Nurse -> MD (need advice on MCAT)

[MikeMCAT]

Hey everyone,

I have been a registered nurse (BSN) for two years now (24 years old now) and have worked in the emergency department and am currently working in a long-term care facility. I recently decided in a career change from RN to MD after working in the emergency department and shadowing quite a few physicians.

As a result, I have taken 2 years of pre-requisite courses so that I can apply to medical school. My GPA at my undergraduate was a 3.68 but initially began dropping my first year of pre-med prereqs due to unfamiliarity with the style of learning needed at the time. However, within the past year I have greatly improved and last semester had a semester gpa of 4.0 (not like that matters too much though). Additionally, I have been volunteering for over a year now in an orthopedic laboratory, with at least one or two manuscripts by the time I apply for medical school. I am also a part of a health organization here on campus and was a TA and involved in quite a few groups back in my undergraduate degree.

My problem: I am struggling with the MCAT. I initially took the MCAT 3 years ago (this sounds crazy but brace yourself: "just for fun") before I ever wanted to become a physician and bombed it big time (15 (don't remember the essay score)). I know, I know...one of the worst decisions I have ever made in my lifetime, however, at the same time it has inspired me and sets out to be a challenge that I would like hurdle within the next year. I am also hoping that at least a few schools will look past this score (seeing how it was quite long ago - even though they will still be able to see it) if I were to achieve a 30+ score this time around.

I have purchased Kaplan Online Demand, TBR books, princeton review books, and Examkracker's 101/1001 books. Although, I have been studying for a little more than a month now and just took my Kaplan FL1 to be PS: 7, VR: 5, BS: 7 (19). I have been using the Examkracker's 101 verbal reasoning book and find that my verbal reasoning score is truly that low (3 on the first test and 4 on the second test). I have a feeling my PS and BS scores will rise with a ton more practice.

All in all, I am scheduled to take the MCAT again Sept. 7th 2013. I have already paid to take it and since it is one of the last days to take the test I am going to take it no matter what. I don't intend to grade it if my practice scores continue to be this low though! My plan is to take it again in January-May during the 2014 year if need be. I plan on applying for the 2015 year and would obviously like a 30+ score.

The reason I'm writing here is because I'm losing hope. It's really hard to see that the path I'm on may not be possible for me as I haven't done well in the past on standardized tests. I guess I'm just looking for someone to chat with who may/may not be going through some of the same things so that we can continue to push one another and I can pass this damn thing. It's my dream.

- Mike

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[Woodman12]

I'm a RN also,,from Hong Kong.

I quited my full time job and work as a private nurse for an individual patient (long term night shift) just to prepare for my MCAT,, and I got a 31,,, I recently got accepted by 2 medical schools of Australia,,, though its still a long way to go,,, coz still got tons of problem to solve before heading there,,

I believe u can do it as well if u could keep your faith and determination.
After all, itz just an exam,, through attempting tons of exercises,, you'll be fine for it.

for VR,, i got low scores during exercise,,, but i turned out got a 9 in the real thing
I believe you have to use some strategies when attempting it if your sores were persistently low,,
I tried to attempt and focus mainly on 5 out of 7 passages,, while randomly choosing the answer for the remaining passages,,

Stay determined,,,

 

[MikeMCAT]

I don't think you know how much of a relief it is to hear another RN that went through the same pathway. I have only met two others as sad as that sounds. That's inspiring by itself.

You're right. I have plenty of time before I actually "need" to take this test if I want to apply for the 2015 year, but I really do need to find a more efficient method for verbal reasoning. That's what I'll be doing this upcoming week it looks like!

Thanks so much for your response. Means the world to me.

Good luck with all of the things you need to sort out before medical school!

 

[opana]

Hey there Mike.

 

[ChE04]

All in all, I am scheduled to take the MCAT again Sept. 7th 2013. I have already paid to take it and since it is one of the last days to take the test I am going to take it no matter what. I don't intend to grade it if my practice scores continue to be this low though! My plan is to take it again in January-May during the 2014 year if need be. I plan on applying for the 2015 year and would obviously like a 30+ score.

I really want to discourage you from rushing to take the test when you are not ready (ie, not making the scores you want on full-length practice exams). If you get another poor score, it's another black mark against you, and this time it's a recent black mark that will be more difficult to explain. After all, from an adcom's perspective you've had 3 years since the last time "get your $hit together" for the MCAT.

Try perusing the MCAT subforum here for some ideas on how to study for the test. I see verbal is your real problem area: try to figure out why you are scoring so low. Are you running out of time, misinterpreting the passage, or both? Try reading well-written journalism for practice (NYT, WSJ, New Yorker...), and try to elucidate the author's perspective for whatever piece you're reading. But above all keep doing practice passages.

Finally, I'll encourage you not to lose hope. Literally hundreds of thousands of people from all different backgrounds have faced down the MCAT and won, and it should be no different for you. All it takes dedication and work ethic, both of which you appear to have. Don't let the test win.

 

[dessimay]

I don't have too much advice for you but I can say you're not alone. I'm a BSN RN and I'd like to start finishing up my pre reqs in about 2 years. I don't have any desire to be a PA or NP because I feel like I'd be shortchanging myself in education and training (I find both extremely important now that I'm more mature). I've only completed Biology I and Chemistry I. My undergrad isn't bad but it definitely isn't impressive. I played baseball but I didn't find any courses really interesting until I started nursing school and was able to connect things clinically. So, it's daunting to think about getting into those serious pre reqs and doing well.

