Special Circumstance- When to take the MCAT

[GoawayAvalon]

I am in my second year of my undergrad, and I am majoring in Biology and Japanese. By next spring, I will have all of the required courses for the MCAT finished. However, I plan on studying in Japan for what would be my fourth year (for a year or just spring semester, still undecided) and graduating the year after.

I don't know when I should take the MCAT and apply for medical school. Usually you take the MCAT the spring of your junior year, but I will be in Japan. I would like my experience in Japan to be a part of my application, so I will apply the summer after I come back.

But when should I take the MCAT? Is there an amount of time before applying that is "too early" to take it, such as an entire year or even a year and a half before?

Thank you =)

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[Vihsadas]

To be honest I didn't take the required amount of time to fully understand your situation, but I think that you'll probably be able to make your own decision knowing that as a general rule of thumb, your MCAT scores are good for 3 application cycles. This number does change from school to school, but that's the timeframe for most schools. So if you take your MCAT in 2007, it'll be good for applications in 2007, 2008 and 2009, matriculating in 2008, 2009, 2010 respectively.

 

[GoawayAvalon]

Thank you! I never knew how long MCAT scores lasted, so I will just have to check with the schools I'm interested in.

 

[Angel Wings]

Just out of curiosity, どこで留学をするつもりですか？東京？

 

[GoawayAvalon]

広島大学で留学したいです。でも、今まだきめません。留学したことがありますか？