Summer after Sophomore Year: MCAT Madness
Another summer, another behemoth on the horizon. This time the dreaded MCAT, a monster single-handedly responsible for crushing the hopes and dreams of so many “pre-med” hopefuls. Okay, enough silly drama. The MCAT is the Medical College Admission Test, something every student wishing to apply to medical school in the United States must take. I’m not going to type out every tiny detail about the MCAT because you can simply do a Google search and find all that information easy enough. What I will give you is a brief breakdown of the test and how to do well on it.
Strolling into the test like this will draw awkward glances
In spring 2015, the MCAT changed to a new format (check the AAMC website for full details), different from when I took it. But regardless of changes to test format, your study methods should be the same; you have to know the basic science information and must incorporate general tips for standardized testing.
First and foremost, why did I take the MCAT after my sophomore year? Doesn’t that seem early? To be honest, there’s mixed feelings about when is the best time to take it. Those in favor of taking it right after sophomore year (including my TCU pre-med advisor, who’s advice I took and am glad that I did) argue the following: you have a full summer after sophomore year to study for it without worrying about anything else, whereas during the school year you have too many things going on, and the following summer you’ll be working on your medical school apps and don’t want to be stressing about the MCAT simultaneously. Additionally, if you do poorly you can always take it again, whereas if you take it the following summer while applying and do poorly you’re screwed. You’ll have to re-take it and won’t be able to apply that cycle, thus delaying your application by a full year because of one test. The other school of thought is to take it the summer after junior year, while you’re applying, because then you would have had an entire additional year of classes to help you do better on the test. Both sides hold weight, it’s just a matter of what you as the applicant find more important. For me personally, I didn’t want to study for the MCAT and also apply in the same summer (after Junior year), and I felt I could do well enough on the test without the extra classes I’d take Junior year.
The best resource to find out specifics of the exam is the AAMC website. It offers a breakdown of the sections, examination time, concepts tested, scoring system, etc. Definitely take some time to educate yourself about the exam. Every medical school also publishes average MCAT scores of accepted students on their websites, so check them out for programs that pique your interest.
Doing well on the MCAT: first of all, should you take a prep course? Most people do, and it’s usually a toss-up between Princeton Review and Kaplan. I think it’s a good idea to take one of the two, because not only will they help refresh a lot of the content on the test, they’ll give you tips and strategies that you otherwise wouldn’t have known. I decided to take Kaplan. I really don’t think it matters which one you take, but again there are personal preferences. With Kaplan you have one teacher for the whole course, whereas for Princeton a different person teaches each section. I liked Kaplan better in this aspect because it’s easier to get used to one person’s teaching style as compared to five or six different people. I never took Princeton, but from what I heard from friends who took it, they said Princeton focused more on content and less on strategy and testing tips. Kaplan on the other hand taught their fair share of content but also spent a lot of time on the best testing strategies, which was something I liked. In the end, the best thing about the prep course is that it forces you to adopt a strict study routine (for this reason I’d say not to do it solely online, but actually make the effort to go to the classes).
Regardless of which course you choose or even if you decide to prepare on your own, you will have to spend A LOT OF TIME on your own studying and taking PRACTICE TESTS. I cannot emphasize that last part enough. The one sentence formula to dominate the MCAT is: stick to a study plan and CONSISTENTLY take practice tests. It’s that simple. Yet it baffles me how many people stray from their study schedule and get lazy, take a week off here and there, don’t do the practice tests under real simulated testing conditions, all that nonsense. This will be the most important test of your life (until med school; sadly the standardized tests never end), so take it seriously.
This was my study schedule: Kaplan class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings were for practice tests (you could take them at the Kaplan center or on your computer at home; I took most on my own, but it’s good to take a couple at the center to get used to a real proctored testing environment). Other than the classes, I’d wake up Monday through Friday at a reasonable time (you don’t have to go crazy and wake up at like 5am, it’s summer after all), go to the gym, come back and eat breakfast, study for 4 to 5 hours, and just chill the rest of the day (when I say I studied for 4 to 5 hours, I don’t mean I went non-stop for that duration. That would be ridiculous. Everyone has their own way of studying - what I like to do is study focused for 30 minutes, then take a short break (couple minutes), whether it be just sitting there daydreaming, doing pushups, or chatting with whoever is nearby. This works perfectly for me. But as I said, to each their own. Do what works for you. Saturdays were full practice tests, timed just like the real thing whether I did it on my own or at the center. I went through every test afterwards, looking over each question whether I got it right or not, and then relaxed the remainder of the day. Sundays I didn’t even think about the MCAT. It was my weekly respite. I followed this schedule for the duration of my Kaplan course, running from early June to the end of July, and took the MCAT in the first week of August.
