Should I push back my MCAT date?

[SeetaRaj]

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My MCAT date right now is July 2nd...

I've already taken the MCAT once before, right after I finished the Kaplan course (August 2012), and voided it because I didn't feel comfortable with the Verbal section. So I decided to wait a while before taking it again, so I was studying on my own and working full time, which started to become really hard, so then I quit my job (in research) and decided to get an EMT license while studying for the MCAT starting February 2013. So while I'm studying for the EMT course, I was simultaneously studying for the MCAT, which was fine, but then I had to take all the EMT exams and practicals, which kind of made it hard to focus solely on the MCAT. Anyways, that whole thing ended at the beginning of May, and I've been taking practice tests and studying hard since then. I'm not scoring in my ideal range right now (high 20s, low 30s), because I'm trying to compensate a semi-decent GPA for a higher MCAT score. Taking all this into account, there are 18 days (including today) before my MCAT, should I take in then, or push it back to July 26th? I'm still unemployed right now, and I'm going to have to start working pretty soon as an EMT since I need to pay off student loans too. What should I do? Plus, I'm retaking physics and cell biology during the summer at UCI, which I think would be beneficial to my MCAT studies. Anyways, if anyone has any advice, I would really appreciate it! 🙂 Thanks!

 

[Ismet]

#1 thing is to not take the MCAT if you don't feel ready. Sounds to me like you're not ready.

However, if you're taking two courses this summer in addition to working as an EMT, I'm not sure how you're going to find the time to study for the MCAT. At this point, if you're planning to take the MCAT at the end of the summer, you should be finishing up with content review and working on practice questions/tests so you can improve your test taking. Your barrier from breaking into higher scores might be your test taking skills, not necessarily your content knowledge.

 

[smuscs]

If you are planning on applying this cycle, taking the MCAT at the end of July is late and will hold up your application until the end of August, putting you behind a large portion of the applicant pool. If you aren't planning on applying this cycle, then push it back and make sure that you can get the score that you want.

 

[SeetaRaj]

Thanks guys, I should mention, I'm applying to SMPs this year (which require a decent MCAT score), so the application cycle starts much later than the medical school app cycle. I think I'll push it back. I have 4 more days to decide...thanks!

 

[Benedictus123]

I pushed my MCAT back after finding out I had to teach for a semester. It was a really good idea and while I haven't gotten my score back, I felt far more prepared and comfortable taking it when I did than when I would have. Those practice tests are decently predictive of how the real thing feels and goes, so if you're not hitting your goal scores, push back a few months.

 

[sbhav]

I agree. It sounds to me like you are not ready, in which case maybe you should push it back even further than July 26th. I would probably wait until next cycle to apply. If you are going to start working as an EMT soon, then you could include that on your application next cycle, which would be great. Also, (more importantly) you could study more.