I'm done! Woo hoo! Here's a quick play-by-play:
* A protein-heavy breakfast, a battery of brain supplements, 10mg adderall and one strong cup of coffee later, and I was PUMPED for the physical sciences section. I felt this part was very fair, and that's saying a lot seeing as how that's my weak spot GPA wise.
* The verbal reasoning section was cake, or maybe that's just my strong area. I got 14s and 15s on this section on all my practice exams, so that ought to put me in good stead. One of the passages was by Wendell Berry, an advocate of organic farming that my father knew personally and often quoted. Never hurts.
* The writing topics were nice and easy:
-- Grades provide students with motivation to learn
-- Politicians should incorporate into their lifestyle those values they claim to support in office.
Not that this section of the MCAT really counts for anything.
* The biological sciences were a BITCH! I'm decent at organic chemistry, but I'm sorry, I've never needed (and don't feel anyone should need to) take in a complicated 5-step synthesis IN PARAGRAPH FORM ONLY (i.e. no chemical equations, no Lewis structures at all), and predict the kinetic products. There just isn't time to draw out mechanisms on the MCAT!
Asking somebody who isn't a chem whiz to differentiate enantiomers without giving them time to draw structures or letting them bring in a modeling kit is just cruel.
Also, I found the biology passages were very tricky. Several questions seemed to want to both test to make sure you know what some arcane, barely-covered-in-class functional protein does, as well as making sure you've read the question super thoroughly. I never found the practice bio sections this hard.
I still do not fully understand the way a neuron exchanges ions to propagate an action potential. I open the bio-sci booklet to page one and WELL FUCK ME! a whole passage about nuthin but that, followed by 8 questions that would really weed out anyone who doesn't know their neurons cold.
I dunno ...
I should feel relieved, but I really don't. I'm thinking of taking a 300-level (advanced) biology course this summer and working my ass off to get an A, because I've been told that would go a long way to showing admissions committees I can excel in difficult science classes.
If I still don't get in this round, I may try to get a masters degree in something sciency maybe even in another country (my feet are getting a bit itchy again), and then apply again sometime down the road.
I would definitely enjoy working as a physician assitant, nurse practitioner, or DO, but I'd rather aim for an MD as my ultimate degree, because the variety of options an American MD degree will open up for me is unparalleled. It's like the perfect combination of job security and flexible work options (if you're all about primary care, that is, which I am.) It's also very hard to get into
But hey, you can't blame a guy for trying, and you never know ...
I felt those good vibes today, especially at the beginning. Much appreciated, folx.
