1. DO NOT act overly disappointed. Empathize, but if you act like this is a huge fuck-up, the test taker will only feel more like a loser.
2. DO NOT push them about "what are you going to do now?" They have just been through a HUGE amount of work that was essentially wasted (well that's how they feel in the moment anyway)... and it is wayyyy too overwhelming to think about studying and taking the test again. They will get there in their own good time.
3. DO remind them that the MCAT is a nightmare for everyone. If it was easy, everyone would be a doctor.
4. DO remind them that there are many people who take the MCAT many times and still get into great US schools. If you don't know any, you do now. See the profiles on the right.
5. DO support them in their temporary "Plan B" options (like taking a semester off, getting a Masters in pharmacology, taking a research job), but encourage them to keep trying for med school. Try to dissuade them from doing anything drastic (ie. running off to the peace corps or joining the circus). The moments after bombing the MCAT are very fragile, and it is easy to convince yourself you don't want a life of medicine... even if you really do.
6. DO NOT tell others that they took/bombed/etc. the MCAT. They will figure out a way to disclose that information on their own time in their own way.
7. DO NOT undermine the importance of the MCAT score or the difficulty of the test. Tips on how to study better or stories of how you fucked up the SAT II will not go over well.
8. DO just be a friend and invite them out to do something to get their mind off the issue will help. When I bombed the MCAT my best friend brought over a bottle of wine and we got lit.
9. As a preventive measure, DO NOT tell everyone you know that so-n-so's MCAT results are due. That's just asking for trouble if it comes back bad.
10. DO send them a link my blog. At the very least, they will feel better that they didn't eff up the MCAT as many times as I did.
LOL!! Can I send this link to my parents? This is great advice for how to talk to your kids when they f ANYTHING up, not just the MCAT. (Can particularly relate to "Don't tell your kids how you fucked up the SAT2. That will not go over well," and, "Do not provide tips for how to study next time.")
ReplyDeleteLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!
this is good advice, but not everyone would be a doctor, even if it were easy. some people just really don't want to be a doctor. hard to believe when everyone around you is working furiously to make doctordom happen.
ReplyDelete"everyone would do it" is a figure of speech. used in the context of encouraging someone to continue their path. seriously, get over yourself.
ReplyDeletemaybe you need to get over yourself. everyone wants to be like you?
ReplyDeleteit seems you are mean to most everyone who comments here. seriously. I used to think this was a nice concept, and you were pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteEvery comment I put is "mean"? In 400 posts, I've called people out about 5 times... and it's always when they twist something that I wrote into something completely different. I have NEVER said everyone wants to be like me or be a doctor. If you cannot read the above post and correctly infer that I meant something benign, then I think you have a serious chip on your shoulder.
ReplyDeleteSounds more like JH had some unhappy personal issues about other people pressuring him / her into being a doctor, and that's what they meant by their first comment. Yours was a sharp retort from an ostensibly friendly blogger.
ReplyDeleteTotally sending this link to my mom... she doesn't need it, because she's super supportive and great about everything I do. BUT, I think she can definitely use this to help my dad deal if I bomb it. Reading this list, I could definitely see my dad doing the opposite of everything; it's not that he's insensitive so much that he's just clueless haha.
ReplyDeleteHAAHAAHA. whoops! may be I wasn't supposed to enjoy this as much as I do right now but yeah recalling those Mcat days and now reading this makes one feel so happy, cherished and accomplished :D
ReplyDelete<3 your blog and the fact that I will also graduate in 2013, you've got me hooked on this journal :)