<p>September is very late. Schools are already issuing interview invitations in early October. They won’t even have read your application yet. Med schools generally read applications in the order received and yours will be on the very bottom of the pile. </p>
<p>Also remember that once you’ve submitted to AMCAS, your application has to be verified before it’s forwarded on to your schools. And that takes time–anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks–assuming all your transcripts have already arrived and you haven’t made any errors in transcribing your credits onto your app…</p>
you should consider you pre-med advisor recommendations, (D. considered the ones that were within her personal criteria).
some people consider cost, others do not - again your / your family preference
Usually people apply to wide range of schools
U of Chicago is looking for some mysterious qualities that most people do not understand. However, if you are applying to U of Chicago, might as well apply to Northwestern. Again, if you are applying to Northwestern, might as well apply to Case Western, they seem to accept the same people. However, most people love Chicago and hate Cleveland. On the other hand, opposite was true for my D. Point #6 might not hold for everybody though.<br>
So, reading from above, you might conclude that you are primary creator of your list (very true!!)</p>
<p>My kid did the MCAT studying in the summer after junior year and took the MCAT in August, that is what worked for her. As soon as she made that choice she knew she would be applying the summer after graduation, no sense wasting time, money & effort applying with an August MCAT. For you it would likely be the same. You need to know your MCAT by May/June of the summer you apply. This can work well if your grades are on an upward trend and you want to include senior grades, if you need more time to connect with profs for LORs, if you want a gap year-perhaps for research, or maybe just to have a year of not studying & not being in the academic grist mill before embarking on the next 8 or so years of medical intensity.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with a gap year if that is what works for you.</p>
<p>“There is nothing wrong with a gap year if that is what works for you.” </p>
<p>-Except, OP has indicated that “I don’t want to take a gap year.” If person who did not want to take a gap year, is forced to do so, then taking a gap year is wrong.<br>
I have indicated in some other posts that my D. took MCAT right after spring finals (2 weeks later.) The only regret she had was that she did not schedule it earlier, like few days after finals. It worked for her wonderfully, she said that material from last classes was very fresh in her memory from preparing for finals. She took very long MCAT prep. class, starting in Oct. because of her very busy schedule, despite the fact that she had lighter academic schedule of about 16 hrs during Junior year. </p>
<p>So, what works for one will not work for another. We also told our D., NO gap year, because of our specific considerations, but she did not care to have it anyway.
You have to assess, consider and discuss your specifics with your pre-med advisor and your parents. We are all in different situation here and I would not want to steer you into direction that is not appropriate in your case.</p>
In our case, we told DS even in sophomore year (after he had completed most of his prereqs): We prefer that you will have a gap year if (this is a big if) you do go into the medicine. The main reason is that we know he will likely need that much of time to decide whether he will really like to go into that career path. We are right: He almost decided not to take MCAT at the last minute after the prep course (and then postpone his test taking for almost a full year while trying to figure out whether this career path is really good for him.)</p>
<p>Many boys just need more time to “grow up” and really know what is a good fit for them. The parents just need to be really patient until they make their decision. There are multiple roads to Rome.</p>
<p>Another funny thing (I could not tell if it is “immature” or he is more level-headed than his parents?) is that, after we had paid tuitions for a few years for the expensive private, he said to us the biggest reason why he enjoys going to his school is only the buzzing EC activities he participated in the eveings. He could do just as well at a local state school academically. Go figure!</p>
<p>Wow thanks for all the replies. I will be taking 16 credit hours for fall, I might just have to take 14 credit hours for the winter and I might take a prep course then. I will still contemplate my options after talking with my premed advisor. </p>
<p>Also I wasn’t planning on applying to UChicago because those “mysterious qualities” that were mentioned above, which are even evident in their undergraduate application.</p>
<p>Northwestern seems like it has an atmosphere similar to Michigan, which I will probably consider, but again I will probably have to wait for my stats my junior year as well as my MCAT. I will consider taking a prep course starting in January and then taking the MCAT in spring. I didn’t know that it mattered until now. Thanks for all the advice. Very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Also to the PCHEM comment. PCHEM is equivalent to General Chemistry II with more added topics that include calculus, etc. When I said General Chemistry, it is only one semester at Michigan. The other semester is PCHEM that is required to complete the sequence. Also isn’t it recommended to take BIOCHEM before the MCAT as well?</p>
<p>Biochem was not needed for my D. In fact, she was not even planning to take it at all, but one Med. School added it as a requirment, so she was forced to take it. It was waste of time for her, learned nothin new, but got very easy “A” in both lecture and lab. However, I heard that it is different from school to school. Also, at D’s school there are different versions of Biochem, she took the one that most pre-meds were taking. She got into that Med. School, but decided to go somewhere else.
Anyway, your plan seems to be very reasonable, wish you well on MCAT and applying next year.<br>
Chacago is strange, but one advantage - you will know that you are rejected literally few hours after you pay application fee…but maybe you are lucky to get accepted, unfortunately nobody knows why and why not.
