When should undergrads usually start studying for the MCAT? What is considered a highly competitive score on the MCAT? Generally, from personal experience or from heresay, is the MCAT just as hard as it sounds? Any other type of advice or comments? Thanks; anything is appreciated!
202409
The Mcat means : The Medical Collage Admission Test, below is some information on it. the I have listed a source below that. Good luck I hope this will help you! :)\n\nThe Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a standardized test administered by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to prospective medical students as a means to standardise comparison between them for purposes of admission to medical school. The exam is currently taken entirely on paper. However, a computer-based version will be offered at select testing sites in the fall of 2005, and all future administrations of the exam starting in the spring of 2007 are expected to be computer-based.
600525
You need to have at a bare minimum, the basic sciences to be prepared for the MCAT.  Often times, med schools have their own requirement for admission in regards to the science classes that need to be completed before admission.  The usual is General Chemistry 1 and 2, Organic Chemistry 1 and 2, Physics 1 and 2, and Biology 1 and 2.  The biology 1 and 2 may have different names depending on the institution you attend.  I would also suggest having a human physiology course before taking the exam.  Some medical schools also require a course in Biochemistry before admission.  I had completed my degree in Molecular Biology before taking the exam, so I was pretty well prepared.  I would also suggest getting some review books such as Princeton or Kaplan books, you may or may not benefit from the review course.  You also need to get involved with volunteering (at a hospital/with a doc) and a pre-med organization at your university.  The organization will be able to provide you with more information.  You may also have an advisor at you school that focuses on pre-med students, another important resource.  Finally, make absolutely, positively sure that this is what you want to do because it is a long road through med school and residency training (7 more years for you if you want to be a Pediatrician).  If you end up going to a private med school you will be in debt to your eyeballs by the time you finish, something else to keep in mind.  If you are wondering whether or not I would do it again, the answer is yes, but I would go to a different medical school (don't go to FSU)!
466688
It's unclear whether you're a freshman in high school or a freshman in college, but I'm going to assume you're still in high school and answer accordingly.\n\nFirst, you asked "What are some top medical schools with a good college basketball team?" There are NO medical schools with basketball teams! The university of which a medical school is part of may have a basketball team, but only undergraduates can play on the team. Medical school is a graduate program so medical students are not eligible to play, thus, no medical school has a good basketball team!\n\nIf you want to go to medical school, you first have to get your four year college degree. You will also need to study certain courses to prepare you for medical school (bio, chemistry, math, physics) and get excellent grades. This "pre-med" curriculum is very demanding and time-consuming.\n\nCollege sports are also very demanding and time-consuming, especially at Division I and Division II schools like the U of Miami. There's constant travel and practice, and it can be very difficult to get the kind of grades in a demanding pre-med courses necessary to get into a good medical school. Can it be done? Possibly, but most students will find they'll need to choose one or the other - basketball or medical school.\n\nIf you're a freshman in high school, here's what I would suggest. Enjoy your high school basketball career, and do your best to develop your athletic talents. At the same time, however, get involved with activities that will help you decide if you really want to pursue a medical career -- volunteer at a hospital or a nursing home, talk to local doctors about their jobs, research what it takes to get into medical school. Down the road, also start finding out about the differences between the different college athletic divisions and the requirements for being a recruited college athlete (www.naca.org). Talk to your coach about whether you have the skills to be recruited, and which Division might be best for you.\n\nThis way, when the time comes to start figuring out where to apply, you'll have a clear idea of what the demands of pursuing both interests will involve. You may decide to just play basketball, you may decide to just pursue medical school, you may decide that there's a way to combine both, perhaps by playing on a college Club team or for a Division III school. But, you'll have a clearer picture of the pro's and con's of the options, and that will be the best guide which college is right for you.\n\nCarolyn Lawrence, www.AdmissionsAdvice.com
626870
1) Is not something unreachable, you can do it! The most important word is perseverance. If medicine is your passion, go for it, its wonderful. \n\n2) Biology, Genetics, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Psychology, Economy, etc. Try to do any kind of science-research. And enjoy college, family and friends, because the hard thing about studying medicine is not the hard work you have to put into your studies  The hard thing is to learn how to overcome the frustrations and to make a balance between your every-day-life (family, friends, boyfriend or girlfriend, church, etc) and med-school.  (time-management --> very important) \n\n3)You can go to the MCAT page to see all the med-schools in your area.
413861
If I were you I would change my major to Premed.  If your school does not offer that, I would change to Major Biology, Minor Chemistry and get a Bachelor of Science.\n\nYou will then need to take the MCAT and do extremely well on it.\n\nAlso, if you are white, you will likely need a 4.0 grade point average.\n\nIf you are black or hispanic, it is much easier to gain entry to a medical school.\n\nGood luck.
