The countdown...

[crazy_cavalier]

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4 weeks and counting!! I feel like it'll fly by pretty fast, since May is coming to a close soon. So how are you guys going to occupy your summer, just curious.

🙂

 

[tigress]

hey, you don't have to discount religion just because I can't check my scores. In my religion it would be a huge deal if I "broke the rules" and turned on the computer on a holiday. It would never happen (actually it would never even occur to me to do it). Especially since I'll be at my mother-in-law's house! 😛

monu1234, I totally know what you mean about having too much free time, although in my case I can't find a job so I've been sitting around all day reading the book Collapse by Jared Diamond and posting stupid stuff on sdn 😛. The 13th and 14th are the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which celebrates God giving the commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. It's a really beautiful holiday, with lots of flowers, and great food like cheese blintzes (do you know what that is? sometimes I don't know if a food is Jewish or just European or what) and lots of dairy foods (it's a tradition).

junebuguf, religion is complicated, and people have a lot of reasons for belonging to an organized religion. You'll never know exactly why each person does it (and guess what? it's not always because they believe 100% in what the religion teaches). I have no problem with people saying that religion makes no sense to them, or that they don't like it, but sometimes people are absolutist in the opposite direction, thinking that because they don't like religion it must be bad for everbody. It has a real place in the lives of many good people.

 

[wetlightning]

ok, so i'm really really superstitous when i have too much time to wait for something... do you know what that's like??? i keep trying to interpret random stuff happening to me as some sort of sign. I know, it sounds lame, but that's what too much time does to me. I spent the last five years with like no free time and now all of a sudden, i finish school and I don't know what to do with mysef (this is with a full time job).

YES!!!!!!!
ex. if i get this answer right on jeopardy, i'll get >33 on the MCAT
if i can swim 20 laps in a row, i'll get >33 on the MCAT
it goes on and on and on! no end in sight.............
so ridiculous, i think it's cause i feel helpless about this test...no control whatsoever 🙁

anyway, just wanted to tell you you're not the only one. best of luck w/ results!

 

[swimncsc]

I know many of you are counting down the days, but honestly, try to find something better to do with your time. Your score has been decided ever since about 5pm on April 16th, give or take a few hours. So you don't get the score you wanted? WOE IS MEEEE -sob sob sob, cry cry cry. If you REALLY want to be a doctor, you take the August MCAT. I have taken this absolutely HORRIBLE test twice now and I never thought it would be possible to take it a second time after I got through the first time. And I thought I had studied as hard as I possibly could have the first time. But, alas, I was wrong -I didn't get that 32 I was scoring on practices, I didn't even get that magical 30. So when I read about everyone freaking out that they may not get their 37, it almost makes me throw up since 1.6% of the 55,000 people taking the MCAT get that score. Thus if something weird suddenly happens in your life or you suddenly can swim like 100 laps, this does not mean you did or did not do well on the MCAT. And that 37 doesn't mean Harvard is going to roll out the red carpet and welcome you with open arms -some people with that score don't even get interviews at those schools. Sooo, if you cannot possibly find ways to waste time for the next two weeks or whatever it is, go get a job and make some money....all those apps are expensive not to mention the debt you will be in in about four years.

 

[wetlightning]

I know many of you are counting down the days, but honestly, try to find something better to do with your time. Your score has been decided ever since about 5pm on April 16th, give or take a few hours. So you don't get the score you wanted? WOE IS MEEEE -sob sob sob, cry cry cry. If you REALLY want to be a doctor, you take the August MCAT. I have taken this absolutely HORRIBLE test twice now and I never thought it would be possible to take it a second time after I got through the first time. And I thought I had studied as hard as I possibly could have the first time. But, alas, I was wrong -I didn't get that 32 I was scoring on practices, I didn't even get that magical 30. So when I read about everyone freaking out that they may not get their 37, it almost makes me throw up since 1.6% of the 55,000 people taking the MCAT get that score. Thus if something weird suddenly happens in your life or you suddenly can swim like 100 laps, this does not mean you did or did not do well on the MCAT. And that 37 doesn't mean Harvard is going to roll out the red carpet and welcome you with open arms -some people with that score don't even get interviews at those schools. Sooo, if you cannot possibly find ways to waste time for the next two weeks or whatever it is, go get a job and make some money....all those apps are expensive not to mention the debt you will be in in about four years.

