So I said I would start thinking more about this test, now that it's becoming clear how important it will be to me (and now that the deadline is slowly but surely approaching).
In 2010 it was offered 26 times, from January to September. That sounds like a lot, but the optimal dates (especially for me) are a lot less. I want to be able to have finished my prereq. courses, but I also need to get it done early since I /really/ don't want to take it late, and have /another/ year of dead time between college version 2.0 and medical school.
Basically I'll need a date between April and August. There were 19 of those in 2010. I don't /think/ the new schedule for 2011 is up yet, but I need to check on that.
Taking the test in April means I'm /almost/ done with the second half of Organic Chemistry, and I've finished everything else. If I was a normal student it would leave me with very little actual MCAT study time - but since that semester I'll have nothing but the second half of Organic Chem going on, I could actually get a decent amount of studying done. April is early enough it lets me apply for early decision somewhere (although it's pushing that, a tiny bit), and is early enough I can be secure that I won't have any problems with regular application deadlines running late.
Taking it in August means I can't apply early. It's pushing it a little for regular deadlines, but should still work - although I'd be at a small disadvantage at schools with rolling admissions. On the other hand, taking it in August gives a lot of extra study time, and getting a high score is imperative.
Anything in between these two dates is a mix of the April/August option's benefits.
The web has a host of conflicting opinions about which choice is best. If anyone following this is looking for my opinion on which is best, I think the best choice is to ignore all the conflicting web-advice and make up your own mind. If you can't effectively make a simple decision like that, maybe you need to rethink your career choice.
As for which is best for me: April would probably be the number one option, although pushing it back into early May might be better if I decide to skip early decision applications at various reach schools. I'll talk to my pre-med advisor to get their input on how useful an early decision application would be. Other than that, I still have some months left to make my choice (although it's less than one year between now and the April test... a fact that's somewhat frightening).
Also: If I register as soon as possible, I might be able to make a 1pm test instead of an 8am test. That would be /awesome/.
