So I took the MCAT in Januray and May a horrible score. I plan to follow SN2ed study schedule with the berkely review books. I plan on studying over the summer But I am also taking a physics 2 class and will be working in my lab. Taking it in August or September doesn't really bother me. But I don't know how long it is going to take me to review all of the MCAT content because I need to improve my score by atleast 10 points. The only problem is if I wait to take it in January I don't know if I will have time to study because I will be taking a graduate level class and also working on my masters thesis. So I need advice I really don't know if I should take it in September or Wait untill next year!
When to retake the MCAT??
- Thread starter Smitha7
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Why don't you study with the plan of taking it in August/September, and see where you are in late July? Do whatever you need to do to increase your chance of getting into a medical school. If it's taking the MCAT in August, then that's good. But if it doesn't work out, you can always delay it.
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I still don't understand why you keep rushing things. Yet again you're placing yourself into a position where you're highly likely to do poorly. Slow down and give yourself three full months to prepare. You've already tried to study for the MCAT with other commitments and it hasn't worked out.
The only problem is I am always going to have commitments unless I wait untill the summer of 2012 when I graduate with my masters in Biomedical Sciences. I'm about to turn 23 in April. So what would yall suggest. my only problem is people are studying for the MCAT with a full time Job and some are full time students. I don't think in this type of economy that someone can not just do anything for 6 months instead of study for the MCAT!
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No one's asking you to do that. You're just jumping into things when you're not ready.
You can work full time and still study. You just have to be more disciplined about it.
I would study during the summer with the intention of taking it in late August/September, but delay it if my scores are not where I want them to be. It doesn't appear that summer is any busier than your school year, so I see no reason to study during fall over summer, except that you'll have taken physics II. At the worst, you will have to delay until summer of 2012 to study. Sometimes a full-time job is easier than full-time academics, because many full-time jobs are clock-in and clock-out. Other than the fact that you're putting in hours, you're not distracting yourself by having to study for material other than the MCAT.
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Oh honey - you're clearly young enough to think that if you don't do something RIGHTAWAYATTHISVERYSECOND the world will pass you by. It won't. The MCAT will still be there at the end of the summer, or fall, or winter, or spring. This year, next year, and the year after that, med schools will still be accepting students, people will get their MDs, go to residency, continue to treat patients, etc. What matters - is not rushing to get as much done as possible RIGHTAWAYATTHISVERYSECOND - but to approach such meaningful challenges (like taking the MCAT) with the care, intention, and intelligence that you possess. Study right. Focus. Calm down. BREATHE. Then nail the exam. Then, when you're ready, apply to med school.
[Exhibit A - I'll matriculate at a US allopathic medical school this fall at 31 y.o. and I'm loving life. I have a master's degree under my belt, a few years of working in a orthopaedic practice, two years of full-time nannying for a wonderful family, a post-bac program at Harvard, and a full summer of Kaplan studying behind me - not to mention working as an MCAT instructor. Looking back - what a life RICH of experiences I had - BEFORE med school! No time was ever wasted and I appreciate it all. To some: it looks like dilly-dallying - but what I was doing was called growing up and falling in love with medicine as a career.]
If you don't put the brakes on just a bit - LIFE will fly right by and you'll never have taken advantage of the GREAT things out there that you only notice when you slow down. I'm with SN2. Do it right.
(And, no, you don't have to wait until you're 31 to go to med school. That's just me.)
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