Need advice from intelligent SDN members

[crprep23]

Hey I've been reading through this forum occasionally since the beginning of winter break and it seems like many of you are extremely helpful when others have common inquires. Anyone who feels they can help, please chime in.

I just finished my first semester of my sophomore year, yet I will have senior standing after this next semester is complete. I have already taken all my pre-reqs, not including Biochem, but I will be fresh off my second semester of OChem so it seems practical to take my MCAT this summer. I have already ordered my materials and I plan on devoting my summer to the test. The only problem is my ECs are lacking, and by lacking I mean I need to get my **** together because I have almost nothing that will be taken into serious consideration by ADCOMs. To counter this, I was planning on doing research through a summer undergrad program at a great med school to help boost my resume and hopefully learn some useful techniques to aid in my future endeavors.

My question is will I be able to balance a schedule with studying for the MCAT and Research and still earn a competitive score on the MCAT while excelling in research? Thanks in advance and I appreciate anyone taking the time to help me out.

(Note: I'm not naturally smart. My GPA is relatively high, but mostly because of hard work and numerous hours spent. I'm not trying to boast or shoot myself down, I'm just trying to give more insight.)

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[RogueUnicorn]

as an unintelligent member i feel unqualified

 

[crprep23]

It was more of a compliment to the general quality of the forum, not individuals. Takes a big man to shoot a one liner at someone who genuinely needs help. Thanks.

 

[Tesseract]

If your research program is anything similar to a SURF, SIP, etc. (everyone has their own acronym) you will spend 40+ hours a week in the laboratory. In reference to the MCAT studying, if you are devoting your summer to studying, you will probably spend 4-6 hours a day reading/taking practice tests/completing samples questions.

Is it doable? Sure. Should you take genetics, biochemistry, and other upper level courses (per Bacchus) before attempting the MCAT? Probably-won't hurt. The whole system comes down to your personal work ethic and confidence. I hope you enjoy the research because you will need something to look forward to everyday or you might burn-out, ruining both experiences.

 

[crprep23]

I would take the summer research opportunity because you don't know if you'll get it another time. Most students take the MCAT during their junior year. I would not mix the two (studying and research). You know the pre-requisites for the MCAT and they are fresh in your mind; however (and I know others may disagree), I would try to get some upper-levels in before taking the test. From my experiences, having some biochem, genetics, and microbiology under my belt helped me immensely... if not for content, for the process to reason better.

I definitely agree with you, but I need to clarify a few things. One, the research opportunity was outstretched to me to be taken at anytime. I happen know a physician quite well, as I've shadowed frequently. In addition, my uncle offered me a research opportunity next year at his pediatric neurosurgery clinic, which will be 40 hours a week next summer. Also, I'm taking microbiology and genetics this semester, so those will be fresh (hopefully). Despite this, I still think you are right. I do need to choose one. Thanks!

 

[crprep23]

The big thing is I see all these people on this forum with an extended list of ECs. As previously stated, I barely have any. I'm clueless at this resume building stuff.

 

[bravofleet4]

Depends on how self-motivated you are since I imagine you're talking about indepedent study. A lot of people who say they will study on their own don't end up accomplishing much. Personally, I got in my review through 4 quarters of tutoring. That's one way of studying for the MCAT and building up your EC's simultaneously.

I would personally take the research opportunity. You can always delay the date of your MCAT exam but if you don't do the research it you'll have to wait another year before you can do it. Many people don't take their MCAT until their spring quarter of their junior year. I'd be surprised if you decided to take the MCAT right after the summer as many people don't think they can ever study enough, so they wait as long as they can.

EC's activities also include a non-med activity, so pick up a hobby. To find clinical EC's you should talk to any other pre-med's and find out what volunteer gigs are available in your area.

 

[Evergrey]

Stop in at the volunteer office at your university, they can hook you up with some snazzy stuff to put on your resume.

 

[Tesseract]

Oh wow, I thought you were a junior for some reason- completely missed the statement about being a sophomore (reading comprehension fail). Definitely take the research opportunity-put the MCAT off until January, April, or May of your junior year.

Side suggestion-If you're looking for medical experience, you might want to go after your EMT-B certification over the summer. Classes in my area were from 6pm-10pm, three nights a week for three months. The work is a good time if you can find a nice agency.

 

[crprep23]

Tesseract- No problem, you've been extremely helpful so far. The only thing I worry about is taking classes while I take the MCAT. Any thoughts? And what does an EMT-B entail? Like I said, I'm not exactly the most informed.

 

[boaz]

I would say the most important thing you can do can do for yourself at this point is to get lots of clinical EC's (better than research). Check with your premad adviser or club. Start right now.

 

[BBender716]

Building a medical school résumé:

While you'll find a ton of different opinions on SDN about how much/how quality ECs need to be, the big ones agreed upon are generally (in no specific order for the purposes of this post):

Physician Shadowing
"Clinical" Volunteering
Leadership/Making a difference ECs (student org. position, organized a phil. event, etc.)

