when to take the mcats...

[bbaek]

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currently going into my 2nd year, can someone please recommend a good time to take the mcats and their reasons why?

there is probably a post about this and if anybody can redirect me to it, that would be very helpful!

thanks!

 

[Mr. Seeds]

MCAT, as in singular, as in not plural. 😉

Sorry, pet peeve

 

[bewitched1081]

if you want to go to med school right after undergrad and are planning to graduate in four years, then you should take the april mcat of your jr year. after that you would apply for med schools starting from the summer after your jr year and into your senior year. you would have decisions by the end of your sr year.

also you should plan to take a prep course and/or chunk out a considerable amt of time beginning in the january before the april mcat. that means you will have to take a lighter course load and let off of some ec's. so try compensating for that during your summers. also, if you want to get a better score you should start studying before january of jr year. do as many practice passages as possible in the time allotted. timing is very important.

 

[skhichi]

Honestly, I don't understand the impetus for taking the MCAT August before your Junior year. Unless your truly feel like you are ready and your practice tests back that up it makes absolutely no sense to take the MCAT early. Just take in April of your junior year. You can't apply earlier if you take the earlier test but you lose eight months of possible prep time. I know people that took it in August and the majority of them were sitting with me and taking it in April again. Take it once and do well on it. This isn't something you want to do twice. Trust me.

 

[mdsh00]

In my opinion, see where you are at in the end of your 2nd year. If you've finished or almost finished all the MCAT-related classes, you can try and take the August MCAT. If in the course of that summer, you find that you aren't pulling the numbers you want, you can always drop out of taking it and do it in April of your 3rd year.

 

[bewitched1081]

it is not good to take the test more than once. adcoms know that scores go up the more you take the test and they wont be impressed unless your score goes up significantly. i wouldnt recommend taking the test until you feel that you are completely ready. but dont back out of it just because you are scared or anxious. taking it the august at the end of sophomore year isnt a good idea unless you have taken all of the covered subjects on the mcat or are getting high 30's on your diagnostics. even then, it wouldnt be a good idea to take it unless you have studied a lot because you could get a higher score with studying.