What to do in gap year if I already have very high GPA?

[ldesczi]

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I have a 3.9 gpa, excellent ECs, LORs, research publication etc. I haven't taken any science courses (or any for that matter) in last few years since graduation and was thinking it'll be advantageous to take biochem/immunology/micro and such next year so would you suggest a formal post-bacc program? I know it's anywhere from $20-40k for a program but only reason I'm considering it is mostly to figure out my study habit and start taking rigorous science course loads to kind of "get back into the game" as I've been off of school for 2+ years now (and also to get out of my parents' house 😀).

I have been doing full-time research this year. I did apply to med schools this cycle and pretty sure won't get anywhere because of extremely poor mcat score (which I'll work on and fix it by May 2015).

Thoughts?

 

[medic86]

Continue the volunteering ECs, and keep that research up! (you're getting paid, right?)

If you don't get in anywhere, make plans to study for the new MCAT.

You're pretty much already doing what you need to be doing. Good luck! 🙂

 

[ldesczi]

Continue the volunteering ECs, and keep that research up! (you're getting paid, right?)

If you don't get in anywhere, make plans to study for the new MCAT.

You're pretty much already doing what you need to be doing. Good luck! 🙂

great thanks, yeah it's a paid gig but to be honest, I'm pretty tired of doing research haha..been at it for a while now and just anxious that I'll be in a disadvantage being out of school for 3 years with no advanced science courses...how difficult are the post-bacc programs? Are they really stressful to keep the gpa up? or should I just take random upper level science courses in my local state college next year?

 

[medic86]

great thanks, yeah it's a paid gig but to be honest, I'm pretty tired of doing research haha..been at it for a while now and just anxious that I'll be in a disadvantage being out of school for 3 years with no advanced science courses...how difficult are the post-bacc programs? Are they really stressful to keep the gpa up? or should I just take random upper level science courses in my local state college next year?

I wouldn't do a formal post-bacc, given your excellent GPA. You will likely need to take biochemistry to meet requirements for some schools in the event you must reapply (I hope you don't have to!). So just take the single biochemistry class if you need to.

 

[ldesczi]

I wouldn't do a formal post-bacc, given your excellent GPA. You will likely need to take biochemistry to meet requirements for some schools in the event you must reapply (I hope you don't have to!). So just take the single biochemistry class if you need to.

I turned in application VERY LATE this cycle plus also totally messed up my MCAT (22..yep..it's terrible). I tried to scramble in and take the MCAT in January but it's not looking like I'll get anything beyond 25-28 max so deciding to work my butt off and take the new MCAT 2015 instead of adding even more stress and anxiety than what I'm suffering right now I need to self-study for biochem for the new MCAT but I'm up for the challenge and confident of my chances for the next cycle.

I'm just completely clueless what to do for the next full year...haha

 

[ridethecliche]

No formal post bacc. Keep up the research if you can do it paid and add clinical volunteer/shadowing as well.

Your high gpa + Low MCAT is bad. You should try to hit atleast 30 on the new scale to have a super solid shot at MD programs. If you have multiple tests and you can't do that it doesn't look all that great from an admissions point of view, but it's doable if you have a forgiving state school and some other lower tier MD schools might be a good shot as well.

 

[ConsultantMD]

I turned in application VERY LATE this cycle plus also totally messed up my MCAT (22..yep..it's terrible). I tried to scramble in and take the MCAT in January but it's not looking like I'll get anything beyond 25-28 max so deciding to work my butt off and take the new MCAT 2015 instead of adding even more stress and anxiety than what I'm suffering right now I need to self-study for biochem for the new MCAT but I'm up for the challenge and confident of my chances for the next cycle.

I'm just completely clueless what to do for the next full year...haha

Hi OP: like you mentioned, your MCAT is a huge red flag. I would suggest spending the majority of your efforts on that.

Some further questions:
Do you know why you messed up or why you are hitting your max at the 25-28 level? Is it a matter of practice/resources? There are a lot of good resources out there online. I did an abundance of practice tests and really dug into my perceived weaknesses to get to the level I wanted to be at. I know tutors/classes are expensive, and also with the new test, they'll have little to go off of or the past experience to really help you, but it might be beneficial from a test-taking perspective. It also would be good to do some serious categorization of the errors that you're making (was it time? content knowledge? wrong guess?) to really pinpoint what your next steps should be in terms of studying.

Do you you research at a university? Would it be possible to maybe audit their biochem class for free or at an employee rate? Even for the old MCAT, I thought that having biochem really helped me (I took it several years after college as well), so that might be something else that might help supplement your knowledge. I know my weak areas were in the PS section since those were classes I had taken 6 years prior. I'm not saying you have to have recent coursework to do well, but I'm also saying it sure doesn't hurt to have that.