I would recommend maintaining a balance though. I'm casually teaching myself the pre reqs so I'm not going in blind. But I still make time for my gf, dogs, boxing (which I may consider a few amateur fights for fun), possibly starting baseball again in a mens league, and casual volunteering. I think all this stuff helps keep me in check. And even though the life of a doctor can be consumed by work, I feel like being able to find a balance is key to preventing burn out.

Sorry I have no tips for the mcat but I just felt like letting you know you're not alone and that you have support in this tedious journey before you start school.

 

[MikeMCAT]

Great ideas. I don't intend to take the exam until I am confident in the material and the timing. I am finding I am having a lot of difficulty in the timing. Physics and verbal reasoning killed me in my timing but I went back to the Kaplan FL1 and post-phrased it (as suggested by this website). I found that I had been spending wayyy too much time on quite a few of the problems and I think this upcoming week I'll be doing one question at a time spending no more than a minute on each problem (as Kaplan recommends).

Also, I have been a pretty terrible boyfriend over the past month, as I've been so busy with everything. You're completely right. I need to put balance back into my life before I go crazy (which I have been since I received that first FL score).

Good luck to all RNs taking this exam. It's a way different beast than the nclex!

Keep in touch!

 

[anbuitachi]

Did you take the mcat and got a 15 without ever having taken the prereq classes? [bio/chem/phys/orgo?]

At this point if you are doing poorly still, do TBR all the books, and do them well. Focus on them and know everything, especially the concepts. Do all the questions and know them well. Those books has more than enough information to do well on the MCATS. Don't bother w the other books. And EK's verbal book if you really want to study for verbal.. though it's very hard to improve verbal on such short time.

 

[Indianarn]

Hey Mike, RN here too and taking my exam in September 2013. Right now its the 12th but probably will changed to the 7th. I know its hard and time is critical. I am taking Kaplan to get ready for the exam. I also have my cousin study together with me. I am 41 and he is just out of school so many things are fresh in his mind. I would say don't loose your mind and go for it. Drop me a line if you want to.

 

[MikeMCAT]

Yea, I'm not very proud to say it but I ended up taking the MCAT before any pre-reqs as I had no idea at the time I even wanted to go into something like this (especially while being in school for nursing). In fact, I didn't even know you couldn't use a calculator at the time 🙁...kind of funny now though.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[MikeMCAT]

All I can say is don't take it before you are ready! I already made that mistake and have a feeling it is going to be brought up in future interviews.

Did you take the Full Length #1 provided by Kaplan? If so, how are your scores looking and what methods are you using to improve certain areas?

 

[takeonme]

I'm also a nurse to MD hopeful. I'm not quite done with pre-reqs and I will probably have another year or so ahead of me (newer nurse trying to shuffle around that full-time NOC schedule with science courses+labs) so I'm sorry I can't offer pertinent advice for studying for the MCAT but I do want to offer my support. One of my pre-req professors encouraged me to take the MCAT for fun with the intent to discourage me from pursing medicine and I've received a lot of discouragement from nursing school peers and some family in healthcare for wanting to leave this so-called stable/comfortable career for another. It's nice to know that others are in the going thru the same thing and are incredibly supportive. I just want to say keep going at it and don't let anyone get to you. You determine your own future. I look forward to seeing how things go for you 🙂

 

[dexorbit]

Hi Mike!

Also an RN here as well and right now I'm studying for my MCAT and I'll be taking it around January or February. I'm in a pretty much similar boat as you. I've worked as an RN for 2.5 years and went back to school to finish up my pre-reqs. I'm actually getting another degree in Biology. I will be graduating next year Fall 2014 and hopefully, I can start med school by 2015.

Anyhow, for me, I did a review class at Berkeley in Westwood, CA. And I found it pretty helpful. I've been reading TBR books as well and tried my very best to follow their study schedule. Its working for me although, I haven't taken any practice test yet. I will be soon though. You're right, this is quite a different "beast" I should say when compared to the NCLEX. NCLEX is waay easier. For now, I think the best thing to do is to focus on studying and preparing for the MCAT by reading and taking lots and lots of practice questions too.

Did you take the September MCAT? And if so, how did it go?

 

[acceptmeplease]

I'm another RN!

I was recently accepted to medical school (an MD program at that!), and I could possibly give a little insight.

Remember in nursing school how the right answer was the answer that was most correct out of the choices? That's the mindset with which you need to attack the mcat.

Understand as much material as you can, but that alone will not be enough to get a good score.

Work through as many practice problems and tests as possible. Here's the trick: review every question you attempt. If you get it right, make sure you weren't just guessing. Don't move on until you understand why an answer choice was correct and why you got it right/wrong.

Quite a bit of the information needed for the mcat is in the passage, it just takes skill to pull it out.

Good luck!

 

[Isha2018]

Mike,

I've been a RN for almost 8 years, and I have been accepted to two DO schools so far. I used the Kaplan Online MCAT course.

I don't know how you feel about MD v. DO, but in my experience, osteopathic programs are excited to give non-traditional students like us the opportunity to become physicians. Many nurses become DO's. Their approach is holistic, just like nursing, and they practice modern, mainstream medicine with the added tool of manipulative medicine.

As an added bonus, most DO schools do not average your MCAT scores, nor do they look at any MCAT other than your highest attempt within the last 3 years.

You will make it to med school! Being a RN, you ALREADY are way ahead in terms of clinical skills, pharmacology, bedside manner, and knowledge of the hospital environment when compared to the VAST majority of medical school applicants who are sadly, 22-year olds who may still be afraid of patients.