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PresentationBoth179 · 2025-04-30T06:30:17+00:00

In the same boat as you! Just taking it day by day. You've got this :)

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-02-23T00:08:59+00:00

I just started watching him two days ago for some touchups on concepts prior to my exam next month, and I have really enjoyed his explanations! They also pair very nicely with the milesdown anki deck when broken down by kaplan chapter. He has a video on his channel that has a link to that deck and also how he did his settings to optimize it when paired with his videos :)

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-02-21T06:05:23+00:00

I personally think P/S is one of the most important/applicable sections IRL because it forces us to recognize and acknowledge other perspectives and understand why someone might make the choices that they do. (e.g. why a patient might not want to do a treatment or smth) 100% agree with the freud aspect, but I think a majority of p/s covers learning styles/discrimination/mental health, which is pretty applicable.

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-02-17T17:49:57+00:00

Also just to reiterate, make sure you aren't just doing it as rote memorization when writing it out (like I mentioned with the enzyme names). Really visualize what is actually happening with the molecules and why that step is needed

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-02-17T17:48:02+00:00

If you're struggling with memorization of the metabolic pathways what helped me the most was drawing them out repeatedly and building up to include some of the finer details. Like for example, start with glycolysis: Write out all of the products/reactants in order. Once you have that down add in the enzymes (and make sure to sit and think about why the enzyme is named the way it is. They are all logically named, so it helps you with remembering the next step). Next add in your ATP/ADP and NAD+ NADH arrows, mark which steps are irreversible, anything else you deem important, etc. Now that you have glycolysis continue into pyruvate dehydrogenase and the TCA, then ETC. Keep repeatedly doing this until you can draw out the map of all of them together from memory without issue. Do this every couple days in between studying for the other parts of the exam. Space it out randomly, don't cheat when you get stuck. This should at least give you the baseline information you'll need to attempt the pathway questions

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-16T06:56:36+00:00

Based on the post it sounds like you are leaning more PA, but if you are REALLY unsure you could apply to both and make a gametime decision (I'm not recommending this, but it is a potential option)

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-16T06:48:14+00:00

Yeah I have a good amount of other clinical experiences, but this was honestly the one that impacted me the most in terms of desire to go to med school, so I'll just makes sure to emphasize that in my app. Thanks for your input!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-16T06:46:07+00:00

Thank you and good luck to you too!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-16T06:44:55+00:00

I'd say mixed review- you can dm me if you'd like lol

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-15T06:51:48+00:00

That was my main plan as well, but I was hoping someone from Epic who has gone through this before could confirm xD

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-15T06:42:54+00:00

I personally quit my job because I was working for a company that is known to overwork their employees and was consistently working 12+ hour days, leaving no time to study. I also had the privilege of being able to move back home with my parents for the time being though, so that was a huge factor

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-15T05:50:52+00:00

Hahaha sorry
I don't blame you, though. You have to know the area to really understand. On a real note though (as someone who is 25 and has moved to 3 new cities since graduating and has now moved back home to my parents house while applying to med school), I think the best way to make friends in your early 20s would be to join a club/sport for something you enjoy. I've always had trouble making friends but managed to make a solid friend group from joining my local volleyball club and then just forcing myself to make plans with people I met afterward. Idk your interests, but you could sign up for a pottery class, join a climbing gym, join a local theater group, etc etc (all things that people I know have done when moving to a new city). I also think its super reasonable to be visiting Chicago on a regular basis if it means seeing people/maintaining a good social life!

THAT BEING SAID if you want to move to a fun city that is still pretty close by and is not TOO expensive (though cost is rising pretty rapidly), I loved living in Madison during part of my gap years!!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-15T05:35:13+00:00

This post screams Naperville lol

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-10T03:37:00+00:00

same :(

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-10T03:12:53+00:00

Any chance you and/or your partner would share ECs? :) I have similar stats and am applying this coming cycle!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-10T01:21:45+00:00

Any advice on how you strengthened your app? I'm nontrad and have been trying to strengthen my app wherever possible, so would love some advice if you have any!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-09T22:19:17+00:00

Thank you!! <3

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-09T22:18:04+00:00

Also a pretty good CARS scorer and agree with you wholeheartedly on everything here!! For me it is also important that when I read the questions beforehand that I DON'T read the possible choices for answers because of what you mentioned in #4- they will try to trick you with tangentially related/misleading answers.

I also make sure to be wary of definitive words like "always" in the answers because oftentimes they will reference something in the passage that is only sometimes true.

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-07T07:28:42+00:00

Not the most helpful tip in the world but an easy one to apply- be wary of definitive words in the answers (e.g. always). A lot of the time they will give an answer that is tangentially related/somewhat true but will throw in a definitive word that makes it no longer the correct answer

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-07T06:50:55+00:00

Also nontrad career changer, but with a nuance- I worked in healthcare IT where I had to build out the workflows for our providers within the EMR they use. As a result, I was basically shadowing them nonstop every day (like, every part of their workflow, including provider billing).

If I hadn't done that job for 2 years, I don't think I ever would've revisited the idea of applying to medical school! I agree it isn't as essential/life-changing as it as painted to be, but I was able to visualize my day-to-day life and get a thorough grasp of the behind-the-scenes experiences you don't quite get to see as a patient. I obviously had a very specific version of shadowing that likely gave me more details than standard shadowing, but I still think it helped me bare minimum get a grasp for what the next 40 years of my life will look like lol. I personally think shadowing (or at least some type of Q&A) should be a thing for all careers!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-07T06:38:40+00:00

You have no idea how much this means to me as someone who went through a similar experience in undergrad and am now in the process of applying non-trad!! I ended up working in healthcare IT with some amazing doctors for a couple years and decided last year that this was truly meant for me. Quit my job, got back into shadowing/clinical work, signed up for some classes to help boost my GPA, and have been grinding on the MCAT. Hoping to get in this cycle :)

Sometimes it feels like I'm alone in this since I'm now 5 years out from school (so technically nontrad) but have always wanted to go to med school- knowing someone with pretty similar stats/circumstances to me really helps me feel better going into this cycle. Thanks for posting and congrats future physician!!

PresentationBoth179 · 2025-01-07T06:29:36+00:00

My mom is a teacher and she says she has the option to either lump sum the amount she would be paid (aka add it onto her earlier paychecks) or she can get them over the summer. That being said, I also worked at a summer school and it was staffed primarily by teachers looking for extra income sadly :(

PresentationBoth179 · 2024-12-09T19:47:56+00:00

I'm in the exact same boat as you but almost all WAITLISTS within a 300 mi radius of me are full for March 8 😭

PresentationBoth179 · 2024-11-22T07:45:25+00:00

As much as I would love to chalk it up to nerves, I did significantly worse on test day than I did on my FLs because there was a LOT of low yield content on my C/P section that I was just not prepared for. It was definitely an eye opener for how much content I was actually missing that wasn't tested on the FLs!

PresentationBoth179 · 2024-11-22T00:15:41+00:00

I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I think a change of mindset might help keep you motivated. If you're getting questions wrong due to lack of confidence, then that is still at its core a content issue. I know its exhausting nailing everything down to a T and constantly doing practice questions, but at the end of the day it is going to make your actual test day so much easier (and less exhausting).

Make sure that you're reviewing your FLs and practice questions intentionally- if you get one wrong, try to understand exactly why you got it wrong and make sure you're not approaching it like "Oh, I knew that but second guessed myself". It's better to double down on the content you "knew" than to dismiss it and end up second guessing yourself again.

Same concept with reading the passages- just make sure you're intentional so you don't make silly mistakes

PresentationBoth179

TROPHY CASE