i applied to 3 schools; two state mds and one state do. i didn't get completed apps until oct. and i was rejected from the mds and on hold at the do (finally told their interview slots were full = rejection). overall gpa is 3.68, science is 3.65. i need to improve my mcat (mid-20s) and i am thinking about registering for aug and then applying next cycle so i can get on the early end. i've heard that the curves for august and sept. are pretty harsh (b/c people have longer to study) .. is this true? i am working as an e.r. tech, but i graduated last may (07). will this be too much time w/o classes? any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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probably reapplying
Started by baby methuselah
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i've heard that mcat scores are good for 3 years, so i was thinking about taking in august and then waiting until next app cycle to apply early. is this possible?
Why don't you take an extra couple months to study and take the april MCAT??
that might be a good idea, but i'm getting married in october and i was wanting the mcat studying out of the way. plus, i've already paid for a may test date and if i switch the date, it has to be a date that is available to register for at this moment (i think).... right? if not, then i wouldn't mind moving it back to january or something. i've also heard that august's curve is harder.
A couple of problems:
1) Late application
2) Applying to too few places - 3 schools will not cut it
3) MCAT near nat'l average.
All of these are relativey easy fixes. Sit down with a calendar and figure out what the deadlines are. AMCAS opens up in April, you can first submit in May, and secondaries can be returned within 2 weeks of recieving them (mid June).
On the MCAT, you get that up by giving yourself focused time to study and doing practice exams. Look in the MCAT forum for tips on studying and the latest Kaplan deals. Since the MCAT will be the largest project of the 3 to solve, you should consider how to give yourself the focused study time you need. Maybe that means taking off another year to get the timing right so that your new and improved score will show up on your early app.
thanks, rxnman. i should have applied to more schools, but it's dang expensive. i'm thinking about taking 4 days a week off to study hardcore for the mcat and then take it in august. is this enough time? then i'll wait until next app cycle to apply on the early end (and save up some money for apps in the meantime). does this sound like a good plan or am i missing something?
4 days per week studying through August would give you plenty of prep time; it does not make sense to me that the August/fall MCATs would be tougher than the spring MCAT, not sure where to find this, I thought I'd read that each MCAT is scaled so that the "average" per section is around a 9. I don't believe on average more prepared/smarter students take the August MCAT, which would need to happen for the curve to be "harsher". Again, without proprietary Aamc data, it'd be tough to say for certain on this.
I don't think that taking the August MCAT would knock you out of consideration for this year's app cycle; if Amcas primaries were complete in June/July, many schools will mail out secondaries before receiving an MCAT score, you can at least complete the essays even if you want to wait on mailing them (and the checks) in until MCAT scores are available. If secondaries are complete and sent in as soon as MCAT scores are available in early/mid September, you'd be completing them well before many schools' dec/jan deadlines. July/Aug may be better, but if you call the schools that you're interested in, I'd bet they'd tell you that 1/2 or so of all apps are in by late August/early September. Often interviews don't even start until October. Dealbreaker may be the money needed to apply to the 10+ schools that any applicant should apply to; I'd wait until next year if the other option were to reapply to only a few schools this year for financial reasons.
thanks, nontrd. yea, money is an issue as my parents aren't helping me. i'll start studying.
B
Blade28
Take the MCAT whenever you're ready. Don't try to guess which ones have "easier curves" - they're all standardized and scaled accordingly. There's no magical time to take them to maximize your score.
