Hello everyone! This is my first post at OldPremeds.org 
I’m debating whether I should resign from my job or not. I’ve graduated last year in May 2015 and have been balancing working a very-full time job (40-50 hours a week) and MCAT studying. I’ve taken the old MCAT before the change happened in January 2015 and scored a 20 (literally…but I’m a very good student with 3.97 GPA) I was taking a Kaplan course at the time while taking 3 science courses and thesis and crammed studied for 18 days. In retrospect, I needed to strategize and needed more time.
I am aiming to take the exam in January 2017 (already unofficially pushed back the exam twice due to events at work) and feel like I need to study head-on. But I haven’t seen much improvement despite on and off studying since last October. My biggest fear is quitting and not doing as well on the exam as I’ve hoped. But I’m also so tired when I come home from work and I know that something needs to change at work. Financially, I have about 3 months worth of rent (NYC) and am concerned about finding a good job to sustain me after my exam. But my main focus at this point is to do well on the exam and I don’t want to delay taking this exam anymore.
I’m going to ask my employer if I can take a one-month leave of absence from late December to my January exam date and somehow find a way to use my vacation days so I can work 3-4 days a week. Would this be enough time to improve my score to 510+? My first Kaplan practice test score was 491 
I’m determined to do well but for some reason, I’m not making much progress on this exam.
Or is quitting your job for the exam worth it for the exam? Would med schools look unfavorably if I were to study for the MCAT head-on?
Thank you!!
P.S. Dr. Grey, could you please do a podcast episode on this topic?!