484109
The best way to study for the USMLE is to do practice test questions. There are a lot of USMLE-style question bank online, Kaplan, USMLERx, USMLExchange, USMLEWorld, to name a few. Doing practice test questions allows you to gauge your performance and helps you help familiar with the test format.\n\nWhile studying your textbook and lecture notes (I assume you are in medical school) is also important, I find it more efficient to go through some practice test questions first when I start studying a certain organ system / discipline (again, I assume you learnt the materials at least once from lectures), then focus on specifics that I am troubles with. Most online question banks allow you to customize test sessions based on organ systems / disciplines. I also find that I learn a lot just by doing the practice test questions and reading the explanations.\n\nOne of the particularly good question bank is USMLExchange (http://www.USMLExchange.com). I like it because it does not require a subscription, that means you can use it for as long as you want. It is also very inexpensive and the test questions/explanations are excellent. You also get all the other performance tracking features, FRED-style interface, etc. Of course, if you can afford to buy a 6-month Kaplan Qbank subscription, that would be even better (Kaplan Qbank is sort of the gold standard).\n\nThe bottom line is, do practice test questions, find out what you need to work on, then work on it, and finally do several full-length tests before the exam.
103210
Well, I completely understand your predicament. Wonder if this is your 1st yr in med...\nAnyway, I know sometimes these things get just so darn boring because everything is textbook nonsense until you get a patient to practice on. Even then, it's still nonsense if you don't know what you're looking for in the patient! :o)\n\nHere are a few ways I used follow during the exam times because I used find it sooo difficult to concentrate as well (topics depend on your current level) -\n\na. Draw the anatomical pictures (need not be an artist) and the biochem cycles in your own way that explains what & how things work. As you begin to understand them, fill up where needed with it's physiological/ int. med/ surgical/ pathological/ pharmaceutical etc functions as well. This is so, as you study, you understand everything on the whole in one go and relate to it when a Q is being asked on ANY topic.\n\nb. Stick post-it(s) on your wall stating important stuff (esply the ones you can't remember) so that it's there for quick reference and sooner or later, the notes'll stick in your head.\n\nc. Call up a friend (a knowledgable one, mind you) and discuss what you've just studied or anything that you don't understand. It helps to see things from a fellow student's point of view, thus implanting/ enforcing the material you've just studied in your head.\n\nd. Look things up on the net... they have many sites dedicated to patients, therefore the explaining is easier to understand. May not be too comprehensive, but it helps.\n\ne. When it's time to study for the exams, count how many days you've left, divided by the number of subjects you've to study. Make a timetable; dedicating each day to at least 2 subjects/ topics (one easy/short and the other long/ hard)... Trust me! You'd need the timetable to let you know what you've covered and how much more you've left. It's okay to fall behind once in a while so long you're done studying the most important ones and have a day or two to revise. \n\nHope this helped! All the very best!
456625
I am in medical school right now, so I know this process well.\n\nYou talking about a C in gen chem?  If you screw up once and get a C, it is not a deal breaker.  However, if you chronically have poor scores in the sciences (chem, o-chem, biochem, micro, physics, bio, etc...) then that is when things start to look bad.\n\nHonestly, there are so many factors that get you into med school.  Let me list them for you...\n\n- GPA\n- Science GPA\n- GPA in your major of study\n- Did you work/have a job while you were in school?\n- MCAT score\n- Personal statements on applications\n- Work experience in health care\n- volunteer work\n- research experience\n- extracurricular activity\n- INTERVIEWS\n\nI got a "C" in organic chemistry II.  Who cares.  My GPA was 3.9 overall.  It has a lot to do with the teacher, where you took the class, etc.  Believe me, they (the schools) simply dont have time to go through your application in insane detail.\n\nHope that helps.\n\nRegards,\nRyan\n\nPS - My C in organic chem never came up in the interviews.  A lot of the time the interviews are done by people who know NOTHING about your application at all.
252458
Go to a 4-year school (preferably one with a good reputation), take the required prerequisite pre-med courses like Physics, Calculus, Biology, Chemistry... then take the MCAT test for acceptance into a medical school. Spend the next 4+ years in med school working crazy hours and doing rotations in all aspects of medicine (emergency, surgery, peds, etc.) then specialize in Ob/gyn. Hope this helps. Universities have more info on specific requirements for med school.
