Took the mcat 1.5 months ago, and will be retaking it. First time around, I used uworld and finished 75% of it before my exam.
Should I get uworld again? Ofc I will be focusing on the untouched AAMC material I have, but I need a lot more practice.
Took the mcat 1.5 months ago, and will be retaking it. First time around, I used uworld and finished 75% of it before my exam.
Should I get uworld again? Ofc I will be focusing on the untouched AAMC material I have, but I need a lot more practice.
Edit: Just to clarify, I am referring to the uworld qbank.
In terms of 3rd party practice exams, which ones should I be spending my time on? I only have AAMC FL5 and FL6 left untouched from my first studying attempt, and I will be saving these for when I am closer to my date. Until then, which practice exams should I be using?
I would really appreciate any insight and advice. Thank you!!
Edit: I am also considering getting the Uworld practice exams
In terms of 3rd party practice exams, which ones should I be spending my time on? I only have AAMC FL5 and FL6 left untouched from my first studying attempt, and I will be saving these for when I am closer to my date. Until then, which practice exams should I be using?
I would really appreciate any insight and advice. Thank you!!
Getting a phlebotomy certification is easier and cheaper. Is it worth investing more time and money in getting a CNA certification?
Edit: I'm in Washington State, so I need to have a certification for any clinical job
Almost every sunscreen I have tried has irritated my eyes. I think this may have something to do with chemical sunscreens specifically, as my eye irritation decreases quite a bit when I use mineral sunscreen. However, my problem with mineral sunscreens is how thick they feel and how they give me a white cast.
I am hoping to see if I could get recs for either chemical sunscreens that are gentle enough not to irritate eyes, or a mineral sunscreen that feels lightweight and blends easily. Thank you!
Edit: Just a bit of extra info, I have very dry skin, so the best case scenario for me would be to find a sunscreen that doesn't dry me out.
Almost every sunscreen I have tried has irritated my eyes. I think this may have something to do with chemical sunscreens specifically, as my eye irritation decreases quite a bit when I use mineral sunscreen. However, my problem with mineral sunscreens is how thick they feel and how they give me a white cast.
I am hoping to see if I could get recs for either chemical sunscreens that are gentle enough not to irritate eyes, or a mineral sunscreen that feels lightweight and blends easily. Thank you!!
Edit: Just a bit of extra info, I have very dry skin, so the best case scenario for me would be to find a sunscreen that doesn't dry me out.
This is my score from the 5/14 test. I am not sure about my retake date, but I will be retaking because my sgpa is shit and I am aiming for MD schools (I will be applying next cycle). I am looking for advice on how to improve.
Obviously, I did not do great on p/s, and that is because I was overconfident in my ability to memorize everything and did not start focusing on it until a week before my exam. For all the other sections, I need to figure out what my weak spots are. I don't want to spend too much time on content review, but I know I definitely have gaps that need to be ironed out (but also idk how to figure out what these gaps are).
In terms of resources, I only got to half of the AAMC bundles, and did not do Fl5 and Fl6. I did about 70% of Uworld, and since I have already gone through a large portion of the questions, I am thinking of using Blueprint for practice this time around.
Not sure what to do regarding anki. I was using the jacksparrow deck, but I was very negligent in doing my anki. I think this was partly because I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cards. I am still leaning towards the jacksparrow deck because I think it will be easier to get through now, and I like that it is very detailed. However, I don't know if it's more reasonable for me to use the milesdown deck instead. I will be using pankow for psych/soc.
Since I only have 2 untouched AAMC Fls left, I will be relying a lot on third party practice exams. I get all the kaplan practice tests for free through my school, and I didn't use any of them the first time around. I also noticed that jackwestin has a lot of practice tests, and if I do get BP, then I will also have their practice exams. My preliminary plan is to do one practice exam a week, right from the beginning of restudying, since at least now I already have somewhat of a content base. I think at least one of my issues is that I did not focus on the actual test-taking part of mcat studying.
