PSA: If you get a great score on the MCAT, that's awesome! But for the love of God, don't make an Instagram/Youtube channel out of it

[GoPenguinsGo]

This has to be the singular most pretentious thing I've seen out of my fellow premeds. Now, this is not to hate on my fellow high scorers as I understand we all like to celebrate our success and hardwork. But to make a social media page like your journey is unique and special among the 70,000 of us who also take the MCAT every year just comes off as egotistical and cringeworthy.

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[deleted1072382]

I think this is a bit harsh. A high scorer who is sharing free, actual, tangible tips can help level the playing field for people who may not be able to afford as many paid MCAT resources.

 

[Rachapkis]

"FELLOW" high scorers. The unintended irony of this humble brag was not lost on me.

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

"FELLOW" high scorers. The unintended irony of this humble brag was not lost on

I think this is a bit harsh. A high scorer who is sharing free, actual, tangible tips can help level the playing field for people who may not be able to afford as many paid MCAT resources.

I guess “high score” is a matter of perspective. If one would only define a 520+ (a dime a dozen on SDN) as high scoring then, I guess I am not one of them. Your comment does not address my point, please have a good day (and I mean that genuinely, not sarcastically).

I would contend the MCAT subforum here is much better than what you will find from a youtuber trying to become an “influencer”.


Edit: typo

 

[DNAJB6]

I guess “high score” is a matter of perspective. If one would only define a 520+ (a dime a dozen on SDN) as high scoring then, I guess I am not one of them. Your comment does not address my point, please have a good day (and I mean that genuinely, not sarcastically).

Correction: Those that say they scored 520+ on the MCAT on SDN are a dime a dozen; however, there are a lot of fakers and trolls. My instinct is that SDN posters with higher scores are well represented on this site, but not as much as you think.

 

[KnightDoc]

Correction: Those that say they scored 520+ on the MCAT on SDN are a dime a dozen; however, there are a lot of fakers and trolls. My instinct is that SDN posters with higher scores are well represented on this site, but not as much as you think.

Ehh!!! As impressive as it is, 1,400 people per year score 520+ (98 %-ile). That number is more than large enough to account for all the SDN reports. We certainly have our share of fakers and trolls, but, given how the SDN community tends to be better informed, more engaged, and generally above average, I'd bet the vast majority of those claiming 520+ on SDN are not trolling us.

It's far from an unobtainable score, so it's not like so many are claiming it that it just can't be true, given that "only" 1,400 people per year achieve it. After all, 1,400 is higher than the collective first year enrollment at T10 schools. Do we also think a lot of the people posting an A at one of them is trolling us? I sure hope not!!!

 

[Med Ed]

This has to be the singular most pretentious thing I've seen out of my fellow premeds. Now, this is not to hate on my fellow high scorers as I understand we all like to celebrate our success and hardwork. But to make a social media page like your journey is unique and special among the 70,000 of us who also take the MCAT every year just comes off as egotistical and cringeworthy.

How else are they supposed to build their brands?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

if I had a 525 I would've done the same thing. I don't really blame them. Anyone making social media for MCAT prep that got under 520 is cringe and you cannot change my view.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

Cringier still: med school “influencers” who go to SGU

 

[deleted1080380]

When I started studying and admittedly watched some of these videos, there were like two people who were legitimately relatable and scored high. Essentially they were talking about how they just studied a lot when they have time, often missed a lot of days due to other stuff, but in the end dilligence and hard effort over time (and studying correctly) will always win out.

I cringe when I see people talking about 8.5 hour 7 days a week study schedules, planning **** down to the minute, content review for 2 months, re-reading books...like lol

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

When I started studying and admittedly watched some of these videos, there were like two people who were legitimately relatable and scored high. Essentially they were talking about how they just studied a lot when they have time, often missed a lot of days due to other stuff, but in the end dilligence and hard effort over time (and studying correctly) will always win out.

I cringe when I see people talking about 8.5 hour 7 days a week study schedules, planning **** down to the minute, content review for 2 months, re-reading books...like lol

Yeahhh Studying for 8.5 hours a day during UG the having time to blog about it reeks of privilege and having nothing better to do to me. I had a job and paid for college myself. I got into all sorts of mischief with my friends. With all due respect, I gladly take my life lived over a 98th percentile score. I get that it’s some people’s path/priority to score that well but it makes me cringe how prideful they are of having cultivated this very specific skill set that doesn’t translate to being a regular person or even being a good doctor.

 

[viralhiker]

Yeahhh Studying for 8.5 hours a day during UG the having time to blog about it reeks of privilege and having nothing better to do to me. I had a job and paid for college myself. I got into all sorts of mischief with my friends. With all due respect, I gladly take my life lived over a 98th percentile score. I get that it’s some people’s path/priority to score that well but it makes me cringe how prideful they are of having cultivated this very specific skill set that doesn’t translate to being a regular person or even being a good doctor.

People love to build up straw men and then dunk on them online. Scoring well on the MCAT =\= not having a life or coming from privilege. It’s a standardized test. Some will score well, some will score poorly, and most will score in the middle. Tone down the virtue signaling, chief.

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

Maybe my tone came for harsher than I meant. I’m only suggesting that being able to plan hour by hour and study like a full time job is not realistic for some test takers, and therefore strategies presented by influencers under those conditions won’t be practical for people me, and I’m willing to bet lots of other people. My frustration is towards “influencer culture”. As I stated before, it’s fine to prioritize the MCAT and share your story. I personally find blogging about it a bit over the top but I’m certainly not saying there’s anything wrong with it.

That being said, if your issue with my post is that I call people who can study for 8 hours a day privileged, I stand by that. I’m privileged as it gets now that I’m in med school. But I won’t minimize that it was more difficult in some ways because I’ve paid for everything myself. And I won’t minimize that it’s likely even harder for people who are first generation college students or ESL or have a visible disability. I also don’t mean to marginalize people’s accomplishments because they’ve had advantages. Still very impressive to score in the 99th percentile.

 

[la flame]

for an average person like myself, I would rather watch a realistic video about how a premed made a 512 than some hotshot superstar giving tips on how to make a 524 because I know deep down aint no way I'm smart enough for that lmao

 

[KnuxNole]

TikTok videos about how to get a high score while dancing is where its at

 

[GoPenguinsGo]

As a urm I support high scores giving out free information that scammers like Andre pinsett whatever his name is will charge me $1000 for. The more information out there the better it's up to the viewer to decide what information is useful and what is rubbish. The secrets to getting a good score shouldn't be passed around specific groups of people as someone who doesn't know many people in medicine Youtube channels are free and very useful.

You're absolutely right about the access to helpful knowledge. And I guess I didn't do a good job of addressing this in my post, but I wasn't really trying to attack people who make like one or two videos on their channel about their MCAT experience and how they prepared to do so well. I was more going after people who started trying to become over-dramatic "influencers" and post their MCAT score in their LinkedIn bio. Yes, that happens and those are the people I'm trying to discourage people from becoming.