gee, thanks for the "wake-up call," but i think it's pretty obvious that we're laughing about the seemingly meaningless rituals/superstitions we're engaging in b/c we're freaking out about our scores. i don't think any of us really mean them seriously...

it's easy to say, "don't freak out" when it's behind you, but it's very natural for those of us expecting scores in 2 weeks to be just a trifle scared

also, from reading this forum, seems to me that most people are working, whether at a job, in research, an internship, whatever. don't jump to conclusions. nobody assumes that getting a 37 will guarantee admission anywhere, but there are a multitude of reasons that people might have a score goal that high (low gpa, low confidence, etc.). anyway, just don't assume stuff...i think everyone on this forum has a right to be nervous.

 

[swimncsc]

gosh darnit, thanks for the reply

I, too, took the test this past April, so in terms of slack being cut to people on the scale of freaking out, that includes me. I never said people didn't have a right to be nervous. Don't you think I haven't thought about it. But you deal with what you get and move on. This is not the last test we will ever have to take once we get into medical school.

With regard to the assumptions you I was accused of making, I assumed NOTHING. I am in grad school right now due to the combo of low confidence, low undergrad gpa and low mcat scores. I had a high score goal too, a 35 in fact, so no conclusions have been jumped to.

And in fact it is easy for me to say don't freak out because with my apprehensions as they are right now, I have used that as motivation to start studying for the August MCAT.

The best advice I have ever been given about any test was this: Don't be scared, just study hard. And this includes the MCAT.

 

[tigress]

swimnscs, TheDarkSide said it best: "No way, really? I had been under the impression that my near-consuming state of fear would have an actual effect on my scores."

If you think we shouldn't be freaking out, or getting superstitious, or worrying about our scores, just ignore us. But this thread is great for support for those of us who DO have these feelings. I think feeling this way is completely natural.

 

[gujuDoc]

swimnscs, TheDarkSide said it best: "No way, really? I had been under the impression that my near-consuming state of fear would have an actual effect on my scores."

If you think we shouldn't be freaking out, or getting superstitious, or worrying about our scores, just ignore us. But this thread is great for support for those of us who DO have these feelings. I think feeling this way is completely natural.

I'll agree with this statement. You can easily ignore this thread. If it were like 20 threads on the topic, then I'd see your point. However, this thread was made for us to support each other and discuss this sort of thing. And anyhow, no one ever said it was the end of the world. just that some of us don't want to take it again if it is possible, and are that way.

 

[junebuguf]

Just because you're not scoring in the same bracket, or that your expectations happen to lower than others on this thread, really gives you no right to lambast those of us who do have high expectations. Besides, if you're on SDN you should know that people on here tend to be on the far right of the curve. Hey, there are people who righteously expect to crack 40, more power to 'em--who are you to trample on someone elses expectation of themselves? If you're content being mediocre in the 70th percentile, rock on....and let those of us who aspire to more, rock...on'er.......whatever.

Tigress: I wasnt disparaging all religion. If you get something out of it, great. I'm semi religious, which is to say, I don't know if I believe in God, but just to be safe, I'm not going to do too much to piss him off. But not turning on electricity on MCAT day?? Thats pushing it too far....if he sent me to hell for that, well I'd live with that.

 

[tank you]

so, do you plan on telling anyone when scores are released? im going to tell my mom,dad,brother for sure. but then depending on what i get, maybe some others...

 

[monu1234]

so, do you plan on telling anyone when scores are released? im going to tell my mom,dad,brother for sure. but then depending on what i get, maybe some others...

if i got a 30 i would buy my friends a round and casuallly let em know i did well. if i got above a 35 (wishful thinking), I would attach a photocopy of my scores and staple it to my shirt for the next week or so. If i got above a 40 (delusional), i would actually have my score tatooed on my forehead and casually let other pre-med'rs know how much better than them I am.


