Write MCAT while doing MSc

[sticky1]

Has anyone written the MCAT while dong MSc? Is it hard to concentrate on both or should you write the MCAT before doing MSc?

[ontariostudent]

I did it and I know many others who have done it or are in the process of doing so. I think everyone is in a different situation and the difficulty of doing both at the same time will vary for each individual. Some supervisors allow their students to take some time off to study, while others are less generous. Some supervisors expect their students to be in the lab until 9pm, which makes it very hard to study and do research at the same time.

 

If your supervisor will allow you to take some time off right before you write (a few weeks) and if you're only working regular job hours (9-5 on weekdays), doing both will take time management but is definitely possible. The more lab responsibilities you have, the more difficult it will be to make time to study.

[sticky1]

I did it and I know many others who have done it or are in the process of doing so. I think everyone is in a different situation and the difficulty of doing both at the same time will vary for each individual. Some supervisors allow their students to take some time off to study, while others are less generous. Some supervisors expect their students to be in the lab until 9pm, which makes it very hard to study and do research at the same time.

 

If your supervisor will allow you to take some time off right before you write (a few weeks) and if you're only working regular job hours (9-5 on weekdays), doing both will take time management but is definitely possible. The more lab responsibilities you have, the more difficult it will be to make time to study.

 

I am thinking in starting MSc this Winter (January) and take the MCAT at the end of January. Do you think this is doable or should I leave the MCAT until next summer? I'm hoping I can take the MCAT this January so that if I do bad in January I can take it again in May

[ontariostudent]

I am thinking in starting MSc this Winter (January) and take the MCAT at the end of January. Do you think this is doable or should I leave the MCAT until next summer? I'm hoping I can take the MCAT this January so that if I do bad in January I can take it again in May

 

I think it depends on what you will be doing between now and January. If you will have time off to study from a few months before, you should technically be fine. Your supervisor will probably be okay with you taking it easy a bit in the lab for the first few weeks, and you will be able to get it over with. Assuming that you're going to be doing a 2 year masters, you will not be finished your research and it might be harder to take time off. You will have more responsibility and have many things to put on hold if you want to take time off and study.

 

As long as your supervisor is accommodating and you will start seriously studying in the fall, you should be fine to write in January. If not, you'll be looking at studying nights while you're working on your MSC over the summer. I would aim to write in January, and if you really can't manage, postpone until the summer. At least then you will hopefully have started studying seriously already, so the summer studying won't be as stressful.

[switcheroo]

I also wrote the MCAT while in my Master's. My advisor was totally cool with it. I actually took three months off last summer off because I needed to take organic I and II as well, so I did that for two months and studied for a month. Basically, it depends what kind of advisor you have. Mine is super supportive and honestly just wants what's best for me (corny but true), so he was okay with me abandoning my research and thesis work for awhile to do other things.