How early is "early"?

<p>(I had a previous thread in the section, but it got deleted for some mysterious reason...)</p>

<p>So I'm going to be a senior in High school and I was thinking about how I should prepare for the MCAT's. </p>

<p>I've looked around in the threads and saw that others are planning on preparing early as well, but I want to know what people who already took the MCATs would recommend preparing right now.</p>

<p>As for science, I've already taken AP Physics B while self studying AP Chemistry and AP Biology on my own, earning a 3, 4, and a 5 respectively.</p>

<p>Should I focus on the reasoning and writing sections right now?</p>

<p>You should enjoy summer and worry about MCATs once you’re in college…</p>

<p>… But then that would be letting this opportunity go to waste… :/</p>

<p>I understand that you want to be prepared and ready for it. Believe me I want to go into business (eventually get a MBA) and I thought about studying for the GMAT, but that was merely a thought.</p>

<p>From friends and family members who I’ve talked to most of them said they studied 1-2 months in the summer after their sophomore year in college. They respectively went to UCLA, Johns Hopkins, UCSF, WUSTL, and Stanford for medical school.</p>

<p>AvidStudent, that isn’t a very helpful suggestion…I also have questions on how early should we be starting to prepare and plan for MCATs and eventually medical education. I’m a rising senior in high school so it is early for me but nevertheless pre-med programs have certain requirements on what kind of courses you need to take and what not, as well as a minimum score on the MCAT exams.</p>

<p>Medical school will require a lot of preparation and planning, so it would be highly helpful if someone would explain it more clearly. Business and medical schools have similar GENERAL requirements, but SPECIFIC requirements are not as high…</p>

<p>It’s easier to go into business even without a complete education, but medical training is much more complicated than that and requires extensive commitment, including a complete education.</p>

<p>Well, you should wait until you have finished at least most of the college courses at the very least. More than 6 months of MCAT prep is only going to be a waste of time relative to the other activities you could be doing. 2-3 months is about right. Studying before college is silly, do something that is at least moderately valuable like volunteering and research.</p>

<p>Honestly, if you have to start studying this early to get an MCAT score viable for medical admissions you are going to fail out. Pre-med and college can be exciting and scary, but they aren’t as bad as I think you are imagining for a qualified student.</p>

<p>Study for the MCATs 3 months before you take them. Please dont start studying in highschool or freshman year college - your neuroticism will take over your life and will become apparent on your primaries, secondaries, and your med school interview.</p>

<p>And from what I’ve heard, studying in high school or as a freshman is simply a waste of time because you most likely haven’t learned enough of the material that’s on the test.</p>

<p>I’m a freshman in a community college and I was obsessing over the same thing simply because I didn’t want to be at a disadvantage as a community college student. So, I looked up some sample questions online and I personally know I had no clue what a lot of that material was considering I just haven’t taken the covered courses as a first semester college student.</p>

<p>OP,</p>

<p>It is worthwhile to do a self evaluation using your SAT CR per the following link:</p>

<p>[Improving</a> MCAT Verbal Ability](<a href=“http://www.unmc.edu/Community/ruralmeded/model/preprof/improving_mcat_verbal_ability.htm]Improving”>http://www.unmc.edu/Community/ruralmeded/model/preprof/improving_mcat_verbal_ability.htm)</p>

<p>I may add that if you will major in humanities, you may need to do something if your SAT CR is <650.</p>

<p>If you are going to major in science, you should start working on your VR if your SAT is < 750 since your competitors in humanities will improve a lot from taking the college courses.</p>