(ps, I'm obviously being facetious about the last two, or am I????)

pps, GOODLUCK EVERYBODY

 

[tigress]

Tigress: I wasnt disparaging all religion. If you get something out of it, great. I'm semi religious, which is to say, I don't know if I believe in God, but just to be safe, I'm not going to do too much to piss him off. But not turning on electricity on MCAT day?? Thats pushing it too far....if he sent me to hell for that, well I'd live with that.

Yeah, I guess it's impossible to understand unless you live in my culture. I mean, I was serious when I said it would never have occurred to me to actually check the scores on a holiday. It's so totally outside the realm of my reality. I really don't expect anybody else to understand because it's probably very alien to you. (also, it's not out of fear of going to "hell", whatever that means...it's too complicated and personal to explain though) I mean, I took the test on a Sunday because I couldn't take it on a Saturday.

Hmm, who will I tell my score? My husband no matter what I get, of course. If I do okay, my best friend (well, my husband's my best friend, but you know what I mean 😛) and my parents. If I do in the range of my practice tests, I'll just tell whoever asks, probably including my extended family and in-laws. But only if I do really well.

 

[wetlightning]

Hmm, who will I tell my score? My husband no matter what I get, of course. If I do okay, my best friend (well, my husband's my best friend, but you know what I mean 😛) and my parents. If I do in the range of my practice tests, I'll just tell whoever asks, probably including my extended family and in-laws. But only if I do really well.

tigress,

i see your profile! i definitely trashed my old PS too...the one i wrote for my health professions committee...so here i am writing a new one, drafting, getting readers, etc etc. i always feel that i'm missing so many aspects of my personality, my interest in medicine, why i want to be a doc, etc....uggh, it's frustrating. 😡

good luck w/ yours though!!! 👍

 

[VUMD2be]

So when I read about everyone freaking out that they may not get their 37, it almost makes me throw up since 1.6% of the 55,000 people taking the MCAT get that score.

scary stat. where did you get that, if you dont mind me asking...

 

[Turkeyman]

scary stat. where did you get that, if you dont mind me asking...

Well they do give out a distribution of scores for the MCAT after each testing session so if you took the Z-score of the test with the standard deviation and the population mean, then looked it up in a Z-table, you'd get your percentile score.

But the AAMC probably does those calcs for you, and as to the location of this information, I have no idea 😀

 

[Clocks]

After forgetting about the test for two months, it comes storming back.

In two weeks, we'll be paranoid again 😉

 

[River Rat]

godddddd i just hope i got a 30....the MCAT was nothing like all those practice exams i took

 

[Daichi Katase]

you guys make me sick....i wasn't even thinking about the score uptil now....then i click on the MCAT forum....and DAMN!

all your fault!

 

[tigress]

tigress,

i see your profile! i definitely trashed my old PS too...the one i wrote for my health professions committee...so here i am writing a new one, drafting, getting readers, etc etc. i always feel that i'm missing so many aspects of my personality, my interest in medicine, why i want to be a doc, etc....uggh, it's frustrating. 😡

good luck w/ yours though!!! 👍

thanks 🙂. Your reasons sound like the exact reasons why I trashed mine, too: it didn't really show my personality or the depth of my interest in medicine. It just made me seem blah, and it was boring. Good luck on your new one, too!

 

[tigress]

4:30 a.m.: I wake up after a nightmare. In the dream I received my MCAT score. For some reason my brother had taken it, too, which is funny, and I saw his first and he did really well (but there was no number, I just knew that he had done well). Then I saw my score and it was a 17!!! And somehow in the dream that broke down into 6, 8, 8 (dreams don't necessarily follow arithmetic 😛). And then I was really upset and I felt like I wouldn't be able to go to medical school. And then I woke up.

This is my second MCAT dream; the last was a few weeks ago. I haven't been thinking too much about it, but at some point yesterday I think I saw something on this forum (not this thread, but a thread about studying for August) that for some reason brought the nervous feeling back to my chest. I just want this wait to be over! If I bombed it (possible), I just want to know so I can start getting ready for August!

 

[crazy_cavalier]

10 days!!!

 

[gujuDoc]

10 days!!!

