Thoughts on if I should take another gap year vs only applying DO this cycle

[sadgeboi]

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[Throwaway5129]

Take a gap year. Since you're not interested in primary care, why limit yourself unless you have to? A gap year is just that, 1 year. Not the rest of your career.

 

[drducky.]

Take a gap year. Since you're not interested in primary care, why limit yourself unless you have to? A gap year is just that, 1 year. Not the rest of your career.

I agree. Theres nothing wrong with taking another gap year. As long as youre productive, your app can only get better from this point on. See where you are this time next year and apply for DO as backup along with MD.

 

[Peter Pan.]

Had you already taken those AAMC practice tests your first go round? If so then those scores you got are inflated.

The biggest concern is your 124 B/B since that is the most important section.

 

[sadgeboi]

Had you already taken those AAMC practice tests your first go round? If so then those scores you got are inflated.

The biggest concern is your 124 B/B since that is the most important section.

Yes, but they were taken a little over a year before I had retaken them - and I never reviewed them the first time around either so they wouldn’t have been inflated by much.

 

[Peter Pan.]

Yes, but they were taken a little over a year before I had retaken them - and I never reviewed them the first time around either so they wouldn’t have been inflated by much.

Even being familiar with some of the passages can cut your time down going through them which can lead to a better score. And you would know the important things to pay attention to while going through the passage. A time advantage alone can lead to a better score. I see this pretty often. People retake exams and say they’re not inflated but then they don’t score as high on the real thing.

 

[Goro]

Take the gap year; I'd rather see your seat go to someone who wants to be a doctor now.

 

[sadgeboi]

Even being familiar with some of the passages can cut your time down going through them which can lead to a better score. And you would know the important things to pay attention to while going through the passage. A time advantage alone can lead to a better score. I see this pretty often. People retake exams and say they’re not inflated but then they don’t score as high on the real thing.

That’s a fair point. What would you advise for retakers then? At that point, there is no representative way to gauge where you stand since there aren’t any more AAMC FLs to use.

 

[Peter Pan.]

That’s a fair point. What would you advise for retakers then? At that point, there is no representative way to gauge where you stand since there aren’t any more AAMC FLs to use.

I think you should do some more 3rd party exams. Even though they’re not the most representative you haven’t taken them before. I recommend alti test prep. Can’t spell out the name on this forum because they’ve been banned for being kinda toxic. They’re a solid company but a little overzealous. I also did EK and Next Step exams but I believe Alti was the most representative especially for B/B and P/S. I credit my 132 in P/S mostly to them. I used all 10 of their exams. 4 as practice tests and 6 for daily passage practice.

I still think you should do the AAMC exams and section bank again. You want to get used to their passages and way of thinking still. You won’t remember every single answer and it’s good for review. Just remember they will be inflated.

I also recommend Khan Academy for content review especially their P/S 300 page document. All Khan Academy stuff is free. Make notes and flash cards or Anki. They have documents and videos for the MCAT. Plus passages but I didn’t do much of their passages.

 

[sadgeboi]

I think you should do some more 3rd party exams. Even though they’re not the most representative you haven’t taken them before. I recommend alti test prep. Can’t spell out the name on this forum because they’ve been banned for being kinda toxic. They’re a solid company but a little overzealous. I also did EK and Next Step exams but I believe Alti was the most representative especially for B/B and P/S. I credit my 132 in P/S mostly to them. I used all 10 of their exams. 4 as practice tests and 6 for daily passage practice.

I still think you should do the AAMC exams and section bank again. You want to get used to their passages and way of thinking still. You won’t remember every single answer and it’s good for review. Just remember they will be inflated.

I also recommend Khan Academy for content review especially their P/S 300 page document. All Khan Academy stuff is free. Make notes and flash cards or Anki. They have documents and videos for the MCAT. Plus passages but I didn’t do much of their passages.

Thanks for the write up! I took 2 Alti full lengths for my retake and found that they were pretty difficult. But I’m sure if I take enough of them, I’ll get the hang of it.

Honestly I’m still deciding between just applying DO vs quitting my FT job, taking a gap year, and retaking the MCAT. I’m just unsure how I can narrow down my decision.