being a physician. My parents are physicians and from their perspective, medical school, residency and working will be much, much tougher than being a premed. LOL. And I wasn't bragging, I honestly want to know if the international awards in debate and mathematics that I won as a high schooler will help me, since these are activities I am very passionate about and have devoted an inordinate amount of time to, so much time in fact that I have very little time to do the typical "premed" activities.

Wow, you asked why everyone was being so mean to you, and I gave you the wrong answer. People are mean to you because you are a snotty little know-it-all brat.

 

[Mrs.S]

Crazee8~
what year were you on the US Biology Olympiad Team? And I assume you are female from the picture under your screen name? Am I correct?

 

[idq1i]

Originally posted by Sonya
i'm usually very reluctant to deems someone a troll. yet I feel you deserve the name...

man, if you are so smart, get the hell out of high school. the american school system is the worst place to waste your brain or youth, okay. I've been there, and left.
If you truly DO want some advice, i'd be glad to give it to you. I've been in a similar situation, since I finished college at 18. E-mail me [email protected]

If you're parent really are physicians, they can answer these questions well...

Shouldn't someone with so much insight know the difference between "you're" and "your"?

My conclusion: crazee8 = squat'nsqueeze=same person

 

[sophiejane]

I mean you and people like you really scare me. I hope to all the angels in heaven that you go into research and stay the hell away from patients because you are totally clueless.

By the way, your brilliance alone will not get you into medical school. There are people every year who don't get in in spite of their MCATs in the 40s. This is because medicine requires as much emotional intelligence as it does intellectual intelligence.

And you can't be socially retarted. If you are, please stay in the lab.

And if you don't, please tell me your name so I can make sure none of my loved ones are ever treated by you.

 

[idq1i]

Originally posted by sophiejane
I mean you and people like you really scare me. I hope to all the angels in heaven that you go into research and stay the hell away from patients because you are totally clueless.

By the way, your brilliance alone will not get you into medical school. There are people every year who don't get in in spite of their MCATs in the 40s. This is because medicine requires as much emotional intelligence as it does intellectual intelligence.

And you can't be socially retarted. If you are, please stay in the lab.

And if you don't, please tell me your name so I can make sure none of my loved ones are ever treated by you.

You are wrong. Think pathology😀

 

[Mrs.S]

to everyone except crazee8,
there is no one from the Boston area on the list of people in the US biology Olympiad that did anything worthwhile. I thought that it was a joke (the US Biology Olympiad). I was a dork in high school, you know a mathalete and all, but I also was a varsity, collegiate, and professional tennis player, and would never admit to being in a Biology Olympiad. Anyhow, here's the link with no Boston people.
http://www.cee.org/news/releases/pr_060703.shtml
Here's another link showing the cool kids on the bio olympiad team!
http://www.cee.org/usabo/index.shtml
I didn't even know about the MCAT when I was in high school. I was too busy with thr trivial things one should be concerned with at that age. You know, StuCo, Prom, who's the cutest boy and such. All this said, I think I've done well for myself, and there is no need to compare myself to some high school senior who scored a 42 on the MCAT. There will always be people who do certain things better than I do, so frankly, congrats to here. Does it make her any better than me? No, of course not.
I am just very amused at this thread, and it helps me to avoid the analytical chemistry problems I should be solving. Rock on with the humor!

 

[Sonya]

not to mention he was a poor kid in last thread, right?
but now both his parents are physicians... well, i guess, he came from a rich family that totally didn't support him, huh?

yeah, i should, but i'm too lazy too lazy to use good grammar for this thread.

