Studying abroad or MCAT?

[Lionzer]

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Hi Everyone

First of all I would like to say i am a new member so I am still trying to figure our how this posting stuff works. I apologize in advance if I didnt post properly. The thing is I am currently a junior in first semester. I am trying to study abroad over winter break but I am not sure if its better to study for the MCAT because I plan on taking it in April, March, or May. My question is should I study abroad or study for the MCAT over winter break?

Thank You Guys for the Help I really appreciate it!!

 

[Mr Avante]

Hi Everyone

First of all I would like to say i am a new member so I am still trying to figure our how this posting stuff works. I apologize in advance if I didnt post properly. The thing is I am currently a junior in first semester. I am trying to study abroad over winter break but I am not sure if its better to study for the MCAT because I plan on taking it in April, March, or May. My question is should I study abroad or study for the MCAT over winter break?

Thank You Guys for the Help I really appreciate it!!

I believe your post is a little weird on the left margin.
How confident do you feel with the little knowledge you have right now? Would that be sufficient for the mcat?

 

[Lionzer]

Oh yeah good point. Well I have studied 0 percent for it so far. I have pretty much taken all the prerequisite premed classes besides anatomy and physiology.

 

[Pacna]

Oh yeah good point. Well I have studied 0 percent for it so far. I have pretty much taken all the prerequisite premed classes besides anatomy and physiology.

I think it depends on where you are now compared to what you want to score.

Some people don't study and get 32. If that's you and that's all you want, I say blow it off.

Some people don't study and get a 9. If that's you, I think studying is in order.

Personally, I studied for 3 months 4 hours per day and improved my score 8 points. It's a tough test.

 

[Lionzer]

ok. I think I will definitely need some studying.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Well, it depends on what your plan is. Just know that it's not necessarily required to graduate in four years and head off to medical school right away - do what you want on the timeline you want and get the rest of it to work out.

 

[Lya]

Winter break is quite short. If you want to study abroad to be fluent in a certain language, it won't be much helpful. Thus, I would focus on acing your MCAT.

 

[Lucky Louie]

Isn't it a little late to be deciding whether you want to take a study-abroad trip in the winter break? I mean, I think I already bought my plane ticket back home and that's not anything special like organizing a study-abroad trip. Most pre-med students don't seem to do a study-abroad, usually because of so many courses to take, plus research. Plus, it's not like med school admissions are expecting you to do this.

If you haven't studied for the MCAT, you're better off doing that. It's not like you should plan on taking that test more than once. Go for that "one-and-done" approach.

 

[Mr Avante]

Isn't it a little late to be deciding whether you want to take a study-abroad trip in the winter break? I mean, I think I already bought my plane ticket back home and that's not anything special like organizing a study-abroad trip. Most pre-med students don't seem to do a study-abroad, usually because of so many courses to take, plus research. Plus, it's not like med school admissions are expecting you to do this.

If you haven't studied for the MCAT, you're better off doing that. It's not like you should plan on taking that test more than once. Go for that "one-and-done" approach.

Pre-med is synonym for studying abroad, mission trips, kenya volunteering, and medical trips to south america.

 

[karayaa]

Depending on your spring activities, you should have plenty of time to study during school if you take it in April/May if you did well in your pre-med classes (ie if you know the stuff). Beyond the actual information, there are some test-specific tricks to learn. Grab a set of prep books and have at it.
Studying abroad is a valuable experience and can be life changing. Much more important than an extra month studying.

 

[kyamh]

Go abroad! It is a wonderful experience that you will be able to write about in your essays.

If your range for taking the MCAT is April-May, I don't see why you can't take the winter off to go abroad. You can think of it this way: go abroad and take it in May or stay home and take in in April - study-wise that's the same thing.

From personal experience, I only got a good 4-6 weeks of studying in before my MCAT. Sure, I tried to study before, but I didn't get that sense of immediacy that I needed to truly focus. How have you studied in the past? If you give yourself a long time to study does that actually mean that you study more? Or do you still study the same amount just let it take more time?

 

[kyamh]

Double post

 

[therealfinale]

I think if your course load during the spring semester is light, then you shouldn't have any issues studying during the semester for an April or May MCAT. If you do everything right, you should be able to get a good score. I have studied abroad twice and would do so again during the winter if I was you.

 

[Pacna]

I think if your course load during the spring semester is light, then you shouldn't have any issues studying during the semester for an April or May MCAT. If you do everything right, you should be able to get a good score. I have studied abroad twice and would do so again during the winter if I was you.

I think this guy has probably made plans by now. 😵

 

[ZeaL6]

From my experience, I'd say go abroad. I started studying in Winter break and got so brunt out that by March I stopped studying for my May MCAT and it took a lot of motivation to get going and I didn't perform as well as I'd hoped. 5-6 months of studying is unnecessary. Plan on 3-4 months of diligent study. Go have fun and destress!

 

[ZeaL6]

I think this guy has probably made plans by now. 😵

LOL I didn't notice this either

 

[therealfinale]

LOL I didn't notice this either

Yeah, he's actually not going abroad this winter. Sorry for bumping the thread, but I just thought it'd be funny to reply online since I found my friend's SDN account hahahah.

EDIT: To assuage the neurotics...By the way, I only found his thread because he told me his account name. If you don't post too much info, there's not really a worry in losing anonymity 😎