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It all had to come crashing down!
- Thread starter RavnShield
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You're losing A LOT. Applying late is the worst thing anyone can do. That's not to say you won't get accepted somewhere. However, I can almost guarantee you will not have as many interviews and as many acceptances as you may have wanted. You may have to go to a school you did not want to go to.
Apply in June to maximize your chances.
Apply in June to maximize your chances.
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Originally posted by RavnShield
Ah great! asdfnw98aefn8wafnoasifns9fnsafioasfnsafff0943f
Well it's just my opinion. Trust me there will be lots of other people telling you it's ok. If you get in the mid 30s then that could cancel out if you apply late. I didn't mean to scare you. Don't worry it'll be fine. 🙂- Joined
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Look, it's better to take August MCAT and get a good score, than to take the April one and do badly.
Yes, there is some disadvantage in taking August MCAT. But not much. Schools know about it, and reserve enough places to account for it.
Just don't make my mistake of applying late because of August MCAT. Once August MCAT results come out in mid-October, schools immediately look at applications of people who took it. Make sure your AMCAS application is submitted well in advance (Including your transcripts), secondaries are submitted (many school only send secondaries after your AMCAS is verified) and letters of reference are sent to schools. All PRIOR to October.
Good luck. Take August MCAT and don't worry about it. Just do well.
Yes, there is some disadvantage in taking August MCAT. But not much. Schools know about it, and reserve enough places to account for it.
Just don't make my mistake of applying late because of August MCAT. Once August MCAT results come out in mid-October, schools immediately look at applications of people who took it. Make sure your AMCAS application is submitted well in advance (Including your transcripts), secondaries are submitted (many school only send secondaries after your AMCAS is verified) and letters of reference are sent to schools. All PRIOR to October.
Good luck. Take August MCAT and don't worry about it. Just do well.
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way to go slick send the guy into fits..... 🙂
The best thing you can do is take what you can.
If you need to take the months to do well on the MCAT then do so. But I'd have everything ready to send out by October when the scores are released.
true you might lose a step in applying a little later but there are plenty of people that take the august MCAT and get into great schools as well.
The best thing you can do is take what you can.
If you need to take the months to do well on the MCAT then do so. But I'd have everything ready to send out by October when the scores are released.
true you might lose a step in applying a little later but there are plenty of people that take the august MCAT and get into great schools as well.
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in my opinion, if you are a well qualified applicant you are losing a little. if you are a borderline applicant you are losing a lot. it can be done if you turn your secondaries in BEFORE getting your august mcat scores. it is definitely worth it to wait til august if you don't feel you have adequate time to prepare for the april mcat. the process will likely be a little more stressful b/c you may not hear from schools until spring/summer, but in the end it will probably not make/break you if you are qualified.
hmm... i can't really answer your question about health. i believe i signed something saying i am capable of the physical tasks required of physicians. would you be able to sign that? will it be apparent on your applications that you are not in good health? if it is a chronic illness that may be different, though i don't know how they could legally discriminate against you unless you are unable to perform basic tasks.
good luck 🙂
hmm... i can't really answer your question about health. i believe i signed something saying i am capable of the physical tasks required of physicians. would you be able to sign that? will it be apparent on your applications that you are not in good health? if it is a chronic illness that may be different, though i don't know how they could legally discriminate against you unless you are unable to perform basic tasks.
good luck 🙂
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i'm sorry to hear that 🙁.
you could always take a little time off if you are putting too much stress on yourself. i took several years off, and as a result i am enjoying med school a lot more than i might have had i gone straight from undergrad. you could get a job or a volunteer position that exposes you to medicine during the year off (which would look good on your application), take the mcat next april, and take it easy. just something to consider...
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Your health, mind, body matters more than the MCAT. Be well. Take some time off, find some healing, some peace and think about attacking the exam a year from now. I think you could use the break, peace of mind, healing.