Although NwU might be similar, I (and D.) would prefer Ann Arbor over Chicago in a heart beat. But again it is a personal preference and you mentioned preference for big city and ours is preference for a small place. And again, NwU Med. School program is very similar to Case, but it is Cleveland. However, if you think applying to Case at all, check Cleveland Clinic Med. School on the same application, adding free Med. School (very hard to get in, only 32 spots) does not hurt.</p>
<p>Michigan is my top choice by far. I have loved the time I have spent here as an undergraduate so far. The small city of Ann Arbor is great and the athletic culture and school pride is also unmatched. The resources are endless and I’ve built a very great network with friends, graduate students and faculty.</p>
<p>I was just considering NU since it’s sort of similar (BIG 10 Sports, small college town/city, and great academics). I don’t know anything about the city it’s in though. Also I was planning on taking Biochemistry which is offered to undergraduates through the medical school, but since it’s not a necessity for the MCAT, I won’t worry about taking it until my senior year. I will apply to case western. It’s a great school from what I hear. I went to an academic career fair for premed students and the speaker from Case was very knowledgeable and seemed down to earth. He talked about all of the attributes that set it apart from other med schools.</p>
<p>Did your D take Physiology before the MCAT? If she did, did she take human physiology or animal physiology?</p>
<p>Oh, YES, Physiology was very helpful for MCAT and so was Genetics. D. took animal physiology, because her major was Zoology, the most common pre-med major at her UG. So, her case is not applicable to you, ask your advisor or others at Michigan, which one is better for MCAT.
BTW, as far as I know Michigan Med. School requires Biochem, so you have to have it, before or after MCAT, you decide, D. took after. However, she had lots of upper Bio classes, and also she knew Gen Chem. very well, did not need to review it for MCAT. Maybe these were reasons why Biochem was kind of redundant in her case.<br>
Exactly, Case people are down to earth, you got it right.</p>
<p>I’m a neuroscience major so animal physiology is required by the major so I will take it winter semester before I take the MCAT. Because Michigan is on a trimester schedule I also have the option to take biochemistry as well as physical chemistry summer semester, which starts at the end of June. So I can take the MCAT earlier. Maybe in the beginning of June. These are all options that I have to consider but I definitely have to brush up on my general chemistry since I took it first semester freshman year even though I did well. Physics and biology will be fresh in my mind since I will be taking those next year. Case is definitely on my radar list. I have a few top schools, but like I said earlier, when I get a copy of the new MSAR I will see where I stand. Anything is possible to me in terms of medical school admissions. I looked at Michigan medical school for example. Last year someone was accepted with a 2.9 GPA. Obviously that is extreme and no one knows the circumstances of that specific applicant but that just shows that sometimes averages tend to be misleading. As high as they maybe. Michigan’s average UG GPA is a 3.77. Probably higher this year.</p>
<p>Taking the MCAT at the beginning of June is the latest you should take it. </p>
<p>You can have a preliminary list made with all schools you are interested in and can even begin completing apps for schools ranked from 25 or 30 down that you see as a place that you might like if your actual MCAT doesn’t live up to your expectations. After getting your MCAT scores you can revise the list (up or down) which is what my son did by dropping schools that he was now over matched for and adding more top 10-20 schools.</p>
<p>Remember that a June test date will actually place you behind in the cycle. Don’t pay any attention to the last date they will accept applications because many schools will already be interviewing by then and some (rolling admission schools) will have already made offers.</p>
<p>Entertainer,
"I looked at Michigan medical school for example. Last year someone was accepted with a 2.9 GPA. "</p>
<p>-Do not rely on this. Must be URM or some other hook. D. was not even invited to interview there with her 3.98 (3 A- in singing classes of her Music Minor), tons of EC’s (awards, recognitions) and decent MCAT. She got accepted at both NwU and Case. However, you have advantage of being at Michigan in UG and she had disadvantage living in OH. </p>
<p>"you do not choose med schools; med schools choose you "</p>
<p>-Both. First you make a list - you choose which ones are on your list. Then you get accepted - Med. Schools choose who to accept. Then, again, YOU choose which one to attend out of the ones that accepted you. If your list is smart, you will be very much in control.</p>
<p>"Northwestern’s Medical School/Hospital is downtown Chicago. " - “That makes it more appealing now that it’s in Chicago” - well was not for my D. She changed her mind after Second visit. Again, very personal decision. Chicago was a small part of her decision to go somewhere else, but she did not care for the city at all. Visit, get a feel than decide. But primarily talk to Med. students and research Feinberg, not Chicago. The surroundings are neat, all apartments are gorgeous, we visited them all, but that wind, it bothered us and there was no single speck of green anywhere, just stone and more stone…and more very tall stones, we felt out of place, but some people love it.</p>
<p>^Not only URM, I believe that “connected” are in front of URM’s. You will not change it, do not be bothered with it, just a fact of life. Make sure that you are 3rd in line.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. I was just pointing out that anything is possible. Also I was just researching Feinberg. I like the curriculum. And it seems that to have a decent size URM population (8%), which is what I look for in medical schools. It’s a social thing for me. I equate weather in Chicago to be similar to Ann arbor. Dark grey winters and sometimes extremely hot summers. But I will keep researching. I’m very excited about applying next year. All my hard work is going to hopefully pay off. Again thanks for the advice. I’m in China now so when I get back to the states I will talk to my pre-health advisor about my options.</p>
<p>I have a question in regards to the MCAT. I have Bren reading some books just to get a hang of reading fast, comprehending what I’m reading and understanding the material. It seems many struggle on the verbal section. Any ideas on things that I can do in advance to help prepare? A physics pHD student told me to just read as much as I can.</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess life is unfair. I know of a non-URM with a 3.91 and a 35 MCAT who did not get in. I also know of a URM with a 21 MCAT who got into med school.</p>