Otherwise it sounds like you will have a great app! Good luck!

 

[ldesczi]

Hi OP: like you mentioned, your MCAT is a huge red flag. I would suggest spending the majority of your efforts on that.

Some further questions:
Do you know why you messed up or why you are hitting your max at the 25-28 level? Is it a matter of practice/resources? There are a lot of good resources out there online. I did an abundance of practice tests and really dug into my perceived weaknesses to get to the level I wanted to be at. I know tutors/classes are expensive, and also with the new test, they'll have little to go off of or the past experience to really help you, but it might be beneficial from a test-taking perspective. It also would be good to do some serious categorization of the errors that you're making (was it time? content knowledge? wrong guess?) to really pinpoint what your next steps should be in terms of studying.

Do you you research at a university? Would it be possible to maybe audit their biochem class for free or at an employee rate? Even for the old MCAT, I thought that having biochem really helped me (I took it several years after college as well), so that might be something else that might help supplement your knowledge. I know my weak areas were in the PS section since those were classes I had taken 6 years prior. I'm not saying you have to have recent coursework to do well, but I'm also saying it sure doesn't hurt to have that.

Otherwise it sounds like you will have a great app! Good luck!

Thanks I appreciate your response. I'll keep your suggestions for the MCAT in mind as I develop a better plan.

Yes so when i took it in September (I was originally planning on taking it in May/June this summer but got delayed due to personal health situation). I didn't quite recover by September when I took it with a "just see what happens" attitude and of course had a little bit of arrogance/over confidence in my ability....I'm still utterly shocked though that i got a 6 in Verbal..I NEVER scored less than 8 in even the worst Verbal practices and even in last few weeks as I was practicing, I consistently scored 9-10s (none lower than 9). In the actual MCAT in September, I remember the first passage just completely threw me off..I must have spent at least 12 minutes if not more..and rushed through rest of it but still didn't imagine it'd be this low..but I don't want to blame it on just "life" and I need to take ownership of my mistakes. I also took gen phys and gen chem such a long time ago that it must have contributed to my low PS and after terrible PS and V performaces (with not enough aamc practice tests to give me any clue on what's going on), I realized my strength in BS related content was not useful as most of the passages were analyzing data/research so I just finished with a "wtf" experience. Anyway I have learned my lesson hard and very clear. I tried to rush in for the 1/23 test date this time...I should have been studying for this since November hardcore but as I couldn't find any openings for any test dates then I gave up on studying until only couple weeks ago when I finally found an opening. So here I'm frantically taking practice exams only scoring similarly in PS and BS but improvement on V (as I was doing just before the actual exam anyway).

If I brush up on my actual content and do countless practice problems/tests like everyone at SDN suggests, I'm confident I can get it up to 30ish equivalent...I have freed up my schedule for next few months completely to focus and give 100% to this beast but meanwhile I'm trying to figure out what to do for next year 🙁

 

[ConsultantMD]

Thanks I appreciate your response. I'll keep your suggestions for the MCAT in mind as I develop a better plan.

Yes so when i took it in September (I was originally planning on taking it in May/June this summer but got delayed due to personal health situation). I didn't quite recover by September when I took it with a "just see what happens" attitude and of course had a little bit of arrogance/over confidence in my ability....I'm still utterly shocked though that i got a 6 in Verbal..I NEVER scored less than 8 in even the worst Verbal practices and even in last few weeks as I was practicing, I consistently scored 9-10s (none lower than 9). In the actual MCAT in September, I remember the first passage just completely threw me off..I must have spent at least 12 minutes if not more..and rushed through rest of it but still didn't imagine it'd be this low..but I don't want to blame it on just "life" and I need to take ownership of my mistakes. I also took gen phys and gen chem such a long time ago that it must have contributed to my low PS and after terrible PS and V performaces (with not enough aamc practice tests to give me any clue on what's going on), I realized my strength in BS related content was not useful as most of the passages were analyzing data/research so I just finished with a "wtf" experience. Anyway I have learned my lesson hard and very clear. I tried to rush in for the 1/23 test date this time...I should have been studying for this since November hardcore but as I couldn't find any openings for any test dates then I gave up on studying until only couple weeks ago when I finally found an opening. So here I'm frantically taking practice exams only scoring similarly in PS and BS but improvement on V (as I was doing just before the actual exam anyway).

If I brush up on my actual content and do countless practice problems/tests like everyone at SDN suggests, I'm confident I can get it up to 30ish equivalent...I have freed up my schedule for next few months completely to focus and give 100% to this beast but meanwhile I'm trying to figure out what to do for next year 🙁

Got it, well I think it's a good idea that you did not sit for the old exam, despite the fact that the test is changing. You do not want to run the risk of another out of range score.