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I took the August MCAT and have had 14 interviews and 1 accept so far. That being said, if you are able to do well (33+) on the exam, don't sweat it. If you think you're a borderline candidate, you may want to take it in April. Another thing to note is that August Mcaters do catch up in the cycle. Around December and January everyone is about even. The April mcaters just have the fortune of snagging those early interviews.
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Ravn,
Be optimistic about it. Just because you apply late doesnt mean you wont get in. I took the AUgust MCAT in 2002 and got a bunch of interviews and was accepted to my top choice in Jan. 2003. The key is to have everything turned into your schools ASAP, including secondaries so all they are waiting on is your MCAT scores in Oct. If you do this the turnaround time can be very quick. I was invited to my 1st interview 2 days after my MCAT score was received. Keep the hope alive and rock that MCAT in Aug.
Be optimistic about it. Just because you apply late doesnt mean you wont get in. I took the AUgust MCAT in 2002 and got a bunch of interviews and was accepted to my top choice in Jan. 2003. The key is to have everything turned into your schools ASAP, including secondaries so all they are waiting on is your MCAT scores in Oct. If you do this the turnaround time can be very quick. I was invited to my 1st interview 2 days after my MCAT score was received. Keep the hope alive and rock that MCAT in Aug.
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That sucks dude but just remember how much worse things could be. I mean at least you didnt just find out you are dying from brain eating prions that will soon turn the contents of your skull to a yogurt consistency. yeah, that would suck.
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If your gpa is good and you aren't from a really competitive state, you most likely don't need a 33+ on the august mcat to get in.
I think the biggest disadvantage for august mcat'ers falls on applicants with borderline numbers from california and other tough states. An applicant with so-so numbers from my state(georgia) probably won't be affected as much because if they don't get into one of the two schools that give heavy preferance to state residents, then they aren't going to get into schools where that preferance is gone. And my sense is that most state schools tend to interview all semi-qualified candidates, regardless of mcat date.
The medical college of georgia says that "the april mcat is strongly encouraged" on their website, but I took the august mcat and still snagged a November interview, which was earlier than some april mcat'ers. I do think it is important to make sure the rest of your file is complete schools when the august results come in the middle of October. This strategy allowed me to get interviews at 6 of 9 schools I applied too, only one of which came after January.
One potential disadvantage of the august mcat is that you can't apply edp at a particular state school, and sometimes this is significant. In my situation, the august mcat didn't hinder me in any way, and I don't have a 4.0/37.
I think the biggest disadvantage for august mcat'ers falls on applicants with borderline numbers from california and other tough states. An applicant with so-so numbers from my state(georgia) probably won't be affected as much because if they don't get into one of the two schools that give heavy preferance to state residents, then they aren't going to get into schools where that preferance is gone. And my sense is that most state schools tend to interview all semi-qualified candidates, regardless of mcat date.
The medical college of georgia says that "the april mcat is strongly encouraged" on their website, but I took the august mcat and still snagged a November interview, which was earlier than some april mcat'ers. I do think it is important to make sure the rest of your file is complete schools when the august results come in the middle of October. This strategy allowed me to get interviews at 6 of 9 schools I applied too, only one of which came after January.
One potential disadvantage of the august mcat is that you can't apply edp at a particular state school, and sometimes this is significant. In my situation, the august mcat didn't hinder me in any way, and I don't have a 4.0/37.
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Please please worry about ur health first!!! Who cares if u take the Aug MCAT instead, sounds to me like u should take time off and get yourself together, cause med schl can wait!! I took Aug MCAT, and I got my 1st acceptance in Dec.
Take time off, and figure out whats important to you, ur health is ur wealth!! If its not in top form when u get into med schl, it wouldnt matter that u got in.
Take time off, and figure out whats important to you, ur health is ur wealth!! If its not in top form when u get into med schl, it wouldnt matter that u got in.