What's most notably lacking here is research. For top schools, research is almost a necessity and for all others, it is a big plus, but by no means necessary and/org sufficient. Without the 3 above (especially the first two), you could very likely have multiple publications but zero acceptances.

Again, numbers + LORS play a huge role as well, but this is the general things you should be looking at to round out your ECs. Hope this helps!

 

[Contrarian]

I would say you can both study for the MCAT and do research this summer, but you probably don't have to take the exam this summer too. You can put that off a few months. Depending on how busy your fall semester is, you could study a bit, and then take a Jan MCAT...or even push it back to next summer if need be (nothing later than July though).

 

[tennisball80]

I think you should be able to handle research and MCAT at the same time. You can always delay the MCAT when you feel like it. Building the medical school resume with an appropriate amount of research experiences is essential.

 

[slowbutsteady]

Everyone is different, but I needed the last month before the MCAT with nothing else going on to do well.

Definitely do the research and study next summer, but don't take the MCAT unless you are consistently scoring above where you want to be on practice tests.

If you have a long winter break, finish up studying and take it in January.

 

[NickNaylor]

as an unintelligent member i feel unqualified

+1

 

[crprep23]

Thanks to all for the advice and offering your time to help me out. The general consensus seems to be that I should do both but see how I do on the first couple practice tests and plan my MCAT accordingly. Will this exhaust my resources in terms of practice tests?

 

[Cleveland]

I took an MCAT class which provided me with a ton of practice tests. If you dig around, you can find more and more and even get some question books for subjects you feel you are weak on (my problem fell in Verbal). Additionally, I was almost in your exact situation. I ended up doing the independent study during my sophomore year and forgetting about the MCAT until the end of the first semester of my junior year. I then slammed my winter break and the following semester with MCAT study and took the test in April. This left me enough time to re-take if need be. As a sophomore, you should probably line up a research internship for the summer going into junior year. During your junior year, shadow/volunteer and take a light course load during the second semester to give you ample time to study for the MCAT. I went down to 12 credit hours, which was the lowest I could feasibly go. You seem like a pretty sharp person, so grades and MCAT scores shouldn't be that large of an issue. The most important thing that I've found after I've finished this whole process is to do something unique and unrelated to school/medicine. I talked infinitely more about one of my non-medical activities than I did about some of my other medically related stuff. My admissions process is coming to a close and I am pleased with how it turned out. Best of luck to ya. Keep working hard and moving out of your comfort zone.

 

[whimsical]

Hey I've been reading through this forum occasionally since the beginning of winter break and it seems like many of you are extremely helpful when others have common inquires. Anyone who feels they can help, please chime in.

I just finished my first semester of my sophomore year, yet I will have senior standing after this next semester is complete. I have already taken all my pre-reqs, not including Biochem, but I will be fresh off my second semester of OChem so it seems practical to take my MCAT this summer. I have already ordered my materials and I plan on devoting my summer to the test. The only problem is my ECs are lacking, and by lacking I mean I need to get my **** together because I have almost nothing that will be taken into serious consideration by ADCOMs. To counter this, I was planning on doing research through a summer undergrad program at a great med school to help boost my resume and hopefully learn some useful techniques to aid in my future endeavors.

My question is will I be able to balance a schedule with studying for the MCAT and Research and still earn a competitive score on the MCAT while excelling in research? Thanks in advance and I appreciate anyone taking the time to help me out.

(Note: I'm not naturally smart. My GPA is relatively high, but mostly because of hard work and numerous hours spent. I'm not trying to boast or shoot myself down, I'm just trying to give more insight.)

I did what you've described (summer research after my sophomore year while studying for the MCAT) and it worked only because I studied like a fiend for the 3 weeks before the research began and because my PI was fairly understanding. It wasn't the best summer I've ever had, but it turned out well for me. You do have time though, so there's no need to rush it if you don't have to.

 

[Everglide]

There is a wealth of practice tests from a variety of sources. AAMC, TPR, Kaplan, etc. You won't run out Finding time to take full lengths and analyze them on the other hand may be difficult, depending on how many practice tests you want to take.

Research can't hurt, as long as you don't bump off shadowing/clinical/volunteer in place of it. A plus is you won't have to worry about other tests/classes during your research/mcat summer compared to an ~April mcat.

 

[JonathanMD]

To counter this, I was planning on doing research through a summer undergrad program at a great med school to help boost my resume and hopefully learn some useful techniques to aid in my future endeavors.

This is the last type of EC I would recommend you do. It sounds like you need to do something that isn't under the umbrella of any school (even other schools) -- something that isn't affiliated with school. You need to go out into the hospitals as a volunteer. Even better, you need to get a clinically related certification and get a paid position in EMS or in a hospital.

You need to do something that is completely your own.

(IMO.)

 

[Contrarian]

This is the last type of EC I would recommend you do. It sounds like you need to do something that isn't under the umbrella of any school (even other schools) -- something that isn't affiliated with school. You need to go out into the hospitals as a volunteer. Even better, you need to get a clinically related certification and get a paid position in EMS or in a hospital.

