I want to cry

[tigress]

Literally. Obviously I'm wasting my time studying, because I'm not doing any better on the tests. I actually had high goals for a while. Now I just don't even want to take the damn thing.

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[Shades McCool]

There is no crying in baseball.













Keep your head up.

 

[SailCrazy]

I hear you!
I've now taken three Kaplan full lengths.
My first was notably below my target score...
My second was just below my target score...
The third that I just took yesterday... one point lower than my first full-length score!

I think it is quite normal to feel really overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, *insert you personal adjective of anguish here*, etc. as the final weeks approach. I've been wrestling with a whole lot of test prep frustrations over the past week or so. Here are my thoughts that, while numbered, are in no particular order:

First, while no one wants to take the test again, if you're really that unhappy with your results when you get them, you can. It might be a big pain in the *ss, but it is a reasonable safety option. Don't sabotage this attempt because of excess anxiety. Just give it your best "reasonably-stressed" attempt and see how it goes.

Second, stop competing against yourself. By that I mean stop beating yourself up over the fact that your scores aren't where you want them to be right now. In the end, your score is going to be whatever it ends up being. Fighting against random goals won't help the process. Accepting your position and working to improve as best you can between now and the test will.

On the same note, realize that when you're preparing for the MCAT, you're not trying catch the person who is going to score 8 points higher than you. You're trying to distinguish yourself from the few thousand other people who are equal to you in intelligence (and maybe motivation.) The better you can stay (relatively) calm and relaxed and just keep at it, the more you'll improve relative to the masses that are stressing out. Just a bit of improvement in outlook can make a huge difference as you slide ahead of the masses around you!

Also - probably most importantly - we still have almost 4 WEEKS to prepare. You can learn a lot in that time!!! No, you're not going to suddenly know everything and get a 45. But if you take a few deep breaths - heck take a break and get outside for a walk or a run - and apply yourself as best you can, you are definitely going to improve you score from what it would have been if you don't do those things.

While it is an easy thing to say and a really hard thing to do, realise that staying as relaxed as possible and continuing to plug away will likely pay more dividends than you might think.

Now if I can just internalize that myself, I'd get off SDN and back to MCAT prep!!!

Good Luck!

Literally. Obviously I'm wasting my time studying, because I'm not doing any better on the tests. I actually had high goals for a while. Now I just don't even want to take the damn thing.

 

[tigress]

SailCrazy, thanks so much for the kind words. You're totally right, of course. This is going to sound very demented, but for some reason I've placed some element of self-worth on the condition of doing well on the MCAT. Like if I don't do well enough I'm a worthless horrible human. I know it isn't true, but I feel like it is. I've never been the type to insist on getting the best grades in the class or anything. It's just the MCAT, for some strange reason, has taken a sort of mystical significance to me. I think it has to do with considering myself particularly intelligent, and I'm scared to blow that self-image.

I'm not sure why I'm spilling my guts on the internet, but I assume somebody here can relate. I am much calmer than when I first got my score on the full-length I took today, several hours ago. I was just upset by the low score. Like you said, I still have 4 weeks to work on it. And it's not the end of the world, even if I bomb it. I can always take it again. And I don't even have to get a spectacular score to get into med school, which is my real goal in life, not acing a random test. I don't even particularly want to go to one of the top schools, so it's obviously the score for the sake of the score that's bothering me here. I just have to make myself realize how ludicrous that is.

 

[manfood.com]

on the real, keep your head up. there is no need to feel down. I know how you feel, but feeling like that gets us no where. It will only add to the stress and may even give you the feeling taht you should give up. Go this far and then giving up should not be an option. I'll tell you this right now, this is probably the worst it will get for a while. The reason why it is so difficult is because it is the means to the end. It is the last big step before matriculation. Keep on truckin, and we'll see you in the promise land.

 

[IdolSimon]

Cry tigress cry.
It is not just four week. If you get into Med School we do not want you to cry for another 7yrs. Better try nursing

 

[txguy]

I hear you!
I've now taken three Kaplan full lengths.
My first was notably below my target score...
My second was just below my target score...
The third that I just took yesterday... one point lower than my first full-length score!

I think it is quite normal to feel really overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, *insert you personal adjective of anguish here*, etc. as the final weeks approach. I've been wrestling with a whole lot of test prep frustrations over the past week or so. Here are my thoughts that, while numbered, are in no particular order:

First, while no one wants to take the test again, if you're really that unhappy with your results when you get them, you can. It might be a big pain in the *ss, but it is a reasonable safety option. Don't sabotage this attempt because of excess anxiety. Just give it your best "reasonably-stressed" attempt and see how it goes.

Second, stop competiting against yourself. By that I mean stop beating yourself up over the fact that your scores aren't where you want them to be right now. In the end, your score is going to be whatever it ends up being. Fighting against random goals won't help the process. Accepting your position and working to improve as best you can between now and the test will.

