<p>well actually i am not at all like her. that was just an example of Indian people's obsession with high ranked colleges. </p>
<p>My parents don't care infact they believe UCLA is perfect for me.</p>
<p>now that i read it over i agree i sound like an obsessive idiot, and yeah if you think about it a hravard degree doesn't really make a difference, </p>
<p>but i think i sounded like that cuz i got rejected harvard and eight other schools , all ivies and stanford and berkeley, about a week ago and am still a little bitter from that, but i am pretty resilient and i know i will be over it soon. If i tell you that i am just high school senior, you would say that i am just bieng idiotic and i shouldn't even be on this forum, cuz i got four years ahead of me before i have to worry about this. and i would agree.</p>
<p>So basically i just took my rejection a little personally and want to prove(just to myself) that i am worth harvard. I have never held on to something like this for more than a month in the past so i am pretty sure i will forget about this.</p>
<p>But then again aiming for harvard for undergrad got me into UCLA one of the best colleges, my schools alumni have attended only after berkeley, so i just think aiming for it again would get me into someplace good again. So yeah i sound really obsessive but its just a phase, and i am not really emotionally disturbed.
well thanks for kind of helping get over it, you guys really made me think about it so thanks.</p>
<p>I am glad to see your resilience at work! Remember, high-powered medical schools are only necessary for academic medicine - and even then, medicine in general is a very specific calling.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your admission to UCLA. It was the only UC I would ever have considered going to.</p>
<p>I, too, was rejected (well, waitlisted) by my top eight choices four years ago. College has been really wonderful.</p>
<p>I look forward to seeing you on the premed boards in a year or two, should you decide to be a premed. (There's no need to wait until you're actually in the admissions process!)</p>
<p>i have to be a premed, thats cuz of parental pressure.</p>
<p>But i enjoy science so pressure isn't the only driving force. </p>
<p>but i htink i will still be visting this board at least weekly, because a lot of people say just getting into a med school is an accomplishment and i don't want to try to do things on my own like in high school, so i an gonna preeeepare now and set a path so i can enjoy and still be succesfull in undergrad college.</p>
<p>also i don't know what speciality i would chose yet, right now i am thinking neuro surgeon, so if i go through with that i can't exactly do private practice i am gonna need a job, so would a prestigious name become a factor in that case?????????????</p>
<p>1.) Enjoying science is not enough of a justification for being a premed! After all, that might also send you, say, to a PhD. The key is that you have to want to deal with sick people.</p>
<p>2.) I am about to enter medical school, and people STILL tell me it is too early to pick a specialty - so needless to say, do not get too attached to any particular specialty yet.</p>
<p>Generally they say you will be in the best position to make an informed decision about your specialty towards the end of your third year in medical school.</p>
<p>3.) Private practice simply means that you are not a professor - it does not in any way imply that you do not work out of a hospital, etc. Many neurosurgeons are indeed private practice doctors.</p>
<p>Again, to emphasize: unless you plan on working as a medical school professor (i.e. "academic medicine") and doing the research that accompanies that (as I tentatively am), the prestigious name does not matter.</p>
<p>where are you going to med school bluedevil.</p>
<p>oh and i ended up deciding to do the kaplan course over the summer while i take physics, it'll be a summer from hell but i want to take the last pencil and paper mcat, and be free all junior year, and maybe go abroad</p>
<p>I remember I took one of those Kapalan courses for the SAT's. In all honesty it wasn't that helpful because it was a large class while the teacher read straight from their "teacher's edition" without really explaining anything. Anyone know if their MCAT classes are actually worth the few thousand $$$?</p>
<p>I'm biased because I work for Kaplan, but I also took the class. Without the class, I wouldn't have scored high enough to teach for Kaplan, and I probably wouldn't be in medical school (my MCAT really made up for below average grades).</p>
<p>A lot about the class depends on your attitude going in, and how you instructors are.</p>
<p>With the MCAT going to computer, Kaplan might become more valuable as they have many strategies for taking computer based tests...little tricks and tactics that can help you navigate an unfamiliar testing method.</p>
<p>The MCAT is a very prep-sensitive test, in my opinion, and Kaplan really puts intense analysis and resources at your disposal. It sounds like you had an exceptionally poor teacher for the SAT portion.</p>
<p>Hmm Guess last time I went into my local Kaplan center, I thought I saw the MCAT course for about $3,000 but I obviously mis-read that poster board. Well since the course is in the Summer, does that indicate that one should take in the summer leading to junior year? I'm trying to time it like the SAT's where you take it during summer or during Junior year, take SAT during second semester of junior year and apply to med school in senior year. Or does it work differently for med school? BTW is the MCAT being shifted to computer only or is it optional? =)</p>
<p>You need to wait to take the MCAT until you've completed the following: </p>
<p>1 year Gen Chem
1 year Organic
1 year biology
1 year physics </p>
<p>as these are "supposed" to be all the prep you need for the test. So for most people that is going to be second semester Jr. year (as prior to 2007 when it goes computer, the only times to take it were April and August).</p>
<p>Now, I would reccomend that you throw in Biochem and genetics for a solid background set of science. Biology is the most heavily tested of all the subjects, and genetics and molecular bio are becoming more heavily emphasized each year. Biochem is a good integration of the biology and chemistry.</p>
<p>With the move to CBT, there are going to be nearly 20 three day windows throughout the year during which you can take the exam. So you'll have a lot more freedom in which to choose when to take it.</p>
<p>I reccomend that you take the test at the time when you can get the best score. For me that was August before my SENIOR year (I actually submitted my primary application w/o knowing my MCAT score). That way the only thing I had on my plate at the time was the MCAT. I had friends who took it in April who had a Biochem test on Thursday before the Saturday test. Some of my Kaplan students have a test the day before the MCAT - one girl has two tests that friday. YIKES!</p>
<p>Kaplan is better than the Princeton Review because they guarantee a higher score and you can take the course again if you don't feel ready for the test, or you don't score higher than your baseline score, or if you're just unhappy with your score - regardless of how much you improved (even if you got like a 35). TPR doesn't allow that, or at least didn't the last time I checked.</p>
<p>I disagree with bluedevilmike's #2 ....though the prep course is good, it wont prepare you that well...the mcat rewards conceptual understanding which usually comes from prolonged exposure to the material IMO and the prep course only acts as a review.</p>
<p>This is why I'd not recommend this for any class other than physics. The physics on the MCAT is absurd - far below college-level (no calculus) and can be learned easily over a few days if you took any in HS.</p>
<p>Red, I'm going to have to disagree with you on the timing thing here. If you are taking an MCAT which is going to delay your applications, you have to remember that med schools are on rolling admissions. By the time they received your MCAT scores, red, they'd given away a large propotion of their spots already. That put you at a huge disadvantage - fortunately your score came back high, to help you out again.</p>