Retake advice needed

[MDToBe1989]

Hello,

I'm a Canadian prairies nontrad retaking an August 2020 508(124/127/128/129) and trying to decide if I should take on January 21st or March 13th of next year. Working 40 hours a week and would like to accomplish the following with ultimate goal of 515+:

1. Complete UWorld in its entirety (approx. 200 questions)
2. Correct timing issues as I found I rushed on every section during last exam, even during practice
3. Take and review all 4 AAMC FLs and Sample AAMC + all 3 Princeton Review full lengths
4. Increase score by at least 7 points as stated above

Another extenuating circumstance is that I am currently 4 months pregnant. I know it's not an ideal retake situation what with fatigue, symptoms, unpredictable nature of pregnancy itself, but I would like to tackle this before my kid is born in April because once a baby enters the picture the game changes altogether. I'm eager to hear from others who may have taken the MCAT while pregnant and/or while working. I may end up having to leave my job if I'm not able to cope with everything.

Would love to hear perspectives of other nontrads or people who've taken the exam while pregnant. A lot of the information is still fresh in my mind and I plan on resuming studies for the first time since my late August exam before any more retained information leaks out of my brain.

Any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[jhmmd]

Hello,

I'm a Canadian prairies nontrad retaking an August 2020 508(124/127/128/129) and trying to decide if I should take on January 21st or March 13th of next year. Working 40 hours a week and would like to accomplish the following with ultimate goal of 515+:

1. Complete UWorld in its entirety (approx. 200 questions)
2. Correct timing issues as I found I rushed on every section during last exam, even during practice
3. Take and review all 4 AAMC FLs and Sample AAMC + all 3 Princeton Review full lengths
4. Increase score by at least 7 points as stated above

Another extenuating circumstance is that I am currently 4 months pregnant. I know it's not an ideal retake situation what with fatigue, symptoms, unpredictable nature of pregnancy itself, but I would like to tackle this before my kid is born in April because once a baby enters the picture the game changes altogether. I'm eager to hear from others who may have taken the MCAT while pregnant and/or while working. I may end up having to leave my job if I'm not able to cope with everything.

Would love to hear perspectives of other nontrads or people who've taken the exam while pregnant. A lot of the information is still fresh in my mind and I plan on resuming studies for the first time since my late August exam before any more retained information leaks out of my brain.

Any input you guys have would be greatly appreciated

Re:
1) The first bolded point: Do you know why this happened?
2) The second bolded point: Med schools admissions committees want to see COMMITMENT. If you can't even handle a 9-5, what makes them think that you can handle med school? Not trying to be discouraging, but this is something that you will have to address in your interviews/secondaries--having healthy coping skills for stressful times like med school.
3) The third bolded point: This just plain doesn't happen. Do not worry.

 

[MDToBe1989]

Re:
1) The first bolded point: Do you know why this happened?
2) The second bolded point: Med schools admissions committees want to see COMMITMENT. If you can't even handle a 9-5, what makes them think that you can handle med school? Not trying to be discouraging, but this is something that you will have to address in your interviews/secondaries--having healthy coping skills for stressful times like med school.
3) The third bolded point: This just plain doesn't happen. Do not worry.

Hi,

Thanks for your input. In response to you:

1. I neglected the time factor and obviously need to take a critical look at why this was a failing. Could be an issue with reading speed and comprehension complementing one another, etc.
2.I have been in the workforce since 2012 so I am more than capable of "handling a 9-5" as the only time I have not held down a full-time job is when I was a full-time graduate student. If I can study full-time without having to work because this works better for me, how does this show lack of commitment? Not sure I get your point? Being able to focus on my MCAT studies full time while not worrying about how my bills will be paid is no indication of any lack of commitment on my part - just a sensible decision and I highly doubt adcoms will care how I succeeded at the MCAT, just that I persisted, retook and succeeded. Do traditional students who live at home and not work full-time get dinged on secondaries for not working full-time? I should also mention that I studied for this most recent MCAT sitting while working full-time but I have never been working full-time, studying for MCAT and pregnant all at the same time so I don't think that thinking ahead to how I can bring it down to 2 commitments at once is evidence of my being a slacker.
3. LOL thanks for reassuring me on this point With as much information as I crammed into my head, I think I may be surprised by how much I retained during the time I haven't been studying