What do you suggest?

[ch0k8e]

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I just decided to go pre-med last year.
The classes I have/am taking thus far is Physics a and b, general biology and general chemistry. My advisors tell me that I will be able to graduate in time (spring 2011) so I have no worries about that but I do have questions as to when would be the smartest time to take the MCAT.

My plan was to study for the MCAT while taking classes Fall 2010 and take the test Spring 2011. This would give me a year or so to apply to schools and go through the entire process of getting into a medical school. However, reading threads on SDN, I noticed a common trend in telling students NOT to take the MCAT when in school. Unfortunately for me, the coming summer will be dedicated to finishing up organic chemistry requirements, meaning there will be NO time for studying the MCAT... Would you guys say it would be smarter for me to take the MCAT after graduating? Will this mean I would have to take 2 years off before medical school?

any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Sammich117]

Depends on what you can handle, really. I took the MCAT while in classes and being an RA and managed to do ok, so it definitely can be done.
However, if you know that while studying orgo you won't be able to dedicate enough time to it, I'd recommend waiting. I pushed my test back twice until I felt more comfortable taking it.

 

[TexasPrincess]

You can always study for it, take practice tests, and see if you are ready to take it. You can even take it, and then retake it later.

 

[StormingWynn]

You can always study for it, take practice tests, and see if you are ready to take it. You can even take it, and then retake it later.

I wouldn't recommend taking the test once and doing bad/ok and then taking it again and do great. I recommend taking it once and doing great..

26+35 < 35 to adcoms

 

[Mace1370]

Doing both at the same time will result in sub-optimal performance on both, this is a fact.

The only question remains -- is your suboptimal performance good enough to get into medical school?

 

[apumic]

Doing both at the same time will result in sub-optimal performance on both, this is a fact.

The only question remains -- is your suboptimal performance good enough to get into medical school?

This isn't always true. For some people, schoolwork (including "difficult" science courses) takes very little time and effort. If the OP is the kind of person who has a lot of natural ability in those subjects, is an excellent test taker, has some background in and/or natural curiosity about the topics at hand, etc., it is possible that the extra time gained from spreading out his/her work load would have been wasted (i.e., not used for schoolwork but for other non-pre-med or non-essential tasks, such as hanging out with friends or posting on SDN) instead of actually going toward further improvement in each task performed. If that were the case, the OP would likely not experience any significant degradation in performance. Ultimately, I think your second statement is what the OP needs to consider -- will he/she be able to perform on a level high enough to meet the standards of medical school admission?

 

[TheMightySmiter]

I'm a nontrad so I have a bit of a biased perspective on this, but I always think it's better to wait if you aren't sure you'll be fully ready or prepared. Lots of people don't matriculate their first year out of undergrad. You have PLENTY of time. Do you really think it's worth it to stress out over MCATs and orgo at the same time to be able to go to med school one year earlier? I had that choice (AKA, to do a 12-month postbac and apply for the 2011 cycle or an 18-month postbac and apply for 2012). It was an easy one for me. I chose to take more time to take classes. But, like the person before me said, it really depends on how much work you can handle at once. If you are confident that you will do fine, then go ahead and apply earlier. If you aren't fully confident, just wait. In the long run it will make no difference that you are "a year behind" (which is a bad statement since you won't be behind), but it WILL make a difference if you do poorly on your MCATs because you didn't have enough time to study well.

 

[PiBond]

I'm a nontrad so I have a bit of a biased perspective on this, but I always think it's better to wait if you aren't sure you'll be fully ready or prepared. Lots of people don't matriculate their first year out of undergrad. You have PLENTY of time. Do you really think it's worth it to stress out over MCATs and orgo at the same time to be able to go to med school one year earlier? I had that choice (AKA, to do a 12-month postbac and apply for the 2011 cycle or an 18-month postbac and apply for 2012). It was an easy one for me. I chose to take more time to take classes. But, like the person before me said, it really depends on how much work you can handle at once. If you are confident that you will do fine, then go ahead and apply earlier. If you aren't fully confident, just wait. In the long run it will make no difference that you are "a year behind" (which is a bad statement since you won't be behind), but it WILL make a difference if you do poorly on your MCATs because you didn't have enough time to study well.

+1...only take the MCAT when you are ready and do well.

 

[brimley]

Taking the MCAT while in school should not be a problem.

 

[allinthecookies]

I'm a nontrad so I have a bit of a biased perspective on this, but I always think it's better to wait if you aren't sure you'll be fully ready or prepared. Lots of people don't matriculate their first year out of undergrad. You have PLENTY of time. Do you really think it's worth it to stress out over MCATs and orgo at the same time to be able to go to med school one year earlier? I had that choice (AKA, to do a 12-month postbac and apply for the 2011 cycle or an 18-month postbac and apply for 2012). It was an easy one for me. I chose to take more time to take classes. But, like the person before me said, it really depends on how much work you can handle at once. If you are confident that you will do fine, then go ahead and apply earlier. If you aren't fully confident, just wait. In the long run it will make no difference that you are "a year behind" (which is a bad statement since you won't be behind), but it WILL make a difference if you do poorly on your MCATs because you didn't have enough time to study well.

+1!

I decided to take 5 years instead of 4 because if I were taking 4 I'd be rushed to A) finish my degree and boost my GPA B) be taking hard science classes PLUS MCAT prep work...I'm just not ready for that stress! I'll be applying for 2012 as well.