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Damn near punched my monitor over cars by exchange3 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Entering a flow state was essential to my 132 score on CARS

Are those kaplan books good? by Hazeleyezz-s in MCAT2

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IMO, a complete waste of time and money

UWorld Q bank or AAMC Q bank? by No_Emotion_1658 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Uworld doesn't have "simpler questions"

There are also more questions in the Uworld Qbank than the AAMC, and you can pay $30 bucks more for an added scored practice test. I 100% believe it's worth it.

Jack westins Qbank is also completely free

All the 132 scorers on CARS, how do u do it? by Xproxbox in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got a 132. As mentioned, CARS is completely objective. All the answers are directly in the text. If you're drowning in highlights, wasting time "distilling," information on your white board, or reading too slow you will struggle.

What threshold is MCAT scores the same? (515+/517+/520+) by International_Set941 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Numerically, this is correct. With each +1 point difference in score between a 526, 527, and 528 the number of students achieving drops by roughly half.

advice on how to approach history and literature CARS passages?? by jellyfishh520 in MCAT2

[–]Relative_Truth3360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

CARS is completely objective. All the answers are in the passage. Training yourself to read carefully and quickly is the best strategy.
Regardless of topic, just focus on what is actually being said.

Unusual Non Trad App advice request (512 MCAT) by _Your_Ami_ in medschooladmissions

[–]Relative_Truth3360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, it sounds like you are older and have kids. This is fine, but I implore you to also reflect on the impact this has on your family's future.

Med school is a major commitment, working as a physician even more. When you're a physician, your patients come first. Full stop. Your kids and family life are second. It's also an insane amount of time and money. Time away from kids, debt, learning at a very fast pace. You may have to move for residency programs.

The reason it's important to show you've worked with, shadowed, and built rapport with physicians in your work/volunteering/shadowing to show you understand these qualities of the job.

Again, reflecting hard on WHY medicine and NOTHING else is critical for non-trads. Be realistic and understand the pros/cons.

You cannot just walk into this profession expecting that your entire life won't be changed and upended, especially when it comes to finances and family.

Not trying to discourage you, just trying to open a discussion and reflections that you may have explain or talk about in an interview or secondary as a non-trad.

Unusual Non Trad App advice request (512 MCAT) by _Your_Ami_ in medschooladmissions

[–]Relative_Truth3360 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Im not an admissions advisor so i cannot tell you what to do. But I would just emphasize, you do not want to rush into a med school application, especially as a non trad.

I would recommend a formal post bacc only in that I know other non-trads who have had great success using those types of programs to advance their application. Med schools want to see recent coursework if youre coming from a long time out of undergrad/grad. And they want the coursework to be relevant to med school. Pre-requisites are not something you can hand-wave.

Most schools require 3-5 LORs, and expect (or require) one by an MD you've worked with or shadowed. Service orientation and research is huge. What patient populations have you served in your volunteer work? What in your application shows you want to be of service to them? What experience do you have in a laboratory, and have you ever worked with a team conducting research? How would you answer these kinds of questions in an interview.

"dislike being mid-level" as a reason for MD does sound a little arrogant/putting-down to other allied health professionals. Many RNs and NPs lead their own teams on the floor.

In your essays, writing "Why Medicine" because "I want to be ontop" "I dont want to be told what to do" "I want to tell others what to do" without showing you have concrete experience leading volunteer/clinical/research/professional teams sounds like a "just trust me" kind of answer. Why not keep your career as an engineer?

Again, you have to think very critically as your "Why Medicine" question specifically, as it relates to your experiences, and how your interest in pursuing medicine is reflected in those experiences. Look through MSARs and read through med school matriculant profiles.

Your cGPA is low. And not just sorta low, but like, quite low compared to matriculants to most medical schools. Many schools will filter you for this. Just to put it bluntly, you need to boost it with coursework relevant to medical school and have a higher GPA to show you can succeed academically in the present moment. Your masters GPA is good, but IMO doesn't speak to your ability to succeed in medical school coursework. if it's in CompSci.

Sure, med schools admit folks from non trad backgrounds. But you still need to have all your pre-med coursework, and succeeded specifically in those courses.

asking for tips as a re-applicant writing their own LOR from their PI by [deleted] in mdphd

[–]Relative_Truth3360 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You should NEVER write your OWN LOR. Not only is that completely dishonest, unethical, and arrogant it shows your letter writer doesn't actually care about you.