I also need help with figuring out a timeline and schedule. I want to make sure I have enough time to do it all properly. I am considering a September date, because if I do fuck up a second time, I will have enough time to restudy and retake. I don't want to wait too long to retake.
Please give me any advice/thoughts on what I should do!
My sGPA is 3.2, and I was hoping to get a high enough mcat score to balance it out. I have decided on a gap year, so if I do retake, I should have ample time to restudy.
I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was not taking my practice tests in testing conditions. Except for one, I took all of my full-lengths later than 8 am, and leading up to the exam, I did not shift my sleeping schedule to wake up earlier. I tried to go to bed earlier, but did not sleep much and took the exam groggy and half asleep.
My study plan was also very poorly thought out and overly ambitious, so I did not even get to go through all the AAMC material and Fls.
Overall, now that I am a month out from my exam, I am realizing all the mistakes I made and how I could have done things differently. But having said this, I am still lost on where I would even begin for restudying, and I am also worried that I might do worse on a retake.
I would appreciate any advice!!
My sGPA is 3.2, and I was hoping to get a high enough mcat score to balance it out. I have decided on a gap year, so if I do retake, I should have ample time to restudy.
I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was not taking my practice tests in testing conditions. Except for one, I took all of my full-lengths later than 8 am, and leading up to the exam, I did not shift my sleeping schedule to wake up earlier. I tried to go to bed earlier, but did not sleep much and took the exam groggy and half asleep.
My study plan was also very poorly thought out and overly ambitious, so I did not even get to go through all the AAMC material and Fls.
Overall, now that I am a month out from my exam, I am realizing all the mistakes I made and how I could have done things differently. But having said this, I am still lost on where I would even begin for restudying, and I am also worried that I might do worse on a retake.
I would appreciate any advice!!
Edit: Just for some extra context, I took the exam 5/14. I am aiming to get into md schools.
I am dumb and I literally did not check the score release date until today. I was mentally prepared to see my score tmrw, but now I am going to have to wait two more days.
I did horribly, but I did not void my exam even though I should have. I have been sitting with regret since then, and now I have to wait two more days to see exactly how badly I fucked up.
I am taking a gap year to gain clinical experience, and I am having trouble figuring out how to get a clinical job. I am interested in becoming a medical assistant, but it seems a bit challenging due to the timing. The shortest MA program near me is 9 months, which means I will be spending most of my gap year getting the certification. The other issue is that the cost of the programs, and I don't know if it is worth spending that much money for something I am only going to be doing for a relatively short amount of time.
I did look at some medical assistant apprentice programs, which were very appealing because they pay during training and you are guaranteed a job at the end. However, I am not sure if I would be able to get into one of these programs, and the training is for 12 months. The programs do have over 2000 hours of hands-on training, so maybe I might still be able to add it to my application?
I have heard of people who have gotten MA jobs without certification and were provided training once they joined. Idt this is viable for me, because every single MA job I have looked at has required certification to apply. I also do live in Washington state, so I am not sure if certification requirements vary by state.
I am trying to explore other possible options. I did look at a few medical scribing companies for positions, but they had literally nothing available near me 😞. So I guess I will just look for medical scribing positions on LinkedIn or Indeed. The only thing I am a bit worried about is the fact that I don't have any medical scribing experience or training, so I feel it might make it a bit harder.
Phlebotomy USA does have training near me, and there do seem to be more phlebotomist positions available. It is affordable and doesn't take much time, which makes me a bit suspicious. I am keeping it as an option and plan to look more into it.
I know a lot of people who become EMTs, but I am not sure if this is something I can do because I am overall very weak and flimsy, and I would not be able to keep up with the physical requirements.
I would appreciate any advice to help me with my search. Thank you!!
My favorite professor is my classics professor, who is the sweetest lady ever.
She is 81, and her 82nd birthday is coming up. I am stumped on what to get her for a gift. I already suck a gift giving, and I am not sure what kind of gift an older woman would like.
