MCAT 2015 or Old MCAT??? A Tale of a Desperate/Conflicted Pre-Med Student!!!!

[mranklebreaker12]

Hello there all. I am currently a second year pre-med biochemistry major, with third year standing based on credit hours set to graduate during the spring of 2016 with a 3.85 GPA. I am currently set to take the MCAT exam during the spring of 2015 (the end of my sophomore year) during which I am apparently supposed to be ready to take the new MCAT 2015 exam that will take the world by storm early 2015. My original plan was to begin studying around winter break for the new MCAT exam and establish a certain weekly commitment of studying for the MCAT during my spring semester which should allow me to be prepared to take it after the spring of 2015. However, very recently I became enlightened by the idea that I still have the possibility to take the old version of the MCAT before the drastic alteration takes place. I believe I have a solid 4 months before the final time that the old MCAT is administered to prepare for it if I do in fact go down this route, and I would need to take it with a rather involved schedule this semester.My course load for this fall 2014 semester is: Biochemistry 1, Mendelian and Molecular Genetics, Physics 1 (calculus based), and Introduction to Sociology. I am also putting forth a few hours of quality research as well as four hours of volunteering per week. I am also considering doing shadowing either this or next semester (I have never done shadowing before and I do not want to apply to medical school without it). I believe that this course load is somewhat loaded and while none of these classes is as intense as either Organic Chemistry 1 or 2, having three science courses together in one semester along with being a part of a research group, volunteering, and possibly shadowing physicians can be a rather challenging feat to accomplish well. I need honest opinions from people who know what they're talking about. Is it worth my time to bust my ass for 4 straight months with schooling, (my goal is to keep my GPA where it is if not raise it) other commitments, AND hardcore MCAT prep as opposed to waiting until the new version is released. Honestly my main concern is having the proper resources to succeed at either exam. I can easily attain prep books to study for the old one and I believe this is a critical point because I am not sure if companies have released study materials for the new MCAT 2015 exam and more importantly HOW RELIABLE these resources are/will be. Also, being one of the newer students to take the new MCAT there will likely not be many released practice exams and this is the major point that KILLS me when I think about it, because I know for a fact that I cannot do well on the MCAT if I don't take as many practice exams as possible (I am terrible at standardized exams). My goal is to attain a MINIMUM of a 31 on my MCAT (a decent score) so that I can have a solid application with hopefully an above average GPA and some extracurriculars by the time I apply for medical school. One more thing, my spring semester will be very similar to my fall semester only with the second half of the classes I am taking during this fall (so that would be Biochemistry 2, Cell Biology, Physics 2 calc based, and probably no class to swap for Sociology 100). One more important thing to keep in mind is that if I take the old version of the MCAT I will have to self study all the information from Physics 2 that will likely be on the MCAT but I'm assuming that it won't be a lot of information.

Thank you all for your kind support.

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[texan2414]

I would advise you to cut short on extracurricular committments (shadowing/research/volunteer) for now and start studying for the MCAT. The classes you are taking currently will indubitably help you with the BS section.
You do have a solid 4 months of time before the Jan exams and I would recommend you taking the test then. This gives you Thanksgiving and the Winter break to prepare intensely as you get closer to the MCAT.

I think people are right to point out that the lack of materials for the 2015 MCAT makes for a pretty bleak and uncertain prep. The best advice I would give to those is to take all the pre-reqs and just do the best you can on the exam. Remember, med schools are also entirely NEW to the 2015 MCAT and it will be difficult for them to evaluate applicants' new 2015 scores as opposed to the old ones.

You demonstrate a strong academic resolve (as evident by your GPA and your undertaking of upper level classes). I think you can do very well on the current MCAT and have a strong application going into 2015 cycle.

 

[mranklebreaker12]

I would advise you to cut short on extracurricular committments (shadowing/research/volunteer) for now and start studying for the MCAT. The classes you are taking currently will indubitably help you with the BS section.
You do have a solid 4 months of time before the Jan exams and I would recommend you taking the test then. This gives you Thanksgiving and the Winter break to prepare intensely as you get closer to the MCAT.

