anyone out there waiting for april 2005 MCAT scores?
argh!!!!!!

I have a friend who is also waiting, so you are not alone...

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medic
Pediatric Pulmonology

just found my mcat score = 19P.
back in 2003 i got 19S.
i am going down hill. i guess i dont have what it takes despite other stuff...
i dont know anymore.
anyone understand who is in the same situation?

Yeah, scores were posted last night.

VR=11
**=11
PS=8
WS=P

I'm not unhappy with those. However, I'm a recovering alcoholic/drug addict and am worried about how to include that fact in the admission essay...the experience has helped me grow like you wouldnt imagine, and I think I'll be a much better doctor because of it. Still, there's a stigma.

We'll see what the US schools think. I know several docs who graduated from Carribean schools, and they're really good. Overseas might be the way to go.

Any advice...?

hi Pharmacist,
that is amazing!! congrats on your excellent scores. you deserve to have good things since it seems you had a lot of struggles.
thank you for sharing that with us. unfortunately, people judge people no matter what. but why do you have to disclose that info to them?
what if you didnt tell them and just focused on the other stuff?
i believe that drugs and addiction can make a person stronger and a better person in the end but drugs are not who a person is (?) i think it is tricky when that stuff comes out to the gatekeeper...but then maybe that gatekeeper can relate to your trials and tribulations and then...
its a personal choice i guess. but no matter what, you live to tell about it and will help those in the future...
take care

Thanks for the kind words. I'm not on the pity pot, and I take full responsibility for my past. I've grown to be a different person over the past 5 years, and because of that I almost feel like I have to bring it up. In a lot of ways it solidified my decision to become a doc, maybe moreso than any other experience in my life. Sometimes I feel like damaged goods when I start thinking about the med school application process...but we'll see.

This was my first time taking the MCAT, and man was it long! I took it in New Haven at Yale and felt really intimidated by all the youngsters in Yale t-shirts. I met some guy who was retaking it, which made me feel better--then he told me that he needed a better score to transfer from some med school in Chicago to another one somewhere else.

Anyway, to Chancy: have you applied anywhere in the past? Maybe something like a Kaplan course would help the MCAT scores. A friend of mine took it twice, and didn't do so hot on either try. He got one interview at Umass and bombed it (by his own account), and got rejected from every school he applied to for two years. He got accepted at NYCOM and is now a DO just starting his residency. In his case, I don't think the scores reflected his intelligence or his ability to learn medicine. Maybe the same is true for you. In any case, if you're already a doctor in your heart, then you'll likely be one in practice eventually. That's my belief, anyway. Keep at it. (and I don't know what my buddy actually got for scores--when I ask him, he always tells me he THINKS he got a 24 or something like that. lol)

Hi Pharmacist

yes i applied for 2 years in a row to Canadian med schools..it's weird here, some may give a low cut off like 2.7 and require no mcat but of course they actually consider the 3.8gpa people...
it was disappointing to not even get an interview but then again, 85% get rejected in Canada. needle in a haystack idea i guess.

i think that it is a very strong stance to take to take full responsibilty for your actions but, i guess for your choices yes. but sometimes i know that people are faced with such difficult situations that we cant judge them for doing what they do i.e abusing substances etc. i think that is the error here. because if you look deeper you may see that they are self medicating for some disorder they are suffering from.
can i ask you what led you to do those kinds of things. people cope in different ways. and maybe in the end drugs and alcohol look more abhorrent to society but what is the difference between those who do that and others who may say, resort to reckless sexual behaviors, food addictions and gambling just to name a few. those arent "illegal" in the eyes of the law per say, but there is a moral element here.

i just think that the problem is much more complex then people assume. there needs to be more compassion in our society!!! on an everyday level. i think doctors can make that difference and are doing so everyday.

sorry about all the rambling

best wishes

Well, it started off with pain medication for a migraine. But in addition to killing the pain, it also relieved the free-floating anxiety I had. So I began to use drugs to smooth out the rough edges of life--then I became addicted. Alcohol was always a problem, too. Some people try drugs and never do them again, some can use drugs and stop with no problem...I'm not one of those. If I took pain meds or benzos or drank alcohol today, I'd be starting the whole problem over again. So I don't. That's it in a nutshell. I know one doc in recovery, and right now he's doing well. I also know two pharmacists who died in the past year from drugs and alcohol. It's no joke...


Man, an 85% rejection rate is huge!

Just saw on AMCAS.ORG that the scores will be available June 20th, 2006!

And I have my interview a week before!

It would have helped to haev the scores beforehand.! anyone else in a lllar situation?

First nice scores, Second, don't include that in your essay - that was who you were. Not who you will be. Focus your essay on the future not on your past. Unless you were arrested for it - leave it in your past.

Have known several MD's in recovery. The key they tell me is to stay future minded. Also look at it as not having any impact on your future. That is also what medical schools look for in applicants. Yea, I am an older person. I think I was the oldest when I took the MCAT last summer at Az State. I found it funny that 10% of the people being tested left after the first session. Guess the stress was too much.

As a person who was once a counselor - one of the most competive group of people - were the people just starting substance abuse recovery. They were all bragging about how much they took of this or that. You know you are recovered when you look back are neither proud or ashame - you just don't care about that phase of your life.

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