Awww man, you beat me to the punch line. I was going to post that tomorrow when the actual 10 day countdown begins. 😍

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Awww man, you beat me to the punch line. I was going to post that tomorrow when the actual 10 day countdown begins. 😍

😳

I am currently writing up some MCAT material for people who are preparing for future administrations of the test... but I'm very rapidly becoming lazy and do not wish to pursue the topics in great detail... originally I was going to include a complete review of the material, but now I feel I will simply find hyperlinks to good sources instead.

Oh well.

I'm still going to volunteer and offer weekend tutoring slots... well, that is if I did well on April, presumably. If not then I doubt I'd be fit to tutor!! Oh wait. That's not funny. 🙁

 

[nicholonious]

😳

I am currently writing up some MCAT material for people who are preparing for future administrations of the test... but I'm very rapidly becoming lazy and do not wish to pursue the topics in great detail... originally I was going to include a complete review of the material, but now I feel I will simply find hyperlinks to good sources instead.

Oh well.

I'm still going to volunteer and offer weekend tutoring slots... well, that is if I did well on April, presumably. If not then I doubt I'd be fit to tutor!! Oh wait. That's not funny. 🙁

By all means, if you think you can do some good private tutoring, then go for it. I'm doing it right now and it definately keeps my mind fresh after MCAT burn out.

 

[cadaverage]

OH GOD 10 DAYS its getting closer and closer I feel more nervous about this than I did 10 days before the actual MCAT. LEt the final countdown begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[junebuguf]

Why are you people so worried? Ten days is an eternity.... At about 3 days to go we should hold an all-night vigil on this thread.

 

[LaDoctorFutura]

are we assuming scores come out june 13 or 14 or do with know for sure. if i remember correctly, we took the april mcat on the 16th; so is it not exactly 2 months or what? what is the official date of release?

 

[bebella24]

10 days!!!

GASP <chokes on her own saliva and dies a miserable death while the eerie glow of the computer monitor illuminates her dead body..> oh god i can't believe it's only ten days. oh god.... 😱

 

[LabMonster]

Why are you people so worried? Ten days is an eternity.... At about 3 days to go we should hold an all-night vigil on this thread.

Yep. Bottle of wine and my damn computer. I am fairly sure I won't sleep.

I was at a point where I thought, hey to hell with it - over and done. But now...

 

[LabMonster]

http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/examineedata/table0804.pdf

For us lost souls wanting 33+

 

[Turkeyman]

yay thats me down in the 0th percentile! 😀

 

[MollyMalone]

Name the date and time of the vigil; I'll be here!

 

[gujuDoc]

are we assuming scores come out june 13 or 14 or do with know for sure. if i remember correctly, we took the april mcat on the 16th; so is it not exactly 2 months or what? what is the official date of release?

Last year it came out on June 14th which was the monday by virtue of the 2004 calendar. So this year we are assuming it will be either the 13th, 14th, or 15th, with the 15th being the exact 60 day mark.

 

[ahd929]

here's my strategy. i made my wife change my amcas/aamc password so that i wouldn't know it. then i asked her to check mcat thx for my score ONCE per day, and to check my amcas application status ONCE per day. this way i'm not checking both 50 times per day.

of course, then i'm on this damn forum 50 times a day, so i don't know if my strategy is very helpful.

 

[Arsenic]

here's my strategy. i made my wife change my amcas/aamc password so that i wouldn't know it. then i asked her to check mcat thx for my score ONCE per day, and to check my amcas application status ONCE per day. this way i'm not checking both 50 times per day.

of course, then i'm on this damn forum 50 times a day, so i don't know if my strategy is very helpful.

 

[junebuguf]

I am supposed to go back home to FL to visit my family and renew my drivers license on the weekend of the 17-19. If I tank the test, I will probably be too hung over to make the 9 hour drive to South Florida....but at that point, I probably wont care if I end up at home or at the bottom of the Gulf.

Is anyone else traveling after score release? I would think it miight make for a rather depressing vacation.

 

[gujuDoc]

I am supposed to go back home to FL to visit my family and renew my drivers license on the weekend of the 17-19. If I tank the test, I will probably be too hung over to make the 9 hour drive to South Florida....but at that point, I probably wont care if I end up at home or at the bottom of the Gulf.

Is anyone else traveling after score release? I would think it miight make for a rather depressing vacation.

