Non trad'l reapp seeking MCAT study strategy from 12+ VR/13+ PS/13+ BS achievers

[drpatelplasticsurgery]

I am a reapplicant gunning for Fall 2007 admission (U.S. allopathic schools only). I also intend to retake the MCAT in April 2006.

I retook the MCAT in April '04 (studied on my own), garnering 08 VR/11 PS/11 BS/S WS. I applied for Fall 2005 admission, but I had only gotten two interviews with only a waitlist to show for it.

So I know it is my GPA that is holding me back, but I can no longer change that (going through even more schooling before medical school would be wasteful). However, I can change my MCAT if I really do well in April '06. I am talking 12+ VR/13+ PS/13+ BS. That is why I am seeking advice from those few of you out there that have achieved such a score.

As of today I have over 9 months to prepare. I am willing to "blow my money" on a Princeton Review course that starts this November. In fact, I am willing to spend as much time and money as is necessary to accomplish my goal of this high score.

If those of you that had gotten 38+ scores could give me some semblance of a study schedule over these next several months, I would greatly appreciate it. I pick up things quick, but then I have a tendency to plateau at a solid, but not fantastic, level.

I will be likely working in a lab full-time (12-hour work days, Monday through Friday; weekends off) while I prepare for the April exam, to give an idea of how much free time I would have.

I've had no shortage of MCAT advice. Any non-obvious advice any 38+'ers could give beyond practice-practice-practice? I've read the hundreds of MCAT posts prior to the one I've just made - I've been disappointed twice by my scores, and I just want to do what I believe I am capable of this time 'round.

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[jmugele]

I am a reapplicant gunning for Fall 2007 admission (U.S. allopathic schools only). I also intend to retake the MCAT in April 2006.

My Princeton undergrad (Economics) GPA is 2.89, my Brooklyn Law School GPA 2.31, and my NYU (M.S. in Biology) GPA 3.78. I believe my BCPM GPA hovers around 3.33 since upping my marks at NYU.

I took the August '98 MCAT (took Kaplan's course), getting 10 VR/11 PS/09 BS/R WS. Since that score expired, and I believed I could do much better, I retook the exam in April '04 (studied on my own), garnering 08 VR/11 PS/11 BS/S WS. I applied for Fall 2005 admission, but I had only gotten two interviews (Vanderbilt and SUNY Upstate - Syracuse) with only a waitlist from Vandy to show for it.

As far as EC goes, beyond being an attorney licensed in NYS, I am a certified EMT-Basic, and I have put in hundreds of hospital volunteering hours in the ER and OR. I've also shadowed a number of physicians and have done part-time work at a general/colorectal surgeon's practice.

So I know it is my GPA that is holding me back, but I can no longer change that (going through even more schooling before medical school would be wasteful). However, I can change my MCAT if I really do well in April '06. I am talking 12+ VR/13+ PS/13+ BS. That is why I am seeking advice from those few of you out there that have achieved such a score.

As of today I have over 9 months to prepare. I am willing to "blow my money" on a Princeton Review course that starts this November. In fact, I am willing to spend as much time and money as is necessary to accomplish my goal of this high score.

If those of you that had gotten 38+ scores could give me some semblance of a study schedule over these next several months, I would greatly appreciate it. I pick up things quick, but then I have a tendency to plateau at a solid, but not fantastic, level.

I will be likely working in a lab full-time (12-hour work days, Monday through Friday; weekends off) while I prepare for the April exam, to give an idea of how much free time I would have.

My brother is a general surgery resident at Duke (09 VR/13 PS/11 BS in April '97), and my best friend of 20 years and from Princeton is pursuing the oralmaxillofacial surgery program at Harvard (MD/DMD/MPH student; 36 total score in August '99), so I've had no shortage of MCAT advice. Any non-obvious advice any 38+'ers could give beyond practice-practice-practice? I've read the hundreds of MCAT posts prior to the one I've just made - I've been disappointed twice by my scores, and I just want to do what I believe I am capable of this time 'round.

I don't know that my advice amounts to more than practice, practice, practice, but I can tell you what I did. I had about a year to study while working full time and having a family. I signed up for a Kaplan course, but ended up not going to the classes because I didn't find them useful. I did find their material extremely useful, though.

For about 9 months I re-learned material. I started by checking out a biology, a chemistry, and an o-chem textbook from the library. I read the bio book cover to cover. I started that with the chem books, but didn't find that helpful. So, I just did end of chapter problems and looked up any answers I didn't know. For physics, I went to the library and checked out a book of physics problems and just solved them. If I didn't know an answer, I looked it up. At about 3 months until MCAT, I started doing all of the Kaplan material -- reading through the books and doing the problems. While taking at least one practice test a week. I went over the answers I got wrong from the material.

I started taking practice tests in VR, but I found the more I practiced and studied the reading and writing, the worse I would do, so I stopped -- I guess it's kind of a Zen thing (I ended up scoring a 14 on the VR and an S on the writing).

More than anything, though, throughout the year, I studied Kaplan flashcards whenever I could. Everywhere and any time. I think that was the most useful study habit. When I knew a card cold, I took it out of the rotation. So, I was only studying a fraction of them by the end.

Good luck. Hope this helps.