I think people are right to point out that the lack of materials for the 2015 MCAT makes for a pretty bleak and uncertain prep. The best advice I would give to those is to take all the pre-reqs and just do the best you can on the exam. Remember, med schools are also entirely NEW to the 2015 MCAT and it will be difficult for them to evaluate applicants' new 2015 scores as opposed to the old ones.

You demonstrate a strong academic resolve (as evident by your GPA and your undertaking of upper level classes). I think you can do very well on the current MCAT and have a strong application going into 2015 cycle.

Hi texan2414. Thanks a lot for your response. First off, I believe it is necessary to point out that I have had little to no extracurricular involvement outside of what I have started last summer (research and volunteering). I can possibly push shadowing for next semester but overall I am worried that if I don't begin doing these activities this semester I'll be unable to present a decent extracurricular record on my application for medical applications and I will be seen as significantly lacking a major section of the application if I just wait until the semester before I apply for medical school to start worrying about this aspect of my application (which is probably something I should have mentioned earlier: I will be applying right after the end of my spring semester, or if I choose to take the new MCAT, as soon as I get my MCAT scores in after the spring semester ends). Keep in mind that I can probably get my research professor to limit the amount of research he wants from me so that I can focus on studying for the MCAT.

 

[texan2414]

I think there is PLENTY of time to get in shadowing activities in the Spring 2015 semester. And you can continue doing those all the way into summer so you have personal anecdotes and experiences to talk about at the interview.

 

[wuhsabee]

Hi texan2414. Thanks a lot for your response. First off, I believe it is necessary to point out that I have had little to no extracurricular involvement outside of what I have started last summer (research and volunteering). I can possibly push shadowing for next semester but overall I am worried that if I don't begin doing these activities this semester I'll be unable to present a decent extracurricular record on my application for medical applications and I will be seen as significantly lacking a major section of the application if I just wait until the semester before I apply for medical school to start worrying about this aspect of my application (which is probably something I should have mentioned earlier: I will be applying right after the end of my spring semester, or if I choose to take the new MCAT, as soon as I get my MCAT scores in after the spring semester ends). Keep in mind that I can probably get my research professor to limit the amount of research he wants from me so that I can focus on studying for the MCAT.

I don't know how close you are to your research professor, but I wouldn't count on this, based on personal experience.
Some of the kids in my lab took off for the summer or dropped by lab once a week during the summer in order to study for the MCAT and it was heavily looked down upon. They were basically barred from joining the lab again once Fall semester starts. (Regular semester, they would have to be in lab at least 20 hours/week.)

A week off after you've worked 25 - 40 hours the whole semester? Yeah, that should be fine.
But deciding to only come into lab 5 - 10 hours a week? Totally unacceptable and unproductive - in the eyes of a research PI.

My PI (although understanding) did not like it when his students place other commitments above research, because in his eyes, research should be the student's #1 priority, as he will be the one writing a bombtastic letter of recommendation for them for grad/med schools.

Research doesn't wait for your MCAT to be over. YOU have to wait for research. And does a PI really care about you ultimately if you're unproductive in his lab? Probably not - everyone is replaceable.

It will just look really bad if you end up not showing up to lab as much because of the MCAT, and your PI might write you a bad letter of recommendation for being flaky / not dependable.

This is just my 2 cents based on what I have seen. Perhaps your research professor is more lenient when it comes to these things. But I would definitely communicate openly with him and establish how much time you're taking off per week and how much time you will actually be spending in lab.

 

[Ailleurs]

I don't know how close you are to your research professor, but I wouldn't count on this, based on personal experience.
Some of the kids in my lab took off for the summer or dropped by lab once a week during the summer in order to study for the MCAT and it was heavily looked down upon. They were basically barred from joining the lab again once Fall semester starts. (Regular semester, they would have to be in lab at least 20 hours/week.)

A week off after you've worked 25 - 40 hours the whole semester? Yeah, that should be fine.
But deciding to only come into lab 5 - 10 hours a week? Totally unacceptable and unproductive - in the eyes of a research PI.

