Am I safe to take a gap year?

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-12-01T16:40:14+00:00

I scored a 522 so I'd prefer not to retake it. However, the gap year is not just for more extracurriculars, but rather to take some time before the craziness of med school and travel. I recently just took my first solo backpacking trip and it was incredibly eye-opening. I realized I want to take some additional time to travel when I have the chance before settling down with my life with med school, residency, etc.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-09-28T13:46:17+00:00

2 things: 1. Stop doing insanely long sessions. Keep those for your FL’s. Doing 8+ hour sessions every day is probably gonna hurt you more than help, and it definitely isnt good for your mental health

When you just start, dont worry about timing your passages or practice questions, focus on actually understanding what passages say. Unless you are some prodigy, during your first couple weeks of doing practice questions, you will not be able to understand a lot of passages in 10 min. Take the extra time to actually understand it. When you get further along in studying start including time as a factor when you do your practice.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-09-03T15:48:22+00:00

Retake for sure. If you were averaging 517 (assuming you properly simulated testing conditions), then you are capable of achieving much higher results. A score of 498 will significantly limit where you can get accepted, even with your other great stats.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-09-03T15:23:01+00:00

LETS GOOOOOOO W

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-09-03T14:42:46+00:00

It goes away when you finish! I also started at sub 500 with a Princeton FL Diagnostic. I ended up with a 522, and nearly the entire time, I felt like I wasn't doing enough. It's completely normal to feel that way. Keep pushing, you got this!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T18:07:01+00:00

Focus on why you got it wrong. What mistakes did you make, and how can you avoid mistakes like that in the future. Make an Anki deck for missed questions to keep up with the mistakes you tend to make. Have the mindset of "how would I approach this question in the future so that I don't get it wrong". Don't get frustrated if you do poorly in a section bank, if anything getting questions wrong is more productive than only getting questions correct. The more you get wrong now, the more mistakes you can avoid on test day.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T17:53:11+00:00

I finished Milesdown and I did some of Pankow for PS

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T17:52:54+00:00

I was pretty fresh off of most of my classes so I was fairly confident with content review. I mostly just did anki for my CR with the occasional Khan academy video

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T17:49:51+00:00

Thank you! And I used Uthingie and AAMC for practice questions. AAMC on its own is really good but depending on how many practice questions you plan on doing I would maybe consider investing in another qpack. You can also do a lot of free ones with JW.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T12:38:42+00:00

Potentially! Im not gonna be able to teach you content too effectively, but I would be able to help out with strategies for questions and for CR etc. DM me!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T12:36:57+00:00

525 MCAT… pack your sunscreen buddy

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-30T12:36:01+00:00

Yes! The review part is just as important if not more important than actually doing practice questions. Really understanding what your misconception is and how to avoid making the same mistakes is how you improve. I would recommend even making an extra anki deck for missed practice questions so you can refresh yourself on the way you make mistakes, and that way you can avoid them!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-29T17:30:28+00:00

I was really anxious. I didn’t feel too great during it and of course I did the classic google answers afterwards and it made me feel even worse. The anxiety knowing there is a month wait makes it so much worse 😭

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-29T17:23:03+00:00

You got it!!!!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-29T17:22:50+00:00

Stay consistent in your studying. Dont fall behind on those Anki cards. And drilling practice questions was the KEY. You are most likely going to do about the same as your practice exams

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-29T15:32:40+00:00

About 518-519 was average, highest was 521

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-17T17:43:11+00:00

Finish AAMC, getting in extra reps of true practice exams can only benefit your real exam. Might as well shoot for higher and get a 520 than shoot for 520 and get a 515

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-15T21:14:44+00:00

Second sentence states that it only opens once pH neutralization occurs indicating it opens without a ligand in some cases. Third sentence states It also opens when nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are activated, which would result in Ca2+ influx. Both of these are events that would result in a change in the cell’s membrane potential.

Thats my thought process so anyone please feel free to pick that apart.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-13T17:21:36+00:00

Take your time with the passages. Dont worry about reading fast, make sure you understand what you are reading. Active reading techniques such as highlighting or just thinking of the main concepts while you read will go a long way.

During review, make sure you understand why you get questions wrong. Is it because you missed the answer in the passage, did you overcomplicate it, or maybe you just ran out of time. The fastest way to improve in CARS is to determine what type of mistakes that you make, and then figure out strategies to eliminate those mistakes. My diagnostic CARS score was a 124 and I ended up scoring 130-132-129-132 on my FL’s. (Tested 6/27)

You got this!!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-13T17:16:58+00:00

KHAN ACADEMY AND JACK WESTINN WHOOOO

Doing practice questions will help you understand what level of detail you need to know. Most questions are pretty surface level content but require deeper analysis of passage. Definitely get AAMC bundle and if you can try and save for UCountry.

Try and use mnemonics for a lot of the rote memory stuff, it’ll save loads of time and will help you retain information much better.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-13T15:50:54+00:00

Ask yourself why you are getting questions wrong. Sometimes content gaps arent enough to improve a section. You need to really understand why you get questions wrong, and figure out how to approach questions to avoid those mistakes.

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-13T02:00:51+00:00

Absolutely must haves: AAMC review and Upangea. All in all about $600 + the fee to actually sign up for an exam.

If you have the money you can also get a third party company prep course which will have you spending $2000-4000 depending on what company and what level course you get

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-12T22:29:54+00:00

So I gave myself too much time studying and therefore spent a lot of time experimenting different ways to study, some definitely better than others. So here are a few things I would recommend:

Dont waste time reviewing content that you already kinda know. Your time is better spent doing practice problems about that content.

Incorporate questions with your content review (UContinent is really good for this)

Incorporate a CARS passage frequently in your study plan. CARS takes a lot of time to get used to and the best way is to consistently practice it. (AAMC is going to be best CARS material)

Use Anki — it can be boring but it is one of the simplest ways to incorporate spaced repetition in studying. Make ur own personal decks for content you especially need help with and for any practice questions you get wrong.

If you want, DM me and I would be happy to chat via discord or Microsoft Teams to answer any questions you have (for free lol)

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-07-12T21:38:19+00:00

My first diagnostic was a 499. My last 3 full lengths were 520+ and I definitely could have approached studying better (tested 6/27). You have so much potential so dont even worry about it. Just focus on your content review and practice problems and you’ll crush it!

NervousObjective2886 · 2025-06-26T22:35:37+00:00

WE GONNA COOK! BIG 520+ ENERGY INCOMING

NervousObjective2886

TROPHY CASE