Now or Later?

[DrCurious]

With the MCAT 10 days away, I am still confused if I should take it or not. I dont know if its test anxiety or what, but I just do not feel as prepared as I could have been. I think I will end up deciding late next week. In the last 2 weeks alone I have seen more improvement than the last 3 months, probably due to the time I now have since midterms are over. In the next week, yea I know its stupid for me to think this but, I think I can pull it up to the good old 30 mark, but I guess I'll see. Anyone else in this predicament, worst case scenario I feel I will take it in August after a summers worth of prep.

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[Lests55]

Hey, I got some good advice about these sorts of tests. The thing is, we will never feel "ready" to take this test like we would some test that only covers a few chapters of one textbook. It just isn't possible. It takes what, like 3 weeks to get over all the material and by the end you have forgotten a bunch of stuff you studied in the beginning. OK...that was me talking but the advice I got was "You never feel "ready" you just run out of time".

 

[makingmd]

So the MCAT saga continues. I was in the same place you are in now last April. I withdrew. Switched to August. I wasn't any more ready. If you have put in a good amount of time and dedication how much more ready can you be? Good luck with your decision.

 

[medworm]

DrCurious, don't take it if you're not ready and here are the reasons why:

If you take it now, ddn't do well and have to retake in August, you are very likely to blow it off in August. The reason being that summer days are very, very nice, and you get exasperated, a little cocky about having some experience under the belt, and just plain don't give a damn the second time around.

When I went in for the first time in April, I was very underprepared. I was missing 1/2 of my pre-reqs, but that's another story. When the full-day exam was over, all my energy was drained. I really felt that it was more taxing than a marathon (which I've run before). I was very nervous and aggrevated for the 60-day waiting period for my test scores.

For my second time in August, I knew with very high certainty what score I was going to get on PS and BS. I also knew that for me to beat my practice scores by 1 point on each section, I'd need a miracle. And that to drop 1 point, it also take a Christmas in July. And guess what? On test day, I had no anxiety, everything went very smoothly, and I left feeling alright. After that I relaxed, knowing that the scores are what they are and I've prepared adequately, peddled on with my secondaries, and enjoyed life.

IMHO assuming that you study hard and do plenty of practice tests, for every prereq course that you didn't take, expect to deduct 1 point from an 11 the relevant section. Likewise, add 1 point for every relevant, advanced course (like genetics). Please don't quote me on that. It's not a rule, but something I've observed based on my own performance.

Good luck!

 

[j-med]

DrCurious, don't take it if you're not ready and here are the reasons why:
.......at you didn't take, expect to deduct 1 point from an 11 the relevant section. Likewise, add 1 point for every relevant, advanced course (like genetics). Please don't quote me on that. It's not a rule, but something I've observed based on my own performance.
Good luck!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you do in the admissions process? I'm just wondering how much would late application affect our chances..