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Dude,
Nothing came crashing down. There's no harm in taking the August MCAT. It's less than optimal, but it really isn't a big deal. The key is to do well on the August MCAT though. Best case scenario: you take August and you get in, no stress. Worst comes to worse, you take the August MCAT, apply, get waitlisted/rejected, take the April MCAT, apply in June, and get your acceptance in January. During Jan to August since you already have your acceptance, consider it time off. Taking 1 year off is no big deal, especially if you got sick.
But things don't always go as planned. Be flexible and re-plan given the cards you've been dealt. It'll happen a lot through out your medical career, much of it out of your control.
So you have Prinzmetals' angina? (No smoking).
Nothing came crashing down. There's no harm in taking the August MCAT. It's less than optimal, but it really isn't a big deal. The key is to do well on the August MCAT though. Best case scenario: you take August and you get in, no stress. Worst comes to worse, you take the August MCAT, apply, get waitlisted/rejected, take the April MCAT, apply in June, and get your acceptance in January. During Jan to August since you already have your acceptance, consider it time off. Taking 1 year off is no big deal, especially if you got sick.
But things don't always go as planned. Be flexible and re-plan given the cards you've been dealt. It'll happen a lot through out your medical career, much of it out of your control.
So you have Prinzmetals' angina? (No smoking).
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Hey RavnShield,
I was just going to say that in regards to your health, I know that for example in Texas they dont ask you anything prior to applying. However, once I got accepted they sent me a package that included this one sheet of paper that basically inquires about your health and asks you to list any health issues or problems that you have. However, I am not sure if that is how all schools do it. Good luck and hope you feel all better soon !!
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How about you direct that question to yourself. And a pathetic loser like you has no place to comment on someone's real health problems. If you have nothing positive to add just shot your mouth and don't poke fun at other people's problems !!
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I wasn't poking fun...I just know it can cause CA spasm in young people. As can aphetamines. I'm not accusing the OP of anything, but if he can figure out what caused his heart probs, and then stay away from it, I think he'd be in much better shape to take the August MCAT and move on with his life.
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If you were sincere in trying to give the OP some advice, you would have done so through a private message and in a much less direct way.
The fact that you didn't makes it obvious that you were simply trying to get a rise out of people.
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That's great. We're all rooting for you. Good luck!
Woah. That really blows. 🙁 Do you have any family history of heart disease? For what it's worth, a classmate of mine died of a rare congenital heart abnormality (Wolf-Parkinson-White) when he was 19, so you should consider yourself lucky that you're still alive and kicking.
As a pre-med, I can imagine that the toughest part is knowing how rare and deadly MI's are in people our age, and wondering what is wrong with you and whether this is likely to happen again and what you can do to prevent it. I would really do all that I can to get to the bottom of this, because otherwise you'll always be wondering.
Like I said, we're all pulling for you. Good luck with your quest for med school and let us know if you get any kind of etiology / prognosis.
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Yikes, SDNers ease up! To the original poster...you have got to take the things you read on SDN with a grain of salt. SDN attracts the best of the best, most anal premeds...for the most part. People get in every year with August mcats. People with below avg mcat scores and August mcats get in multiple places every year. Seriously, ease up. Taking the August isn't the end of the world. You'll get in eventually, if you keep trying. Good luck with everything 🙂
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I took the August MCAT, have had 5 interviews and 1 acceptance so far and am waiting for replies for a few. Here's my opinion: You can succeed while taking the August MCAT **if** you do everything else as absolutely early as possible. I submitted my AMCAS as early as possible (early June), which committed me to applying to schools before getting my MCAT scores or even taking the test. I had all of my LORs sent in September. MCAT scores take 6+ weeks, so August 15 + 6 weeks = Oct 1+, plus a delay for schools to get them and read them. I began working on secondary applications 2-3 weeks after the MCAT, although I'd recommend starting almost immediately after. You must submit them ASAP without compromising quality. I did the right thing. My August score was higher than I would have gotten in April and I therefore have more options for schools.
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