 

[crazee8]

Originally posted by Mrs.S
to everyone except crazee8,
there is no one from the Boston area on the list of people in the US biology Olympiad that did anything worthwhile. I thought that it was a joke (the US Biology Olympiad). I was a dork in high school, you know a mathalete and all, but I also was a varsity, collegiate, and professional tennis player, and would never admit to being in a Biology Olympiad. Anyhow, here's the link with no Boston people.
http://www.cee.org/news/releases/pr_060703.shtml
Here's another link showing the cool kids on the bio olympiad team!
http://www.cee.org/usabo/index.shtml
I didn't even know about the MCAT when I was in high school. I was too busy with thr trivial things one should be concerned with at that age. You know, StuCo, Prom, who's the cutest boy and such. All this said, I think I've done well for myself, and there is no need to compare myself to some high school senior who scored a 42 on the MCAT. There will always be people who do certain things better than I do, so frankly, congrats to here. Does it make her any better than me? No, of course not.
I am just very amused at this thread, and it helps me to avoid the analytical chemistry problems I should be solving. Rock on with the humor!

LOL. I don't live in Boston. I go to school near there. And that link only shows the people from the 2003 Biology Olympiad who were USABO campers. I wasn't.

 

[KatieOConnor]

One of my sisters, who is a "prodigy" of sorts, has been taking the SAT since and that's great that she's so smart, but, the only people who care about her scores are HER and OUR PARENTS. WIth the SAT she will never do better than 1600 and colleges dont care whether she takes it in seventh grade or senior year of high school.

The only reason she is taking it is bragging rights. And it is causing huge social problems for her. (not just the SATs, but the fact that she thinks she is SO SMART) She is very likely to be like the OP, wanting to take the MCAT before college starts just so she can say she did really well.

I am SO GLAD my parents didnt discover the joys of being the parents of a genius when I was her age.

My advice to you, save yourself the money. Or take it, but admit to yourself you are only doing it to gratify your overweaning ego.

You are obviously smart enough to get to med school. Chill out and get over the Child Genius Syndrome.

I dont mean to be obnoxious, these things need to be said.

 

[HollyJ]

Way to go with the detective work, Mrs. S!

 

[crazee8]

Originally posted by sophiejane
By the way, your brilliance alone will not get you into medical school. There are people every year who don't get in in spite of their MCATs in the 40s. This is because medicine requires as much emotional intelligence as it does intellectual intelligence.

You should at least have facts to back up your claims. Go to mdapplicants.com every person who got 38 or above on the MCAT got accepted to a U.S. allopathic school. Maybe some osteopathic schools might reject people with scores in the 40s because they know that no one in their right mind with a MCAT in the 40's would go to an osteopathic school.

 

[crazee8]

Originally posted by Sonya
not to mention he was a poor kid in last thread, right?
but now both his parents are physicians... well, i guess, he came from a rich family that totally didn't support him, huh?

Umm, when did I say I was poor? lol. Maybe you're thinking of that David kid or some other person. I am not poor nor am I rich, more like upper middle class. And yes, my parents are physicians and graduated from medical school like twenty years ago. So, a lot has changed since then.

Anyway, thanks to all the people who actually answered my question sincerely without being malicious. I even wrote my initial post in the third person so as to avoid any personal attacks and never expected that people would respond in such a manner. I never intended to offend anybody, so don't take it personally. Bye. 🙂

 

[HollyJ]

Originally posted by KatieOConnor
One of my sisters, who is a "prodigy" of sorts, has been taking the SAT since and that's great that she's so smart, but, the only people who care about her scores are HER and OUR PARENTS. WIth the SAT she will never do better than 1600 and colleges dont care whether she takes it in seventh grade or senior year of high school.

Hee -- that reminds me. . .one of the things that I did in college (and after) to make some extra money was to go take the real SAT and write an evaluation of it. I did this for about 6 straight years, so I have about 35 SAT scores, all of which are 1600s except for one that was a little lower. Which would be oh-so-impressive if anybody cared at all, and if I weren't 25 years old. So anyway, my husband and I had a housewarming party, and my husband (without my knowledge) taped all of the reports to the refrigerator. People kept coming up to me to say "congratulations on your scores" and things like that, and I had no idea what they were talking about. I finally figured out what was going on, and I spent the next 2 weeks explaining to everyone that it was just a joke, and that I am not really a big enough tool to tape my SAT scores to the fridge. My friends were really, really relieved. 😀