College freshmen who want to become doctors may want to plan now for how they’ll get into medical school.
It pays to know early which extracurricular activities they should join, which undergrad classes they’ll need to take to do well on the Medical College Admission Test and when they should take that exam, medical school admissions experts say. Students often start preparing for applications as early as sophomore year.
The MCAT has become an especially challenging part of the admissions process, in part because it went through a drastic overhaul in April. It’s now about 6 1/2 hours long — about two hours longer than the last version — and covers more subjects, such as psychology and sociology, in addition to topics the test has long covered, such as biology and chemistry.
Find out [about inexpensive ways to study for the MCAT.]
“The new MCAT is so much broader,” says Jeannie Burlowski, who helps premeds get into med school through her business, getintomedschool.com. “There is far more detail that’s tested, and then it’s also more in depth.”
Having the right test preparation is critical for getting a competitive MCAT score, and premeds should think carefully about whom they choose to lead their MCAT study sessions — if they aren’t keen on studying by themselves — and how they’ll pay for it, experts say.
“There are some students that could prepare on their own if they are highly intelligent and highly diligent about staying on a schedule,” says Rachel Blankstein, who is the co-founder of the admissions consultancy organization Spark Admissions.
They can use material from a test preparation company or the Association of American Medical Colleges, which creates the exam, she says. But if there is a section that a student is not understanding then it’s wise to get a tutor, Blankstein says. “Also if it’s a student that isn’t diligent enough to study on their own and they know that in advance than they should absolutely do some formalized test prep.”
Burlowski, who’s spent decades coaching medical school applicants and once worked with Kaplan Test Prep, urges prospective students to turn to large test-preparation companies for help.
“In a year where the MCAT test has just changed, you have to be really, really careful about getting an individual coach or a tutor,” she says. “No individual has the time or the brain power to be able to research this in great enough depth that they would actually know what’s really going to be on the test and to what degree of depth everything’s going to be tested.”
Find out [what prospective medical students had to say about the new MCAT.]
A test-preparation company, she says, can pour money into researching how the latest test-takers have performed on the exam, what questions tripped them up and how to devise a strategy for studying.
Prospective medical school applicants can ask test-prep companies, “What’s your budget for research?” and “How many people are on your research staff?” to understand which organizations have made researching the new MCAT a top priority, Burlowski says.
Taking a class can also be a way for premed students to guarantee that they’ll methodically get through their study materials, says Ron Laue, assistant dean and health professions adviser for the engineering school at Washington University in St. Louis.
“It can really help a student to stay disciplined,” says Laue. At Washington University in St. Louis, between 35 and 40 students from the engineering school, Laue’s department for advising undergrads interested in medicine, apply to medical school each year, he says.The university offers an MCAT preparation course for students who want help studying.
In some instances, though, individual tutoring may be a better fit for a student, says Blankstein from Spark Admissions.
Perhaps it’s just one section of the exam that’s tripping up test-takers. To get over this hurdle, they may call in a tutor. If there’s more than one specific aspect of the test that’s problematic, they may need more than one tutor for help with different challenges, Blankstein says.
“The student can determine what they’re not grasping through doing practice exercises,” she says.
Select [premed courses that will prepare you for the MCAT.]
Before paying for tutors, she encourages premeds to “understand if the tutor can really focus on their problem areas.”
She says they can ask tutors, “Are you doing a general review of everything or are you going to help me work on my problem areas?” Students can also ask tutors how comfortable they are with the new MCAT and what kind of results they got when doing practice material, she says.
Tutors and test-preparation classes are an investment, experts say. It’s easy for premeds to spend a few thousand dollars on studying for the MCAT.
Financial preparation is another place where early planning is key.
“Take the total cost. Divide it by 24,” says Burlowski. If possible, students should try to save that much per month for two years, she says.
They can also turn to the Association of American Medical Colleges for help, says Laue. “They do offer several free resources and ways to apply for financial aid, if you will, in order to get test-prep material.”
The MCAT is just one variable that’s weighed when a student applies to medical school, he says.
Experts agree that an applicant’s letters of recommendation, research activities and personal statement are also carefully reviewed, but the MCAT stands out.
“The MCAT is still a very important variable,” Laue says. “You really want to make sure you’re well prepared for it.”
Searching for a medical school? Get our complete rankings of Best Medical Schools.
More from U.S. News
Determine If You Need Psychology, Sociology Classes for MCAT Prep
3 Challenging Sample MCAT Questions on Organic Chemistry
3 Ways to Build Critical MCAT Skills in Everyday Life
Boost an MCAT Score With the Right Test-Prep Instructor originally appeared on usnews.com
