<p>Time for the next year discussions to start!</p>
<p>So no one planning to apply next summer?</p>
<p>Good luck! My DS is applying this year (2014-2015). It is going to be interesting to read this thread, since the new MCAT will kick in and it will be interesting to see how it it effects the process!</p>
<p>texaspg</p>
<p>I remember when I started the 2012-2013 thread. There often were…crickets. But, then it took off. </p>
<p>(seems like a long time ago…DS is now a MS2)</p>
<p>What I love about this forum and these threads is how high an acceptance rate we have with posters/poster’s kids. Amazing. Maybe it’s because we alert each other of possible missteps and encourage early apps. </p>
<p>Awesome</p>
<p>My D will be applying next summer. I have been waiting for this thread to start. I sometimes go days and days without being on CC, then all of a sudden I am on it for hours. I just noticed this thread now, I am glad you started it @texaspg D will be graduating from Tulane next May, then taking a year off to work and focus on applications, interviews, etc. She is in Cuba right now without reliable internet access, so I may not have much to offer the conversation until December when she gets home.</p>
<p>Since the new MCAT requires Biochem, I would imagine my D would not complete the course until the end of Dec.2015, which is Fall semester of her junior year(she is a sophomore now), the earliest time she can apply would probably be in Spring 2016, Is the time frame right? How early she should register for test site and date before exam? we are in NJ. Thank you.</p>
<p>When is she graduating?</p>
<p>The application cycle starts in June of 2015 for students who want to start medical school in 2016. Spring of 2016 test taking will move her to 2017 fall start date.</p>
<p>Thanks texaspg, I think she would be in 2016-17 cycle.</p>
<p>My D will be applying next summer as well. She took the MCAT in August because she was already planning a gap year. She will be doing a research fellowship in the interim that she is very excited about. I’m so new at this… Rad through the 2013-14 thread and it scares the crap out of me. Hoping to learn along the way because asking her questions stresses her out!</p>
<p>I may be applying, but have yet to decide. I’m currently teaching high school, and may choose to stay in education if I decide I love it enough. I’m also currently doing a masters in education, so when that finishes may also be a factor in when/if I choose to apply.</p>
<p>Moonpie, if you are stressed now…just wait! Medschool applications makes UG apps seem like kindergarten! 
</p>
<p>Great for your son, momworried. Now you have 1 less thing to worry about!</p>
<p>@momworried - Congratulations to your son! Looks like his weaker area is VR? BS at 12 seems respectable although the test sounded quite hard.</p>
<p>Is he happy with it or does he want to retry?</p>
<p>“…does he want to retry?”
With all due respect texaspg, a retry after earning a 36 with above subscores would be a big red flag and make adcoms seriously call into question an applicant’s judgment and state of mind. </p>
<p>momworried: if my S had earned that score he wouldn’t have walked away from that score merely beyond excited, he would have done back flips for a month.Congrats to your S.</p>
<p>@texaspg, he’s very happy with the score and will not retake. I think you have to be a little crazy to retake a 36. Lol. He’s VS is a little low but from what everyone on this thread said is as long as it’s 10 and higher it’s ok. I did the LizzyM chart for him. I know it’s out of date but just wanted to get an idea. Couple of schools came up with “verbal score low” msg: Harvard, mount Sinai, Johns Hopkins , and WashU But there are plenty others left. On practice tests his verbal was usually 11 or 12. Verbal was always his weakest point even with the SATs. He grew up with immigrant parents and didn’t speak any English until 3. So essentially English was his 2nd language. </p>
<p>I do want to ask everyone what to do next though. Now that he has his score and knows his GPA up to now, how does he compile a list of schools? He’ll make an appointment with prehealth advisor soon but I don’t think she’ll just hand him the list. Is there an official place where you can plug in your stats and it will give you a list of reaches, targets, and safeties? I like to start doing research now so if there are any classes he needs to take for a particular med school he can do that starting next spring. </p>
I moved some of the posts to this thread from MCAT thread since it will be part of ongoing discussion about colleges. Momworried’s son has a split of 10 (VR), 14 (PS) and 12 (BS).
<p>No such thing exists for matching stats to a school list. He’s on his own for developing a list of schools. One important thing to remember is that there is no such thing as a “safety” when it comes to med school admissions.</p>
<p>His pre-health advisor will know where students from his college have been successful in the past, but you’re right, the advisor won’t simply hand him a list of schools. He needs to do his own research.</p>
<p>The best place to start is with the MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements), it’s a e-book published annually by AMCAS and it will list the 10% and 90% percentiles for each school’s MCAT and GPA for accepted students. It will also list required coursework. The book should be available thru his college library, or he can purchase 1 year’s access from AMCAS for $29.95. He might also consider buying access to the US News Graduate Compass–this offers information about in-state vs. OOS interviews & acceptances as well as stats of matriculated students. (Accepted student stats are not necessarily the same as matriculated student stats.) Graduate Compass is $30 for 1 year’s access.</p>
<p>$60 isn’t really a lot when you look at the total cost of applying to med school-which can easily run between $5-10K per cycle.</p>
<p>@momworried - Have you looked into the state schools for your state and checked the requirements?</p>
<p>Other than MSAR/school’s websites, there is no official place to plug in scores as school’s tend to use the phrase “holistic review” (aka they look at entire app) in reviewing applications. Just using GPA/MCAT numbers is a main flaw of Lizzy formula as it overlooks other make or break application subjective components (ECs, LORs, secondaries, interviews, PS) and these components don’t fit nicely into plug in formulas. Good luck and again congrats to S on his MCAT score.</p>