My usual go-to gift is jewelry, but she doesn’t wear any jewelry. I also thought about getting a gift related to class, so something related to Ancient Greek or Greek mythology. However, I don’t really see good options as they are mainly just cheap decor.
I would really appreciate any suggestions or help!!
My favorite professor is my classics professor, who is the sweetest lady ever.
She is 81, and her 82nd birthday is coming up. I am stumped on what to get her for a gift. I already suck a gift giving, and I am not sure what kind of gift an older woman would like.
My usual go-to gift is jewelry, but she doesn’t wear any jewelry. I also thought about getting a gift related to class, so something related to Ancient Greek or Greek mythology. However, I don’t really see good options as they are mainly just cheap decor.
I would really appreciate any suggestions or help!!
My school provides the Kaplan MCAT Online Course, and Kaplan MCAT On Demand course for free. Given that I don’t have to pay for it, I will be signing up. I was just wondering if people who have tried these courses found them to be helpful and worth spending time on.
I will be retaking the mcat, and I am absolutely lost on where to begin. I don’t have a retake date, haven’t compiled/gotten resources, and I realized that my preliminary retake plan was similar to my first study plan (which obviously did not work).
Trying to figure out how to evaluate myself and see what I did wrong. I am hoping to learn from other people who managed to improve.
What mistakes did you make the first time, and what changes do you think helped you the most when retaking? I would really appreciate any advice!!
I am testing 5/14, and I am just too tired to study anymore. I genuinely thought that I would be so studious and diligent the last few days, instead, I have just been dragging myself to do the section banks. I still haven't taken Fl5 or FL6, because I'm too scared to take another test and not see any improvement. I going to force myself to take FL6 tmrw anyways and see how it goes. Obviously, I am shooting myself in the foot by not using what time I have left to review and practice as much as possible, but I'm also just resigned to the fact that I'll probably have to retake it.
My committee letter has set the deadline for writers to submit the LoR on June 1. So far, none of my letter writers have sent in their rec letter. I was thinking of sending a reminder email two weeks before the deadline. However, I also know that they will probably be busy grading finals and assignments, so I am not sure if I should send the email a bit later.
I haven’t started on my personal statement, how far behind am I? I’m taking the Mcat on 5/14, and my brain is currently mush.
My parents are expecting me to apply this cycle, and I need to figure out how to explain to them that I need another gap year. I already knew that I have some weak spots in my application, and I recently talked with one of my university‘s premed advisors who also reaffirmed that I would need at least one gap year to make my application competitive.
I am hoping that someone who has been in the same situation as me can give tried and tested tips and how to convince my parents this is necessary.
Earlier, when I was still deluding myself into thinking I should apply this cycle, I tried to gently manage the expectation of my parents. They think that I am going to get into NYU and Harvard, and I was trying explain why it is very likely that that will not happen at all. They got mad at me for being “so negative“ and ruining my own chances of getting into a top medical school. How am I supposed to have an honest discussion about where I stand, if my parents just get upset?
Another issue is that they seem think of gap years as an absolute waste of time. My parents have also been telling literally everyone that I am applying this cycle, and I know that they will be pissed if they have to tell people that I will be delaying it.
I don’t have the kind of relationship with my parents where I can talk candidly about my feelings and thoughts, and I always need to be so careful about wording.
I am so stressed and burnt out and I have just been wrecking my brain as to how I should approach this. I was thinking of my phasing in the idea slowly. Like maybe one day I’ll show them MSAR stats. And then maybe another day I’ll try to talk a bit more about my own application. The one thing I know absolutely can‘t do is just tell them outright that I will not have a successful cycle if I apply now.
I am also studying for the MCAT and this has just been adding so much stress. I am not comfortable, applying now and I absolutely do not want to waste time and money on applications, knowing that I will have an unsuccessful cycle.
I would really appreciate any help and advice.