Don't let this apply to you
If you follow your study plan and keep yourself honest, in the week leading up to the MCAT you should feel perfectly ready. I actually felt ready to take it in mid July, scoring very well on the practice tests. In the two days leading up to it don’t do any last minute cramming; just leave your textbooks on the shelf, get several consecutive good nights of sleep, and don’t even talk about the test. You’ve put in the necessary effort, and it’s happening one way or another. So all the better to enter it feeling confident and relaxed rather than nervous and second-guessing yourself. The day of the test I woke up pretty early to get a light workout in (exercise is awesome for sharpening your mind), ate a good breakfast, and just relaxed. Leave for the testing center reasonably early because you don’t want some random traffic jam to delay you (check out the testing center a few days beforehand to get an idea where it is before the actual day). Once you’re at the center you’ll check in, get a locker to put your stuff in, and just wait. This waiting period can be the hardest part of the lead up. Most of the people there are extremely tense, pouring over flashcards, reading notes, basically doing the worst thing possible because they’re just making themselves more nervous. Don’t do that. When it’s time to begin you’ll be called into the designated room, go over all the instructions, and then the MCAT starts. Don’t be scared by the fact that this single four-hour period could very well determine the rest of your life (haha no pressure). But seriously, when the first section started, I began reading the passage and at first all I could think of was “wow I’m finally taking this test.” The first few sentences of the passage didn’t even register. So I stopped. I took a long deep breath and cleared all those stupid thoughts from my head. And I approached it like any other practice test. Honestly time flew from there, and before I knew it I was done. The only thing left was to wait a month (one long month) for my score report.
When I took the MCAT in 2010 it was a different format than it is now. I scored a 34, landing me in the 93rd percentile. I was very happy that I did well, but also (and I know this may sound stupid to say) slightly disappointed, because I was making better scores on my practice tests. There’s always that feeling that creeps in, the “what if” factor. Biological Sciences was my weakest section, because I had only taken Freshman and Cell Bio at the time. I began thinking, "what if I’d taken it a year later with more Bio classes under my belt, could I have done even better?" However thoughts like this have no positive value. What’s done is done. I did well enough to be competitive at most top schools, and it was time to move on. The only reason I even mentioned the above dilemma about whether or not I could do better is because a lot of people go through a similar thought process. This leads a lot of people to take the MCAT a second or even third time. Sometimes this is necessary. For instance, if you were making 35s and 36s on practice tests, but got sick the day of the test and made a 28, you should definitely take it again. But most people who retake it do not have enough of a score change to justify the retake. They often do worse the second or third try because they don’t devote enough time to studying again, thinking they already know the material and thus adopt a lackadaisical approach to studying the second time. My point? If you make the right study plan and stick with it, once is enough and you’ll do well. Unless something very unlucky happens (like getting sick, car accident, etc.) you’re better off not retaking it.
Besides the MCAT, during the summer I volunteered at Children’s Medical Center (CMC) in Dallas. I volunteered here during my Senior year of High School through a community service program coordinated by Jesuit. I had a great time, and decided to do it again. CMC is a phenomenal organization, really putting the kids (the only patients there) before anything else. I love kids, and CMC was just a very fun environment to volunteer in. I spent the day playing with children, teaching them how to draw cartoons and animals, transporting them around the hospital for scans and procedures, talking with their families, and assisting nurses with anything from checking vitals to holding kids down for IVs (you’d be surprised at the strength a flailing five-year-old can muster). An excellent overall experience, something I would gladly do again, and that I’d recommend to anyone.
This culminates my first two years and summers as a pre-med. Junior year, here I come!