Should You Quit Your job to Study for the MCAT Full-Time?

Session 70

The MCAT is hard. Being a nontrad and studying for the MCAT can seem impossible. Should you quit your job to study for the MCAT full-time? That is the question.

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[01:20] OldPreMeds Question of the Week:

"I'm debating whether I should resign from my job or not. I graduated last year and have been balancing working a very full-time job, 40-50 hours a week, and MCAT studying. I've taken the old MCAT before the change happened in January and scored a 20 literally but I'm a very good student with a 3.97 GPA. I was taking a Kaplan course at that time while taking three science courses and thesis and cram-studied for 18 days. In retrospect, I needed to strategize and needed more time."

Note: This student was obviously taking the January 2015 test and I'm assuming they cram-studied because they were trying to take the test prior to the change to the new MCAT.

"I'm aiming to take the exam in January of 2017. I already unofficially pushed back the exam twice due to events at work and feel like I need to study head-on but I haven't seen much improvement despite on and off studying since last October. My biggest fear is quitting and not doing as well on the exam as I've hoped. But I'm also so tired when I come home from work and I know that something needs to change at work. Financially, I have about three months worth of rent for New York City and I;m concerned about finding a job to sustain me after my exam.

But my main focus at this point is to do well on the exam and I don't want delay taking this exam anymore. I'm going to ask my employer if I can take a one-month leave of absence from late December to my January exam date and somehow find a way to use my vacation days so I can work three to four days a week. Would this be enough time to improve my score to 510+? My first Kaplan practice test score was 491. I'm determined to do well but for some reason, I'm not making much progress on this exam. Or is quitting your job for the exam worth it for the exam? Would med schools look unfavorably if I were to study for the MCAT head-on?”

Here are my thoughts:

[03:50] The MCAT is Like No Other

I don't think med schools care if you quit your job and only studied for the MCAT. They just want to see you have a good grade. So you don't really want to worry about that.

This student was good in school but bombed the MCAT, studying for 18 days and trying to cram in one of those last test dates in January 15, like every other student was trying to do and didn't do well with a 20.

My first point is that the MCAT is not like any other test you're going to see in your life through your undergrad years or your postbac years. It doesn't care if you have a 3.97 GPA. All it cares about is how well you're going to do on the MCAT. So you need to well on the MCAT which means studying specifically for the MCAT and that also means studying for more than 18 days.

[05:30] Take Many Practice Tests

This was actually posted in August and the poster was looking at taking it in January and possibly taking a one month leave of absence to cram for the MCAT. I still consider one month as cramming for the MCAT. The goal is to take many practice tests. Go and listen to The MCAT Podcast, if you don't already, where you we cover topics like how long to study for the MCAT or how many practices tests should you take, and all of these types of questions.

[06:18] Should You Quit Your Job?

Every job is different. There is a difference between a librarian job which is relatively easy compared to this job that this poster has, working 40-50 hours a week and coming home too tired to study. That's a huge difference! Therefore, you need to take into account what your life is, your job life, and the amount of energy you have to give to prepare for the MCAT. Your priority would be MCAT but you obviously have to sustain yourself financially with living, food, and everything else. But this poster only has their three months worth of rent. So could you take on a room mate? Or go and live in with somebody? Adjust your lifestyle to make it a priority to study for the MCAT.

[07:33] The Best Case Scenario

The best case scenario is always studying full-time for the MCAT. But that is not reasonable for everyone and not a doable thing. So you need to be able to study as much as possible and that means you may have to adjust some things like going down to doing part-time, or going down to three or four days a week, or to four or five hours a day instead of 40-50 hours a week.

[08:03] My Final Thoughts

Again, the MCAT comes first. It doesn't matter if you quit your job and study full-time. The medical schools are not going to look at that negatively. One month is not enough time to study for the MCAT for most people. If you think about a normal study schedule, you're taking the unscored AAMC MCAT a week before your exam, you're taking one of their scored two weeks before the exam, you're taking one of their scored three weeks before the exam, and then you're taking four or five or six other full-length practice exams for the month before that. So you're looking at about two months minimum to start fitting in practice exams and doing everything else. As you can see, it takes some time so you need to plan it.

Links:

MedEdMedia Network

The MCAT Podcast

AAMC practice tests

The MCAT Podcast 34: How Many MCAT Practice Tests Should I Take?

The MCAT Podcast 37: How Do I Know If I’m Ready to Take the MCAT