Will I Succeed on the MCAT?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
21

<p>

I knew you achieved a mighty impressive MCAT score, but I thought you took that test sometime over the summer. Congrats, especially for doing that after only a few weeks of practice tests.</p>

22

<p>Maybe nothing magical happens between 3.3 and 3.4 but the reported cut-off for the GPA filters that we all know exist, is rumored to be 3.3 and anything below may get rejected automatically be certain schools. I am not advocating a low GPA and obviously the better you can achieve increases your odds. The intent of my original post was to dispute the comment that a 3.4 would result in an unlikely acceptance for an applicant to any school.</p>

23

<p>

</p>

<p>Thank you. I had originally scheduled the exam for late May of '12, but had to reschedule because of a conflict with my summer program. </p>

<p>My preparation for the MCAT was very different from the “common wisdom” often seen on sites like this. I believe that to score high on the MCAT, a student must make a long term commitment. Instead of “forgetting” about the material covered when taking prereq classes, and then trying to cram it all back in two months before the exam, I made a point to learn the subjects very well from the beginning and then make sure I never let it go. This is nothing new, it’s the same technique every musician is familiar with. You would never expect to learn piano then ignore it for a year and expect to pick up where you left off. No, you practice a little every day. A little Hanon one day, Czerny the next, then a little Bach. I did the same with the MCAT subjects. I also enrolled in a few free “MCAT question of the day” services as a check on my retention. It all worked just as I expected. The summer after my freshman year, after completing all prereq courses, I scored a 36 on the Kaplan diagnostic without any prep at all. It all seems so obvious to me.</p>

24

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree with this, however, I also agree with the person who started this subthread, that any pre-med who is not concerned with a 3.4 GPA and thinks all is good, is sadly mistaken.</p>