<p>D realizes that taking the test in May means she can send in her applications to Med schools in June. But taking it in June will give her a few more weeks to study the MCAT material. Is June 21st too late to take the test? Will that be too much of a disadvantage?</p>
<p>It depends how she feels. D. was misearable for 2 weeks before MCAT and wished she scheduled it earlier, she said it was a waste of time as she had to go over material over and over to keep it fresh without learning anything new. She took it in May and applied relatively early. She had been notified of acceptance to 2 Med. Schools on the first day when they are allowed to send acceptances, Oct. 16 right after midnight, it was a great relief to have them that early.
However, if your D. feels that she could use 3 more weeks, then why not June 21st?</p>
<p>The thing that sucks about June 21: A June 21 date means scores in mid/end of July, which means if she wants to retake, the August and September dates might be filled by then (with students who are retaking from April/May dates).</p>
<p>If she doesn’t get the score she wants, will she retake and still apply (assuming an improvement)? Or, would she rather wait a year, put some distance between her application and her first (poorer) score, and apply next cycle?</p>
<p>I think there are pros and cons to both, one glaring one being “What will I do with that year?”</p>
<p>If she’s set on applying this cycle, taking it in May so that she has the chance to retake if necessary is the route I would go. </p>
<p>Is she taking a prep class? If so, I’d take it <2wks after finishing that class. The whole point of the course is to give her the skills, discipline, and resources necessary to master the test (in theory, at least…). By the time her class is over, she’ll likely be so exhausted by all the studying she’s been doing that she won’t want to continue studying for another month on her own anyway. Sure it’s nice to have a little extra time to review, but quite frankly, she’ll be reviewing so much while she’s preparing that the extra time probably won’t matter (and might even hurt her, if she’s no longer “on her A game” that she was on at the end of the course). </p>
<p>In the end, I’d trust in the prep. And personally, I always advocate taking it as early as possible for 2 reasons: 1) you have the opportunity to retest if necessary 2) should it go well, you didn’t have to spend that extra month studying/in agony, and can focus on the next step (actually applying!)</p>