<p>...and I scored a 37R!</p>
<p>Being a premed at Cornell has its ups and downs but I have to give credit to the tough academics at Cornell. I started off at a 30 on my diagnostic (when most people were scoring in the teens) and that was mostly attributed to the awesome premed courses at Cornell. Tough but prepares well.</p>
<p>i want to say congratulations!!! </p>
<p>...but just one thing, what's the highest score you can get? Then i can officially say "awesome work!"</p>
<p>I just looked around on some sites, and I am not sure if the information I am about to present is correct, but norcalguy when he returns can tell that, but it looks like there are 3 categories each worth 15 points, and a writing that is graded from J to T, with T being the best.</p>
<p>I also read that if you are aiming for the TOP schools scores of 12 or higher on each of the three sections is excellent.</p>
<p>So if what I am saying is correct, norcalguy did an amazing job on his MCAT's!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations.</p>
<p>Edit: I just found this site, it explains it well: <a href="http://www.allthetests.com/mcat/facts/mcat_facts.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.allthetests.com/mcat/facts/mcat_facts.shtml</a></p>
<p>thats HUGE, bud. Congrats.</p>
<p>Question(s): did you take Kaplan? Did you also take the August MCATs? Did you take it in Ithaca? You took it after soph year right?</p>
<p>holy crap.. damn impressive</p>
<p>nice job!</p>
<p>how did your fellow pre-med cornellians score?</p>
<p>wow! yay! congrats norcalguy!!!!!! amazing score, and I know you definitely should celebrate hard this weekend for homecoming (unless you have 3 prelims coming up or something) :)</p>
<p>~ Quynh ~</p>
<p>WOW....u already took them..aren't u only a sophmore?</p>
<p>norcal is a junior, but it's still almost a year before most people take it, so definitely a lot of props!!!</p>
<p>To answer some questions:
"did you take Kaplan?"
No, I took the Princeton Review course ($1600). I think it improved my score a little but definitely not worth $1600. The avg. for PR students is 29 (compared with 24 national average). That's fairly good considering people who take the PR course score almost 1 std. dev above the mean. However, I was already at a 30 level before I even started taking the class.</p>
<p>"Did you also take the August MCATs?"
The only MCAT I've taken was on August 20th of this year. Scores came out today. Needless to say, I won't be retaking.</p>
<p>"Did you take it in Ithaca?"
Nope. Sunny CA.</p>
<p>"You took it after soph year right?"
Yes.</p>
<p>That's a phenomenal score, great job.</p>
<p>norcalguy, what exactly did you do, chill at home in cali, take the PR course, and just focus on that? I'm finding myself in a dilemma. Either to take the PR course and stay at home and get ready for the MCAT in August, or to do research somewhere away from home and enjoy the summer there, and take the MCAT in April. I'm concerned as to which is more important, doing research or taking the MCAT. Also, if I do take the MCAT course and the exam in August, I want to make sure that I do well on the first time, I'm not expecting such a high score as yours, though a 37 is very nice and I would love to have that. What would you suggest I do? I'm a sophomore now.</p>
<p>Also, CONGRATS, that's an amazing score.</p>
<p>If you have your prereq's done by the end of your sophomore year, I suggest you take the exam in August while the material is still fresh in your head. There's no reason why you can't do research and study for the MCAT at the same time during the summer. I can't imagine having to study for the MCAT and taking Cornell classes at the same time but plenty of people do it so I guess April is also an option. Keep in mind, starting in either 2006 or 2007, the MCAT will be offered more times per year so you will probably have more options.</p>
<p>What kinda prereqs do you need? What classes did you take before taking the MCAT, and which classes do you think were the most helpful in preparation for it?</p>
<p>Orgo, gen chem, intro bio, and phyiscs are the four that you must have since the MCAT directly tests material taught in those classes. Specialized classes like biochem, microbiology, anatomy, genetics, physiology, evolutionary biology, etc. also help but are not crucial to doing well on the MCAT. 95% of the material taught in those upper level bio classes is beyond the scope of the MCAT.</p>
<p>wow, now just apply to med school @ johns hopkins, harvard, wash. st. louis and cornell (NYC) ... 37 is dominant</p>
<p>May I ask what your gpa is? I found this nice little chart...if its high enough, which I'm sure it is, your prospects look REALLY good...</p>
<p>It's between 3.8-3.9. Not the highest but as a bio major what can ya do?</p>
<p>I've seen that chart a thousand times. Without sounding too pretentious, getting into A medical school (which is what the chart measures) is not my concern. I would LOVE to get into UCSF which is my dream school. Obviously, my (and everyone else's) chances aren't that great but one can hope.</p>
<p>Still, you've done pretty darn well for yourself...congratulations! And I guess that link was mainly for other people who visit this thread...to give them an idea of what Cornell can do, as I'm sure you've seen much more data than that...</p>
<p>Not really. That chart is about all the data Cornell puts online for premeds and about all I've seen. Maybe it's time I pay a visit for the career office...</p>