Summer MCAT, How bad????

[ahg]

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Hey all,

How bad would it be if I take the summer MCAT? Would it be too late or should I just wait until the following April and wait out another year?
If anyone took the August MCAT and had success gaining entry to Med School, I would love to hear about it.
Thanks

 

[umasskid]

I would also like to hear any stories about success on August MCATS by studying over the summer...Im a sophomore, and i will finish all my prmed reqs this spring...IM not sure if I should take the hyperMCAT review by princeton which starts in june and ends in august, or if I should wait it out until my junior year...any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Jalby]

August MCAT is the worst thing on earth. Check out my thread about applying to med school.

 

[scooter31]

I took the Aug MCAT, and did decently enough on it. Here's the catch- I did it after graduating and before my postbac/grad school classes started. I wouldn't recommend doing the August one UNLESS you know you're not going to be applying for the current application cycle. Hope this helps, if it doesn't, check out Jalbrekt's thread on the do's and don'ts of applying- very informative stuff.

 

[johnM]

i think that taking the august MCAT is a great idea... if you want to apply the following year. i took the august MCAT and applied my senior year, didn't get in anywhere, then applied early the next year with the same scores/GPA and got a grip of interviews and some acceptances. It really makes a huge difference. Even if you are a super-strong applicant and would get in anyway, you will still get in to more (and possibly better) schools if you can apply early.

 

[brandonite]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Jalbrekt:
•August MCAT is the worst thing on earth. Check out my thread about applying to med school.•••••You don't know what you're talking about, jalbrekt. We all know that...

I took the August MCAT. I think it really worked out for me. As long as you get your AMCAS in on time, it doesn't hurt you. Look at SMW. She did great. I didn't submit my AMCAS until October 14th, so that was my main problem.

I'm a big fan of the August MCAT. You don't have to study for the MCAT and finals at the same time, and you get all summer long to study for it. Just, like I said, get your AMCAS submitted in August, and things will work out fine.

SMW, maybe you should add your opinion here... You're our August MCAT role model! 🙂

 

[Trek]

This year = not too bad.
Next year = could be bad.

--Trek

 

[slim_shanie]

Speaking from personal experience, I thought the August MCAT was much better. I took the April mcat and, after getting 31, 32, and 34 on practices that month, I scored a 27... blecch. The mcat jitters set in I think. Every noise was magnified in my dorm, I was waterlogged at the test (it poured here), and mentally I wasn't in it as I was when I took it in the summer. On top of that, the exam lasted from 8 am to 6 pm because there were so many of us and it was very disorganized.

So I retested in August. I didn't do anything different but found it much more relaxing. Through the summer, I didn't study for the mcat at all. The night before I looked over some notecards but didn't worry about it too much--just had a good night's rest. And I scored a 33.

It may have just been the circumstances surrounding both exams; but I thought overall that the august one was better. As far as getting into medical school, you can definitely get in after taking the august one. A lot of my close friends have done that and are into some top schools. But, as anyone can tell you, your chances of getting into a better school are diminished if you take the august mcat. I would suggest taking it in april if you're confident and retesting in august if you are unsatisfied with your score. If you can take it the summer before your junior year, I say go for it. The pressure will be off and you will also have a chance to retake it in April, before most have taken it the first time, if you do poopie like I did.

Hope this helps!

Shane

 

[amp]

I took the August MCAT in 2000 and applied this year. Judging by how early some people apply it might be in your best interest to take it earlier than the August of the fall you're going to apply. But disregarding the time concerns of the application cycle, studying in the summer isn't such a bad option. I managed to take my classes in the morning and work in the evenings. Truth be told I didn't study very much until the two-week no-holds-barred god-help-me cram session right before the test. But that always seems to work for me, I don't necessarily reccomend it. And if you don't have to, don't work that summer. I had to, and it sucked. All those nice sunny days squandered away working to pay for those expensive classes that suck the rest of the nice sunny days. And forget about nice sunny Saturdays, you'll be taking practice mcats. I don't mean to sound depressing. It's just a hurdle to get over. If you do it right the first time, you'll never have to do it again. hallelujah.

 

[squeek]

I took the August MCAT after my junior year, and I did better than the goal I'd set for myself. It worked out well for me, because I planned to take a year off after graduation just to play and relax (and pay off undergrad debt!) prior to entering med school. I would HIGHLY recommend taking a year off--many of my med school classmates did it, and I've not heard one of them say they would have done it differently.

Taking the MCAT in August lets you focus completely on the test--you aren't trying to juggle college classes simultaneously. Also, taking it after my junior year gave me the benefit of having had all of bio, o chem, biochem, physics, genetics, and molecular bio prior to the test, in addition to some research experience--this definitely made the test easier for me.

