u/enigmatica23

Hi,

Wondering if any non-trad prospective (or current) med school students would be interested in forming a little support group/group chat? Especially those navigating studying for the MCAT while also working full time.

I am 28y/o just now studying to retake the MCAT (planning to test at the end of the summer). This experience can be quite isolating as a working adult outside the college scene - so hoping to find a little community of people in a similar boat!

Especially females around this age - I feel like we have even more to think about/how this will affect the trajectory of our personal lives - would be interested to hear from others.

* GroupMe created. All welcome.

** Please PM me to get added to the group

Ty!

I took the MCAT back in 2022 and got a 508 (C/P 126, CARS 128, B/B 125, P/S 129). I ended up applying really late in the cycle/limited schools and never got off the waitlist at 2 schools. Then.. a combination of being discouraged + life happened and I ended up not applying again.

Now, I’m in a situation where I realize I really do still want this, am in a better life situation, but my MCAT has aged out. Just as well, because I think I should do better. Without having studied in all these years, is it realistic to shoot for a jump up to ~514 with 4-6 hours of study per day for the next 3.5-4 months?

Also wanting to invest more in study materials this time around. I’m seeing a lot of positive opinions on the UWorld Q-bank, and am wondering if I should invest the extra $ for the Core Prep Course or Comprehensive Prep Course? I understand I should also just get the full AAMC bundle (last time I just purchased a few individual practice tests), so I also don’t want to overload myself with material and not even know where to start… I will admit my science has slipped a lot. I’m sure it’ll be easier remembering certain things the second time around, but feel I’ve always had certain knowledge gaps (especially in orgo). I am tempted by the UWorld prep course study plan feature, which basically tells you what to do every single day. At the same time, I am afraid of spending too much time “passively” consuming content via UWorld videos (or even reading Kaplan review books?)

As far as AI… this is something I did not have the last time. Read some posts about using Notebook LM - maybe I’m not using it properly, but I don’t love it as much as I think I could? Is it worth getting Chat GPT pro? I get this through work but am afraid of using my work account too heavily for personal things, lol. I do have Anki (see that AnKing MCAT deck is popular), not sure if there are any new AI integrations into that.

Looking for any advice on any of the topics above (or some encouragement) - clearly I’m still a bit disorganized/overwhelmed with all the available resources and figuring out what I should really be doing. Also stressed at the idea of being a first year med student at 30 years old (as a female who wants a family!).