just a thought

[PostalWookie]

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I'm tired of hearing the following excuse for doing poorly on the mcats
"I know the material, but I can't perform under such pressure"

If you can't perform under pressure, how do you expect to be a doctor? Will you ask your patients to back off for a few days, give you a little time to think?

 

[aparecida]

Most doctors will not, ultimately, be in a position where they are required to make snap decisions with life-or-death import. Unless you are planning to do, say, surgery or ER work, I don't think "performance under pressure" is absolutely critical. There are plenty of specialties where communication, problem solving, and other abilities are a lot more important than "performance under pressure."

 

[dave613]

I'm tired of hearing the following excuse for doing poorly on the mcats
"I know the material, but I can't perform under such pressure"

If you can't perform under pressure, how do you expect to be a doctor? Will you ask your patients to back off for a few days, give you a little time to think?

I agree slightly, but some people are just not such good test takers. Idon't understand it either, but that's the way life is.

 

[IndyZX]

My feeling is that there are definitely people for whom "Good test taker"/"Bad test taker" applies. However, I think for the majority of people, it's all about what you put into it.

 

[Jason110]

My feeling is that there are definitely people for whom "Good test taker"/"Bad test taker" applies. However, I think for the majority of people, it's all about what you put into it.

I agree. For most people, I really do think that output is a function of input when it comes to the MCAT. There are a few people, however, that aren't good standardized test takers. Does that mean they won't make good doctors? I generally don't think so. Does that mean that they will have difficulty with the USMLEs, boards, and other standardized tests needed to become a physician? Very likely. And as a result, I believe that medschools have a right to weigh the MCAT as much as they do.

Jason

 

[principessa]

There's another thing I'm tired of hearing - if a school has low standards, people say they look at the whole person, but if they have high standards, people call them a numbers *****.

 

[Fermata]

There's another thing I'm tired of hearing - if a school has low standards, people say they look at the whole person, but if they have high standards, people call them a numbers *****.

Indeed.

But some schools are numbers ******. 😀

 

[Fermata]

The MCAT was designed to just make sure people could survive medschool and pass the boards.

Now it has been warped into something else.

The same thing has happened with board scores and how residency admissions use them. Why not just make the liscensing exam pass/fail?