My PI (although understanding) did not like it when his students place other commitments above research, because in his eyes, research should be the student's #1 priority, as he will be the one writing a bombtastic letter of recommendation for them for grad/med schools.

Research doesn't wait for your MCAT to be over. YOU have to wait for research. And does a PI really care about you ultimately if you're unproductive in his lab? Probably not - everyone is replaceable.

It will just look really bad if you end up not showing up to lab as much because of the MCAT, and your PI might write you a bad letter of recommendation for being flaky / not dependable.

This is just my 2 cents based on what I have seen. Perhaps your research professor is more lenient when it comes to these things. But I would definitely communicate openly with him and establish how much time you're taking off per week and how much time you will actually be spending in lab.

This is why I chose to limit all commitments that I could, except for work (which will be part-time until my MCAT) and volunteering. Hopefully it won't be looked at negatively that I am not taking any classes this semester. Having had a poor performance in undergrad, I am determined to throw it out of the ballpark (I also kind of need to).

Also, I agree about the research thing but I also wanted to say that it depends on who your PI is. My PI encouraged me to take time off to study. In fact she told everyone how important it is to take time off for their own personal development/career development (she had our best interests at heart) for important situations like MCAT prep. I guess it's relative to how people view that time off as being used towards.

 

[blackmarble]

I don't know how close you are to your research professor, but I wouldn't count on this, based on personal experience.
Some of the kids in my lab took off for the summer or dropped by lab once a week during the summer in order to study for the MCAT and it was heavily looked down upon. They were basically barred from joining the lab again once Fall semester starts. (Regular semester, they would have to be in lab at least 20 hours/week.)

A week off after you've worked 25 - 40 hours the whole semester? Yeah, that should be fine.
But deciding to only come into lab 5 - 10 hours a week? Totally unacceptable and unproductive - in the eyes of a research PI.

My PI (although understanding) did not like it when his students place other commitments above research, because in his eyes, research should be the student's #1 priority, as he will be the one writing a bombtastic letter of recommendation for them for grad/med schools.

Research doesn't wait for your MCAT to be over. YOU have to wait for research. And does a PI really care about you ultimately if you're unproductive in his lab? Probably not - everyone is replaceable.

It will just look really bad if you end up not showing up to lab as much because of the MCAT, and your PI might write you a bad letter of recommendation for being flaky / not dependable.

This is just my 2 cents based on what I have seen. Perhaps your research professor is more lenient when it comes to these things. But I would definitely communicate openly with him and establish how much time you're taking off per week and how much time you will actually be spending in lab.

This is the attitude of many PIs towards undergrads that I've seen during my college years and beyond, and I think it's completely not in the best interests of the student, and completely selfish and myopic on the side of the PI. I have yet to understand why they do this, for one because what the PI gets from the undergrad in terms of productive work is little to none when compared to the PhD students/post-docs they have, and in addition I wonder where they get the time to care about chaining their undergrads to the lab when they have grants to write, papers to read, and politicking/schmoozing to do.

This isn't to say that the undergraduates should be taking advantage of a PI's goodwill and dick around/try to cut time, but rather that undergraduates oftentimes have many commitments, and the love of research should be nurtured, not enforced. If you're in a lab solely to get into med school, I would not agree with the PI enforcing a minimum number of hours, but I would agree with him/her giving you the boot. I'd also agree that the student should come into lab on his/her own schedule (once they learn the ropes) as this is the way in which an appreciation of research is really allowed to mature.

Also to the OP, it seems like your PI is a good one, stick around if you like the research and you'll benefit greatly both career-wise and personally.

 

[santeprof]

I only do MCAT physics (read my post here). Roughly half of the PS section. I know nothing about the other parts of the MCAT. I see no downside to taking the current MCAT. All the prepartion will be good for the expanded test and you can postpone your volunteering and shadowing.

Consider the Khan Academy MCAT Physical Sciences section for your second semester physics prep. AAMC coproduces the section. They have recently added a number of second semester physics topics.

You don't mention the AAMC practice tests. I feel these are necessary. Drilling the tests educate you in the mental process of interpreting passages in a way that makes the questions easier to answer.

Let me know how you proceed.