Monday, April 27, 2009

MCAT Part Deux + Cinco ??? WTH???????



Om my dam!!! I kinda feel like this baby right now when I think about retaking the MCAT and I'm sure my readers are thinking that I have lost my mind! Well, I think going to med school in your 40's IS crazy, LOL!!!!

With that said, I'm going to have to be honest here. The absolute critical mistake I made in taking the MCAT 4X over 3 years was that I was too stubborn/arrogant to realize that I obviously needed to retake my preqs. But I figured I had excelled in higher level classes including medical school classes, so I should be OK, right? Hell NO! The MCAT doesn't test "higher level sciences", they want to now if you know the difference from a Phyla and a Class. Really basic stuff that if you don't prep for it means you could be in trouble. So I'm thinking, the majority of the people taking the MCAT have had the preq courses with in the past year of two and after taking the MCAT 6 times, I'm convinced that the advantage is pretty significant in terms of setting yourself up to score well, as in 30+. These folks then normally follow that up with a formal prep course. As far as that is concerned, I'd simply do the prep course as I'm going along in the classes.

So since I'm not working and have no classes scheduled this summer, it wouldn't be an issue for me to retake most of the MCAT prep courses online except general biology and retake the MCAT later this summer. Unlike before, I don't have the slightest concern that my score will go down because I'm doing what I should have done in 2004 and that is retaking the prereqs. Therefore, my score can ONLY go up! And the fact of matter is that AMCAS has really f*&ked up my science GPA by counting my Pharma courses as health classes, and I've since been told by a couple adcoms that a slightly higher MCAT score will be needed to help me off set that problem. So crazy or not, I'm in maximize my chances mode.

I also spoke earleir today to a school I've spoken to off and on since 1988. I know crazy right? This same school has encouraged me to apply since I can remember and I never have, so I guess you guys have figured out that I won't make that mistake this application season. Once again, until you get that letter of acceptance, everything you hear is just talk so I'm applying to more than enough schools to make sure there's a seat with my name on it for the class of 2010.

Other thoughts, I'm still not 100% sure about what to do about my Fall class schedule which I have to turn in tomorrow, so for now, I'm going to stick with what my advisor has already approved and take the 3 medical school classes. Worst case scenario is that when I start med school in 2010, I'll be ahead of the game and since it looks like I'm going to be relocating, I'll take any advantage I can get to help me acclimate to a new environment.

Finally, I'm a firm believer that everthing happens for a reason and I have to admit that getting rejected has lit a fire under me that didn't exist to this extent before. Every failure is both a test of your will and an opportunity to fine tune what needs to be fine tuned so you can eventually be successful!!!

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