If you are thinking about going to med school, congratulations. You are to be admired for aiming so high and taking on a challenging field with many rewards. You'll need to be completely committed and driven to achieve your goals. Certainly, scoring in the 75th percentile or higher on the MCAT will be critical. However, there are a variety of others things you can and should start doing today to prepare.
Start out by taking 5 moves that will get you on the right track today.
More than 600,000 people submitted applications to med school last year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Contrast that to the almost 20,000 medical students who graduated in 2012, and you can easily see how difficult getting into med school is. It's vital you and your application stand out from the crowd. These tips will give you the best chance of being considered among the thousands that get reviewed.
The first thing that you need to do before you even start to do anything committing for the MCAT is evaluate whether or not you are ready right now. While some say that you may take the MCAT more than one time (up to two or three), it is not recommended. Depending on the school and rigor, schools may take your best individual sections as your score, or average out the scores, or take the lowest score, no matter what. So in the end, you want to take the MCAT once, and a knockout once. Read as much as you can about the MCAT and what it entails to prepare for it. Also worth evaluating is if a career medicine is what you like. If you are gritting your teeth down for studying because “you really don’t like to study,” then maybe a career spent studying, even after graduation, is not the best for you. Evaluate if you have what it takes, because us tutors here do not want you to waste your resources, time, and effort on anything.
Deciding to undertake and conquer the MCAT is also an unspoken commitment to the profession of medicine. Just as studying during medical school will takeover most all priorities, preparation for the MCAT should also begin to take priority in your life now. It is an investment in the now for a much larger return of a medical degree and career, later. It is sometimes daunting when students make this realization all too late, but the MCAT is the first exam in a series of exams that will qualify you and prepare you for the medical profession.
Last time, we shared three of five tips for success on the MCAT. The first three tips were:
The MCAT is a beast of an exam – there’s no way around it – and for many of you, it will also likely be your first real challenge academically, in terms of necessary preparation, exam intensity and sheer volume of subject matter. It won’t be easy, regardless of your IQ or SAT scores, but with a little bit of assistance and a whole lot of dedication, it is absolutely doable and within your reach.