Snacks for the MCAT

I have to admit, I stole this idea from someone else, but it's really awesome.

The BEST snack to eat during your breaks is...Apples and Peanut Butter! Fruit, Protein, Sweet, and Salty - it's just invigorating! Try it sometime, and see if you like it! Just so you know, there are ways to buy this snack so it's not as messy as it sounds - they sell bags of pre-cut apples (or you could obviously cut one up yourself that morning and stick it in a baggie) and they also sell little individual serving cups of peanut butter, that you can just throw away when you are done.

Of course, other snacks to keep in your locker are: granola bars or trail mix, water, vitaminwater/gatorade, some small form of chocolate...

Things to Bring (or not):
First, think about what you want to wear, because you cannot take off and leave an item of clothing (sweater, jacket) on the back of your chair mid-test. You will have to take the jacket back out to your locker in the secure area, meanwhile your time allowed for the test DOES NOT STOP!!! So, think ahead of time - do you generally get cold or warm when you are in a room, and would keeping a jacket/sweater on for 60 minutes until you can take a break bother you or not. Also, since you should make a test-drive of wear the testing center is before you go, if possible, maybe you can enter the waiting area, just to get an idea of the temperature.

I know this may sound ridiculous, but you do not want ANYTHING to bother you on test day. You want that day to be about YOU and the TEST - no temperature regulation problems, not hunger/thirst problems, no extra nerves about what you can or can't bring in - just you focusing all your energy and mental power on this test!

Also, if noise bothers you, there are some options:

Noise cancelling headphones can be provided for you if you need them. I think they ask you if you want a pair before you walk in, or they may even be on the slats between each desk, I forget. However, if you are thinking about using these, try using them in one of your full-length practice tests. You may find them ultra-annoying pushing on your skull, and that's something good to know BEFORE the test happens.

You may also bring your own pair of earplugs to the test, and these can be used by themselves, or in addition to the headphones. However, they must be in their ORIGINAL packaging, UNOPENED!!! I don't know if someone would ever bring earplugs with equations written on them, or fancy earplugs that can actually play answers or music wirelessly, but apparently there is some sort of security concern with you bringing in used, and potentially tampered, ear plugs...

As for scratch paper, the center will either provide everyone with a white board and dry erase marker, or paper and pencil. So, again, you may want to do one practice with a small white board, just to see what it's like. However, my testing center gave us pencil and paper. They said if you need more paper/pencil to raise your hand, so no worries about that.

It says that you cannot bring any other personal items in besides unopened earplugs, however, if it's in the winter or you have a cold, I would go ahead and ask if you can bring a pack of tissues or a cough drop with you when you get there. I kind of think you can, but always be sure to ask. Again, you want to feel as comfortable as possible, with no added worries about stupid things like snot and whether or not you can bring in tissues to clean up said snot. Some people are also avid chap stick users, so bring some with you if you are one of these people, and be sure to ASK before you go in with it!

Also, if you are a person who likes to drink from a water bottle or chew gum while studying, start practicing your full-lengths without it, because you are not going to have it on the real day.

I think all the MCAT testing centers are now PROMETRIC testing centers. This means that, when you get there, after the allotted time of waiting, you will be called one by one where you will present some form of qualifying government-issued identification that has your name, picture, and expiration date. You will then have your fingerprint scanned, and sign in. Now, each time you sign in or out during your breaks, you place your finger on the scanner, sign in, and have your ID with you, but these sign ins/outs are much quicker than the first initial one. It's actually a fairly cool process. Look at the ID requirements, and I would say to bring at least two forms, just in case one ID doesn't fit the requirements for some reason. I brought my driver's license and passport.

I think almost all of these centers of the lockers for test-takers use. The setup at my testing center had lots (like 12-15) of little cubical lockers (maybe 10-12" square, and then maybe they weren't a cube, because they had a bigger depth) and a few select taller lockers (maybe 10-12" X 24-30") just to give you an idea. I actually fit a lot of stuff in there, so no worries. Each locker came with a key that you locked, and then put the key in your pocket/brought it with you into the testing area.

When should you take the MCAT?

This is up to you, but you probably want to get your AMCAS application in as soon as possible, and since it goes online and opens around early June of the year before you want to start medical school, and it takes about a month to get your scores back, then you want to probably take it either on or before the first of May. (I took mine May 2, 2009 and my scores were posted on June 9th(?), applying for the Med School class that will begin Fall of 2010, to give you an idea.) Of course, you could take the test in June/July, but just know that you can't really finish your AMCAS application then until July/August, which may be fine for you. Something else to consider is that, if you wish to retake the exam, you have to wait 3 months before taking it again. So, I think I would not have been able to retake the MCAT until August.

That said, there is NEVER a "perfect" time to take the MCAT. You will never feel perfectly ready, you will never know ALL the content. Lots of people start getting nervous as the test date gets closer, and like to change/postpone the date of their exam. While there are valid reasons for doing this (something REALLY important comes up for that day, you haven't covered any of some important subject in your organic chem class, or something else really important, like you forgot you would not be done with physics before the test date), you SHOULD NOT (!!!#$@%) change your exam to a later date because you don't "feel" ready, because your nervous, or because you don't do well at some obscure, non-high-yield portion of the gen chem section. If you push your exam back 1 or even 3 months, how much more studying will you actually get done? If you're feeling this nervous, stop spending time worrying about it, and kick your studying up a notch. I don't mean tack on an additional 4 hours of study time, but maybe start flipping through flashcards on the bus, or at lunch. Do some practice questions or practice section tests, and then review what you got wrong. Change up your study methods. Whatever, just do NOT freak yourself out, and just finish this exam.

Now if it's two weeks before the exam, and you've never heard of a capacitor and do not know whether the number of neutrons is the sub or superscript on a chemical, okay, yeah, you should probably postpone the test a couple of months (although, if you've never heard of a capacitor, maybe you should postpone the test for a year! :D)

Something else to consider: the exam itself costs $255 already. Changing the date of your test costs an additional $55. If the date you pick happens to be at a different testing site, at you make both changes at the same time, then it's only the $55 fee. However, if you already changed the site, and then changed the date, that's two $55 fees, for an additional total of $110. So, consider how much you think you need to change the date, and how much it may cost you, and whether it's worth it to you or not. If you've done a fair to large amount of studying, it is probably not worth it to change your testing date. Calm down, you are probably fine!