heya… so i’m 27 and going to go back to school, do my prereq’s and apply to med school. what i’m wondering is if it’s at all possible for me to be applying to start in fall '07? i figure i should be able to take all of my prereq’s between this summer and fall '06/winter '07, i would take the mcat in april '07. but all the deadlines i’ve seen for applying so far are due in early '07 before i’d have even taken the mcat. how would this work? can this be done?
thanks for the help!
Mael,
First of all, welcome!
Second, slow down, take a breath, and, to quote a phrase we use a lot around here, remember this is a marathon and not a sprint.
As to application and beginning school, if you take the MCAT in April 2007, then your application would be filed that summer. The class you would be applying for would begin the fall of 2008. Your application is a year before you begin.
Best of luck on your journey through premed-dom. Stay focused and remember that this is a long journey with many twists and turns along the way.
Linda
thanks for the welcome. 
i realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting the best time possible… 
other than if i took the mcat this august, would there be any possible way to get in for '07? the reason i’d really like to get started is because i really want to do get started… i’ve spent a lot of wasted time trying to figure out what i want to do with my life, and now that i’ve figured it out, i’m pretty excited to get started. i’d really like to not waste any more time if i can.
thanks again!
Quote:
thanks for the welcome.
i realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting the best time possible…
other than if i took the mcat this august, would there be any possible way to get in for '07? the reason i’d really like to get started is because i really want to do get started… i’ve spent a lot of wasted time trying to figure out what i want to do with my life, and now that i’ve figured it out, i’m pretty excited to get started. i’d really like to not waste any more time if i can.
thanks again!
It is very, very important to not take the MCAT until you are prepared for it. Ideally, you only want to have to take it once. Remember that all scores will stay on your record and will be seen by the medical schools; my scores from 1996 were still on there when I applied ten years later in 2005.
Second, proper preparation for the MCAT includes completing ALL FOUR of the pre-reqs. That means you should take one year each of physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology. You will then need to spend anywhere from three to six months studying for the test itself, depending on your schedule and how prepared you are after finishing your coursework. You can either take a live test prep course through a company like Kaplan or TPR, take an online self-study course (I know Kaplan offers one and maybe TPR does too), or buy books and study on your own. Whichever path you choose, it is essential that you take multiple full-length practice tests under TIMED conditions to help prepare you for the MCAT’s style of questions. The MCAT is NOT like any other standardized exam you may have taken in the past, and unlike the SAT, ACT, or GRE, most people must study for it in order to perform well.
Since you will be taking the test in 2007, you will be taking it on the computer. This will give you more options of test dates, according to what the AAMC is saying. It will also make the test shorter. You should complete several practice computer tests before taking the real test.
I cannot emphasize enough to you how important it is to complete all of your premedical studies in order and properly. You are already a non-trad, and taking one more year will not make a huge difference one way or the other in terms of your age, but it WILL make a huge difference in terms of allowing you to succeed with your studies. You may hear from the odd person who manages to successfully take the MCAT before completing the pre-reqs, but these people are the exception, not the rule, and they will give you a misleading and biased perception. That is because you will not hear from the vast majority of shortcut takers who wind up scoring in the teens on the MCAT; these people will understandably not want to post about their poor decisions all over OPM or SDN.
I hope this helps, and best of luck to you as you begin your pre-medical studies.
Quote:Quote:
thanks for the welcome.
i realize it’s a marathon and not a sprint, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting the best time possible…
other than if i took the mcat this august, would there be any possible way to get in for '07? the reason i’d really like to get started is because i really want to do get started… i’ve spent a lot of wasted time trying to figure out what i want to do with my life, and now that i’ve figured it out, i’m pretty excited to get started. i’d really like to not waste any more time if i can.
thanks again!
It is very, very important to not take the MCAT until you are prepared for it. Ideally, you only want to have to take it once. Remember that all scores will stay on your record and will be seen by the medical schools; my scores from 1996 were still on there when I applied ten years later in 2005.
Second, proper preparation for the MCAT includes completing ALL FOUR of the pre-reqs. That means you should take one year each of physics, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biology. You will then need to spend anywhere from three to six months studying for the test itself, depending on your schedule and how prepared you are after finishing your coursework. You can either take a live test prep course through a company like Kaplan or TPR, take an online self-study course (I know Kaplan offers one and maybe TPR does too), or buy books and study on your own. Whichever path you choose, it is essential that you take multiple full-length practice tests under TIMED conditions to help prepare you for the MCAT’s style of questions. The MCAT is NOT like any other standardized exam you may have taken in the past, and unlike the SAT, ACT, or GRE, most people must study for it in order to perform well.
Since you will be taking the test in 2007, you will be taking it on the computer. This will give you more options of test dates, according to what the AAMC is saying. It will also make the test shorter. You should complete several practice computer tests before taking the real test.
I cannot emphasize enough to you how important it is to complete all of your premedical studies in order and properly. You are already a non-trad, and taking one more year will not make a huge difference one way or the other in terms of your age, but it WILL make a huge difference in terms of allowing you to succeed with your studies. You may hear from the odd person who manages to successfully take the MCAT before completing the pre-reqs, but these people are the exception, not the rule, and they will give you a misleading and biased perception. That is because you will not hear from the vast majority of shortcut takers who wind up scoring in the teens on the MCAT; these people will understandably not want to post about their poor decisions all over OPM or SDN.
I hope this helps, and best of luck to you as you begin your pre-medical studies.
argh! damn you for making too much sense!
okay, so then i should plan on taking it sometime at the end of the summer or fall of '07 if i’m done with my prereq’s next winter. as long as i take it in '07 i can use it to apply for '08?
is there a preferred order to the prereq’s? i’ve already taken a semester of physics, so i just need one more of that. i was thinking i’d take both semesters of inorganic chem over the spring/summer terms, and then both bio and orgo chem next fall/winter. from what i’ve found so far online (which isn’t too much at the moment, i did most of my research a couple years ago and got discouraged because of when i’d finally be starting), those are the big things (physics, inorganic and organic chem, bio). is there anything else that is a must take or would just be really good to take if i can?
thanks again!
Quote:
i’d really like to not waste any more time if i can.
I know what you mean and I was there, too, but in the years it took me to complete my prereqs and start medical school, I realized that regardless of when you take your prereqs, when you take the MCAT, or when you can start medical school, your remaining time is only wasted if YOU don’t come up with valuable things to do with it. In terms of preparing for med school, you can always take additional coursework during that year between applying and starting… getting additional volunteer work in… shadowing… etc. But actually it’s not just about doing the stuff that helps your application or even helps your med school start. Start thinking in terms of there being some purpose to whatever it is you are doing, even if it isn’t related to your goal.
During my “glide” year between applying and starting, I managed my daughter’s synchronized skating team - had fun, helped some kids, and laid a good foundation for the coming years when I wasn’t around as much. It didn’t help my application and it didn’t help my biochemistry grade the following year, but I DID have fun and it wasn’t a waste of time at all.