Need advice for course progression/MCAT

[JS94]

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Hey all,

I've lurked around here for a while but figured it was time to join. I have a very large dilemma that even my advisor can't help me with completely. He's given me some decent options to think about, but I was hoping some of you could chime in. Basically, I graduated 4.0 with an AA transfer degree from a local community college, then transferred to a very good private university here. I took only the basic biology there, as I wanted to get better instruction for my science classes. All of my gen-eds are finished, just focusing on pre-med prereqs and majors classes (Chem major). A year ago I lost a loved one to suicide, of which I took the semester off which put me a tad behind as far as progression goes. I'm currently in organic I/physics I/analytical chem and 3 labs (organic, inorganic, analytical) and this brings me to the two options I have:

Option A: Take Biochem, Adv. Organic, and whatever else can help me (will miss the 300 level genetics class and cell molecular bio) for the MCAT as well as Altius in the Spring semester (it's included in my school's tuition) while fitting in more shadowing and volunteer hours, and take the MCAT and apply this next summer

Option B: Take Biochem in Spring, as well as some other classes (maybe CMB, etc that I would be missing out on), Adv. Organic over the summer (or fall), work on my ECs more, and take Altius's year long review course while filling in a class here or there to strengthen my application (like comprehensive anatomy, etc). This option will also allow me to apply for a guaranteed acceptance (pending an interview and application review, would just need a 25 equivalent on the MCAT) for one of the state MD schools, of which there are only a few applicants per year from my school and they accept 1 per year.

It's worth noting that I have to work full time for now until my brother goes off to basic training and his BHA pays for our rent - I'll be able to drop down to part-time at the end of this year for ~1 year. I've worked as a lab tech primarily doing phlebotomy going on 2 years now, so my clinical experience totals over 3,000 hours as of now. I'm just at a loss here of what to do - it seems the options are either not do as well as I could because of the workload (or die of stress), or delay med school even further on top of the semester I'm already "behind". I'm also open to Option C, D, or E if anyone has them.

I know it's a long read, but thank you guys in advanced for the advice.

 

[BurghMed]

I'm sorry to hear about your loved one. I hope you're doing ok.

There's a lot of complex factors going on here that maybe you can clear up. Option A: would you have time to study for the mcat over the summer? where do you have to take it? You say in option B you can take a year long course, but having an mcat "deadline" would be helpful for me/others to give advice.

I would say no matter what, based on what you've said here, is to do what will give you the best option (in your mind, as you have a better idea of what you can handle, how hard professors are at your school, living situation, etc.) to maximize your GPA and MCAT. In other words, lighten your course load to maximize your odds while also taking the necessary pre-reqs. Do not worry about missing 300 level genetics and molecular. Also, advanced organic seems completely unnecessary, not sure why you need to fit that in. I'm amazing you've been able to be a lab tech for so long while keeping school up, it's truly admirable. Make sure to maintain sanity. Many hard classes imo are almost never worth it for the medical school admissions game. I've been to a couple of interviews this cycles and met women's/sociology/religious studies majors who are absolutely killing it on the interview trail. Let me know if this helps.

 

[JS94]

I'm sorry to hear about your loved one. I hope you're doing ok.

There's a lot of complex factors going on here that maybe you can clear up. Option A: would you have time to study for the mcat over the summer? where do you have to take it? You say in option B you can take a year long course, but having an mcat "deadline" would be helpful for me/others to give advice.

I would say no matter what, based on what you've said here, is to do what will give you the best option (in your mind, as you have a better idea of what you can handle, how hard professors are at your school, living situation, etc.) to maximize your GPA and MCAT. In other words, lighten your course load to maximize your odds while also taking the necessary pre-reqs. Do not worry about missing 300 level genetics and molecular. Also, advanced organic seems completely unnecessary, not sure why you need to fit that in. I'm amazing you've been able to be a lab tech for so long while keeping school up, it's truly admirable. Make sure to maintain sanity. Many hard classes imo are almost never worth it for the medical school admissions game. I've been to a couple of interviews this cycles and met women's/sociology/religious studies majors who are absolutely killing it on the interview trail. Let me know if this helps.

Thanks for the reply, and for the kind words. As far as answering your questions: I am required to take advanced organic for my degree program. I can't really say if I would have time to study for the MCAT over the summer - I could take a later MCAT date in the summer and give me at least a month to study, but I have to work as well at least part time. At this point it sounds detrimental to my GPA to load myself up with nothing but upper level courses, but I am conflicted because I don't know if putting off the MCAT for a year is the right option either. I'm not sure what you mean by "deadline" - I would take it late summer if I took it this summer, or early summer if I took the year long Altius review course through my university.

 

[BurghMed]

Thanks for the reply, and for the kind words. As far as answering your questions: I am required to take advanced organic for my degree program. I can't really say if I would have time to study for the MCAT over the summer - I could take a later MCAT date in the summer and give me at least a month to study, but I have to work as well at least part time. At this point it sounds detrimental to my GPA to load myself up with nothing but upper level courses, but I am conflicted because I don't know if putting off the MCAT for a year is the right option either. I'm not sure what you mean by "deadline" - I would take it late summer if I took it this summer, or early summer if I took the year long Altius review course through my university.

Gotcha. What I mean by deadline is that the early acceptance program requires you to take the MCAT by a certain date.

From my own personal experience, I took a a decent amount of time (3 months, no distractions) to study for the MCAT. I know others who have studied for 2 weeks and did better than me. It all depends on the person. I would consider taking a few diagnostic tests to see where you stand. I am tempted to say play it safe (you need more than one month) and give yourself some time to get a high gpa. If you can put off the MCAT for a year, I would do that. There's no rush to take it unless your early acceptance program requires that you do.

 

[JS94]

Gotcha. What I mean by deadline is that the early acceptance program requires you to take the MCAT by a certain date.

From my own personal experience, I took a a decent amount of time (3 months, no distractions) to study for the MCAT. I know others who have studied for 2 weeks and did better than me. It all depends on the person. I would consider taking a few diagnostic tests to see where you stand. I am tempted to say play it safe (you need more than one month) and give yourself some time to get a high gpa. If you can put off the MCAT for a year, I would do that. There's no rush to take it unless your early acceptance program requires that you do.

The early acceptance program is through UMKC, which requires me to have taken the MCAT and possess a bachelor's degree by matriculation, which they are a little different in that they start in January. So if I push off the MCAT and give myself a chance for early acceptance, it would be January 2017 when I start; which isn't that much different than if I took it now. It seems like more time is the right thing to do in this situation, honestly, I just wanted to hear some other opinions. Thank you for posting BurghMed.