Guest Lily Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 Hi all, Just wondering if I can get some advice on writing the upcoming Aug. MCAT. Background: I recently graduated from a 4 yr BSc program at UofT. Best 2 yrs weight GPA 3.81, best 3 yrs is 3.72. I am enrolling in a one year post-grad Clinical research program at Humber College which starts this Sept. I have good work/vol/extra-curric. experience. I work full time during the summers and part time during the academic year. I know I haven't devoted enough time to study for this exam, but considering that my situation will remain the same for a few years (I have no choice but to work or else discontinue schooling), what are the chances that my scores will go up having taken it before? This will be my third sitting. First time I wrote the MCAt, scores were 6V,7P,8B,O (having taken Kaplan). Second time, scores were 8V,8P,8B,Q. I usually don't perform well on standardized tests. Should I consider this a hopeless goal? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YongQ Posted July 24, 2001 Report Share Posted July 24, 2001 Unless you can devote a good chunk of your time (4-5 hours a day for at least 2 months, maybe more in your case as you see fit) toward studying the MCAT materials, I don't think you should take it. You already meet the cutoffs for UBC and U of T, and McMaster doesn't use the MCAT at all, so you have quite a few options in Canada. If you decide to take it (for e.g. you have your heart set on applying to Queens or Manitoba), I think in your case, studying strategy should be the main focus, more so than duration of study - esp. for the BS and PS sections (which IMO are easiest to improve on 3 or 4 points in your case), you probably know by now that it's practice that does the trick - go through the AAMC Outlines and review everything there straight from your old textbooks, then just do practice problems (AAMC Practice Tests and Practice Items, and perhaps some from Kaplan/Gold Standard if you have time) without regard to time limits or "simulating a real MCAT" (really, VR/WS are the only true time trials in the MCAT). Even if you've done them already in previous MCAT cycles, doing problems over again twice, three times is still invaluable. As for VR, practice is also good - except for these you need to find fresh material each time, and simulating the time limit is important. If you do quite a bit of recreational reading, your WS should improve - a Q is already not bad. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe Posted July 26, 2001 Report Share Posted July 26, 2001 I would not take the exam again yet. Ottawa and Mac don't use the MCAT, and you do meet U of Ts cutoff. Your GPA is pretty decent and should be enough to get interviews. At Mac and Ottawa, you need to consider the possibility that the interview is where you've gone wrong, not in the numbers. The schools will also be more receptive after you've finished your clinical experience year. My position in your case would be do do grad school and to potentially re-sit the MCAT in the third year of a PhD or something. Maybe at the end of the day you'd rather work to cure something like diabetes rather than order blood tests and recommend insulin anyways. Your good education is NEVER wasted. Plus then you have a clinical research degree, a good undergrad with good grades, a good PhD (did you know that lots of science undergrads PhD in engineering and other stuff and that lots of venture capital is going towards biotech startups?) You could even do an MBA after this or a law degree (in which case you'll probably be accepted just because you have a technical undergrad). Some technical lawyers I know are very very well paid (as much or more than a doctor, if that's a factor for you, and it wouldn't be for me). The point is that if medicine doesn't eventually work for you, then maybe its an omen that your really meant to be somewhere else. Doctors are very compassionate and highly respectable group of people, but if your born to be in another field, then don't push something that won't fly and the expense of a different and equally brilliant career. Embrace the possibility that you won't get in and use your well directed motivation to pursue a really awsome backup. Note: Louis Pasteur graduated from his undergrad with a grading of "mediocre", with an accent over the "e", of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MEDCOMPSCI Posted July 29, 2001 Report Share Posted July 29, 2001 Hold up for a sec regarding that GPA...what is your weighted GPA according to UofT and Ottawa's requirements? If it is below 3.80, then unless you live in Ottawa you probably will not be granted an interview. That leaves you with one Ontario school, Mac. Mac is a total crapshoot and not enough to bank one's hopes on. What seems strange to me is that a 4yr BSC student only scores 8's on the sciences. Have you taken the pre-req's? I think there may be something serioudly wrong with your test-taking abilities; most people usually can score at least 9-10 on the science parts after taking so many science courses and, in your case, amassing a very good GPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lily Posted July 30, 2001 Report Share Posted July 30, 2001 MedCompsci, I had written the MCAT during 2nd year, not after receiving my BSc degree so it shouldn't seem very strange to you that not everyone in undergrad can score a 10. I admit, my MCAT test-taking abilities are not up to par but thanks for your constructive comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted July 31, 2001 Report Share Posted July 31, 2001 Lily, MEDCOMPSCI might not always be eloquent but he means well. I say write the MCAT again. I believe that somebody with your GPA from UofT can do quite well on the MCAT with the proper training. Maybe next time you should forget Kaplan and take the Princeton Review or something. Most of the schools in Canada have regional preferences so it's harder to get in no matter what your qualifications. I'm going to assume that you are from Ontario but not Ottawa. I'd say that with your GPA, Queens and Western are your best bets. The problem is your MCAT. Then you can score 10s and join me in Queens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MEDCOMPSCI Posted July 31, 2001 Report Share Posted July 31, 2001 Well I must admit that I am not always very PC and 'nice' about things, but I truly try to hlp people whenever I can. I was only trying to point out that it is strange that a student with such a good gpa from a reputable school can not do reasonanbly well on the MCAT science parts. I think that maybe you do need to get away from the pre-course environment and just use whatever techniques you normally use when you write tests, since it has obviously worked before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 31, 2001 Report Share Posted July 31, 2001 Hey Medcompsci, Just a wee word to say that the majority of your factoids (most especially in the UT sector) do help quite a few of us out. Thanks very much for that. ...and as hardworking and determined as you are we know that you're diligently working on the diplomacy and PC-ness, right? Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted August 1, 2001 Report Share Posted August 1, 2001 Yah, what Kirsteen said. I think you're doing a good job, and it's really tough sometimes to guage a person's point of view and intentions from their written words. Thankfully we have smilies now. Ian UBC, Med 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest not rex morgan Posted August 1, 2001 Report Share Posted August 1, 2001 How is your reading speed? I was limited on the MCAT b/c I am a bit of a slow reader. I was told to read the Economist daily to bump it up. I didn't and did ok, but I hear it really helps. I ask b/c I found when I did practice exams, I scored over 90% in all sections if I gave myself even an extra five minutes. Your problem may be as simple as that. Here's another piece of advice that will sound right out there, but I remember it b/c when I was told it, I thought it was stupid. I followed it, and was so grateful I did. Layer your clothes. I told you. Sounds stupid right? I thought I was going to pass out during the first section due to the heat of the 100 year old room I was stuck in. It was so nice to strip between sections. Good luck. (that is, if you're still writing) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted August 1, 2001 Report Share Posted August 1, 2001 Hello, Count me in as part of the not rex morgan camp regarding the Economist reading. Not only is it decent training grounds for the eyes when trying to train them to maintain their momentum with more challenging passages, issue after issue provides completely relevant fodder for the two Writing Sample essays. Don't be unduly put off by the title of the magazine prior to picking it up, as I was, prior to this past June. Although having taken Economics as part of my MBA and liking it, I was not really relishing the thought of replacing my regular, recreational reading with supply and demand curves and the Invisible Hand, both of which I figured would be prominently and often displayed within the Economist's pages. The magazine took me by complete surprise. More akin to a more in-depth Time magazine than a hard-core mathematical economics weekly, its pages are full of interesting current world issues articles, and if you managed to pick up the technology quarterly--wow. The only snag: if you become hooked and lead a fairly active, and busy life, one issue is nearing impossible to digest within one week--make room for the piles. Give it a go, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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