When to take MCAT 2015, verification, etc...

[Palindr0me]

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Alright guys & girls, I haven't been on here in a while. I recently made the final decision to pursue medicine after shadowing a few physicians and almost breaking down in tears because of how wonderful the experience was (I'm melodramatic, I know). I will be a junior this fall and my schedule is looking pretty busy, but I am so excited.

Anyways, I am starting to work on content review for MCAT2015 and have been asking myself when I should be taking the exam in the spring. I will be finishing up physics 2, psychology, and a research methodology course in early May, but I will be self-teaching myself a lot of the material during the rest of this summer, winter break, and spring break, just so I have a firm grasp before the MCAT (and even before those courses end). Regardless of that information, I should take the exam in mid-May when it is administered, correct? My classes will be finished 3 weeks before that, which means physics II, research methods., and psychology will be super fresh in my mind. Also, beyond all of that, if I want to be verified and ready to submit my primary application as soon as possible next summer, do they need my MCAT score at that time? I know it takes a little bit longer than a month to get your scores back, so I am curious about the downfall of taking it in May? Is there a setback there? Should I take it in April instead? When do schools REALLY need your MCAT score by in order to be as competitive as possible? I have a lot of questions, but I'd rather ask them all now instead of waiting until later! Thank you so much, SDN.

Gratefully,

SSABA

 

[ciestar]

You can't even submit your application for verification until June anyway, so you're okay with a May mcat. And you can submit for verification without an mcat score so you're fine.

 

[Palindr0me]

So when exactly do they ask for your score?

 

[hoihaie]

So when exactly do they ask for your score?

amcas doesn't care about your scores. its the med schools that do. Schools won't review your app until your scores are in. So it would be a good idea to have the scores in by July

 

[PakiMDDreamer]

Can applicants say specifically how long it takes for MCAT scores to come out, and how long does it take to get on AMCAS? Is it like College Board in that the company who administers the test must send the scores officially to AMCAS? If that's the case how long does it take?

 

[hoihaie]

takes a month for the scores to come out. It's automatically loaded on to the AMCAS

 

[virtualmaster999]

Alright guys & girls, I haven't been on here in a while. I recently made the final decision to pursue medicine after shadowing a few physicians and almost breaking down in tears because of how wonderful the experience was (I'm melodramatic, I know). I will be a junior this fall and my schedule is looking pretty busy, but I am so excited.

Anyways, I am starting to work on content review for MCAT2015 and have been asking myself when I should be taking the exam in the spring. I will be finishing up physics 2, psychology, and a research methodology course in early May, but I will be self-teaching myself a lot of the material during the rest of this summer, winter break, and spring break, just so I have a firm grasp before the MCAT (and even before those courses end). Regardless of that information, I should take the exam in mid-May when it is administered, correct? My classes will be finished 3 weeks before that, which means physics II, research methods., and psychology will be super fresh in my mind. Also, beyond all of that, if I want to be verified and ready to submit my primary application as soon as possible next summer, do they need my MCAT score at that time? I know it takes a little bit longer than a month to get your scores back, so I am curious about the downfall of taking it in May? Is there a setback there? Should I take it in April instead? When do schools REALLY need your MCAT score by in order to be as competitive as possible? I have a lot of questions, but I'd rather ask them all now instead of waiting until later! Thank you so much, SDN.

Gratefully,

SSABA

Hey I'm in a similar situation as well! Planning on taking mcat April/may. Gonna be a junior this fall and taking physics as well. Like others have said may is still fine! And I agree that a lot of self learning will me necessary. What material are you using, or will be using btw? I'm planning on starting to prepare end of august and using previous verbal material, TPR 2015, and examkrackers 2015 when it comes out in October.

 

[Palindr0me]

@virtualmaster999 -- Hey, right on 🙂 As for the materials, my plan is starting to culminate into the following:

- TPR2015 review set (already cycling through the material except for physics -- I love the way these books go through the topics; clear&concise enough for me, personally)
- TPR Hyperlearning workbooks for both the sciences and verbal (previous years' material, but still feel that it is worthy of using)
- ExamKrackers books (previous years' as well, but mainly using for the practice tests and questions/passages)
- TBR books (once again from previous years, but for practice questions/passages)
- Practice CBT's from AAMC, Kaplan, and TPR

I personally feel better about studying for the new MCAT with a longer timeline rather than trying to do it later on and realizing I'm not as ready as I would have hoped, so here's to the next months ahead 🙂