I need to apply to med school this fall but don't have all my classes finished to take the MCAT until April. Is there a way to get in to med school for Fall 2004 and how? Apply early with 4.o and beg? I am too OLD to take a year off. HA. a year off would not be good! I returned to school for nursing and decided that is not going to be fun. i might as well go for it! There has got to be a way! Any one in this situation?
Gracie
If you will not have your pre-reqs done until april of next year, then no, you will not be able to start med school until fall of 2005. I would not attempt the august mcat w/o the pre-reqs, the mcat is hard enough as is, I cannot fathom taking it w/o all my pre-reqs done. If you were taking the mcat this august then you could apply this june for entrance in the fall of '04. You apply to med school one year before you anticipate matriculating.
Oh, I've been there. I didn't decide on med school until November of last year, and there was no way I could take the April or even August MCAT this year. I'm 39 and I feel the years slipping by. But at this point, what's one more year? One of the wiser folks on oldpremeds pointed out that admissions committees won't really notice the subtle difference between 40 and 41. It's really best to accept the extra year and polish your application.
Map out your plans, make your study schedule, and generally find all the ways you can to enjoy your journey. If you live for the destination, the next decade will be really frustrating.
I say to myself – the journey is its own reward – all the time. One more year won't be as bad as you think.
There are post baccs in my school in their 20s who think they will just DIE if they have to wait an extra year and I can relate to how they feel but they won't, nor will I (I hope!).
Do you have to be done with MCAT to apply? If not, why can't you apply in summer 03, finish pre-req's, take MCAT April and go to school fall 04?
You must have an MCAT score to apply. That is why you apply and take the MCAT a year prior to anticipated matriculation. The folks applying this year have to take either the April or August MCAT of this year, and they will start if accepted next fall.
It's not uncommon to (though probably not advised) to take the MCAT without having taken all the prereqs.
I just took the test this last Saturday and am still taking biology, chemistry, and physics classes. I still have organic chem II and physics II to take in the semesters to come. Independant study was the key for me.
You do not have to have the prereqs completed to apply, but you MUST have the prereqs completed by the time you expect to start med school (i.e. by end of next summer).
If you're serious about applying for the 2004 academic year you MUST take the August MCAT, complete your application this summer, and figure out a way to have all your prereqs done by next summer. Think long and hard about whether or not you feel comfortable with this approach, it will probably be a good bit tougher than taking the more traditional approach.
While you can do what Jason describes - apply without completing your prerequisites - a word of caution:
your application will have to look pretty good without those prereqs in order to get serious attention. Think about your competition: for the most part, you are up against people (of whatever age) who DO present excellent grades in completed prerequisites. For you to apply with “less,” your application is going to have to be very, very strong in some other way.
To the OP, I bet I am older than you, simply because I’m older than most of the folks on this board. When I first plotted out my path to med school, I tried every way I knew how to put together a schedule that would allow me to apply a year sooner. There just wasn’t any way that had a reasonable chance of me staying sane. I am ONE of the people on this board who has said that I realized that med school admissions folks probably would not notice a difference between ages 43 and 44, in my case… that’s when I relaxed a little.
The other thing is, scrambling to apply quicker with an application package that maybe isn’t as strong as it will be a year later is just not worth it. You reduce your chances of getting admitted, and trust me, you really want to apply once to med school and get in on the first go-round if you can - the application process is a bear. Lots of OPMs have had to do it more than once, and I know they’ll give a heartfelt endorsement to this idea.
It’s been said a gazillion times on this board but I’ll say it again: this is a marathon, not a sprint. The marathon extends, well, for the rest of your life, really, as the life of a doctor in almost any specialty is going to be pretty demanding. Think of the premed / prereq / MCAT phase as training for the real marathon that is to come. Just as you wouldn’t run a real marathon without methodical steady training, so you should plan out your pre-med time wisely, so that you get the most impact from that investment. It’s worth it.