partha97

hey guys I'm looking for some mcat advice.
First let me explain my educational background.

I graduated from a dual credit high school (Texas Academy Leadership in the Humanities) in '07. TALH is a dual credit program that works with Lamar University to provide students with college level classes. I graduated with about 63 hrs of credit with a GPA of 3.6. I transfered to UT-Austin the following year and earned a 1st GPA of 3.3. So far I have 90+ hrs. Here is the pre-med course work I have completed/plan to take:

Composition 1 and 2: B in both
Cal 1: B
Cal 2: C (Yes I know I screwed up in this subject, this is my only C)
Bio 1: A
Bio 2: A
Bio Lab: B
Chem 1: B
Chem 2: A
Chem Lab: A
Physics - taking this summer
O Chem - Fall 2008, Spring 2009
I think I should have roughly a 3.5- 3.7+ gpa with everything averaged together when I finish.

I think I should take the MCAT in August 2009 but Im not sure if I will be ready. My dad is suggesting to delay the MCAT until 2010 and take a couple of mcat prep courses. Is this a good idea? How should I prepare? Right now I bought the examkracker complete mcat study package and started to review the bio and verbal books. What sort of pace should I be studying at?

My plan to to apply to texas med schools here: UT System-TMDSAS Homepage
Getting into UT-Southwestern is my ultimate goal. (any texas med school is fine with me)

shades_children

The consensus from some of the people who have succeeded at the MCAT on this board (BDM, BRM, NCG, and me) is, as I understand it, more or less the following:

Start studying three months/one semester in advance. Anything more is overkill and a waste of your time.

Take the MCAT when you've taken most of the required pre-med science courses.

August 2009 is 16+ months away. Spend your summer building up your resume for your AMCAS/TMDSAS application. Don't waste it on test prep at this point.

norcalguy

You don't need "a couple" of MCAT prep courses. One is fine. If you bomb the MCAT, the testing companies will usually let you take the course a second time for free or at a discount. I think somewhere b/w 6-10 weeks is about right for most people as far as prep time goes. It's a lot more stressful (and you'll probably need a full semester) if you try to do it during the school year but I found my summer MCAT prep to be rather chill. I went to my 2 1/2 hour class every day, played basketball afterwards, and studied for a couple more hours at night.