I need some serious advice!!

[chelseamapp]

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I am a freshman who came in with 65 credits. My major is psychology with a premed track. My advisor told me that I need to take the MCAT in September and also apply to med schools this fall. My science gpa is a 3.2 my overall is a 3.5 the only science classes that I've taken are chem and bio should I put off applying and taking the MCAT until 2015? What are my chances?

 

[Playdoh4lyfe]

To answer your first question, yes.

Put off applying and taking the MCAT until 2015, unless you are 100% certain you can do exceptionally well on the MCAT without taking organic chemistry, physics, and other upper level science courses. You'd be much better off focusing on doing well in your courses in order to bump up your sGPA rather than taking the MCAT without certain required/extremely helpful courses.

Plus, what's the rush?? If you're a freshman then I assume you won't get your degree for another year and a half, at the minimum, even with the 65 credits. So if you did apply this fall, even if you had all the pre-reqs, most if not all med schools will not admit you without a bachelors degree.

I believe the latest date to take the pre-2015 MCAT is January 2015. So if you were able to complete all the pre-reqs before then and felt confident that you would do well, I'd say go for it. However, if that's the case, then you'd still be putting off applying till next year since a January MCAT is not accepted for current cycles.

IMO, I would suggest taking your advisors advice in the future with a bucket of salt. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of students to "advise." It may just be me, but I always think I'm a special case until I meet with advisors and they tell me the same b/s that they tell all their other students. I use SDN for multiple opinions from people who are going through or have already gone through the process because my advisors are all nice people but they don't know squat about med school and the admissions process.


To answer your second question, 0%.

Your chances will all depend on what you get in the rest of the pre-reqs and on the MCAT. As of right this moment, your chances are 0% because you don't have all the pre-reqs, you haven't taken the MCAT and you don't have your bachelors degree.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I would definitely hold off on taking the MCAT until all prerequisites are done. I would try to schedule for January 2015 MCAT for the last of the old tests. Only disadvantage is if you get an unsatisfactory MCAT score you will need to retake the new MCAT and it may be trouble to translate improvement from one MCAT to another.

 

[chelseamapp]

If I take the MCAT in January do I apply that summer?

 

[Dharma]

Most premed advisors are clueless. Listen to the advice here instead. Don't rush yourself. Do it right the first time. You're better off taking extra time doing it the right way, with solids stats, then trying to push the timeline in a manner that limits your chances of success.

No MCAT until prereqs are complete. Spend time cruising the MCAT forums here as well; most will say you need to schedule dedicated study time where your classes won't be getting in the way. As of now, focus on your classes. All A's. Learn well. Perform well. And don't forget to enjoy yourself… and watch out for faulty advisor advice!

 

[XFireMedic]

Your MCAT scores are typically valid for three years, so you don't necessarily have to take it at a specific point during the admissions process. The test is obviously very important and until you also have physics and organic, don't even consider taking it. It's not worth the risk of doing poorly.

 

[Playdoh4lyfe]

If I take the MCAT in January do I apply that summer?

If your score is good, sure.

But if you don't have all your pre-reqs finished by the time you apply (i.e. about a month before since it will take a while to send out transcripts and get verified), most schools will put your app in the junk pile since they'll have 2,000 other applicants who have the pre-reqs finished.

How many semesters do you have left before you graduate? After you finish pre-reqs try to find some time to dedicate to MCAT studying if you can. Your best bet would be a summer before your last semester, that way you have nearly three months of pure MCAT studying, uninhibited by your classes. It sounded like that was your plan already, but, to reiterate, it's going to be hard to learn all the material by yourself in one summer, which is why we all recommend finishing the pre-reqs first. If you really want to take the MCAT before it changes, I guess this September would be the best time. If thats what you do, just know that med schools will see all of your MCAT scores, whether or not you want them to. I think most would agree that a score of 32 the first time around is better than scoring a 25, taking it again and scoring a 33.

I don't know enough about your situation, but if I were in your shoes, I'd aim to Ace the rest of my pre-reqs before doing anything else. In fact, if I were lucky enough to come into college nearly 2 years worth of credits ahead of most other students, I'd take my good old time doing those pre-reqs and enjoy myself a bit more before the real stresses kick in during medical school.