What to do?

[donkeykong1]

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Would it be stupid to not take a lag year and take the mcat during the end of my junior year in which i'll have to study for the mcats and take physics at the same time? even if i take the mcats say in june after finals would that leave me enough time to get verified both for allo and osteo schools.

 

[Kid A]

Would it be stupid to not take a lag year and take the mcat during the end of my junior year in which i'll have to study for the mcats and take physics at the same time? even if i take the mcats say in june after finals would that leave me enough time to get verified both for allo and osteo schools.

Well if you do take the MCAT then June that would be fine. Most schools don't send secondaries till July and that's when you get your MCAT scores. You can send you primary app without a MCAT score and be all ready for the secondaries when you get it.

However, if you don't think you are ready it's ok to take time off to study for the MCAT. That's what I did and I did fine on the test.

 

[Hybrid1]

I took the MCAT in April of my junior year (2005) while taking physics, and it is definitely doable. Back then, the MCAT was a paper exam that was only offered in April and August, so most people took it in April.

 

[forrealz]

start studying, take some practice tests. if you are unhappy with the results, you can always push it back, cancel or void your exam.

 

[salazaar]

Bottom line: do not take the MCAT unless you are ready. That said, it is very doable if you are motivated. Take an MCAT prep course. They are expensive but well worth it especially since you have not finished your full year of physics.

I took the MCAT April of my junior year while taking a full load, working and being a RA in the residence halls. I did very well and had a very successful application cycle.

If you are not scoring consistently high on your practice tests the week before you go into the exam, walk away.

 

[Melicopter]

It depends. I was going to take it during the year while taking physics, but I had too much going on, and didn't study. I pushed it back to summer, when I had just returned from a major trip and was working full-time, and I did well.

So yes, you can take the MCAT without putting your life on hold. I think you can reschedule as long as you're more than 2 weeks out. Definitely better to apply a little later than to bomb the MCAT.

 

[engineeredout]

I started studying for the MCAT right after junior year intending on having a year off between college to apply. My AAMC scores ended up being a lot higher than I was expecting (I lived and breathed MCAT the entire summer), so I registered for end of August MCAT and sent in the primary in july.

Definitely worked out for the better. I'd be going out of my mind if I was in the midst of a useless year right now.