<p>i am a sophomore and i was just wondering...</p>
<p>when is the best time to start filling out your AMCAS? how does that process actually work out?</p>
<p>when should i start studying for the MCAT?</p>
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<p>if you’re applying for entrance to the class of 2011 then May 2010</p>
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<p>3-8 months before you take it</p>
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<p>Like Shraf said, you fill out AMCAS the year before you expect to matriculate into medical school. The new AMCAS application opens every May, at which point you can fill everything out and submit all of your transcripts (and now your LORs to the new AMCAS LOR service). You can’t submit until early June (dates vary depending on how on top of its **** AMCAS is - this year it was June 2nd), but as long as you submit within the first few weeks, your app will go to schools in the first batch.</p>
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<p>Here I gotta disagree with Shraf. I think two months of serious studying is just fine (maybe 3 if you really need to review). More than that and you’ll burn yourself out. Studying for the MCAT sucks enough as it is - no need to draw it out and torture yourself.</p>
<p>i know people who study a week for the mcat and pull off a 35+ so uh 3-8 months is excessive</p>
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<p>ok i’ll give you guys that…i took the MCAT on paper when it was only twice a year so if you were taking it in april you had to balance studying with classes and thus had to spread it out more. i guess that has changed now that you can take the MCAT at a time when you don’t have to worry about schoolwork as well.</p>
<p>do you know the mcat dates?</p>
<p>No, but the AAMC does…</p>
<p>[2009</a> MCAT Exam Schedule - MCAT - AAMC](<a href=“http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/reserving/mcatschedule.htm]2009”>Register for the MCAT® Exam | Students & Residents)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/282027-timing-alert.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/282027-timing-alert.html</a></p>
<p>how many times can you take the mcat? do you have to report all scores too?</p>
<p>I believe you can take the MCAT three times - after that, you need a “permission slip” of sorts. However, you should take the MCAT once and only once. Multiple takes will send up red flags when your application is reviewed. All scores will be seen by adcoms, and as a very general rule of thumb, adcoms will give the most weight to your lowest score.</p>
<p>The permission slip rule for >3 MCAT might have been abolished although it’s a good idea nonetheless to not take it so many times.</p>
<p>Yeah the 3 times rule is gone. You can take the test as many times as you want, but only 3 times per calendar year. </p>
<p>However, taking it more than twice is seen as a really bad thing (i.e. you need to fix whatever you did wrong the first time and get it right the second time). Taking it more than three times is pretty much worthless as you’ve proven that either you aren’t smart enough to do well or that you don’t learn from your mistakes, neither of which med schools look kindly on. The only exception to this might be if you took it more than 3 years ago and need to take it again to have a current score with which to apply.</p>
<p>And all scores are reported to med schools when you apply - you don’t have a choice in which ones get released. You can, however, void your test at the end before you leave the test center. There is a screen before you finally submit your test that asks if you want to void it. If you void, its as if you never took the exam - it is not scored or show up on applications.</p>