Guest Speakers

Last week was a very busy week for us!

During Wednesday's AMSA meeting we put the finishing touches on our Science Saturday project. Science Saturday is October 2nd, this Saturday from 12-5PM, come help us build viruses and bacteria with the kids.

Wednesday night we had a meeting with Dr. Samuelson. He is the Dean of Admissions at U of U. He spoke about the 8 criteria that the U looks at to determine interview candidates. Applicants must be "average" in five out of the eight areas; GPA, MCAT, extracurricular, community/volunteer service, leadership, research, shadowing, and patient exposure.

Thursday night we had a meeting with Gina Moses, the assistant director of AACOMAS. She spoke about D.O. programs and had a couple recruiters from D.O. schools around the country with her.

Friday we were able to listen to a former alumni speak about pediatric neurosurgery. Jodi Smith, M.D., Ph.D. spoke about her background and her decision to be a surgeon. She then shared many wonderful case studies with us. She had some awesome videos and stories!

Highway Cleanup

We had a great time cleaning up our stretch of I-84 last Saturday. We had a good turnout and filled up about a dozen bags of garbage. Also, while every good deed deserves another, those who stayed around afterward had the privilege of partaking of Dr. Trask's home-cooking.

Wednesday, Sept 22, we have the oppertunity to hear from Dr. Samuelson speak about admission into the U of U. The meeting will be at 6:30 PM in LL130. The next day, Sept 23, Gina Moses will be speaking to us about the AACOMAS application. She will give us the ins and outs of applying to DO schools. The meeting will be at 5:00 PM in LL130. Hope to see you all there!

Interview Skills - Greg Nielson

This week we had Greg Nielson from Career Services go over interview skills. There were handouts and great information presented. One of his "take home messages" was that no matter what question is asked, it all leads to three questions. 1) Would you fit in to our school, 2) Would you succeed, and 3) Would you be a good doctor. Thanks Greg, and good luck to all those that are interviewing this year!

Reminder of the "Blood and Guts" meeting tonight and the highway clean-up activity on Saturday.

Bowling Social Fall 2010

Thanks to all those that participated in the opening social. We enjoyed bowling, pizza, and good company. We had a good turn out and ate 13 of the 15 large pizzas. Information on joining was distributed along with schedules for this semester's meetings. Pictures are on facebook, look us up by searching "AMSA at Weber".

Admit when you aren't ready

Hey everyone,

This is another continuation of the MCAT suggestions. So yesterday I decided to postpone my exam date, I'll be taking it in Vegas though, so big money, big money, no whammies. SO... there are several factors going into this decision

1. not enough time to cover all my course material
2. unfamiliarity with old material
3. sense of impending doom
4. and I'd rather take the test at 1pm than 8am

This will probably be an issue for most to take it even though you don't feel ready or push it back and delay your app. If you signed up for an April or early May exam, postponement probably won't hurt you as much, so just be aware. And very important, you really don't want to take this test more then once and you want to score well, so rushing it may lead to a bad score and a retake. Just now when to admit you're not ready, I've been putting in 3hrs a day studying and it just doesn't feel like enough and for me it just seems more beneficial to wait and if nothing else just make me more confident in myself.

If you do decide to postpone, just know that seats go fast, you will probably be taking it out of state, so if travel is an issue then take that into consideration and just know yourself, if you feel depressed about a score, but you know you can put in the time then go for it, but if you feel unprepared (one of the reasons people bomb the MCAT) you might want to consider a later date.

And Here We Go

It's been to long,

So it begins again, another semester and I'm behind once again. So unfortunately due to some scheduling issues I'm unable to make it to most meetings this semester :( have no fear though I will still do my best to keep you informed of upcoming events and club activities. For instance we have a contest set up between the college of science and the college of health science to see who can collect the most items for St. Anne's. We've chosen a theme that's pretty fitting, Go commando and donate your underwear. We're looking for family items like underwear, socks, shirts, diapers, and stuff in that nature. The contest will run until the end of February so get donating people.

