The Official 4/26/13 MCAT Thread

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In lieu of the other threads popping up, I thought it'd be good for those of us taking the test to identify ourselves 👍

I'm not planning on following a rigid study schedule until January, but I think I'm going to watch a single video off of wikipremed daily to lightly review.

Good luck to everyone... we will crush this exam..
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
I think everyone is on edge and a bit touchy at the moment.

I know I would be if someone who had never taken the MCAT criticized my study schedule as a poor plan because I was blindsided by this new calculation heavy/journal article based MCAT (like most people from 3/23, 4/26, and 4/27 were).
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People will always criticize others, we all need to learn how to brush off other peoples arrogance and realize that karma is a you know what. We all get what we deserve in the end. Glad everyone in the 4/26 thread has been so supportive and I can honestly say that I don't feel like anyone here has been arrogant or belittled one another, so for that I say kudos to us and hopefully we all go very far in life.
 
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Is anybody else going through the committee letter process? I've heard that if you go to a school that does it and you DON'T get a letter, it looks bad, but I no longer live in the same area. Anyone have some advice for how to boost my chances of getting a good rec?
 
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vagusnerve said:
People will always criticize others, we all need to learn how to brush off other peoples arrogance and realize that karma is a you know what. We all get what we deserve in the end. Glad everyone in the 4/26 thread has been so supportive and I can honestly say that I don't feel like anyone here has been arrogant or belittled one another, so for that I say kudos to us and hopefully we all go very far in life.
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I have to agree. You guys are good people.
 
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ahstern said:
Is anybody else going through the committee letter process? I've heard that if you go to a school that does it and you DON'T get a letter, it looks bad, but I no longer live in the same area. Anyone have some advice for how to boost my chances of getting a good rec?
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I'm going through it because I had heard the same thing about it looking bad if you don't. I would contact your pre-health committee advisor and see what they suggest for people in your situation.

Edit - sorry about the grammar error. I blame ipad and 2pm in the morning.
 
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ktanner777 said:
I'm go isn't through it because I had heard the same thing about it looking bad if you don't. I would contact your pre-health committee advisor and see what they suggest for people in your situation.
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Yeah...I put in the application for the letter, but I'm worried about my rec letters getting there in time, and then the committee decision doesn't come until late June, and so many more obnoxious stress inducers. At least I don't have to study for the mcat, I guess. 🙄
 
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ahstern said:
Yeah...I put in the application for the letter, but I'm worried about my rec letters getting there in time, and then the committee decision doesn't come until late June, and so many more obnoxious stress inducers. At least I don't have to study for the mcat, I guess. 🙄
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Oh. My committee is very accommodating. They will interview me soon after I submit my application. I started hustling for my LOR's back in January so mine are all in thankfully.
 
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vagusnerve said:
People will always criticize others, we all need to learn how to brush off other peoples arrogance and realize that karma is a you know what. We all get what we deserve in the end. Glad everyone in the 4/26 thread has been so supportive and I can honestly say that I don't feel like anyone here has been arrogant or belittled one another, so for that I say kudos to us and hopefully we all go very far in life.
Click to expand...

ahstern said:
Is anybody else going through the committee letter process? I've heard that if you go to a school that does it and you DON'T get a letter, it looks bad, but I no longer live in the same area. Anyone have some advice for how to boost my chances of getting a good rec?
Click to expand...

it doesnt look bad per se, it just doesnt look good. A lot of committees have cutoff GPA requirements so they do not write a bad LOR which has been generalized here on SDN, leading to the presumption that having a non committee set of letters is second rate..
A lot of people I know were accepted without it at multiple schools.

ktanner777 said:
I have to agree. You guys are good people.
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👍

I think the 4/26ers are probably one of the more close knit bunch of people I've seen on these threads in a long time.
 
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Let's hope the trend continues later this month once scores are released. I think we, as a group, should be able to offer constructive advice for those who will need it.
 
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O Grady said:
While a tight group, I might not have the balls to post my scores if I get a 16 or something. Just sayin...
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I would. I've been completely upfront with my practice scores and struggles. If I score a 16, at least my story might help someone in the future.
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
it doesnt look bad per se, it just doesnt look good. A lot of committees have cutoff GPA requirements so they do not write a bad LOR which has been generalized here on SDN, leading to the presumption that having a non committee set of letters is second rate..
A lot of people I know were accepted without it at multiple schools.



👍

I think the 4/26ers are probably one of the more close knit bunch of people I've seen on these threads in a long time.
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I think I am opting non-committee letter. I graduated in 2007. I think I still could but I would need to ask them today. Is it worth it? Has anyone called a school admissions office and talked to them about this? I remember last time I applied my pre-med committee was not very helpful (that was 5+ years ago though).
 
