I am a FNP wanting to apply to med school in 2012.
I graduated in 2003 with BS Biology/Pre-med. (2005 BSN, 2007 MS-FNP) I just re-took Physics 1 and 2 online at UNM since I had taken them in Germany originally (i did foreign exchange) and they must have been taken in US.
Since my Pre-req’s are ~10 years old I am just wondering if self-study and possibly taking a review course will be enough to get a 30+ MCAT score.
Has anybody else done this? Re-taught themselves Chem and OChem? I was always pretty comfortable with Biology, A&P, Genetics and with the recent Physics, my main concern is re-teaching myself Chemistries.
I would like to take the MCAT sometime Jan-May 2012 and I have flexibility in my schedule to work only 2-3 days/week and have 4-5 days/week to study. I can also take a review course, I think which would be more beneficial once I have studied on my own.
Has anyone else successfully done this without having to re-take the Chemistry courses?
I really would not want to postpone another year just to retake the courses. Also it is difficult to find a college where you can take the courses and coordinate work. Also I really don’t think I would do well taking Chem/OChem online.
- nurseneely Said:
Since my Pre-req's are ~10 years old I am just wondering if self-study and possibly taking a review course will be enough to get a 30+ MCAT score.
Has anybody else done this? Re-taught themselves Chem and OChem?...Has anyone else successfully done this without having to re-take the Chemistry courses?
Has anybody else done this? Re-taught themselves Chem and OChem?...Has anyone else successfully done this without having to re-take the Chemistry courses?
Yes to all of the above. I did exactly what you describe.
My pre-reqs were 8 years old when I took the MCAT and I managed to score a 32T (PS: 11/VR: 10/WS: T/BS: 11) so it is definitely possible to do this with nothing more than self-study and a lot of self-motivation. I did not retake any classes, or enroll in an MCAT prep course, or use anything to study for the MCAT other than my old college textbooks and any old quizzes, exams, lab reports, and homework assignments that I still had in my possession.
Is it recommended? I would say it depends. I would wager that most people on these forums would probably argue against following in my footsteps and I'll be the first to admit that I am somewhat of an anomaly. I should also point out that I worked in medical research during those 8 years and was immersed in and applying many of the concepts from the pre-req sciences during that time so it was not like I was relearning everything from scratch. Still, I took a big risk and YMMV.
I would also add that I got a hard time (mostly from the coastal med schools) about the amount of time I'd been away from school. Again, I took a huge gamble and it paid off, but YMMV. So others may advise you (and justifiably so) that following in my footsteps may not be the smartest course of action. But, the short answer to your questions is yes - it is possible.
I did it as well and managed a 34, with my prereqs 8+ years old. I’ve been a paramedic for 4+ years so anatomy and physiology are second nature which helped with the Bio.
I think it depends on whether or not you have a solid grasp of the conecepts. I felt like I did, and Orgo was always easy for me. So all I needed to do was spend time filling in the details and doing a whole lot of practice.
You could take the AAMC Practice MCAT 3 which is free and see how you feel. AAMC 3