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[Meg Demeranville]

Devika wrote: <snip> I'm taking the MCAT this August (in 9 days!!!), plus working full time and taking an MCAT prep class at night.  I took this week and next week off from work so that I could stay home and study, so that's what I've been doing...most of the time anyway.  It's really annoying because I only get two weeks off from work for the summer, so I'll end up working after the MCAT until classes start in September.  Oh well.  Classes this semester will almost be a relief because at least I'll have a  few hours a day when I'm not studying or running around like a crazy maniac. Anyway, though, I just thought I'd take a quick study break and say hello to all of you.
 <snip>
I'll probably be lurking around this list for a while, and after the MCAT I hope to be posting more actively again.  I'm trying to confront the daunting task of getting back into the main list, but I feel like the group has grown so much in the past few months that I don't know who any of the posters are, and I'm also hopelessly behind in the discussions.  Not to mention the fact that if I suddenly reappear on the list, everyone will think that I'm a newbie. I'm sure I'll deal with it though--after the MCAT.
> 
> So that's about it for now.  Back to studying.  Any words of wisdom, ways to keep my stress level down, or general pep talks would be greatly appreciated :)
<snip>

My wise words of wisdom:
    Good luck! I took "the test from Hell" twice. Luckily, I am about to start medical school (August 19th). So I don't have to take the thing ever again. It is a hard test. Eat a good breakfast beforehand, and get a good lunch during the middle of the test. A friend of mine skipped both, and was dying by the time 5:00 came around. Poor guy, we all went out afterwards (my pre-medicine class was very close at school) and I think all of us where falling down tired by 11 p.m. 

    The best way I found to keep my stress level down was walking. If I just got away from the books, I seemed to calm down. But then again, it's the MCAT and no one will ever understand the evil test. I still don't. As far as hints for the test go, there are great sites out there for MCAT prep (mnemonics and stuff). I found it came down to a time issue. Rate your passages and do the easy ones first if you can. Save the hard ones for later. The essays can be your chance to shine. I don't think they even matter though. Write them in the prescribed format and make sure you don't write about negative ideas in a positive light or vice versa (actual advice from my prep class instructor, all of our essays became anti-JFK, anti-Santa Claus, or pro-Hitler after she told us that, poor woman (yes we were a bratty bunch)). They actually won't be that bad on the test. All of our prep class essay topics were much harder than the real one.

Relax and have fun, the hard stuff hasn't yet.

Meg


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