Taking the MCAT senior year.......

[Fakhter]

Well i'm a freshman at a CC at the moment. I plan on transferring after I get my associates. The only pre requisites i'm taking at my CC are Bio, sociology, Chemistry, and Calc. When I transfer i'll take Physics, and Orgo. I want to also take an MCAT preparation course before I take it. So the best time for me to take it would be the middle of my senior year. Bad Idea?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[femoralgirl]

It depends on how rigorous your senior year ends up being. In my case, my senior year was extremely busy mostly due to ECs and other commitments, so I took the MCAT the summer after my senior year. This way you have extra time to study and focus on the MCAT alone; however, the risk here is that if you do not do well your first time and need to retake, you will become behind in that year's application cycle.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

If you are not too busy and can put an a good month of studying over winter break then you could take the MCAT in January. That way, if you do poorly on the first one, you have plenty of time to study and take it again in the summer.

 

[Fakhter]

how much info did you retain before you started studying for your mcat?

 

[La Presse]

how much info did you retain before you started studying for your mcat?

Typically, you start your study schedule by doing a very comprehensive content review. Then you move on to full length practice tests.

 

[femoralgirl]

Typically, you start your study schedule by doing a very comprehensive content review. Then you move on to full length practice tests.

Exactly. I would recommend going over a comprehensive book from Princeton Review, Kaplan, or whatever study prep company you like best. Then, do a practice test at least once a week while you continue to study topics that are giving you trouble.

 

[Lollygag]

As long as you are careful not to take too rigorous of a course load then you should be okay. Lots of people do what you are doing and it works out for them, it really comes down to how good at time management you are. If you are confident you can stick to a schedule without falling far behind then do what you're planning to do. If you think that your course load will be too much, take it mid july so you can put in ~2 months of solid studying with no distractions and nothing else on your plate. The disadvantage to this is that you will not be as early as you would be if you submitted june 1st taking the mcat before hand. But it wouldn't be too late either. You would pretty much be in the middle.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

I am a chemistry and biology tutor and biology major, so both those subjects were pretty fresh in my mind. I just finished physics the semester before but organic the year before. I only studied about a week and did just fine on the MCAT, but that is more because I was essentially reviewing the with each review session. I particularly liked the EK books for practice and no substitute for AAMC provided practice tests. My pre-med advisor told everyone to start 3 months before their MCAT date in order to have a full understanding of the material. It really depends on what you do beyond just classes as to how much you retain.