pendulum29 Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 This is my first summer of my second undergrad, and I am rewriting MCAT in August. But since I want to build on my ECs as well, I have in mind a number of activities that I wish to engage myself in, such as... - part-time job (well this isn't so much for ECs as for meeting my basic financial needs. If I work as much as I did last summer at the same job, I will be working nearly 30 hours/week.) - athletic team (we have a competition in the summer so I will be training for 4 hours/week.) - keep volunteering at the hospital I've been volunteering (3 hours/week, but due to commute it's more like 5 hours/week. This is the most likely activity I can sacrifice as l can withdraw from volunteering over the summer and come back in fall) - possibly a volunteer position in research/lab (maximum of 8 hours/week, but I haven't found a supervisor yet) - shadowing a physician (maybe once a week for a few weeks) ...on top of 40 hours/week of rigorous MCAT studying. Apart from that, I intend to jog in the morning everyday, I would be doing house chores (this one I don't intend lol), getting involved in church activities, etc etc. Do you think I can fit everything in this summer? Should I prioritize MCAT and allow less time for other activities? It's a dilemma as I have to boost up my MCAT scores AND build solid ECs for reference letters. What do you think? Any input/recommendation is welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeb88 Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Your schedule seems pretty ambitious, but it all depends on what you can handle and how comfortable you are with the material. Have you written it previously? I don't recommend taking on too much while prepping for the MCAT. I was working part time and taking a prep course the first time I wrote, and I burned out very quickly. I'm in the same boat as you right now. This is my first summer of my 2nd undergrad, and I have an August 10th MCAT date. Unfortunately, I need to take 3 compressed courses from May 7 - June 26. During this time I won't get much time to prep for the MCAT or take on too many extracurriculars. July will be spent studying for the MCAT as much as I possibly can. Best of luck this summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pendulum29 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 Your schedule seems pretty ambitious, but it all depends on what you can handle and how comfortable you are with the material. Have you written it previously? I don't recommend taking on too much while prepping for the MCAT. I was working part time and taking a prep course the first time I wrote, and I burned out very quickly. I'm in the same boat as you right now. This is my first summer of my 2nd undergrad, and I have an August 10th MCAT date. Unfortunately, I need to take 3 compressed courses from May 7 - June 26. During this time I won't get much time to prep for the MCAT or take on too many extracurriculars. July will be spent studying for the MCAT as much as I possibly can. Best of luck this summer! LOL Yes, it DOES seem pretty ambitious now that I look at it laid out like that. I admit I felt anxious that I have to take up a lot of ECs. But it's so hard to decide which one to give up....... I feel like I need all of them to make my summer fulfilled. And I can't compromise work as I need $$$! As a response to the first commenter, I plan to apply to all schools in Ontario, but after second year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simpy Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 What do you think? Any input/recommendation is welcome! I dunno. I had a pretty brutal summer when I wrote the MCAT. Worked full time (45 hrs/week), volunteered x3 a week at a nursing home (~5hrs/week), and took an MCAT course (~10 hrs/week + 5 hrs/week homework) and wrote and evaluated my performance on a full MCAT every weekend (~6 hrs/week). I was also best man at a friend's wedding so had to plan bachelor party etc, and was out of town for two other weddings (so had to catch up). It was a brutal summer and I had a little burnout going back to finish my last year of my second degree in the fall. And it seems LESS than what you want to do. I probably could have handled more (i.e. volunteering in a lab on my Sundays), but I'd probably have suffered and my work in everything above would've been worse. Wouldn't have been worth it. Just remember that sometimes less is more. Don't completely load up your plate and get into a situation where you're compromising your MCAT (or worse, your mental health). I mean, where is your time to hang out with family and friends? If you have a good balance, you can take on way more than you can without it. Just make sure you leave the time you need to find that balance. I would probably drop one of your activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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