Pre-Med Confusion

WayOutWestMom
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 17:43:58 +0000

“On time” is an artificial notion. There is no set-in-stone timetable for when you can apply to med school. You do NOT have to apply to med school after your junior year of college.

Looking at your situation, the worst will be you graduate in the typical 4 years and apply to med school after graduation. This is far from unusual. (The median age of incoming med students is closer to 24 than 21. See: https://www.aamc.org/download/321468/data/factstable6.pdf)

Looking at your schedule, you should NOT take the MCAT in Dec 2016/Jan 2017. Why? Because you’re missing 2 key pre-reqs: OChem 2 and Biochem. Content from these courses comprise 1/3 of the Biological Sciences section of the MCAT. You will NOT do well on the MCAT without preparation in these areas.

Also, will you have taken a intro level psych and sociology course before you tentative MCAT date? If not, add those to your schedule. The MCAT has a Human Behavior section as of this year that requires coursework in those disciplines.

My advice: take a deep breath and step back for a moment. The journey to med school is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to look at the big picture and not sabotage your long-term goals just because you’re in a hurry and have some fixed (and false) idea of a timetable a pre-med is supposed to follow.