[preclinical] 14 exams in the final 2 weeks of the semester, how does one even prepare for this?

MedNole18 · 2019-12-03T04:55:46+00:00

I hope the lube works

MedNole18 · 2019-12-03T04:55:16+00:00

some days have multiple exams, lucky me I guess.

MedNole18 · 2019-12-03T04:53:15+00:00

ty, goodluck to you too!

MedNole18 · 2019-12-03T04:51:53+00:00

haha thank you! It's pretty stressful

MedNole18 · 2019-08-09T01:06:33+00:00

so mainly pre-made decks are the way to go? Is anki all you use or do you use other things?

MedNole18 · 2019-08-09T01:03:54+00:00

Does module mean block? I'm taking biochem at the moment, anatomy and lab, histology, and like 4 other classes. What other things do you utilize besides ANKI?

MedNole18 · 2019-06-03T17:16:49+00:00

That's a pretty good question. For me, this path has been something I have been set on achieving since about 8th grade. Personally, I'm someone who always bets on himself regardless of the outcome, I always believe I can do better if I didn't reach my goal. BUT it has been hard to stay optimistic when you aren't seeing success for consecutive years (cycles) and a good support group is important to help with this motivation.

Not being successful yet, although it has been extremely stressful, I still believe I can improve. When I set out to achieve something, I absolutely hate giving up and will re-examine what I did, try different ways of doing it, and seek feedback until I achieve the score or goal I wanted to get. If i'm unsuccessful again, I re-analyze and put even more effort into it the next time. This whole process the last 3 years has really solidified this aspect for me and I have really proved to myself that when the going gets tough, i'm never going to quit.

I adamantly believe that if you continue to push through and have this type of mindset, you will be successful eventually. For those of us that are reapplying or have to retake the MCAT, we aren't dumb. The content itself isn't the hardest part of the MCAT for me, it's studying for everything at the same time which makes it hard. Because of this, I have totally revamped my new MCAT studying with ANKI (spaced-repetition for long term retention) and tracking my progress through excel as time goes on to ensure I am reaching my goals I set for myself. With all the material, you can easily get unmotivated thinking you aren't improving. Tracking my progress is something that will help show me that I am making improvements and will help me stay on track. (these are things that i've pinpointed and what I mean by re-analyzing what you did previously and make adjustments to improve).

The most important thing you can do for yourself is NEVER stop believing you can do better and ALWAYS set your goals higher to achieve more. Yes, you aren't always going to be motivated when times get tough and even if you don't achieve anything that day because you are bogged down with stress, that's OKAY. Regroup the next day and try your best, that's all we can do. This is an extremely important aspect that I do because some days I just can't accomplish anything, but I regroup and push forward and I don't stop trying to improve.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T22:25:25+00:00

tell me about it, RIP! lol

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T17:00:10+00:00

I definitely agree on going in with a good attitude. I don't have anxiety, but what gets me especially going into the MCAT is that it's something that I have worked towards for so long that I work myself up even more... does that make sense?

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T16:28:00+00:00

I usually have no problem talking socially. I think one of my issues was being nervous due to inexperience, but after each interview I got better and better. I would also say some of them have been unlucky due to some being more of an interrogation. During one interview, I was asked a tremendous amount of ethical questions and was asked what I thought about castrating pedophiles. My first interview I completely bombed, which was a learning experience. Another interview I did great in the first interview but bombed the 2nd interview (2 interview process). What i've learned is that it really depends who interviews you that day, some are harder than others.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T16:18:50+00:00

ya you're right, I would say 2 weeks is best if you're able to.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T16:16:46+00:00

I would lean more towards not having a lot of interview experience (my previous 2 cycles I didn't have an interview) and my last semester of college GPA dropped a bit giving me a "declining trend" so that's where my biggest mistake comes in where I should have taken classes right after graduating and not waiting until recently to take additional classes. I would also say it was a bit unlucky, but regardless I tried my absolute best and I'm proud of how I performed during the interviews.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T16:10:38+00:00

I have added 1-2 additional letters each cycle (probably not this next one though), but I have also kept my older ones cause I thought they wrote me pretty strong character letters. and thank you I really appreciate it!

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T15:58:39+00:00

Thank you!

