anaelle23 Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Hi, Here is my situation: I have juste completed a bachelor in civil engineering (5 years) at university of Ottawa. I have done the CEGEP in the past. Now I want to apply for McMaster for 2014. I didn't take the MCAT yet, and there is no way I could do it on september because i wont have time to study and I know nothing about it. But McMaster only look at the verbal reasoning part. Should I register for the MCAT of september 12 and just prepare the verbal reasoning part ? And forget about the rest (i don't have time and I'm out on august) ? Because I only apply to 3 universities, and the 2 others (northern and ottawa) doesn't look at my MCAT. I'm just scared about the fact that they could be influence if they see my creepy marks in biology/physics on OMSAS (even if they pretend not to look at it)........what do you think ? I have a lot of extra-curriculum and my gpa is 3.4. Do I have a chance ? Or should I forget about McMaster ? Thanks a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguin92 Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Mac doesnt look at EC's. With a 3.4, its definitely an uphill climb. You will need atleast 11 on verbal and a VERY good casper to get an interview. They dont care abt the other sections. I think someone on this forum has gotten in having only written verbal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalab Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 Hi, Here is my situation: I have juste completed a bachelor in civil engineering (5 years) at university of Ottawa. I have done the CEGEP in the past. Now I want to apply for McMaster for 2014. I didn't take the MCAT yet, and there is no way I could do it on september because i wont have time to study and I know nothing about it. But McMaster only look at the verbal reasoning part. Should I register for the MCAT of september 12 and just prepare the verbal reasoning part ? And forget about the rest (i don't have time and I'm out on august) ? Because I only apply to 3 universities, and the 2 others (northern and ottawa) doesn't look at my MCAT. I'm just scared about the fact that they could be influence if they see my creepy marks in biology/physics on OMSAS (even if they pretend not to look at it)........what do you think ? I have a lot of extra-curriculum and my gpa is 3.4. Do I have a chance ? Or should I forget about McMaster ? Thanks a lot You should most definitely apply. Have a strong sense of yourself when writing CASPer. Honestly if you don't get invited for an interview, there's always next year. You should most definitely apply because I know several people who got into McMaster with your profile - I think if anything McMaster used to have a reputation for recruiting students with a nontraditional background. Not sure if that's still true. Either way you should apply - since a 20% chance is still higher than a 0% chance of getting in. I also had a low-ish GPA, and I was out of province (somehow they like in-province, that's what I read on here at least), but I think I did well on CASPer & that must have been my door opener. Good luck! CASPer is all psychological imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 OK! Thank you! And can you tell me how to prepare: 1) The Verbal Reasoning for MCAT 2) The CASPER ? Thanks, Ana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalab Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 How much time do you have to prep for VR? For CASPer, I prep'ed almost zero. I meditated a bit and looked over my CV and thought about "my life" and my principles and my philosophy and reasoning on doctoring. There is practice material in this forum I think, and someone used to have a really great link for it. I thought it was future_doc but I am pretty sure I'm mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 How much time do you have to prep for VR? For CASPer, I prep'ed almost zero. I meditated a bit and looked over my CV and thought about "my life" and my principles and my philosophy and reasoning on doctoring. There is practice material in this forum I think, and someone used to have a really great link for it. I thought it was future_doc but I am pretty sure I'm mistaken. http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48582 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have 10 days to prepare the Verbal Reasoning. Is it enough ? How much time do you have to prep for VR? For CASPer, I prep'ed almost zero. I meditated a bit and looked over my CV and thought about "my life" and my principles and my philosophy and reasoning on doctoring. There is practice material in this forum I think, and someone used to have a really great link for it. I thought it was future_doc but I am pretty sure I'm mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlurstOfTimes Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 I have 10 days to prepare the Verbal Reasoning. Is it enough ? Have you signed up to take the MCAT yet? It sounds like you're still deciding so I would guess that you haven't... if that's the case, you should double check that there are spots available before worrying about anything else. These things usually fill up pretty far in advance, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 OK I didn't find any sits