Post Bacc and MCAT

[medaspire1]

Looking to do a structured 1-year postbacc and I see all post bacc programs have classes till spring .( April ) so does this give enough time to prep for MCAT

Fo eg
Premedicine Sample Course Plans | Northwestern University: School of Professional Studies | Northwestern University
Curriculum - Thomas Jefferson University

These courses end in spring.

MCAT on sdn says it is a good idea to give 3 months of full time prep . Will students be able to make in time if i do coursework till April as in the postbacc schedule . esp if a course needs to be completed and that material will come in mcat

Forum Members - 100 DAY MCAT STUDY PLAN adapted from SN2ed & MCATjelly - EK, TBR, TPRH, Kaplan

• Is it possible to study a full load 12 credits , volunteer and then still have meaningful time to prep for MCAT in spring to take the MCAT in April/May
• If there is course say Physics or Bio in Spring , would i still have covered enough material to start studying for mcat earlier than April .
• When is a good time to take the MCAT - i see it can be taken till Mid May ( which means I only have a month from when courses end in April ) - Is that a good strategy or should I look to planning an additional year between my post bacc and when I apply

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[medaspire1]

@MODERATOR - can you move this to the non-trad forum

 

[GreenDuck12]

Is it possible to study a full load 12 credits , volunteer and then still have meaningful time to prep for MCAT in spring to take the MCAT in April/May
Question for you: What is the benefit of cramming everything into such a small time frame? The amount of MCAT prep necessary entirely depends upon you: your level of background knowledge, your target MCAT score, your availability to study, and how your studies are progressing. I've had a lot of friends try to condense MCAT prep into a really finite period of time in order to prepare an application for an upcoming cycle. In most cases, it did not work out in their favor. Your best bet is to only take the exam when you are ready, which is after you have completed all prereqs and are scoring near your target score on practice exams. All of that being said, yes, you will find some people had success with 5-8 week study periods.

If there is course say Physics or Bio in Spring , would i still have covered enough material to start studying for mcat earlier than April .
Yes, you would have covered enough material to begin preparing for the exam. However, you may find that you wont have time to meaningfully study for the MCAT while completing an intensive postbac program.

When is a good time to take the MCAT - i see it can be taken till Mid May ( which means I only have a month from when courses end in April ) - Is that a good strategy or should I look to planning an additional year between my post bacc and when I apply
You can take the MCAT at many points between January and September. If you are prepared for the exam, it would be possible to take it in May or June. July starts to get a bit late but early July would still be possible. SDN freaks out about having primary applications submitted in June. The reality is most folks are in a good position if they have completed applications by labor day.

One thing you should keep in mind: the MCAT is a scaled exam that puts your performance in comparison with thousands of other test takers. For MD matriculants, the average MCAT score is just above a 511, which is the 83rd percentile. For the admissions process, the MCAT is weighted nearly as heavily or as heavily as GPA. It is also an exam that you only want to take once, as many schools will average multiple mcat scores together. For such an important exam and component of your application to medical school, make sure you allow yourself to take the time necessary to do well. That may be 5 weeks as planned or may be longer. The goal is to do well. Best of luck to you!

 

[medaspire1]

Thanks @GreenDuck12

The postbacc I am looking at are structured ( and almost all that are available as structured ) have a set cadence for the cohort and all seem to to have a full course loads and all are set to finish in spring. So wanted to check if there was enough time to pre for the mcat

Based on what you have mentioned I should make extra time to prep for MCAT or apply later after the post bacc