Should I take classes while taking the MCAT or focus solely on the MCAT?

[iceet]

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Hello all,

I am a student that graduated May 2008. This fall semester I decided to take 4 upper level bio classes at my university as part of an informal post-bac and did well.

Next semester I again signed up for 4 upper level bios but I am also scheduled to take the MCAT in March.

My question is should I take these classes while studying for the MCAT or focus solely on the MCAT? The classes aren't absolutely necessary but it may look good if I can handle the increased workload and succeed in both. At the same time I want the highest MCAT score possible and want to know if classes may interfere with me achieving that.

 

[CodeBlu]

Maybe take 2 or 3 instead of 4 classes. Just to make life easier on yourself while studying for the MCAT. However, if you think you can do it, do it.

But don't put yourself in an awkward position having to choose schoolwork over the MCAT.

Especially if this is the first time you're writing the MCAT and have no idea what to expect just yet. If you were rewriting and had a good understanding just need to brush up on some weaknesses, I'd say go for it and take 5 classes.

 

[SN2ed]

Take the MCAT without classes. Schools won't care if you got a low MCAT and GPA because you were studying for the MCAT while in school. They'll simply see it as a low MCAT and a low GPA.

 

[mzblue]

I second this.

Take the MCAT without classes. Schools won't care if you got a low MCAT and GPA because you were studying for the MCAT while in school. They'll simply see it as a low MCAT and a low GPA.

 

[iceet]

Take the MCAT without classes. Schools won't care if you got a low MCAT and GPA because you were studying for the MCAT while in school. They'll simply see it as a low MCAT and a low GPA.

Got it. I guess the benefits of succeeding in both simultaneously don't outweigh the risks of doing poorly in either one or both?

 

[SN2ed]

Got it. I guess the benefits of succeeding in both simultaneously don't outweigh the risks of doing poorly in either one or both?

Schools won't care either way. They'll see a good GPA as a good GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT at the same time. They'll also view a bad GPA as a bad GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT concurrently. The same goes for a good and bad MCAT.

 

[MichaelRW]

Schools won't care either way. They'll see a good GPA as a good GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT at the same time. They'll also view a bad GPA as a bad GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT concurrently. The same goes for a good and bad MCAT.

The problem is that not everyone is in a position where they can take a semester off completely or even half time. For example, I have to take a full load (12 hour minimum) every semester in order to receive financial aid to pay for my rent and food. If I were to take the summer off to study for the MCAT, I would not receive any financial aid and would then have to get a job to pay for my living expenses. So whether it's working or it's taking classes, I'll have other obligations to tend to while I study for the MCAT.

While your MCAT study schedule is very well organized and thorough, it is not practical for us students who don't have the luxury of taking three months off of both work and school.

Any recommendations for situations such as these?

 

[tartrate]

The problem is that not everyone is in a position where they can take a semester off completely or even half time. For example, I have to take a full load (12 hour minimum) every semester in order to receive financial aid to pay for my rent and food. If I were to take the summer off to study for the MCAT, I would not receive any financial aid and would then have to get a job to pay for my living expenses. So whether it's working or it's taking classes, I'll have other obligations to tend to while I study for the MCAT.

While your MCAT study schedule is very well organized and thorough, it is not practical for us students who don't have the luxury of taking three months off of both work and school.

Any recommendations for situations such as these?

Your situation is not unique. I always see new threads asking the same thing, but people don't realize it's actually rare for someone to have time to solely devote to the MCAT and nothing else. Most people are full-time students, working, or a combination of the two while studying for the MCAT.

If you take into account of how you actually spend your time, you will see you have more than enough to prepare for this test.

 

[SN2ed]

Your situation is not unique. I always see new threads asking the same thing, but people don't realize it's actually rare for someone to have time to solely devote to the MCAT and nothing else. Most people are full-time students, working, or a combination of the two while studying for the MCAT.

If you take into account of how you actually spend your time, you will see you have more than enough to prepare for this test.

From my experience most people are students that usually don't work during all of their summer breaks. Non-trads aren't particularly common. There's a skewed representation of threads where people are working or placed in a tough situation because they're in a tough situation. If everything was going well, it's unlikely they'd make a thread saying everything's great. However, this is something I doubt we'll agree on.

 

[drfancypants]

While your MCAT study schedule is very well organized and thorough, it is not practical for us students who don't have the luxury of taking three months off of both work and school.

Any recommendations for situations such as these?

It's probably a bit of a gamble to attend school and prepare for the MCAT at the same time, but it's absolutely doable if you're committed, enjoy the material and can study effectively. I attended part-time (Ochem + mentoring a workshop), while prepping for the MCAT for three months and performed just fine. I did take an additional three (summer) weeks at the end when all I did was study, but I now think this was overkill and probably didn't add much. (Better safe than sorry.) For me, I think being in part-time classes helped because it (along with all the other usual premed commitments) put limitations on my study time, preventing MCAT burnout.

I suspect it's less stressful to work full time while studying for the MCAT than to attend school. Work typically involves a fixed schedule... you can flip a switch and concentrate on something else when you come home for the day and during the weekend. School has a habit (for me at least) of overrunning your schedule no matter how many credits you're taking.

 

[n3xa]

The problem is that not everyone is in a position where they can take a semester off completely or even half time. For example, I have to take a full load (12 hour minimum) every semester in order to receive financial aid to pay for my rent and food. If I were to take the summer off to study for the MCAT, I would not receive any financial aid and would then have to get a job to pay for my living expenses. So whether it's working or it's taking classes, I'll have other obligations to tend to while I study for the MCAT.

While your MCAT study schedule is very well organized and thorough, it is not practical for us students who don't have the luxury of taking three months off of both work and school.

Any recommendations for situations such as these?

What classes were you planning on taking while studying for the MCAT?

 

[Swagster]

Schools won't care either way. They'll see a good GPA as a good GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT at the same time. They'll also view a bad GPA as a bad GPA regardless of whether you were studying for the MCAT concurrently. The same goes for a good and bad MCAT.

I've heard differently, but it could just be an urban myth. They say people who can't handle studying for the MCAT while taking classes might not be able to hack medical school. Has anyone else heard this or is it an unsubstantiated rumor?

 

[SN2ed]

I've heard differently, but it could just be an urban myth. They say people who can't handle studying for the MCAT while taking classes might not be able to hack medical school. Has anyone else heard this or is it an unsubstantiated rumor?

Haven't heard that from anyone I know, though I've seen it once or twice on here. The couple of times I've seen someone use that phrase is when that person places him/herself in a bad position and tries to make him/herself feel better about a sub-par MCAT score (or simply a score they aren't happy with) by putting down others.

 

[Swagster]

Haven't heard that from anyone I know, though I've seen it once or twice on here. The couple of times I've seen someone use that phrase is when that person places him/herself in a bad position and tries to make him/herself feel better about a sub-par MCAT score by putting down others.

I haven't read it here, but I have only been reading here for a few months. I'm pretty sure I heard that at a premed meeting where they give out free pizza 😀, but the speaker was hardcore selling her MCAT course so it might have been part of their infomercial.

It makes more sense that getting a high GPA anf high MCAT score trumps anything else.

 

[MichaelRW]

What classes were you planning on taking while studying for the MCAT?

Im taking a basic physiology class, organic 2, physics 2, and an easy humanities class. I took organic, physics, genetics, and social psychology last semester, pulled all A's and wasn't close to overload. Plus the 3 sciences im taking this term are all MCAT topics so I'm kinda killing two birds with one stone