MCAT: Please Help

[comp]

I'm taking MCAT this August. However, recently I have started to feel that I'm not well prepared. Anyway, I'll still take the MCAT this August. Now, if I don't get good scores then I'll retake it in April, 2001. Regarding this I have few questions:

1.) Does retaking the MCATs look bad to adcoms?

2.) If I have to retake it in April 2001, then I'm thinking to take off from college for that spring semester so that I could study very hard and boost my MCATs. I'll also have then plenty of time to do volunteer work because I haven't done any volunteer work so far. Now, do you think it is a bad idea to take off from college for one semester for MCATs? Will adcom look at it negatively?

I realize that I'll be one year late in entering medical school if, indeed, I opt to take off for one semester.

Is there anyone out there who has been through this and yet accepted to a medical school?

Please respond. Thanks a lot.

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[rangers1]

Not getting the scores you need looks far worse than taking them multiple times but getting good scores.

Certainly, if you take them once and score 35, hats off to ya. I took them 4 times, finally cracking the 30 barrier on the last time. I'm happy to say that I start at Boston University in 6 weeks! Taking a semester off to study for the MCAT seems a bit drastic but I see your point. If this silly thing is so damned important, why not devote the appropriate study time. You have to be really honest with yourself that you are going to devote 5-6 hours per day to studying for the MCAT during this time. It would be a shame if you invested all this time, took off from school and left yourself unprepared for the MCAT. Possibly take 2 classes instead of 3 or r this semester. this will free up MCAT time. Good Luck

 

[adismo]

feeeeelings, nothing more than feeeeelings...

wow if you feel unprepared then you'd just better quit right there bucko! jk, actually everyone feels a tad unprepared. just study hard and remember that its a thinking test. relationships, proportionalities, etc. are a favorite topic on the mcat so learn the big picture of the bio and phys concepts presented.

about taking it more than once, here are a few rules..

1. if you must retake it, do better the second time.

2. take it more than twice and the adcoms will NOT take you seriously, esp. if your scores drop and rise in the same range.

3. if the second time is lower, work on your people skills for the interview (in case you make it that far).

i took it twice and my score went up one point. woooo hooooo.

studying for the mcat while "dropping" out of school borders on childish. lets face it, medschool will be tough and you want to demonstrate that you can handle a substantial courseload (12-13 units) max AND a serious exam. best of luck.

 

[raindodger]

adismo hit the nail right on the head!

Dropping school to study for the mcat is a poor choice, and yes, it is childish.

It's like those pre-meds who choose to live with their parents in order to have fewer responsibilities, so as to perform better in their pre-med courses. The problem with this is, that the adcoms can tell who these kids are!

Sorry for deviating, but it is a poor choice to make. Think of it this way, if you take the semester off, and earn a 27, and someone else takes the exam while taking college courses, and earns a 26...who do you think they'll take, with all else being equal?

-raindodger

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[mvalento]

my pre-med advisor repeatedly told us last spring that the deal with the MCAT was to
"take it once and take it well" (easier said than done). he told us about some survey or something where many adcomms said that they look at the first MCAT score preferentially over the others. i think this was a scare tactic to get us to study more but hey, you never know. of course, there are many applicants who retake the MCAT and still get in. if you feel TOTALLY unprepared then i think you should wait until april, but if not, then study hard and take it this summer. good luck in august!

-valento

p.s. start volunteering! hospital, clinic, anywhere!

 

[jon8markley]

Dont be devastated if you dont do well the first time. I had a horrible day the first time I took it. I really buckled down for the second attempt and my score went up 6 points! I eventually got accepted to osteopathic school but the md schools told be there was baggage with a low first score. So it does matter how you do the first time, dont just go in ther knowing you can take it again and not give it your all.

 

[imtiaz]

If you feel unprepared for the MCAT *DO NOT TAKE IT* With that having been said, not everyone goes into the MCAT knowing everything. This is because the MCAT isn't about memorization as much as it is about applying concepts. You only need to know a few select things. Beyond that, the MCAT is a measure of your analytical/problem solving thinking ability. It's not a regurgitation test, at least for the most part. If you feel very unprepared then don't add another score to your set of scores that could possibly be low. I took the April MCAT, and I scored horribly(7VR,8PS,6!!BS). I was scoring very well on practice tests, but somehow it didn't correlate to the real thing.

Anyway, the point is, I realized that I had to study in a significantly different way. Study study study, and when you feel comfortable with yourself and what you know, give it a shot. Most of all, when you study, be honest with yourself. Don't look at the answer and say, "I knew that." I wish you luck!

-imtiaz