Decisions on taking Mcat

[drogomir]

I have been out of school for about 10 years now. I decided to go back to school to study medicine. I have my high school diploma and 3 out of a 4 year of university but did not finish my degree. I plan to go to school in the caribbean to bypass the 1st degree required in Canada needed to study medicine. I am applying to St.James School of Medicne(Mcat not required), SABA(Mcat required), Xavier(Mcat not required), All Saints University(Mcat recommended) and Windsor University school of medicine(Mcat optional). All these schools claim that i can apply using my high school grades and my grades from University from 1997. Some friends of mine said to just apply to the schools that don`t need the Mcat for and save myself time and money but i I decided to take the Mcat just to make sure that these schools will take me serious. What do you guys think. Is it worth to take the Mcat. Actually i`m currently enrolled in one right now but i need to be motivated. Maybe some one out there has past experience. Any opinion is appreciated. Thanks

[MetaMed]

Of the schools you've listed there, SABA often shows up among what are called the 'Big 4'.

It is also the only one listed that has the MCAT required. For the others, its optional, recommended or they don't care.

However, I think its a smart idea to go ahead and take it anyways. The MCAT is sometimes said to be a predictor of how well you will do on Board exams in the future. I don't know if this is true. But regardless, if the best school on your list has an MCAT required, then why would you short-change yourself? The MD program is 4 years in length but the quality of the education you receive will be with you for a LOT longer than that.

In many ways, I think the MCAT is the easiest part of the application to really maximize. you can't fix a crappy GPA but with effort, you can always get a good MCAT score. It might not be the most fun test to study for, but you're keeping your options as open as possible by taking it. Who knows you might decide even to apply to the others like Ross and SGU as well. In which case the MCAT would be required.

If you're looking for motivation...just visualize where you want to be 10 years from now. Believe that the MCAT is a first and important step in helping you get there. Also, I just said to myself, whatever might keep me out of med school, the MCAT wasn't going to be it! Hehe....

To answer your question, I think its worth it, particularly if you do well (which YOU WILL, THINK NOTHING ELSE, WORK LIKE THAT'S ALL YOU CARE ABOUT RIGHT NOW) and it gets you into SABA. It'll help I'd imagine with the others who have it as recommended/optional. A good score can also help make up for anything else in your app that's lacking.

Good luck and KNOCK'EM DEAD!

[drogomir]

The reply you wrote was very positive and motivational. Thank you. It gives me a different perspective on things. Very much appreciated.

[tenordoc]

Why those schools? Saba is a good school, the others aren't in the top tier. The MCAT is not only a test of your basic science knowledge, but it's a test of how well you can process information under pressure.

When I took it, I got one of those big review books and read through it, especially the physics parts. But I take tests well, so did really well on the written/verbal portions.

Good luck!