You need to do something that is completely your own.

(IMO.)

while hospital volunteering and other clinical experience would also be useful, I disagree that a summer research program at a university is a bad idea. It will be a great opportunity and will definitely strengthen his app.

 

[Mayssy]

I think all of the intelligent people above have your questions covered but to sum up...

I would

1. Start applying to several programs (SMDEP, research at your university, even non-paying positions at labs at the nearest med school), check this out too: http://www.hhmi.org/janelia/undergrad.html... There's also Research Associates (students who enroll patients in clinical studies), usually these positions are not paid but offer shadowing and maybe LORs if you can impress them.

2. Wherever you end up this summer make sure you're getting an experience, writing stuff down, maybe securing an LOR or a year long research position.

3. Take a lighter load of classes Fall of junior year and an MCAT prep course (or study on your own if you've got good work ethic)

4. Take MCAT in January, continue with ECs/research/clinical stuff spring of junior year

5. Apply June of 2011

 

[theWUbear]

+1

-1

IMO, he went there just for the sake of going there. I bet if an adcom member asks him if he considers himself intelligent he would respond in the affirmative. However, I am making a judgement here, so forgive me, bleargh, if you really do not consider yourself intelligent.

 

[crprep23]

Again, thanks so much as you all did a great job of giving me a vast array of answers that were all very helpful. Good luck to all of you too. I cannot express enough gratitude for your unselfishness.

 

[Tesseract]

Tesseract- No problem, you've been extremely helpful so far. The only thing I worry about is taking classes while I take the MCAT. Any thoughts? And what does an EMT-B entail? Like I said, I'm not exactly the most informed.

I volunteer for about five hours a week at a local advanced life support ambulance agency. Most of the ambulances, unless the EMT-B is not of age to drive the rig, operate with a EMT-CC and a EMT-B/I or a Paramedic and a EMT-B/I.

In NY state, EMT-B's are allowed to give basic medications (epinephrine, albuterol, glucose, oxygen, aspirin, and nitroglycerin). A lot of an EMT-B's calls are trauma related (lacerated limbs of varying degrees, broken bones from falls, etc.) and medical related (nauseous, flu, etc.). I admit I have not once touched the medications listed above because of my agency's readily available paramedics. Mental hygiene arrests, however, were hitting me at least once a week at one point.

For someone looking at medical school, in my opinion, the EMT-B role is meant to introduce you to patient contact, to allow you to become accustomed to applying a bedside manner, to develop critical-thinking skills, and to forge within yourself a personal responsibility for your patients. I know it sounds cliche, but advisers recommend the experience for a reason.

In regards to classes and MCAT- I plan to take the MCAT in May. My institute operates on a quarter system. I have a schedule worked out where I will be studying for the MCAT while taking 12 credits (Physics and 2 English courses) and working in laboratory on a research project. Either it'll work or it won't.

 

[BBender716]

-1

IMO, he went there just for the sake of going there. I bet if an adcom member asks him if he considers himself intelligent he would respond in the affirmative. However, I am making a judgement here, so forgive me, bleargh, if you really do not consider yourself intelligent.

in the words of the "unintelligent" bleargh:

facepalm.

 

[FloatOn]

OP, if you're still interested in some extra comments:

Thanks to all for the advice and offering your time to help me out. The general consensus seems to be that I should do both but see how I do on the first couple practice tests and plan my MCAT accordingly. Will this exhaust my resources in terms of practice tests?

Someone above mentioned Kaplan, Princeton, etc. practice tests. These do not even compare to AAMC 3-10, so be careful not to use them up too quickly. I recommend only taking at most 2 to see where you stand and save the rest towards the end of your studying when your actual MCAT test date is coming up. Other companies' exams can be used in between for extra practice.

I would take the summer research opportunity because you don't know if you'll get it another time. Most students take the MCAT during their junior year. I would not mix the two (studying and research). You know the pre-requisites for the MCAT and they are fresh in your mind; however (and I know others may disagree), I would try to get some upper-levels in before taking the test. From my experiences, having some biochem, genetics, and microbiology under my belt helped me immensely... if not for content, for the process to reason better.

Upper-level classes definitely helped me. Physical chemistry certainly was not tested on the MCAT, but because it was harder than any gen chem, the gen chem that was on the exam was a piece of cake. I recommend taking physiology, if you can and if you want to, as this is a very important portion of the biology section. Didn't take it, but microbio would have helped me out a lot too.

Depends on how self-motivated you are since I imagine you're talking about indepedent study. A lot of people who say they will study on their own don't end up accomplishing much. Personally, I got in my review through 4 quarters of tutoring. That's one way of studying for the MCAT and building up your EC's simultaneously.

What I didn't do but what I think is a great way of preparing for the MCAT is forming a small study group of people that have the same level of motivation and knowledge as you do. Discussion is a great way to learn and what one person doesn't know, someone else is bound to understand. Tutoring/TAing is definitely a great way to learn the material too. I recognized a lot of neat details after looking at the same material a second time around. This made my understanding as a whole much more thorough.