Second I thought it might be helpful to kind of explain and give advice on prepping for the MCAT. I know we tried doing something like that for you guys during fall semester to let you guys know how other people did it, but this hopefully will be a little more in depth and useful. First off know when you want to take the MCAT: April, May, June don't wait until January to schedule it, most spots are filled and you may lose the date you want. Also going along with this you probably should apply as soon as possible don't wait until August or September, remember they start giving interviews out in like September, October and you have to fill out secondaries, which I've been told takes time, your transcripts have to be received, which can take up to a month, so look at the facts you are probably more likely to be accepted if you apply early than late just keep it in mind.

Prepping for the MCAT is a bitch ask anyone who's done it, you will spend more time studying and taking practice tests for this one test than any class you have taken ever

ex) average study time per student 20+ hours a week, actual study time not BS study time.

It will be tiring, it will get boring, it will make you hate yourself, but remember a good MCAT score is a necessity to getting into medical school. We gave a couple of options for prepping one was studying on your own, K there are people who can actually do this, these people are incredibly smart and they have an amazing grasp on the material. Notice how I said grasp on the material not they got good grades, good grades will not help you on the MCAT, an A in OChem or Bio isn't going to amount to anything on the MCAT if you don't understand the principles. This particular aspect is the only criteria I'm giving for studying on your own, if you think you're a bad ass and can do it on your own please don't cause you're not. If your worried about the price of a prep course, don't you think it would be worth $2,000 to get into medical school. Please though don't think that once you pay the money you automatically get a 33 you still need to put in the effort to get there.

So I mentioned prep courses as an option and yes please do one of these, but do your research find out from past students who have taken the class if it's worth the money. I personally went with Altius because so many people told me that I should just study on my own instead of taking the Princeton Review course, I'm not knocking the course or the teachers this was just what I was told. Kaplan is another option and there might be another course out there that I'm not aware of, but that's for you guys to find out.

I personally like Altius, their approach to the MCAT seemed weird at first, but I'm definitely improving. They give you a tutor who's smashed the MCAT, so these guys know what's up. I'm always shocked at the people saying I can do it on my own I'll be fine, cause I did as well or better and I don't think I'll be fine. Just a depressing fact the average score on the MCAT is 24-25 most prep course boast that their average is 30, Altius is 33. Yes I checked it out they actually do have an average score of 33, but remember this is an average some up, some down. I think there success is a lot like Weber's success at getting students into medical school, they have very small class sizes, the tutor will learn your name, you study as a group so no one falls behind, and they push the crap out of you to do your best, so my simile fits :) If you need help take a course is all I'm saying, the reason you go to college is you want to learn from people who know more than you, why would you think studying for the MCAT is any different.

Lastly, The MCAT is a different beast than any other test you've taken, you've heard it before cause it's true, you can't walk in off the street and do well you just can't. It's not a here's everything I know test it's a here's a problem use these skills to answer this question, without making too big of an inference. Sound confusing, good cause after a month of this is wrong because it's a hard qualifier and you probably made too big of a jump oh and my favorite don't answer these questions with outside information, only use the info they give you in the passage I think I might have had a break through. I'll leave you with what I feel is the reason most people bomb the MCAT: Overconfidence combined with Under preparation. You can do well on this test all it takes is commitment and remember this test isn't an end, don't think of it as an obstacle to overcome, think of it as a step to becoming a better physician, because the skills you learn from studying for this test are going to be very important throughout your career.

One more

My services have been sequestered again,

Weber State Altius MCAT Course

Classes: Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00pm, beginning January 11th, 2010 (Lind Lecture Hall)
Tutoring Sessions: Arranged individually with your tutor according to your schedule.

Prepares students for any exam April thru August 2010, although a late May or early June exam is recommended.

Only 2-3 more spots available for new students. Call 435.671.5783 or visit www.altiustestprep.com to register. Remember that our AVERAGE score is a 33, and we offer a 14-day MONEY-BACK trial period.