Originally posted by JulianCrane
The MCAT in April is on the first day after spring classes end for me, so I will have finished all my classes. I will have had plenty of time to review because I am taking a MCAT review course. Would you recommend me dropping cell bio?
Just because you are taking an MCAT class, does not automatically mean that you will have plenty of time to review. To really use a course effectively you must do all of the practice problems outside of class, which amounts to about 2 hours per class. My class met 4 times a week, so that meant at least 8-10 extra hours a week, in addition to the class time. And I wish I had studied even more. My situation was a little different, though. Since I took the premed coursework over 7 years ago I had to do some HEAVY review.
Regarding your coursework, I would recommend taking the lightest load possible that includes Physics II, since that will certainly be on the MCAT. You really do not need the advanced courses for the course, though some would argue that they help. I had taken genetics, but I don't think that it really helped, since the genetics on the exam was similar to what we covered in my 1 year of biology. The course that would have helped me the most would have been a physiology course.
If I were you (and I am not) I would drop the Cell Bio, and consider replacing the Genetics with a physio course. Physio is not required, of course,and I got a 10 without it, but it would have been nice. Or I would take the tougher courseload, take no courses over the summer,and take the August MCAT. You need to commit to this test over everything else, since it is so important.
If you take the August one, you must also commit to having the secondaries COMPLETE by the end of September. This means submitting your primary by August 1, so that you can get verified, transmitted, and can receive secondaries with enough time to complete them by October 1.
