MCAT Question of the Day

Allison Greco has kindly agreed to answer some of the top questions our community wants answered. Allison is a medical student in the class of 2013 and has a great passion for social media. You can follow her on twitter @grecoa3.

What aspect of the Medical School surprised you the most?

I think the biggest “surprise” about medical school was adjusting to the sheer volume of information you get in the first two years. The material itself isn’t that difficult, but there is so much of it, that most of the study habits you used in college simply won’t work. For example, I used to re-write my notes to study in college, but in medical school there just wasn’t enough time! That’s not to say you can’t do it – you just need a little time to adjust!

Want to read more? Click here to read more of Allison’s insightful answers to your Pre-Med and MCAT related questions.

Have a question about pre-med? Tweet your questions to us @MCATQoftheDay, or shoot us an email.

We will be posting more of Allison’s Q & A within the coming weeks! Subscribe to our email list to get the latest MCAT Question of the Day and Allison’s Q & A’s sent straight to your inbox.

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Allison Greco has kindly agreed to answer some of the top questions our community wants answered. Allison is a medical student in the class of 2013 and has a great passion for social media. You can follow her on twitter @grecoa3.

What is the best piece of advice you have for students preparing to take the MCAT exam?

It’s super important to know and be comfortable with your own study style, and don’t get nervous or intimidated because your classmates use different methods. For example, I simply cannot sit in the library and study all day and night. I need to take frequent breaks and reward myself for lots of studying; I get far more out of studying this way. In fact, it might be helpful to make a study calendar to make studying and break time more manageable. It’s a something I did to study for my boards in medical school (but not for my MCAT), and I found it very helpful. It’s also a good idea to study in the same format as the test – i.e., using a computer – to train your brain.

Also, practice, practice, practice! Sure, learning the science and memorizing formulas are important, but you’d be surprised how often questions are repeated. You can get a question book or subscribe to an online question bank, and try to do a few questions every day.

Finally, I recommend visiting the prometric site prior to test day and familiarizing yourself with the facilities to eliminate some nerves come test day.

Oh, and we can’t forget the party or special celebration for when you finish!

Want to read more? Click here to read more of Allison’s insightful answers to your Pre-Med and MCAT related questions.

Have a question about pre-med? Tweet your questions to us @MCATQoftheDay, or shoot us an email.

We will be posting more of Allison’s Q & A within the coming weeks! Subscribe to our email list to get the latest MCAT Question of the Day and Allison’s Q & A’s sent straight to your inbox.

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Allison Greco has kindly agreed to answer some of the top questions our community wants answered. Allison is a medical student in the class of 2013 and has a great passion for social media. You can follow her on twitter @grecoa3.

I just have a question about extra curricular activities for medical school. I am currently in my second year and haven’t really thought about medical school until now, so I haven’t been doing and volunteering or anything. Is it too late for me start now? Lots of students say that you need to be volunteering for years to make it into medical school, so would that mean I should do another program after my undergrad to accumulate them? My back up plan as of now is to do a masters program of some sort, just so I can have an extra 2 years to get volunteer experience. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

It’s absolutely is not to late to get started! To be honest, I was very much the same way with volunteer work and extra-curriculars. I’m sure you’re also much more involved than you realize. What do I mean? Well, when I was in my early undergraduate years, I still went home every month or so to help out with some of the local organizations that I had been involved in during high school- all of those things went into my AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service- the allopathic medical school online application service).

Additionally, the truth is that if you have great grades, a great MCAT, and an otherwise stellar application, the other things aren’t as important. On the other hand, lots of volunteer experience and extacurriculars can do a lot for an application that is a little on the weaker side.

Finally, I wouldn’t delay applying to medical school just because you think you don’t have enough volunteer experience- you might be surprised! I would put off applying if grades or course prerequisites are an issue, or if you’re not really sure that you want to be a doctor, but not because you’re afraid you might not have enough volunteer experience- especially as a sophomore! Remember- you can always apply to osteopathic medial school at the same time that you apply to allopathic medial school.

Want to read more? Click here to read more of Allison’s insightful answers to your Pre-Med and MCAT related questions.

Have a question about pre-med? Tweet your questions to us @MCATQoftheDay, or shoot us an email.

We will be posting more of Allison’s Q & A within the coming days! Subscribe to our email list to get the latest MCAT Question of the Day and Allison’s Q & A’s sent straight to your inbox.

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