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O Grady said:
While a tight group, I might not have the balls to post my scores if I get a 16 or something. Just sayin...
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In sure almost everyone will be breaking a 24-25 in this group. We all really put our effort into it.

tinylilron said:
I think I am opting non-committee letter. I graduated in 2007. I think I still could but I would need to ask them today. Is it worth it? Has anyone called a school admissions office and talked to them about this? I remember last time I applied my pre-med committee was not very helpful (that was 5+ years ago though).
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This is precisely why the committee letter isn't superior. There are a lot of non trade that decide later in life to pursue medicine and it isn't practical to go back to their colleges for a committee letter.

I was lucky enough to get a committee letter but I graduated in 2011
 
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I also graduated in 2011, but I did not happen to ask for a committee letter. I guess it's not that far away, but I wonder if they'd only mention what I did at the university or whether they'd also include what I've done since. If they don't mention anything past what I did while in school, I don't know that the letter will have such an impact (unless it's actually required...).
 
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WSHRocks said:
I also graduated in 2011, but I did not happen to ask for a committee letter. I guess it's not that far away, but I wonder if they'd only mention what I did at the university or whether they'd also include what I've done since. If they don't mention anything past what I did while in school, I don't know that the letter will have such an impact (unless it's actually required...).
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I imagine its like anything else in the application process. As long as you have a legitimate explanation for not having it its not a big deal. Obviously, if you graduated years ago, you're not dodging the committee due to poor academic performance. I'm sure it's not a big deal at all.
 
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Hey so we should all work with each other on the PS process! Anyone else down to read and critique each other along the way?
 
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WSHRocks said:
I also graduated in 2011, but I did not happen to ask for a committee letter. I guess it's not that far away, but I wonder if they'd only mention what I did at the university or whether they'd also include what I've done since. If they don't mention anything past what I did while in school, I don't know that the letter will have such an impact (unless it's actually required...).
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when I asked for a committee letter back in 2007... they delayed my application... I was rejected before they even sent out my letter of recommendation and there were like only a few people applying to medical school too... I was upset... that is why I shyed away from asking them again
 
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tinylilron said:
I am down... I dunno how I feel about putting my PS on SDN though... what do you all think about it?
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are you worried if someone will copy it?? A lot of PSes are similar to begin with...

Not to mention, SDN provides the most resourceful list of PS readers and criticism since most of us are overachievers...

I would recommend going to the PS reader list for 2014. get a med student if you can, since a lot of med students also help in the interview process
 
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GandalfTheWhite said:
are you worried if someone will copy it?? A lot of PSes are similar to begin with...

Not to mention, SDN provides the most resourceful list of PS readers and criticism since most of us are overachievers...

I would recommend going to the PS reader list for 2014. get a med student if you can, since a lot of med students also help in the interview process
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http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=982605

Wow!!! SDN is amazing!!! This stuff has come along way... I feel like even applying to medical school is a beast... but SDN makes it better! Thank you!!! 🙂
 
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ktanner777 said:
How does it work. Lets say I get a 28 and want to apply early June. If I retake and get a better score do I just notify the schools or something? Does it even benefit to still apply early with a lower mcat just to retake and post a better score later?
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I know someone that did just that, this last application cycle. What she did was actually call each school she applied to and let them know that she will have a new score coming up and that she was going to be submitting a new one as well.
 
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So it only just hit me that my future will more or less be decided based on the results in 27 days (as if falling asleep wasn't hard enough as it is).
 
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Am I the only one who is bored out of their mind. Going from super busy to having absolutely nothing to do but relax for a few weeks is shocking.
 
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PinknGreenMD said:
I know someone that did just that, this last application cycle. What she did was actually call each school she applied to and let them know that she will have a new score coming up and that she was going to be submitting a new one as well.
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I've been told there is a box you can check on your app that lets schools know you are taking again, so they will send out secondaries but not ii/rejections until they see the new score
 
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I just finished the PS section of AAMC 3 .... How do I see that PS score before continuing? Does anyone know? I don't want to create a thread for that...
 
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Go to "score paper" or something like that. Then you can see all the answers you entered and grade it yourself. The raw to scaled score tables are given on their website.
 
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ktanner777 said:
Am I the only one who is bored out of their mind. Going from super busy to having absolutely nothing to do but relax for a few weeks is shocking.
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This was my problem too. I now started spending 35+ hours in the ED which worked for a little.
 
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milski said:
Secondaries received 5/4/13? 😉
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haha the secondaries will probably go out by monday... Im really trying to play that 'submit early' game
Greedo said:
You already submitted TMDSAS? I'm so behind. Wasn't going to submit until early June....
Are you doing AMCAS too?
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I will, but I dont know what schools Im going to put in besides a few reaches.

My TMDSAS came down to this..
sGPA 3.35
cGPA 3.45
non-sci GPA 3.7

Grad SMP sGPA 3.86
Grad SMP cGPA 3.87
Grad SMP non sci GPA 4.0

recommend schools?
 
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I have no clue, I'm kind of in the same boat and haven't done any research on OOS schools. I'm going to be applying to all the TX schools and then some reaches with AMCAS.
 
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