Road to the MCAT -- what's best?

[Engineer2MD]

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Allright -- I'm trying to decide when to take the MCAT and when to apply. I'm wondering which option you guys like better. Here goes:

Stats:
B.S. Engineering at Missouri - Rolla 2002 GPA 3.8
M.S. Engineering at Missouri - Rolla 2004 GPA 4.0
3 years of non-medical research at a national lab
~15 (?) authored conference papers (domestic + international)
Some non-medical volunteer work (Big Brothers Big Sisters, therapeutic riding center, etc.)
Working on B.S. in Molecular Biosciences at KU - first semester

I have:
2 Semesters of Physics with Lab
3 Semesters of Calculs
2 Semesters of General Chemistry
1 Semester of General Chemistry Lab
1 Semester of Human Anatomy

By May I will have:
2 Semesters of Organic Chemistry
1 Semester of Organic Lab
2 Semesters of General Biology with Lab
1 Semester of Genetics
1 Semester of Biochemistry
1 Semester (second of required) of General Chemistry Lab

This summer I will take:
1 Semester (second of required) of Organic Lab

I am also taking a private MCAT review class offered by one of my advisors. It goes as long as I want - just one fee up front.

Sooooooo -
When should I take the MCAT? I was hoping to take it this summer and apply for Fall of 2009 - then take that last semester of Organic Lab. However, my advisor is pushing me to take yet another year of classes to beef up my MCAT score. (I've never taken one) He wants me to also have Cell Biology and Mammalian Phys at the minimum before I go taking it.

I am 27 and not getting any younger (or richer - I'm waitressing nights just to pay for the post-bacc!)

What do you guys think? (Especially Q -- are you out there?) What else do you think I need?

Should I:
1) Take it this summer and apply for Fall 2009
2) Wait another year to take it and apply for Fall 2010
3) Take it around December and apply for Fall 2010

THANKS!!
Tracia

 

[drizzt3117]

I'd take the MCAT in the spring/summer (April/Mayish) so you have your scores. Get your primary ready, but dont submit it until you know your scores, then apply if you think it's good enough. With your ECs/GPA you would be competitive for top tier schools if you got a low/mid 30.

 

[AdamB]

is it advisable to take MCAT in April while currently in Orgo II and Biochem?

 

[gman33]

don't take another year of classes, that would be a waste of time. You don't need it to do well on the MCAT. I wouldn't say you need a tutor either, get as many practice tests as you can and take them. The aamc online tests are good indicators, there are 9 or 10 of them available. I took them all in my prep and I got all the examkrackers books and did every problem. This was what worked best for me.

I took the MCAT in July after I got done classes in May. I didn't want to try to prepare for both at the same time After classes got done, I spent the next 2 months studying about 40 hours a week for the MCAT. I treated it like my job. With a 30+ and your GPA, you should get in somewhere.

You don't mention and medical volunteering. If you don't have any, get some ASAP. A lot of places won't even look at your app without it. You really can't decide if you want to be a doctor without seeing what they do and dealing with patients as much as you can.

I'm older than you and starting med school in 2008. Don't worry about your age. You'll be younger when you are done school, than I will be when I start.

 

[FloridaSun]

Just take a diagnostic to find out ~where you score on the MCAT. If you're not happy with your score then you may have to wait/take classes/study/do what it takes to make the score you want.

What constitutes a "good" score tends to be largely a matter of opinion.

 

[keke3]

I think you should at least take a diagnostic and see where you are. I am an engineering student as well..... electrical engineering. Which type of engineering were you? For me the physics was pretty straight forward. I had to review a lot for chem and orgo. Because it's been almost 3 years since I last had a course. I had the fortune of taking biochem and a biolab this past semester so that refreshed the bio for me. For me at least, I study better with textbooks/by myself and I only took the minimal classes and my score was a 40Q. So additional classes aren't really required. Since I feel most testprep books give you the important things you need to memorize. But then again I could've been just lucky and they tested the stuff I knew. Anyways, good luck on your decision.

 

[brianmartin]

You don't need any other classes. Just take in May and apply for 09

 

[Engineer2MD]

Hey thanks guys! What study materials would you recommend for my situation? Particular books? Examkrakers Audio CDs?

keke3 -- I was a nuclear engineer. 🙂 If a Double-E can do it.... 😉 KIDDING! KIDDING!

 

[keke3]

hurray, fellow engineer! I'm sure you can do it too. So how long ago have you taken those classes? If you only need to freshen up some concepts/ formulas I think any one of those prep book series like PR, kaplan is probably good. My decision to take it was a little last minute, so I couldn't enroll in a real prep course and borrowed my friend's PR set of books. They were good but I felt like for the sciences it lacked a focus. (like it was long and boring like a textbook but also wasn't very in depth in the theory like a real textbook) I got examkrackers for organic chem and biology..... my weakest areas. I really recommend the bio....it was really good. It covered all the materials required and didn't make me memorize too much....which is always good because my memory is practically non-existant. The organic chem was a little disastrous for me. As I didn't have enough time to memorize the mechanisms. And I was a little over-whelmed under my time constraint. But the first 2 chapters that I actually memorized was very helpful. And I've heard good things about its verbal book too? Not too sure about the audio osmosis...... since I'm not an audio learner.

