Savac Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 How can you possibly know what will be on the test? If it has more information, it is more likely to cover the contents of your test. The only reason any of the topics are even in those books are because they appeared on a real MCAT. For the record, TPR and TBR provide more information than Kaplan, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orcamute Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 How can you possibly know what will be on the test? If it has more information, it is more likely to cover the contents of your test. The only reason any of the topics are even in those books are because they appeared on a real MCAT. For the record, TPR and TBR provide more information than Kaplan, in my opinion. Your brain can only absorb so much. That is one of the biggest mistakes a student can make prior to writing their MCAT is trying to retain all of the information. You have the Physical Sciences (General Chemistry, Physics), Biological Sciences (Biology, Organic Chemistry), Writing Sample, and Verbal Reasoning..to prep for. That is quite a bit of prep work to get ready for. Regardless, EK gave me a great foundation of knowledge and it is top notch for self studying books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Good morning guys! Good Morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 No writing sample to bother with anymore. That's why I am writing this year (and it gives me a good timeframe to work on a rewrite for next year if necessary, before the big changes in 2015.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Your brain can only absorb so much. That is one of the biggest mistakes a student can make prior to writing their MCAT is trying to retain all of the information. You have the Physical Sciences (General Chemistry, Physics), Biological Sciences (Biology, Organic Chemistry), Writing Sample, and Verbal Reasoning..to prep for. That is quite a bit of prep work to get ready for. Regardless, EK gave me a great foundation of knowledge and it is top notch for self studying books. The writing sample is no longer part of the MCAT. In case you didn't know, the whole MCAT is getting revamped starting in 2015. https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/mcat/mcat2015/ EK is known to give only what you need and nothing more. This is great for some people, not for others. Bottom line, it really doesn't matter that much. Each company will more or less have same stuff and it's going to come down to how much work you put in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orcamute Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehockeykid Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 it seems like the only ppl i know that say they enjoy school (not education) are people that are getting like 60s. imo it is stressful trying to get high marks for med school admissions. i know stress doesn't help but i can't help it, everything i do i want to do my best in to get the best mark possible which is why it is stressful for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orcamute Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 it seems like the only ppl i know that say they enjoy school (not education) are people that are getting like 60s. imo it is stressful trying to get high marks for med school admissions. i know stress doesn't help but i can't help it, everything i do i want to do my best in to get the best mark possible which is why it is stressful for me You should love your undergrad, if you aren't loving your undergrad..you are probably not in the right program. I have always LOVED education and I was always top of the class. I am not overly smart but I try hard and with a good work ethic + a love for learning..you can get pretty damn far. I think as a Medical Doctor, you are vicariously placed as a student for life whether you like it or not. It is your duty to be on top of all the new scientific discoveries and to offer your patients the highest quality of health care possible. If you don't like school, there are many other ways to make big bucks and they don't all equate to needing a fancy degree (let alone a damn M.D degree). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 it seems like the only ppl i know that say they enjoy school (not education) are people that are getting like 60s. imo it is stressful trying to get high marks for med school admissions. i know stress doesn't help but i can't help it, everything i do i want to do my best in to get the best mark possible which is why it is stressful for me I love school and I'm getting mid to high nineties in pretty much everything. That said, I've spent quite a bit of time working too, and school is so, so much more fun than working in retail/food service/call centres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutritionRunner Posted April 23, 2013 Report Share Posted April 23, 2013 it seems like the only ppl i know that say they enjoy school (not education) are people that are getting like 60s. imo it is stressful trying to get high marks for med school admissions. i know stress doesn't help but i can't help it, everything i do i want to do my best in to get the best mark possible which is why it is stressful for me I love school. I always have. All of my marks the past two years have been over 90. Most of the students I know who get 60s hate school - they are just doing what they need to stay in their program (which is a 60 at Guelph) so that they can graduate with their degree and get out of school. Those who are getting 90s all seem to be people, like me, who love school. Even in my first degree, most of my marks were As and A+s. I have a couple of A-/B+/B in there too, but those were during the semesters where I was very ill, ended up needing surgery, and had to drop a couple of courses (and what sparked my interest in medicine in the first place). I love school - I would be a perpetual student if I could. That's one of the things that really appeals to me about either medicine or dietetics - the fact that you always need to be learning and improving your skills. Stress is part of life, it's important to learn how to deal with it appropriately. Either through exercise, relaxation techniques, or other methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehockeykid Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 orcamute, birdy, nutrition runner surprised all of you LOVE school. I see undergrad as an means to an end. I love education but I do not love undergrad (tests, subjective marking, competitiveness, alot of time, uncertainty, etc). I know I am not the only one of my friends who see courses as alot of bs, but take it because it will lighten the course load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 