341964
1) You are expected to know everything.  The course load is heavy and it goes fast.  And you are required to remember it all.\n\n2) It takes 4 years of undergrad and then, if you go directly into med-school, it will take another 4 years, and then you have to do a residency at a hospital (usually two years), and then back to school if you want to specialize (13 year commitment).  You might be able to make a marriage work during this if she is supportive and understands that you won't be able to spend much time together.  I would not recommend a family.  But it depends on you I guess.  (This is the reason I chose a different career path)  \n\n3) Can't tell ya.\n\n4) Medical Schools all over the nation are highly competative.  They like to see A's in all pre-requisites, high over all GPA (3.6 minimum, 3.8+ prefered).  MCAT scores are extremely important, and they like to see hospital-related experience (volunteer work!).\n\n5) Residency is very difficult, at times you may be going 70+ hours with no sleep (kinda scary if you're expected to be caring for people in emergency situations).  As an MD, it really depends on your situation.  If you have your own practice, obviously you can make your own hours.\n\n6) Depends...(see #5)\n\n7) What interests you?  For the commitment needed to excell in this profession, you better be doing something that YOU want to be doing (if you're in it for the money, consider law school instead).\n\n8) Anyone can have friends.  As for a social life as a medical student, it may be limited to your med school buddies during study sessions which can last days.\n\n9) Ethics are a tricky subject.  I suppose it depends which kind of medicine you practice.\n\n10) Varies, try google-ing it.\n\n\nI'm not trying to discourage you, if this is your dream pursue it, but realize that it's going to be difficult and demanding.\n\nGood luck!
293699
It is always a good idea to practice as much as possible. Practice makes perfect. Ask to your tutor to provide past years questions papers and do practice on them. It does not matter whether its your score is low or high. If its low then its a good sign because you can always go back to your tutor and ask for explanation and that way you will be able to learn better. Please remember you can learn by making mistakes. So the main formula is to practice practice and practice as well as concentration. I am sure you will do very well. No doubt about that. Good luck.
581123
For most medical schools, you need a bachelors degree.  It does not matter what your degree is in, as long as you have 2 semesters of general chemistry, 2 semesters of organic chemistry, 2 semesters of biology, and 2 semesters of physics.  You usally take the MCAT in the spring of your junior year of college.  If you plan to go to med school, getting a BSN would be pointless unless you wanted to work for several years first.  There are a VERY small number of accelerated programs that allow high school grads to enter.
400842
http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/\n\nAre you related to John?
510286
The MCAT wasn't hard, it was just really long and arduous. I took it twice and scored in the 85th percentile both times (score expires fast!).\n\nThe NY Bar Exam sounds far more painful. Any test that takes several days and involves case files and multiple handwritten essays has gotta be tougher than the MCAT.\n\nBut I think the collected USMLE exams, Steps 1 through 3 PLUS CLINICAL have got to be the worst. If it wasn't hard enough to pass, it also costs thousands of dollars just to take!!!
504602
In all reality, any of them offering biology will do.  Med students come from a variety of backgrounds (biology or chemistry or biochem or whatever).  You don't have to have a special "pre-med" tag on your major like some places offer.  You don't even have to actually be any specific major, as long as you meet the minimal course requirements for the medschool and learn enough to do well on your MCATs.\n\nIn terms of name recognition, you might want to look into SUNY Buffalo.  \n\nOther things to keep in mind: you might also consider looking at SUNY schools with a med school (Buffalo has one) as it might make life easier in the long run if you don't have to move after undergrad.  You might also consider places that will give you the best chance to "pad your resume" in order to make your application look better.  Things that help are volunteering at a hospital, or even undergraduate research (again, a bigger school with a graduate program in science of some sort will make that easier).  \n\nNote: never tell anyone your reason for doing anything is to pad your resume :P
651224
If you have not finished undergraduate work then you need to take some courses that are required by every US medical school including:\n\n1 year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) of\n\n- Biology with a year of labs\n- Chemistry with a year of labs\n- Organic Chemistry with a year of labs\n- Physics with a year of labs\n- other courses in biology are strongly reccomended including\n  -physiology\n  -anatomy\n  -biochemistry\n  -neuroscience\n\nThen you will have to take a long ass test called the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) that covers all the above sciences and some verbal stuff.... it is multiple choice like all the other standardized tests.  Oh yeah, most if not all also require a bachelor's degree in any subject, but many opt for a Biology major since the pre-health requirements are in line with that major.\n\nIt is a long road and very competitive... get a GPA above a 3.5 or you will struggle to find a spot, if you really want to do it you can though.  They made it tough so that only the people that really really want to do it make it.\n\nIt is also highly reccomended to do community service and research.  Although you can start at a community college, I haven't found any community colleges that offer all of the courses needed to fulfill these bare minimum requirements.  You will have to do this at a university.\n\nGood luck.
491272
Good grades and other extracurricular activities are a necessity...but you also have to score well on the medical school assessment test (MCATS).\nYou should also be aware that medical schools only have a limited # of openings in every class so they get to pick from a very big pool of "qualified" candidates.