MCAT Registration HASSLE!!

[mons86]

I am trying to decide whether to take the MCAT on July 18th or August 5th. I want this to be my last MCAT, so I really gotta do well this time.

I was wondering, if it's better to register for the august test date and then prepare for the july one, and if I am ready for the july test, take it then (since some people might be moving their test date to august, and seats will open up for July).

Or is it better the other way around (registering for july one like everyone else and if I'm not ready, move it back to august)?

I only ask because of the hassle one has to go through finding a seat to take the exam.

Thank you for for time and your invaluable opinions.

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[ldnk]

If you are concerned about not being ready for the July date, why not just register for the August one. Study as if you were preparing for the July date, and then come July 18th, realize that you still have 2+ weeks to casually review the material to make sure you do your best. If you want this to be your last attempt at the MCAT, don't rush it if you aren't 100% ready.

 

[masterMood]

wouldn't taking it in august be a significant setback in applying on time?

 

[masterMood]

also, i feel like if you're studying a little more relaxed in those last two weeks you could do al ittle worse because you're not in that super "sympathetic on full alert" mode or in other words being at your mental peak.

i'm in a similar boat between either july 8, 10, 12, or august 5th not really sure which one i'll take but i definitely want to take it in July.

There are a few options for me.

if i take the MCAT twice, I can take them right after each other (say July 18, and then August 5th). The downside of this would be that I would not i would nto get my grade back, in time to see if i really needed to take the exam or not again.

But if i waited until the july score came back, i could then judge to see if i had to take the score again or not and then act appropriately.

Both have their pros and cons, the former situation letting me get my primary application in relatively on time but with more risk, the latter situation giving me less risk on the MCAT, but a significant delay in applying (if the July 18th score was bad, and i ended up taking late august early september).

I would go as far as saying that if you took it any later than august 5th, it would probably be too late to get into any MD school unless you had overwhelmingly good stats (high gpa, high mcat chiefly).

This definitely is a balancing act.


(I wish i had the maturity, drive, and ambition at the end of my sophomore year in the summer to fully commit to the MCAT instead of doing my stupid research).

Hindsight is 20/20

 

[Revilla]

if i take the MCAT twice, I can take them right after each other (say July 18, and then August 5th). The downside of this would be that I would not i would nto get my grade back, in time to see if i really needed to take the exam or not again.

But if i waited until the july score came back, i could then judge to see if i had to take the score again or not and then act appropriately.

Be very careful with this. There's a thread in pre-allo where someone retook the MCAT before getting his score back. He ended up with a 31 and a 26, in that order.

 

[mons86]

Thanks for the reply....yeah I think I will take it in August....since it is my 3rd (and last) time taking it, i really wanna hit it on the nail this time........I like your recommendation, even though I might be at a disadvantage with the MD schools b.c of the timing, you never know.....i might end up with a high MCAt grade, God willing, and it won't be a problem.....might as well be safe than sorry and regret not taking 2 extra weeks of preparation & mental readiness.

If you are concerned about not being ready for the July date, why not just register for the August one. Study as if you were preparing for the July date, and then come July 18th, realize that you still have 2+ weeks to casually review the material to make sure you do your best. If you want this to be your last attempt at the MCAT, don't rush it if you aren't 100% ready.

 

[ldnk]

also, i feel like if you're studying a little more relaxed in those last two weeks you could do al ittle worse because you're not in that super "sympathetic on full alert" mode or in other words being at your mental peak.

I don't mean relaxed in the sense of feet up over your head munching down on pizza. I mean more that you can just focus on reviewing your trouble concepts and just keeping stuff fresh instead of the panicked last minute cramming of taking the MCAT before you are ready.

As for the sympathetic idea. Try pacing. It keeps you going and it hasn't failed me yet.