orcamute, birdy, nutrition runner surprised all of you LOVE school. I see undergrad as an means to an end. I love education but I do not love undergrad (tests, subjective marking, competitiveness, alot of time, uncertainty, etc). I know I am not the only one of my friends who see courses as alot of bs, but take it because it will lighten the course load. I'm surrounded by many people who are like me: absolute science nerds. My school is small so I get to know my profs quite well and the classes are relatively small. Compared to being home with two kids - many people enjoy being stay at home parents, but I am not the domestic goddess sort - or working in dead end jobs, this is paradise. No competitiveness that I have encountered, though. That is likely due to the very, very small number of premeds. I'm mentally stimulated, have access to a lot of amazing resources, have plenty of opportunities to check my progress, and get to spend time in labs. What's not to like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quantum Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 orcamute, birdy, nutrition runner surprised all of you LOVE school. I see undergrad as an means to an end. I love education but I do not love undergrad (tests, subjective marking, competitiveness, alot of time, uncertainty, etc). I know I am not the only one of my friends who see courses as alot of bs, but take it because it will lighten the course load. That's how I see undergrad. I enjoy learning things but I don't need all of the other stuff you mentioned. You're forced to take a lot of stuff you have zero interest in and even the stuff you do like, there are parts that aren't interesting of not useful. You have to remember that people might not love the educational part of university but they like social aspect of it. Some of those people are basically there to scrape by with minimal effort and spend 4+ years getting drunk and parting. Those people also love school but for different reasons. The reason we all go through undergrad is so we can get into a career we enjoy or get away from careers that we would not enjoy. It sure as hell beats full-time manual labour and many other alternatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Oh, and if you want competitive, try to get promoted in a call centre. People get crazy when there is a chance to get off the phones and into an admin or coaching position. Cut throat barely begins to describe it. There are far, far worse things than being in a supportive learning atmosphere 40 hours a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhoenixFlare500 Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Oh, and if you want competitive, try to get promoted in a call centre. People get crazy when there is a chance to get off the phones and into an admin or coaching position. Cut throat barely begins to describe it. There are far, far worse things than being in a supportive learning atmosphere 40 hours a week. Trying not to get fired was bad enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted April 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Good morning guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 Good Morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 24, 2013 Report Share Posted April 24, 2013 It's good to see that a1b1 will soon have his MMI @ University of Sherbrooke. If he makes it this cycle, he will shave one year off his undergraduate studies. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Good Morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutritionRunner Posted April 25, 2013 Report Share Posted April 25, 2013 Oh, and if you want competitive, try to get promoted in a call centre. People get crazy when there is a chance to get off the phones and into an admin or coaching position. Cut throat barely begins to describe it. There are far, far worse things than being in a supportive learning atmosphere 40 hours a week. Yep. I mean, I had a good job, was making decent money, but I absolutely hated being behind a desk all day at work, working at a computer. I had job security, decent working conditions, flexible work hours (I was able to take longer lunch hours to go to the gym or to go for a run, except on days I had meetings or other commitments), but I just didn't enjoy spending most of the day at a desk, working on a computer. I know that as a doctor or dietitian I will still have to do administration and paperwork, but I'll also be interacting with people, and doing different things every day. In an ideal world I would go on and get a PhD and end up teaching and doing research at a university - both are things that I love doing. It's possible if I go the dietetics route that might be possible, but realistically, if I do medicine, given my age, it's probably not going to happen. But that's okay. At this point, if I don't get into medicine this year, I'm probably looking at: Finish up dietetics degree this year --> do a combined Masters/Dietetic internship --> work for a few years to pay off student line of credit / contribute to paying off a mortgage on a house --> possibly go back to school for a PhD --> go into research, teaching, whatever Everyone keeps telling me that if I can see myself doing anything other than medicine, then it will be difficult to make it through clerkship and residency. Which is why I'm going to see what happens this year, and, since I can see myself very happy in a career as a dietitian, go that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacrolimus Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Got 94.2% in a course, and it's just an A. I sometimes hate the U of A. Argh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted April 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Good morning guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Good Morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NutritionRunner Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Got 94.2% in a course, and it's just an A. I sometimes hate the U of A. Argh. That sucks. I'm SO glad I go to a university where the marks aren't curved. Three of my four final marks have been posted (one of my courses is double-weighted, so I still have a full course load). Two A+ and one A (and one of the A+ is in the double-weighted course - actual grade is 97, and the other A+ is a 98). My food microbiology course, which was the only one I was worried about, ended up as an 86, so an A. I knew it would be a challenging course, but it was a better to do that than to re-take an introductory microbiology course. Have a good day all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted April 26, 2013 Report Share Posted April 26, 2013 Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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