Are you thinking about rescheduling or delaying your MCAT test date? My name is Ayesha, and I am one of the mentors here at MedLife Mastery!
In this post, I will be sharing my reflections on why I decided to reschedule my MCAT twice!
I ended up taking the MCAT a whole year later than from when I had initially intended to, but this turned out to be a great thing to do and helped me achieve my dream MCAT score!
You can also watch my video here!
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Psst! MedLife Mastery Team here 🙂
The Backstory: Why I Kept Rescheduling My MCAT Test Date
I had planned on taking the MCAT after my junior year of college, so I kept all of my commitments pretty low for that time. Unexpectedly, many things happened to my family. I did not get the chance to study since I was preoccupied with other things.
While I knew that these things were happening, I still felt like a failure. I knew other people taking the MCAT that summer and thought that I'd be behind.
At the same time, I knew that I would not be living up to my full potential if I took the MCAT then. I swallowed my pride and rescheduled the exam.
I had to reschedule the exam again because I was having a hard time balancing the MCAT with school, research, and my job. Once again, I felt like a failure.
I had heard stories of people who had pulled off taking the MCAT during the school year and was upset that I did not do the same.
I had already rescheduled the exam once and felt really bad that I had to do it again. However, I knew that I had to do it when I scored a 503 on a practice exam in April, which was far from my dream score (a 515+).
Little did I know that ALL of the test dates would be canceled because of the pandemic, and I had to schedule my test date for August.
I was finally able to actually give myself the full time that I needed to study. My studying quickly picked up, and my score continued to increase throughout the weeks!
Finally, I scored a 517 on my real test date, higher than my initial goal!
Only YOU Can Know When You're Ready To Take The MCAT
I am so glad that I rescheduled the exam because I would have had to retake it or keep a score that I did not want otherwise. I was beating myself up, all because I kept on comparing myself to other people!
I didn’t need to do that, and you shouldn’t either! We all have different studying a learning styles, different lives, and different things going on. You don’t need to live up to anyone else’s timeline!
One of the AAMC’s most common pieces of advice is to not take the test until you are ready, and only you can know when that is.
I took the test a full year later than I intended but was still able to apply in the same application cycle I had always planned on. Many people think that they NEED to take the MCAT during their junior year of college, but there is not just one correct time to take it. There are a lot of test dates and ways to get to medical school.
Sign up for the MCAT according to YOUR own schedule and when YOU feel ready.
I wish I could have told myself looking back on my senior year when I was panicking about taking the test that I didn’t need to worry so much about when I was getting this done. Waiting until the summer to study turned out to be a really good thing for me!
In fact, there are many things we wish we could tell ourselves when we look back. We wish we could have had different strategies for how to study, how to take the test, building a study schedule, having the right mindset, and more!
That is why I love to tutor students and why MedLife Mastery has created a variety of strategy resources for you 🙂
Don’t ever compare yourself! This test requires a lot of preparation, and you need adequate time to do that, whatever it means for you.
If you think you need to reschedule, do it. Know that it is the wisest thing for your mental health, your wallet, and your score record!
You got this!
Ayesha from MedLife Mastery
Your MCAT Success Mentor
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