Good luck!

 

[johnM]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by amp:
•I took the August MCAT in 2000 and applied this year. Judging by how early some people apply it might be in your best interest to take it earlier than the August of the fall you're going to apply. But disregarding the time concerns of the application cycle, studying in the summer isn't such a bad option. I managed to take my classes in the morning and work in the evenings. Truth be told I didn't study very much until the two-week no-holds-barred god-help-me cram session right before the test. But that always seems to work for me, I don't necessarily reccomend it. And if you don't have to, don't work that summer. I had to, and it sucked. All those nice sunny days squandered away working to pay for those expensive classes that suck the rest of the nice sunny days. And forget about nice sunny Saturdays, you'll be taking practice mcats. I don't mean to sound depressing. It's just a hurdle to get over. If you do it right the first time, you'll never have to do it again. hallelujah.•••••😎 I used to work early in the morning, then go study on the beach in the afternoons.... good times! lol God, I'm glad I'm done with that part of my life.

 

[cipher]

It is very possible to get accepted to medical school with August MCAT scores (as a number of people here on SDN can testify) but you will be hurting your chances of getting into schools that fill their class by a rolling admissions process. As the classes begin to fill up there become fewer and fewer spots available, and as a result ADCOMS will only take the most highly qualified applicants to fill these few spots. If you take the August MCAT your scores won't be received by med schools until mid October, which is 4 months after the April MCAT scores have been received.
You want to do everything you can to optimize your chances of getting in so if at all possible, take the April MCAT or the August one prior to the year you're applying. Good luck!

 

[SMW]

I took the August MCAT because I wasn't ready when the april one rolled around. I took it the summer after I graduated, so I was applying at the same time I was studying. I didn't work, and it's a good thing. At least this year, with all the AMCAS snafus, studying and applying was more than a full time job (and I had a lot of homefront support, i.e. a mother willing to type my secondaries). But it was definitely a good idea for me to take it in August, because I'm sure I did a lot better than I would have in April. Although my stats are not stellar (GPA 3.5, MCAT 30, 12V, 8PS, 10 PS), I got interviews from 14 of the 23 schools I applied to, have 5 acceptances (one top 10 school), and am waitlisted at 3. I had absolutely everything in to all my schools as soon as possible, so that my file would be complete the minute my August scores got into my file. So, it's possible to take the August MCAT and do all right, even at schools with rolling admissions (the majority of my schools were rolling), and even in a year when I had to threaten legal action to get my AMCAS application processed!

 

[Glry Rjtd CrnrStn]

I would say that taking the MCAT during the summer is a great idea. Up til this point in your life, the MCAT will be the most important exam you'll be taking, so it is a good idea to be able to focus completely on it. I was in the same situation as you. I finished all my pre-meds after my sophomore year and took my MCAT the following summer. I found it to be a great advantage because I still remembered my physics and orgo. You'll definitely be suprised how much organic chemistry you can forget, even within 9 months. I have a friend that was an Orgo master when he was taking it his freshman and sophomore year, but now as a junior, things like Sn1, E1, E2 are like a foreign language to him. However, I would say that you must do something else during the summer, like research or volunteer, because you'll drive yourself nuts just studying for the MCAT. I took the MCAT this past August and did well on the sciences and writing (12PS, 14BS, R), but jacked up on the verbal (8). So I planned to retake them during April, but juggling the MCAT and your classes is a huge pain. So I decided to not take it during April. Your GPA and MCAT score are both vital to the strenght of your application and can take a toll on you and you can't afford to sacrifice one for the other. Many people take a much lighter courseload during the time they take the MCAT. My pre-med dean, with all the experience of getting pre-med's into med school, said that it weakens your application to take a lighter courseload. So I think leaving the MCAT til the summer is a better idea.

 

[Herr Doktor]

I can only echo CalifMed. My story is about the same. I finished my prereqs in the first two years and thought I would take the MCAT early just to leave that additional chance in case, you know, things did not turn out so well. But they did. Having two months free to only think about one thing and take breaks throughout (trust me, you will need to take breaks or you will fry by the time the exam rolls around) is definitely worth it. Most of my classmates are taking the MCAT now, their junior year, and they are atruggling to keep their class grades up while studying for the MCAT. I on the other hand am nice an relaxed with it all done. Definitely, take it this summer.
About Hyperlearning, I took their class and liked it. Their Verbal prep sucks, but so does any prep course's. All the other review they offer, the sciences, is really comprehensive. If you are like me and need someone or something to guide you through studying for a test, their course helps. The regular practice exams under real testing conditions are an invaluable prep as are the score sheets and the feed back they give.

Good luck. :wink: