Take MCAT in May or postpone till June 21st

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nindra

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So here's the thing...I have registered for the May 19th MCAT, but I really feel like I could improve my scores if I take it in June. But here's the catch...my initial plan was to fully concentrate on the MCAT only till May, and them jump into my primaries...basically entering my grades, my PS, LORs and the likes. But if I take the MCAT in June, I will have to start with my primaries WHILE I am studying for my MCATs because if I wait my my PS and other stuff till late June it will be too late.

I got to make a decision within today and tomorrow..what do you guys suggest?

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IMO: I think good MCAT is worth the extra time if you have a sincere game plan for that extra time. Extra time is only valuable if you are locked in with your study methods. Especially if you feel confident about the rest of your application.

Once you finish MCAT on June 21 you can drill the primaries: coursework is tedious, school selection can be tough (see below), EC's can take more time than expected (need summaries and contact info for these now), PS final draft is hard to be happy with. . . and then submit. . . . It will be good activity to keep your mind off the waiting period before your score!!! You won't get MCAT until July 24ish, meaning schools will not get your app any earlier than that even if you submitted in late June.. . . . Also, just food for thought: I don't know if I would want to submit my AMCAS until I saw my MCAT score. But, that is just me.

You can upload LORs and add schools after you submit, so don't let those delay your submission. It is important to submit early to get your coursework checked off. (BTW, maybe order your transcripts now. You can request they get sent once grades are in. . .somes schools' offices are understaffed and this can take extra time or don't issue official transcripts for Spring until late June anyway). In hindsight I should have selected my top choices for the initial submission then once that was done made additional selections to add to the application later. I recommend this if you aren't already sure of the schools you want to apply to.

BTW, have you requested all your LORs? Last summer I was chasing one up until mid August because my prof went overseas for the summer!
 
Hey supportivehubby, thanks for the response. Really appreaciate it.

My overall application is not that stellar either.

I asked 3 of my professors for LORs and am hoping to ask a couple more either this week or next week. I am planning to give them my cover letter this week. (By the way, when should be the deadline for your professors to finish the LORs? some of my English professors were asking about it).

Also, are you suggesting that I should keep the primaries to the side till I finish my MCAT? If you are, wouldn't that be too late? Because I think I could start submitting my application on June 1st (I know that they don't get evaluated until they get my MCAT scores, but wouldn't it still make a difference if an application arrives in early June (minus the MCAT) compared to July?).

My plan as of now is to take it on June 21st WHILE starting with my PS and entering the grades (AND getting references for my extracurricular activities) so that my overall application (besides the MCAT scores) will be ready to go by mid June.

Thank You again for the response.
 
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Hey supportivehubby, thanks for the response. Really appreaciate it.

My overall application is not that stellar either.

I asked 3 of my professors for LORs and am hoping to ask a couple more either this week or next week. I am planning to give them my cover letter this week. (By the way, when should be the deadline for your professors to finish the LORs? some of my English professors were asking about it).

Also, are you suggesting that I should keep the primaries to the side till I finish my MCAT? If you are, wouldn't that be too late? Because I think I could start submitting my application on June 1st (I know that they don't get evaluated until they get my MCAT scores, but wouldn't it still make a difference if an application arrives in early June (minus the MCAT) compared to July?).

My plan as of now is to take it on June 21st WHILE starting with my PS and entering the grades (AND getting references for my extracurricular activities) so that my overall application (besides the MCAT scores) will be ready to go by mid June.

Thank You again for the response.

For the LOR I requested a date four to six weeks from my request, depending on the time of year I was requesting. I bolded this on the request and verbally confirmed this date. I sent a friendly reminder two weeks before due to see if the writer needed any info or assistance. At deadline, if wasn't in, I started visiting/emailing, etc to get the last few. Most wrote it immediately. I never got one, but I had plenty to meet all the 2ry requests. Chasing up is a challenge since professors are busy. For the last letter from super busy and traveling prof -- after months of chasing up I actually wrote a third person analysis of myself! I think this really helped him finish it because it was submitted two days later. :)

I agree that submitting the primary early is good to get your grades and transcripts cleared. I believe that this can be happening despite arrival of your MCAT score. Can anyone else confirm if AMCAS will verify grades after submission even if the MCAT is not in??? I am not certain about this.

If you work on your primary during MCAT prep then focus on keeping the two activities seperated. Maybe have some stress-reducing activities on hand because you don't want AMCAS hassles to detract from your MCAT confidence. Does that make sense? The stresses of completing the primary are sometimes draining as you run into little questions here and there. For me, my PS was my biggest hurdle since I disliked writing essays, esp ones about myself. Save your emotions for the celebration post MCAT and don't waste them on the MCAT or the primary. :) . . .if you can stay focused and not give in to the emotions that frustration breeds you will do great.
 
I agree that submitting the primary early is good to get your grades and transcripts cleared. I believe that this can be happening despite arrival of your MCAT score. Can anyone else confirm if AMCAS will verify grades after submission even if the MCAT is not in??? I am not certain about this.

Yes, you can. If you don't have an MCAT score you simply put in the date that you plan on taking it. AAMC does not hold off on verification due to a lack of MCAT score.

Also, someone recommended you start requesting your transcripts now. You'll have to wait until the AMCAS opens on May 1st so that you have an AMCAS number and can print out the transcript request from that will accompany your transcript.
 
Thank you for both of your inputs guys. Really appreciate it.

Funnily I am quite excited about writing my PS. I just love writing for some weird reason. :laugh:

I know it will be tough to be doing both the MCAT studying and the primaries side-to-side, but you just gotta do what you gotta do.

By the way, I am ideally hoping to get around 36 - 38 range on my MCAT. I started taking the practice tests about a month ago, and have seen consistent (yet slow) increase in my scores. Started out with a 30, 31 next week, 33 the week after that, 34 last weak, and a 36 this week. Do you guys think I could pull off something like 36 - 39 in the next coming 50 days given my trend? The mistakes that I usually make are really dumb mistakes, due to carelessness rather than due to ignorance of the way to solve it.

Thanks again
 
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