June,

I just pm'ed you. If you have a link for this new SMP program at USF, then I'll look into it and get back with more info, if I can.

 

[tank you]

im supposed to be looking for a job the time scores come out. i dont know how much motivation i will have if my scores suck. not only will i be broke in the summer, but also miserable.

 

[Arsenic]

...I will probably be too hung over to make the 9 hour drive to South Florida....but at that point, I probably wont care if I end up at home or at the bottom of the Gulf.

😱

You're too funny, guys try to relax! You may seriously be freaking out over nothing.

What part of Florida are you from junebuguf?

 

[junebuguf]

😱

You're too funny, guys try to relax! You may seriously be freaking out over nothing.

What part of Florida are you from junebuguf?

North Fort Myers High Class of '96 Baby! Go Red Knights!!!

And then, UF Class of '01. Gators just break my heart over and over again. Being a Gator is like being in an emotionally abusive relationship with the town flirt.

I used to tell myself I wanted to end up in FL for med school, but having traveled a lot since then and having lived in DC and Atlanta, I'm not so sure. Gainesville is way too small, Tampa is an asphalt armpit, and Miami...well, you need shots, a passport and Spanish lessons to enter Miami. And there is absolutely no way this Gator is going to Tally....actually, I'll be happy to go anywhere so this is all academic...

 

[Arsenic]

....and Miami...well, you need shots, a passport and Spanish lessons to enter Miami.

It really isn't that bad at all. I'll work on sponsoring you and getting your entrance VISA. 👍 😉

 

[gujuDoc]

It really isn't that bad at all. I'll work on sponsoring you and getting your entrance VISA. 👍 😉

hahahaha

Miami ain't that bad. my brother just moved their from NC to work with the Office of Comp Controller's office in Miami area. he's a bank auditer.

But anyhow, its not that bad. The school looks really nice too. I would gladly go to Miami if given the chocie for med school or USF.

 

[gujuDoc]

here's my strategy. i made my wife change my amcas/aamc password so that i wouldn't know it. then i asked her to check mcat thx for my score ONCE per day, and to check my amcas application status ONCE per day. this way i'm not checking both 50 times per day.

of course, then i'm on this damn forum 50 times a day, so i don't know if my strategy is very helpful.

Probably not!!!

But that's ok, it will all be over in 1.5 weeks or less now.

 

[wetlightning]

speaking of traveling during or after score release, i JUST arrived in boston for my internship!!! yay yay yay!

i'm thrilled, but it's bad that i'm gonna get my scores while here....could definitely cast a pall over my fun times

 

[Iceageheatwave]

Is anyone else traveling after score release? I would think it miight make for a rather depressing vacation.

Im at my boyfriends house in buffalo and will be returning to miami on the 14th. My boyfriend will be checking my scores starting the 10th so i hope i get them before i leave here

 

[Arsenic]

Im at my boyfriends house in buffalo and will be returning to miami on the 14th. My boyfriend will be checking my scores starting the 10th so i hope i get them before i leave here

wow... floridian's have completely taken over this thread

 

[crazy_cavalier]

psst. 9 days.


😉

 

[gujuDoc]

psst. 9 days.


😉

LOL. I just keep telling myself there is one more week to go. Good luck everyone.

 

[tank you]

psst. 9 days.


😉

ha, thats what you think, you cant trust those bastards.

 

[tigress]

Actually I'm traveling before scores are out. Driving to visit my parents tomorrow (12+ hour drive) and staying for a week, then back up to my in-laws (14? hour drive) next Sunday for the 2-day Jewish holiday and during that time I'll be worrying non-stop about my scores!

I really don't want to have to take it again in August 😱...just thinking about it makes me want to scream 😛

 

[MollyMalone]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. Sorry, had to vent.

I just wish they would throw us the little bone of the message "Your scores will be available on June XX" on THx. Or something. Anything, really.

My summer class starts June 13th and I just know I'm going to be totally unfocused until I get the scores. And then I will finally know for certain whether I'm a serious candidate this cycle or if I've got to regroup and dig in for August (oh, I can hardly even contemplate the prospect).

One thing's for certain -- I'll be haunting this thread until the moment is here!