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When Should I Write The Mcat?


user82829383831

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Hi everyone!

 

I am going into my second year at UBC and trying to wrap my head around when I should be writing the MCAT. I do want to apply after my 3rd year, however I'm not so sure my GPA would be competitive enough (judging from how I did in first year science courses as well as second year courses taken this summer, it'd be somewhere from 79-82), as first year math really brought my average down.

 

1. Would it be better for me to maybe take one/two less courses during my second/third year to ensure I have enough time for courses, such as Ochem/Biochem which are known to be "weeders," or should I stick with a full-course load and try to rack up enough credits to apply in 3rd year even though my gpa would definitely not be on the high-side of the spectrum? Or would you recommend, taking it slow and just waiting until fourth year when I'd have enough credits to be able to "adjust" my gpa by getting rid of my worst year?

 

2. If I were to write the MCAT in second year, would I need to take specific courses in Psych/Soci to further prepare for it? Or would taking MCAT preps / studying on my own be enough without these courses? 

 

Please let me know what you think! Any suggestions / input would seriously be very helpful! :) 

 

 

 

 

 

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Everyone is different, it's hard to say when would be right for you. One thing to keep in mind is that you should absolutely not let the MCAT interfere with your GPA. If you try to force a lot of courses you might not do well in (organic, physics, etc.) at the same time and it hurts your GPA, that would be a lot worse than doing poorly on the MCAT (which you can rewrite) or applying a year later than you thought. That being said, maybe organic is your thing and that isn't an issue. What's hard for some (or most?) isn't always going to be hard for you. Also, keeping a full course-load can open doors in terms of where you can apply, so that's another reason to keep that going unless you think your GPA will plummet as a result.

 

Generally though, you want to give yourself enough time to take the courses that the MCAT draws on since you'll likely be taking them anyway, but that applies more to the sciences than the psych stuff. Most people have these courses done after second year so they can write the MCAT at the end of that summer while it's all still fresh, but it doesn't work out that way for everyone.

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