MCAT: Exam of Faith and Mental strength

Ans Idrees (KEMU 2007-12)

 In the name of Almighty, the most Merciful, the most Beneficent.

 In this article I would be specially focusing on the ANXIETY FACTOR and how to cope with the pressure which is ever building on u during the gap period between your F.Sc exams and day of medical college admission test. Moreover, I would like to tell u the real story behind the RUMORS which u will be hearing during this period of time, getting threatened and confused by those rumors, asking each and everyone around you and getting different answers from different people.

2ndly I would try to elaborate different miserable problems which may arise during this period e.g. falling ill just week or 2 before the entrance test and getting highly depressed by the fact that u were not able to study for 2 weeks.

 Let me start from the day u got free after your FSc exams.” Practicals are next and everyone is talking about MCAT. Which academy to join, where to go, when to join after the practicals or before the practicals? MCAT sessions have started , students are going there as well and uff I am missing something…blah, blah, blah”…..These are all those questions which will be keep on intriguing u all the time.

To answer all these questions you must know yourself first. This is the most important thing. KNOW THYSELF

This is one of the easiest things at this stage but no one pays heed to this. Do not go on the way MAPPED by others.You must know your strong and weak points. You don’t need to join “KIPS” because last year the girl who topped, went to kips. You don’t need to join academy soon because all those people who got good marks have already joined. I would repeat “Don’t do anything only BECAUSE YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO OR BECAUSE ALL OTHERS ARE DOING and YOU ARE JUST FOLLOWING THE TREND”.

First check out your F.SC knowledge, and mark your weaknesses, what you know and what you don’t know. If you have good marks in F.Sc (part 1) and expecting good in part 2 and u studied seriously during these two years, you don’t need to bother much. You have soooo much time to revise it again, again and again; in fact u will get bored revising your syllabus.

On the other hand, if u lack in your basic knowledge in F.Sc then first of all, you must know your deficiencies and then try to make up in coming months (still u got enough time, no need to panic).Moreover if you are not from Lahore, or some big city, leaving your home town and going to some well known academy WONT help u much. It WON’T make any difference even If u join some good academy in your hometown. So make your decision after knowing yourself. WHAT DO U WANT, and don’t let your decision effect by the “STORIES” of “toppers” and people around you. This may be a little difficult for you people but you must do this.

 Next step: You have taken a decision. Your practicals are over. You are going to some academy somewhere and now you r threatened by STORIES told by teachers all the time.

You are told last year 1300 people who had more than 900 marks couldn’t get admission in any medical college of Punjab and they have taken improvement exam and there are soooooooooo many people only in one board who have more than 470 and u feel that your admission in medical college seems impossible in all these tough and competitive conditions, and then you will be told again , again and again that MCAT is very conceptual and you have got no concepts at all and you also get depressed when after each physics test you see your test score and compare with “some others”. You will be told that if you don’t improve these things and remain unable to solve OUT OF SYLLABUS NUMERICALS you are doomed. You will be told new formulas to solve numericals and “someone” quite stupid may ask u to study 18 hours daily………. huh and you find some ABNORMAL people doing this as well and this is another “depressor”. With every passing day, this pressure goes on increasing and a time comes when u have one thing one your mind even when you are sleeping “WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF I FLUNK????” People with high scores have failed; I can be one of them. Those who r repeating would be better than me after all they spent an additional year and all such fears keep on bothering you all the time and you remain mentally disturbed and threatened all the time even after getting high score in F.Sc.

