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Why do people stress taking the mcat so early when you can take it much later in the summer (July, even August this year) and still have your secondaries complete By Labor Day.
Why early late mcat
- Thread starter gogetter898
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In a normal cycle, scores take longer to process and there is a pervasive but false idea that applications are processed in the order they are received. Secondaries also are not sent out next day but can take many weeks/months. This cycle I think a lot of stress came up because folks had dates set in March, April, and May and were starting a gradual ramp up in preparation before being put in limbo. Once dates were available there was a big rush to sign up and get the test over and done with.
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There's also the strategy side of things.
Knowing your score before application season opens lets you decide if you want to apply this year or wait. Similarly, having already taken the MCAT means you're not splitting your focus between preparing your application and writing secondaries and preparing for/taking the MCAT.
Knowing your score before application season opens lets you decide if you want to apply this year or wait. Similarly, having already taken the MCAT means you're not splitting your focus between preparing your application and writing secondaries and preparing for/taking the MCAT.
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Depending on where they are with pre-req's, I recommend summer before senior year or winter break senior year for my students to take the MCAT. Both allow a sustained period without coursework to focus, and most of my students will have just completed the needed course material in the spring of the junior year/fall of the senior year and it will be fresh in their minds to review and build off of.