On the same note, realize that when you're preparing for the MCAT, you're not trying catch the person who is going to score 8 points higher than you. You're trying to distinguish yourself from the few thousand other people who are equal to you in intelligence (and maybe motivation.) The better you can stay (relatively) calm and relaxed and just keep at it, the more you'll improve relative to the masses that are stressing out. Just a bit of improvement in outlook can make a huge difference as you slide ahead of the masses around you!

Also - probalby most importantly - we still have almost 4 WEEKS to prepare. You can learn a lot in that time!!! No, you're not going to suddenly know everything and get a 45. But if you take a few deep breaths - heck take a break and get outside for a walk or a run - and apply yourself as best you can, you are definitely going to improve you score from what it would have been if you don't do those things.

While it is an easy thing to say and a really hard thing to do, realise that staying as relaxed as possible and continuing to plug away will likely pay more dividends than you might think.

Now if I can just internalize that myself, I'd get off SDN and back to MCAT prep!!!

Good Luck!

I couldn't agree more! I read somewhere that confidence can mean +/- up to 3 points on the MCAT! So just relax, plug away, and kick the $#%* out of the MCAT

Good luck all

-tx

 

[QofQuimica]

Don't give up, tigress! I was just telling another person who PMd me and said he didn't feel ready yet, that no one ever feels ready to take the MCAT. I didn't feel ready last summer either. I thought about postponing until this April because I wanted to take all of the AAMC full lengths so that I could train enough to score a 40 on the test; I was oh so close but I couldn't quite get there. But the pace of studying and working full time was just killing me; there was no way I could have kept it up for another eight months. When I decided that the world would not end if I were to score less than a 40 on the test, it gave me such peace of mind, and I honestly believe that it allowed me to do even better than I would have done had I spent another eight months studying.

I think the best thing you can do is to give yourself permission to not be perfect, and to try to keep things in the proper perspective. This one test will not make or break your chances of becoming a physician. Do as much as you can between now and April, and go in on test day and give it your all. If you don't do well, you can take it again, or you can apply to schools that don't put as much emphasis on the MCAT score. There is a reason why medical schools care about your ECs, essays, and LORs, not just your MCAT and GPA, and there is also a reason why they interview you before letting you in. Getting a high MCAT score is neither necessary nor sufficient for you to become an awesome doctor, or even to get you into medical school. And it certainly doesn't reflect on your worth as a person. If you have trouble remembering how much you rock, write it down on an index card and tape it on your bathroom mirror so that you can see it every day. You can do this! Kill the MCAT, tigress, kill!!!

 

[danielle53181]

Cry tigress cry.
It is not just four week. If you get into Med School we do not want you to cry for another 7yrs. Better try nursing

Hmm...do nurses know how to cry?

 

[DrMojorisin]

Its definitely too early to get discouraged. This is just the build up. If next feb. rolls around and you haven't heard from admissions committees, then you should be discouraged... at that point it will motivate you to try even harder or reprioritize your life. But being discouraged right now can only demotivate you. Its best to ignore your present feelings about the MCAT and focus on whatever is necessary to achieve your goal.

I'm sure that you're aware on a subconscious level, at least, that your MCAT score or whether you become a doctor has nothing to do with your worth as a human being or even your likelihood of personal happiness. Those are just goals that can be easily replaced should things not work out.

 

[Surg Path]

Cry tigress cry.
It is not just four week. If you get into Med School we do not want you to cry for another 7yrs. Better try nursing

Doctors know how to cry. And how to be supportive when other people feel like crying.

We are people of science, but remember that patience and empathy are important in order to practice medicine.

 

[tigress]

Thanks everybody! I know it's all going to work out, it's just my emotions messing with me. I've never been a perfectionist before, and now is sure a helluva time to start . I think part of it is that my husband and his brother both did very well on the MCAT, so I sort of feel pressure to do as well. Of course in the long run it doesn't matter one iota. I'm just glad it will be over soon. I think nothing else compares to the MCAT. Of course there are always more tests, in med school and the boards and all that, but they all seem to me more like the tests I took in college and grad school, whereas the MCAT has taken on a life of its own. I suppose the funniest thing is that my top choice is probably a lower tier school where my husband goes, because I really love it there. So as long as I do okay I should be fine! That's the thing, see -- I'm not worried about getting into med school. I'm almost certain I can. I'm just hung up over some weird desire to do better on the MCAT than just about anybody I know. I suppose I'm just vain

I know I'm sort of using this board as a therapist. I hope it doesn't come back to bite me someday when somebody realizes who I am in real life But actually just sitting here writing this and having people reassure me has been so helpful. I appreciate all of the kind words.

 

[stoleyerscrubz]

I took the AAMC 5R and the results were not pretty. I was pretty bummed out for the rest of saturday evening after getting my scores so I know how you feel. I have not scored over 25 on any of the practice exams yet.

Anyway sunday morning I made yet another study schedule to address my problems. With Easter weekend coming up we should all be getting 1-3 days off from school so use your time wisely. Good luck to everyone!

 

[redclover]

That's the spirit, tigress! Keep in mind these crappy @$$ Kaplan/princeton tests are a lot HARDER than the actual MCAT...if they gave u your actual score no one would really take the classes.