New look is reminiscent of Big Bird??

052610 / School & Medicine, Websites & Webdesign / 6 comments

There’s a new look here at the blog! I had a spur of the moment burst of energy and inspiration and decided to channel that into the long, arduous process that is coding a custom WordPress layout. There are several things I did with this layout that I wanted to try out:

  1. Using custom fonts! I used this quick and easy tutorial by the lovely Jenny to replace all <h1> tags and the page menu with a font I’ve been in love with recently – District Thin. I really love how it turned out!
  2. Integrating Lifestream. I’ve been wanting to integrate the Lifestream Plugin for a while now, but I never got around to it. Unfortunately for me, there’s still some kinks that need to be worked out — the Lifestream page only seems to look right in Internet Explorer (that’s a first!!) and is giving me problems in Chrome and Firefox. I haven’t checked Safari, but I’m assured by Marjorie that it looks right. Anyone know why? :(

I spent 7 or 8 hours straight from 9 at night to 5 in the morning completing the look (from designing to coding), and despite all the frustrations WordPress gives me, I was really happy while doing it. (Does that make me sound like a coding masochist? Hahahaha.) I think all in all, I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do with the look — something simple and clean. On the downside, I thought there was originally too much yellow going on (namely links), so I made entry links and sidebar links different colors. I’m not sure if it looks weird or not.

Other news: got my MCAT score about a month ago, but I never got around to updating about my road to medical school. Despite walking out of the testing center feeling severely discouraged, I was happy to find that my real score was an accurate reflection of my AAMC diagnostic averages — even though I only took two practice tests! It was actually my second time taking the exam (the first being right after summer in September), so my advice to those who are in the same boat would be:

  • If you plan on taking an August or September MCAT, seriously prepare during the summer. I think this was my biggest problem the first time around. Because I had 2 and a half months prepare for a 5 hour test, I severely underestimated the MCAT monster — it probably didn’t also help that I have a really really bad procrastination habit. I took the exam knowing that I wasn’t fully prepared, and while I didn’t do horribly for Texas standards, I did horribly compared to my own.
  • Know what your weaknesses are, and fix them. The Physical Sciences section was my Achilles’ heel. So the second time around, I bought books known to be the best preparer for that section and drilled myself for my second examination. Reading through material isn’t enough to do well on the MCAT — you must know your information, and then you must know how to use that information. There’s a fine distinction between the two.
  • Take those practice tests how you would on your actual examination date! That means no longer than 10 minute breaks, and no pausing during your actual diagnostics. When I took practice tests, I found myself really tired between the Physical Sciences and Verbal Reasoning sections, so I decided to prepare a snack to eat during the break between the two. I also found out that I tend to loseWeight Exercise concentration during the Biological Sciences section because it’s the last part of the test (FREEDOM!!), so I was actively telling myself to focus during all exams.
  • Don’t take the exam until you have been hitting your goal score. Probably my second biggest problem. I knew that I hadn’t been hitting my personal goal, and I took the September test anyways. Not my brightest moment.

The biggest difference in preparing for my first September administration and my second March administration was that I didn’t take all that information into account. Taking diagnostics upon diagnostics without actually taking the time to seriously review doesn’t help — in preparing for the September test, I probably took a total of 13 practice tests. I scored lower on the September test than on the March test, even though I had only taken 2 practice tests before the March administration. Moral of the story? Be active in preparing, work hard, and you’ll do well.

  • http://me.battalglia.org Jennifer

    OMG @ #1. I WILL BE SAVING THIS FOR LATER PURPOSES LOL. I’ve always wanted to know how to do that, so thanks!!

    And amen @ preparing!!

  • Tamisa

    @Jennifer
    Haha, no problem!

  • http://riyuu.org Jenny

    Love the new layout! :D I’m glad you found my tutorial useful.

  • http://www.kristinymd.com Kristine

    Thank you for the tips! I’m scheduled to take the MCAT in the spring of 2011. Do you have any tips for first time takers, such as me?

    I’m nervous because it’s looming ahead and I plan on studying once I get home from the summer program here at UTMB.

    What was your first score if you don’t mind me asking?

  • Tamisa

    @Kristine
    My #1 tip would probably have to be: don’t freak out during the exam, especially if you come across a passage that seems really strange. I know the MCAT is a daunting exam, but getting test jitters can really affect your performance. Take a deep breath, and then tackle the passage. That’s also why taking lots of practice tests in a similar environment as your actual testing environment, etc. is really important — it sets you up for familiarity, so everything doesn’t feel foreign come D-day.

    #2 would have to be don’t freak out after you walk out of the testing center: everyone goes out feeling like crap, despite how well they may have prepared for it. Unless you skipped a whole passage or experienced something really out of the ordinary (like a computer malfunction), you probably shouldn’t void your exam. Your score will most likely be in the range of your AAMC practice test averages +/- 2.

    My first score was a 29. Provided that you have the usual EC’s and a good personal statement, that makes you right around the average with a good shot for every medical school in Texas except Baylor, UTSW, and UT-Houston. I felt that was too limiting, especially since I wanted to explore possible OOS options, so I retook. Some may be surprised that I retook a 29, esp. given my Texas residency, but it turned out well for me — if my second score had been lower than my first, it would have looked really really bad lol.

  • http://www.kristinymd.com Kristine

    Wow! Congratulations on the 29!!!! But yeah, I would also re-take the MCAT if I wanted to try OOS. I’m going to try to aim high like you did. Thank you so much for the helpful tips, Tamisa. I’m also planning on following Exam Krackers schedule which is 10 weeks. I also intend on taking practice exams in a testing center.