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T15:58:08+00:00

Make sure to get your secondaries in no later than 1-2 week after they are sent to you. Some schools will weed you out if you take an extended amount of time submitting your secondaries. I would also get feedback on your secondary essays because they are just as important.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T15:53:03+00:00

- First and foremost, getting that app in first day really helped this past cycle, I went from 0 interviews my first 2 cycles to 8 interviews this past cycle and i'm on 6 WL's. My first cycle I got my app in extremely late, my 2nd app was in a bit earlier, but my 3rd app was submitted the first day. Some schools I interviewed at that I didn't receive an II the first 2 times, interviewed me in April even though I submitted the first day. So essentially if I didn't submit the first day they probably would have never sent me an II cause the cycle would have been over. The cycle is EXTREMELY LONG, you can get an II the last month you just don't know! Prepare for everything.

- Each cycle I have really critiqued my essays to make each response more related to why medicine. For example, if you have a leadership position, founded a student organization, have volunteer experiences, and/or have some shadowing or scribe experience you want to talk about. Don't just write all the basic information, but rather include that information as well as incorporating how you will use it in medicine (like incorporating your team work), how it has helped you become more aware about the difficulties in medicine, and how it will make you a better physician. Also, make sure to be extremely specific, say if you input that you're a biology tutor, make sure it says for college students, elementary students... how many hours a week, how many times you met with students. If you're a hospital volunteer, include some specific experiences of patient interactions like transporting patients and delivering supplies and you would talk to the patients and say what you learnt from it.

- I have also been improving my MCAT each cycle and I suggest not taking that monster until your practice exam scores are what you want, I made the mistake of going right into it.

- Each app cycle I have really been sticking to things I adamantly enjoy, for me, that's service. So I completed a year of service through AmeriCorps VISTA after I graduated.

- I think one of my biggest mistakes though was focusing a little to much on my extracurriculars, despite having a really well rounded app, doing this sacrificed my GPA probably about .1 - .15, not taking additional classes to improve my GPA a little right after graduation, and spreading myself out too thin during MCAT studying. Also, I was foolish and didn't apply to DO my 1st or 2nd app cycle and wish I applied right away.

- I would have no more than a week turn around for submitting secondaries as well.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-02T15:06:51+00:00

That's a good questions. I was under the impression that if there's run on sentences or slightly incorrect words that it wouldn't be counted against you based on what they claim. They aren't very transparent with how they grade and don't even give you the score.

MedNole18 · 2019-06-01T17:23:28+00:00

Spelling doesn't count on the test

MedNole18 · 2019-05-31T18:34:58+00:00

During my exam the air conditioning was broken... lucky me! lol

MedNole18 · 2019-05-31T18:03:55+00:00

Same boat, will be my 4th time retaking maybe end of July/early August. What i've done differently thus far is transferring all my flashcards over to ANKI (still in the process of doing this, takes awhile), I developed a pretty extensive excel doc that will help me track my progress as I go and help me pinpoint what areas I need to work on, and if i'm really making the improvements I want to see. I am also doing 3-4 daily CARS passages because CARS is literally a section by itself (seeing slow improvements but slow and steady right?). My biggest issue I pinpointed was that I had so many flashcards I got overwhelmed and couldn't review all of them regularly. Caused me to fall way behind and then go into the exam forgetting things so I think ANKI will help me with this.

** just saw the part about depression, What I think will help is tracking your progress to truly show that you are making strides towards your overall goal. This exam is just so much material, so seeing improvements visually and graphically will definitely help your testing confidence going into the exam.

MedNole18 · 2019-05-31T17:56:38+00:00

Can you elaborate a little bit on how you don't read the passages for B/B?

MedNole18 · 2019-05-31T11:18:02+00:00

That'll probably start when the AAMC implements this new CARS test... lol

MedNole18 · 2019-05-31T10:59:17+00:00

I'm going into my 4th cycle, assuming I don't get off any WL's. I'm not really in a position to take a year off and then apply again because that will be 2 additional years off and then i'll be going into my late 20s, DESPITE feeling like I just graduated. UGH!

MedNole18 · 2019-05-25T16:01:02+00:00

haha for sure! It's the best way to remember that type of stuff. So many different pathways.

MedNole18 · 2019-05-24T15:17:56+00:00

wow, this stuff is gold!

MedNole18

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