<p>Would taking the MCAT the summer of my junior year be a bad idea? I've been looking at my schedule, the classes I need to do well on the new mcat, and the prereq's for the classes that my school requires before I can take these classes. From what I can tell, I won't be able to get everything in until the end of my junior year. Is this a bad situation or am I just over thinking?</p>
<p>Also, can someone tell me why it's recommended to take the mcat at the beginning of your junior year other than using the summer to prep/study?</p>
<p>Alright, thank you both! Are either of you familiar with Kaplan test prep courses? Was it good, bad, decent? Do you think I would have time to do the course and keep up with school work?</p>
<p>I did Kaplan tutoring (and then taught at Kaplan as well) and I enjoyed it. Whether or not you can handle it is up to you and your schedule. I was a D1 athlete and fraternity president (at a school with spring rush and pledging) taking a couple graduate school courses my junior spring so adding MCAT on top of my courses was not really an option for me.</p>
<p>The president a couple years after me did it though.</p>
<p>Wow, i’m impressed you taught at Kaplan. Did you enjoy teaching, and if you don’t mind me asking, when did you take the mcat? Senior year or after you graduated?</p>
<p>I liked tutoring more so than teaching but the classroom was still fun. The MCAT is a very interesting test and I loved the people at the center I used so it was a no brainier for me.</p>
<p>I took the MCAT in the summer after junior year since I applied right after graduating the following year.</p>
<p>Was it a voluntary job or did you get paid? It seems like an awesome job to have. As for the applying part, I feel like I may have to do the same thing Is there any harm in applying after you graduate? Can you still get into med school in the fall? That’s what i’m most afraid of, I really don’t want to take a year off haha</p>
<p>I was afraid of that. Maybe I can just cram my classes in and take it the spring of my junior year. Hopefully my adviser is aware of the changes and could help me with my scheduling for the next few year lol</p>
<p>Both my D’s took Kaplan. Both were offer positions as Kaplan instructors and declined the jobs. (Mostly because they could make better $$ working as math & science tutors for college students. Both also had other full-time or more than full-time jobs.)</p>
<p>Your health professions advisor should be full informed about the changes to the MCAT. AMCAS has been sending out information packets and videos to colleges for the past 2 years.</p>
<p>WOWM - Did they enjoy the class? Which course did they take? If you don’t mind me asking that is. </p>
<p>The only thing im afraid of is the prereq’s for certain classes i’ll need. I wont be able to take physics or biochem until junior year. I was sorta hoping to prep the summer of sophomore year and take the mcat early junior year, but i don’t see that happening anymore. I’ll just see what my counselor says and hopefully it’ll work out.</p>
<p>Both took the classroom-based class. Mostly because they wanted a structured weekly setting. D1 took Kaplan because it was the only prep class offered in the town where she lived. D2 took Kaplan because the class schedule fit her personal schedule better than PR. </p>
<p>As for the class itself…the efficacy all depends on the discipline and motivation of the student in doing all the reviews, practice sections and tests.</p>
<p>And enjoy? I don’t think that word applies to this situation. It was a necessary step, so they did it.</p>
<p>My son enrolled in the Princeton Review course and stopped attending the classes mid way, as he felt that the instructors were way too incompetent (they had to replace one mid-stream because of complaints). He simply leveraged their resources (sample tests, access to AAMC tests and so on). They seem to hire mostly recent test takers to teach the course, who themselves lack in-depth understanding of the subject matter. I remember my son telling me how they were making mistake after mistake in the class and were getting flustered every time somebody pointed out their mistakes.</p>
<p>D. took MCAT in May, it was very good time wise. It involved a lot of planning, taking heavier load in first 2 years and somewhat lighter in Junior/ Senior year, but she had such a full plate during school year that many would not be in her position at all. Her schedule required her to start preparing for MCAT in October which is extremely unusual, but one do what she has to and her very busy schedule (a lot of activites outside of academics and 2 minors) called for a longer preparation time.
This is an example, it is possible to adjust to any situation, or apply in next cycle.
BTW, D. took Kaplan and was happy. On the other hand, she gave all of her material / books to her friend, who just used them and never took the class. He was happy with his results also and passed all of them to next person.</p>
<p>Well, both scored quite well on their MCATs, but it had little to do with the course or the teacher and whole more more to do with their willingness to put in the time reviewing and doing practice exams. About the only benefit to the course is that it offered each some test taking strategies thay may not have discovered for themselves.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with taking the MCAT in June/July/August of your junior year, as long as you know that you must apply the summer after you graduate. My DD made that choice, she needed the summer to study and prepare for it. She knew that she would have a ‘glide year’ and in the end was very glad to have had that time to do other things. In her case, she had done no research and took a full time research assistant job at a university. She was exposed to a great deal of medical ‘stuff’, was able to include her senior 4.0 GPA in her application and, as she attended a huge state school, she needed those senior classes to connect well with profs and get strong LORs.</p>
<p>For my DD it worked perfectly, though we had not realised that at the time. But others found that going directly into med school was perfect for them. There is no one right or best way. My DD appreciated the break from school, the clarity she gained knowing that, yes, she did want to get back into an academic environment meant very little whining about the workload in med school.</p>
<p>Yes, I agree, if there is any opportunities and there is no choice, gap year is perfect. As my D. ponted out, she would not know what to do, she never could find anything in our hometown, had to have all of her ECs during school year, she made sure to apply in junior year.<br>
Correct, everybody is in a very different situation.</p>
<p>Oh, my DD did not do her glide year in our home, she moved to a far away city to pursue the activity and location of her choice. One thing about the glide year, depending on your activity, it could make secondaries and interviews easier or more complex, depending on the job, the location, etc.</p>
Is there any harm in applying after you graduate? Can you still get into med school in the fall? That’s what i’m most afraid of, I really don’t want to take a year off haha</p>