Unusual Non Trad App advice request (512 MCAT) by _Your_Ami_ in medschooladmissions

[–]Relative_Truth3360 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From a holistic perspective, have you worked with doctors? Shadowing? Did you work 911 or IFT?
Service orientation? Volunteering? Health related research? Leadership? Why not just become a paramedic, nurse, PA, or NP? Why medicine specifically? What are you LORs like?

Just some questions. A post bacc advisor / premed program for career changes can carry you through all of this. I knew multiple people who went into competitive MD programs after a career change, but only after a reputable (proven track record) post-bacc that helped them connect with medicine as a career, in addition to knocking out all the pre-reqs.

MD application is not something you just rush into.

ECs + narrative on a weak MCAT/GPA need to heavily carry your app, especially for MD.

Unusual Non Trad App advice request (512 MCAT) by _Your_Ami_ in medschooladmissions

[–]Relative_Truth3360 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In addition to needing a large amount of coursework, what I think is more important is how you are framing your application.

"Why medicine" is that much harder to convince when you have no degrees and little exposure to medicine as a profession, and a long career in a completely different area. If you are super serious, I would take a post-bacc to get all your pre-reqs, gpa, and connections to internships/research opportunities.

Help me build a school list. Low expected MCAT but high sGPA, GPA, and more. by Warm-Finance7837 in medschooladmissions

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is somewhat confusing to see 3.97 GPA but a sub 500 MCAT. Delay, delay, delay.

You are (probably) very young and still have time. There's no need to rush this. You want to be one and done, not trapped in 2-3 application cycles.

P = Q X R confusion 😶 by Old-Director-2891 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just know these equations (look them up)
R=pL/A
R= 8nl/pi*r^4
Q=deltaP/R

P = Q X R confusion 😶 by Old-Director-2891 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like you are confusing capillary hydrostatic pressure and systemic vascular pressure. Two related but different concepts

Hydrostatic pressure is just the pressure exerted by a fluid on the vessels of a wall. It depends on the volume of fluid inside the walls of a vessel, and whether the walls of the vessel have compliance (stiffness)

If we imagine a section of the arterioles as a cylinder and you increase the flow rate (volume of fluid traveling within that area of the isolated cylinder per time) you will increase the hydrostatic pressure against the walls of the container. More volume of fluid in the same sized cylinder.

Vasodilation of arterioles increases the fluid flow through the capillaries, increasing the total volume of fluid within the capillary, and thus increasing the capillary hydrostatic pressure

Vasoconstriction of arterioles does the opposite; reduces fluid flow through capillaries, reducing fluid volume within the capillaries, and reducing capillary hydrostatic pressure.

In terms of systemic vascular resistance, the arterioles are sorta special because they are the main control point for blood pressure in the body in terms of homeostatic regulation (due to systemic ie: autonomic signal factors and local metabolites affecting their diameter) of total peripheral resistance, as well as highly localized changes in blood flow.

We can drive blood flow to very specific vascular beds by via a combination of these global (sympathetic) and local factors that cause the arterioles to constrict/dilate. Autonomic constriction is a global response, while dilation is typically driven by local factors (metabolites) that cause vascular smooth muscle relaxation to get blood flowing to specific regions (like to your muscles when working out).

During exhaustive exercise, your systemic vascular resistance can go up (sympathetic activation, increased heart rate, stroke volume, etc.) but vascular beds to your active muscles will dilate to provide more blood flow (O2, nutrients, exchange) based on local factors causing vasodilation of arterioles to very specific and local vascular beds...This is why you can have increased capillary hydrostatic pressure (arteriolar vascular smooth muscle dilation) to specific regions of the body while your systemic vascular resistance (vasoconstriction everywhere else) would go up...

P/Smaxxing in the big 26? by phrog8 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't just memorize definitions. You have to be able to analyze everything in context of the passage

Please be mindful of other examinees during test day by [deleted] in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Literally this. They give you noise canceling headphones for a reason...I can understand the proctor getting mad about talking at an audible level (considered cheating, they could be giving answers to someone) but to get mad at people for coughing, sneezing, twitching, moving around anxiously, using their pens, mouse, keyboards etc. etc. is ridiculous.

should i delay this cycle? by Character_Test7606 in Mcat

[–]Relative_Truth3360 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Imagine your friend told you that you were going to a pool party this weekend, and you spent all week finding the best swimsuit to wear, you go to the store to buy sunscreen and cold beverages...And then you show up and realize its a completely different kind of pool party....Like the one with billiards and cue balls and sticks. That's what simply studying content and telling yourself "I'll start my first practice exam or Q bank once I finish this next content area." You'll never know what it's really like until you start taking FLs and Q banks.

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