 

[croatian42]

Of all the mounds of MCAT advice I was given, the best by far was this:
Starting about two months before the test, gather up all the material you can and start making your way through full length tests - but not in the traditional way. Instead, take a full section every other day (under test conditions) and go over the answers on the off days. So Sunday would be a physical, Monday review it, Tuesday would be a verbal, Wednesday review it and so on. That way you're covering a full test every week (in addition to the full lengths assigned by your course), and you're getting massive amounts of passages under your belt. Also, your timing will be down pat. I ended up with a 36R, and I think that strategy was a big reason why. Hope that helps.

 

[QofQuimica]

Allright -- I'm trying to decide when to take the MCAT and when to apply. I'm wondering which option you guys like better. Here goes:

Stats:
B.S. Engineering at Missouri - Rolla 2002 GPA 3.8
M.S. Engineering at Missouri - Rolla 2004 GPA 4.0
3 years of non-medical research at a national lab
~15 (?) authored conference papers (domestic + international)
Some non-medical volunteer work (Big Brothers Big Sisters, therapeutic riding center, etc.)
Working on B.S. in Molecular Biosciences at KU - first semester

I have:
2 Semesters of Physics with Lab
3 Semesters of Calculs
2 Semesters of General Chemistry
1 Semester of General Chemistry Lab
1 Semester of Human Anatomy

By May I will have:
2 Semesters of Organic Chemistry
1 Semester of Organic Lab
2 Semesters of General Biology with Lab
1 Semester of Genetics
1 Semester of Biochemistry
1 Semester (second of required) of General Chemistry Lab

This summer I will take:
1 Semester (second of required) of Organic Lab

I am also taking a private MCAT review class offered by one of my advisors. It goes as long as I want - just one fee up front.

Sooooooo -
When should I take the MCAT? I was hoping to take it this summer and apply for Fall of 2009 - then take that last semester of Organic Lab. However, my advisor is pushing me to take yet another year of classes to beef up my MCAT score. (I've never taken one) He wants me to also have Cell Biology and Mammalian Phys at the minimum before I go taking it.

I am 27 and not getting any younger (or richer - I'm waitressing nights just to pay for the post-bacc!)

What do you guys think? (Especially Q -- are you out there?) What else do you think I need?

Should I:
1) Take it this summer and apply for Fall 2009
2) Wait another year to take it and apply for Fall 2010
3) Take it around December and apply for Fall 2010

THANKS!!
Tracia

You'll be done with your classes in early May, I assume? In that case, I vote for taking the test in April or May 2008 and applying for 2009, assuming you think you will have enough time to study this spring. If not, it's better to wait another month or two (take in June to give you time to study for a month after you finish classes) and get the best score you are capable of. Ideally, don't take the MCAT a second time if you can avoid it. If your AMCAS is complete by mid-July, you'll still be reasonably early. The advice about taking a practice test under timed conditions to see where you're at before you start studying is good. Your advisor's suggestion to take physio isn't a bad one, but it's not necessary. I learned all the physio I needed for the MCAT from Kaplan. 😛 Cell bio is probably not the most useful class for the MCAT; you'd be better off taking genetics. But again, neither is necessary, and you'll be getting plenty of all these classes in med school.

To the poster who asked if it's ok to take the MCAT while you're still taking organic II, yes, that's fine. You will probably have to learn all of the biomolecules (proteins, sugars, etc.) on your own if you do that, because most organic courses cover those at the very end of organic II. But it is doable.

By the way, all you engineers, physical science/math folks tend to do very well on the MCAT. It's those analytical minds of ours, I guess. 🙂

 

[jochi1543]

By the way, all you engineers, physical science/math folks tend to do very well on the MCAT. It's those analytical minds of ours, I guess. 🙂

I wouldn't say "all..." I know a couple who did below average, and got bad PS scores, to boot. I think with PS especially, it's easy for someone in engineering to go "pffft, this stuff is so simple, I won't even bother reviewing" and then have it backfire.

 

[QofQuimica]

I wouldn't say "all..." I know a couple who did below average, and got bad PS scores, to boot. I think with PS especially, it's easy for someone in engineering to go "pffft, this stuff is so simple, I won't even bother reviewing" and then have it backfire.

You've misinterpreted my post; I didn't say that all engineers do well. My message was addressed to people who engineering majors because statistically, "physical science/math folks tend to do very well on the MCAT." This can be seen by looking at the AAMC stats broken down by major: the top average scores are earned by physical science and humanities majors versus other majors. I certainly didn't intend to guarantee that any individual PS major would do very well; even though the average MCAT score for physical science folks is higher than the overall average MCAT score, some people will obviously still perform well below or above the average for any major.