for september MCAT...But just to know for the future...how much time do you need to prepare the verbal reasoning part ? About 1 week, 1 month... ? Thanks a lot Have you signed up to take the MCAT yet? It sounds like you're still deciding so I would guess that you haven't... if that's the case, you should double check that there are spots available before worrying about anything else. These things usually fill up pretty far in advance, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlurstOfTimes Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 OK I didn't find any sits for september MCAT...But just to know for the future...how much time do you need to prepare the verbal reasoning part ? About 1 week, 1 month... ? Thanks a lot I think it depends on the person to be honest. It's hard for me to say because I studied for everything all at once - e.g. in a typical week I'd spend a day each on Bio, Physics, and Chem, with some practice questions and Verbal practice thrown in there. That being said, I actually stopped spending time on Verbal after a few weeks because I found I was getting good scores in it already. However I know a lot of people who found that they needed to work on Verbal for longer than that in order to master it. It all depends on the person, really. The best thing for you to do would be to try a practice test (AAMC offers a free practice MCAT online, or you could try some passages from the ExamKrackers 101 Passages in Verbal Reasoning book) and see how you score. That should give you an idea of how much work it will take for you personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thank you BlurstOfTimes ! Your help is appreciated Do you think that the Verbal Reasoning part is the hardest part of the MCAT ? Somme people say yes I think it depends on the person to be honest. It's hard for me to say because I studied for everything all at once - e.g. in a typical week I'd spend a day each on Bio, Physics, and Chem, with some practice questions and Verbal practice thrown in there. That being said, I actually stopped spending time on Verbal after a few weeks because I found I was getting good scores in it already. However I know a lot of people who found that they needed to work on Verbal for longer than that in order to master it. It all depends on the person, really. The best thing for you to do would be to try a practice test (AAMC offers a free practice MCAT online, or you could try some passages from the ExamKrackers 101 Passages in Verbal Reasoning book) and see how you score. That should give you an idea of how much work it will take for you personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 OK I see! And since you didn,t have any background in medical subjects (like me), how did you prepare for these sections ? With books like this one ?: http://www.amazon.com/Examkrackers-Passages-MCAT-Verbal-Reasoning/dp/1893858553 Thanks Again, I think it depends on the person. For me, it was the easiest part; I found Biology and Orgo to be the hardest because I didn't have any background in those subjects. But I've talked to lots of other people who thought Verbal was the hardest part, so there's no way to really know how it will be for you until you try it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaelle23 Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 ok thank you I used the ExamKrackers books (and loosely followed the home study schedule they suggest on their website), and supplemented them by watching videos on Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org) for the subjects where I had little or no background - in my case, I watched the Chem, Bio, and Orgo videos prior to starting the ExamKrackers books, and then referred back to the videos from time to time when I felt like the books weren't giving me enough information. Aside from that, I did all of the AAMC practice exams, which were incredibly helpful - I'd highly recommend doing as many of them as possible once you feel like you have a pretty good handle on the information. Overall, those sources covered everything I needed to know in order to do well on the MCAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 Hi, Here is my situation: I have juste completed a bachelor in civil engineering (5 years) at university of Ottawa. I have done the CEGEP in the past. Now I want to apply for McMaster for 2014. I didn't take the MCAT yet, and there is no way I could do it on september because i wont have time to study and I know nothing about it. But McMaster only look at the verbal reasoning part. Should I register for the MCAT of september 12 and just prepare the verbal reasoning part ? And forget about the rest (i don't have time and I'm out on august) ? Because I only apply to 3 universities, and the 2 others (northern and ottawa) doesn't look at my MCAT. I'm just scared about the fact that they could be influence if they see my creepy marks in biology/physics on OMSAS (even if they pretend not to look at it)........what do you think ? I have a lot of extra-curriculum and my gpa is 3.4. Do I have a chance ? Or should I forget about McMaster ? Thanks a lot Unless you have a ridiculous upward trend, your wGPA will be below the cutoff for Ottawa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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