 Meanwhile, the academy session is over, and you may have performed real bad in last 5 tests which are taken at the end of sessions. Now u can go for test session or stay at home and revise again n again. The most important thing at this stage is not to get confined to your books and your room. Do go out, meet people. Hang out with friends on weekends, and talk with family, DO MAKE FUN. Because, after all those “threats” you will be postponing all FUNS till u get admission in some medical college and you find no other thing worth doing except THINKING about MCAT 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So living a normal life is very important at this stage and this can be done by sharing things with someone close in your family, having chill time with them, even studying in groups with your friends may make u laugh many times. DONT GET CONFINED TO YOUR ROOM AND BOOKS AT ALL. You can not change anything by doing this. In fact this was one most important cause of failure of those in past years who got good in F.Sc but couldn’t cope with this pressure. So if u r doing the same, you are in fact increasing the chances of “failure”. A person who has gotten good marks in FSc NEVER FAILS IN MCAT BECAUSE HE/SHE DOESN’T KNOW. The reason of failure is PRESSURE of exam and “threats” of others.

Most probably, your MCAT will be after Ramzan or during Ramzan (referring to 14^th September). Now this is the time which one must utilize and it can increase your confidence to a great deal. There are few things which I feel must be mentioned at this stage which have nothing to do with your studies but they can have great effect on your MCAT exam and its result. Be humble as much as u can during this period. Do not hurt anyone intentionally and say sorry to all those whom u have intentionally hurt. Pray, pray and pray. You can become HOLIER in Ramzan. Pray as if everything depends on Allah and you have nothing to do with your exam and result. Study as if everything depends on you. The balance between these things is very important. If you have good score, good preparation and still you think you will be rejected then it simple means you don’t believe in God. Make your belief strong.” Worries end where faith begins.” When you think everything is from God and HE is going to take good care of you, you are highly confident and you don’t get worried about the consequences as you have firm belief that whatever the result is, it’s best for you and God knows better than you. But it doesn’t mean that you start praying NAFALS and all that and forget studies. You don’t need to go for these extra things at the expense of your studies. You should expect BEST from God only when you have tried your best. If you are lacking in your preparation, don’t blame God because of your mistakes. So, first give your best, then have faith in God fully, you will get through.

 Luck Factor: Now here a lot of people say that it all depends on your luck. There are so many good students and we see every year good students not getting admission in medical college even after hard work and this is all because of BAD LUCK.

 Well, in order to answer this thing, I would love to quote one saying of Hazrat Ali (R.A).

He said “Apne Kismat per wo log rotay hain jinhain SAJDOON main ronay ke aadat nahen hote”. I hope this one line answers everything.

 Going holier will not affect your studies at all in either way. If you know nothing, going holier won’t help u at all. Becoming more close to God makes you more confident and determined. It changes something inside you. It will not let u fail because of BAD LUCK or some other such factor. Basically, you have to combat two things 1: lack of Knowledge and bad preparation, you can overcome it by studying. 2^nd is BAD LUCK and you can combat it by becoming more forgiving and closer to God.

 In the end I would like to mention few uncommon situations which all of you won’t face but some of you may have to go through them.

 Suppose you fall ill, few weeks prior to entry test and remain ill for a week or even a month. Well, if this happens with you, don’t consider it an affliction. Consider it as a blessing because an ill person is nearer to Almighty and this affliction may be a minor test by God before your mcat, may be God is checking how much u trust HIM..So don’t think it’s the end, if you aren’t able to study even for a month. Consider this period as blessing and don’t lose your mind, don’t give up mentally. Mental strength is most important thing which you need for this exam and this comes from strong faith. Even if you remain ill for more than a month, you still can get admission in KE provided you don’t lose your mental strength and faith. Don’t get depressed by the fact that all others studied during this period and you couldn’t. I would like to share my personal story regarding this just to boost up your confidence that whatever I am saying is not a mere story or suggestion. It’s something which happened with me. I remained ill for about one n half month before MCAT and didn’t even TOUCH the books but still managed to get admission in KE. This was due to Blessing of Allah. Always have faith in God that “afflictions sent to you by God are for you good.”HE is most caring for you, more than anyone else and HE will never let you down.”

Allah has always 3 replies to our pray

1 Yes

2 Yes, but not now

3 I have better plan for you.

 There is never NO. Just have faith and see miracles happening.

 Best of Luck to all aspirants.

See most of you people soon in KE, inshaAllah.