Verbal definitely is a lot about practice I feel. I definitely struggled with the fact that there were only 40 questions and that one right/wrong could make a big difference, needless to say, an entire passage. I am not sure how the future MCAT looks for verbal, but you might want to check out looking at passage types/question types for this section to help find your strengths/weaknesses.

Yes, also too, provided that you can get your hands on some practice tests, the AAMC ones are said to be pretty close to what happens on test day (again no idea what happens in 2015), but I'd say if you're practicing in range, then you are ready to go. If you are off-target, then it definitely is time re-eval and wait to test.

My MCAT prep took about 2.5 months total along with 3 classes for my post-bacc, so hopefully something similar can work out with your plans for this year!

 

[ldesczi]

Got it, well I think it's a good idea that you did not sit for the old exam, despite the fact that the test is changing. You do not want to run the risk of another out of range score.

Verbal definitely is a lot about practice I feel. I definitely struggled with the fact that there were only 40 questions and that one right/wrong could make a big difference, needless to say, an entire passage. I am not sure how the future MCAT looks for verbal, but you might want to check out looking at passage types/question types for this section to help find your strengths/weaknesses.

Yes, also too, provided that you can get your hands on some practice tests, the AAMC ones are said to be pretty close to what happens on test day (again no idea what happens in 2015), but I'd say if you're practicing in range, then you are ready to go. If you are off-target, then it definitely is time re-eval and wait to test.

My MCAT prep took about 2.5 months total along with 3 classes for my post-bacc, so hopefully something similar can work out with your plans for this year!

I am signing up for a Princeton Review course that'll run from Feb-April and they said they'll provide 11 full length exams and all the other stuff that comes with these courses (?..I honestly don't know how in the world they came up with that many so soon)....regarding the Verbal (it's now called "CARS"): they added 12 more questions but also gave 30 additional minutes! So I honestly prefer to have more time to work through the questions as timing was definitely a big issue for me..s weird as it sounds I'm actually looking forward to taking this beast for some reason: a lot lesser emphasis on physics and more on bio, psyc, social (all of which are strengths/more interesting for me than physics) and overall goal of the new test I think will suit me better but of course it may just be wishful thinking. From reading through AAMC, they are suggesting med schools to evaluate new mcat score applicants based on their "percentiles" as opposed to trying to compare the old one with new one (similar to what ACT/SAT score conversion works I guess) as they claim the new one is a lot different exam..

 

[ridethecliche]

I like princeton review more than any other company except for perhaps TBR.

 

[ConsultantMD]

I am signing up for a Princeton Review course that'll run from Feb-April and they said they'll provide 11 full length exams and all the other stuff that comes with these courses (?..I honestly don't know how in the world they came up with that many so soon)....regarding the Verbal (it's now called "CARS"): they added 12 more questions but also gave 30 additional minutes! So I honestly prefer to have more time to work through the questions as timing was definitely a big issue for me..s weird as it sounds I'm actually looking forward to taking this beast for some reason: a lot lesser emphasis on physics and more on bio, psyc, social (all of which are strengths/more interesting for me than physics) and overall goal of the new test I think will suit me better but of course it may just be wishful thinking. From reading through AAMC, they are suggesting med schools to evaluate new mcat score applicants based on their "percentiles" as opposed to trying to compare the old one with new one (similar to what ACT/SAT score conversion works I guess) as they claim the new one is a lot different exam..

Nice, they gave you way more time on verbal, that should help. Yeah I did Kaplan and did not love it, although I did a couple TPR online tests and thought they could be better. Kaplan's exam interface was better and easier to navigate. I had pretty much all the books. I think TPR had really great review questions and the Hyperlearning books are awesome. I also liked the review books most because they had nice footnotes. TBR is not really necessary unless you feel like over-knowing what you need to know, but if you're the kind of person that needs to know more and wants practice on the hard questions, then go for TBR stuff.

Definitely map out a monthly schedule for when you'll take the exams. I recommend no more than 2-3 (maybe) per week because you don't want to exhaust yourself. Also, practice tests are not going to be linearly increasing by and large, so don't be discouraged by lower scores. I reached exhaustion for sure by taking a test every other day a month before test day, which was overkill. Even like a week before I took a Kaplan practice test and got like 10 points below what I did on test day. The nice thing about practicing so much too is that you're kind of able to guess where you're going to score, definitely do all the tests. Hopefully Princeton Review gives you a better practice schedule/ideas than mine, I made it up haha.