How to Find an English Tutor in Chicago

How to Find an English Tutor in ChicagoFinding an English tutor in Chicago is as easy as using the internet. Using online resources is one of the most convenient ways to do this. You can save time, and money too, if you can locate a tutor that will meet your needs at an affordable price.If you want to know how to find an English tutor in Chicago, you can begin by going to Google. While you are on Google, type in 'English tutors' in the search box. This will show you all the different services you can find at that particular search engine.The more specific you are about the information you are looking for, the more specific you can get the results of your search. It can be frustrating trying to find a tutor in Chicago who can meet your specific needs. With the help of the internet, you can now visit any one of the popular websites that are dedicated to helping students to improve their English.You can choose the website that offers the most competitive prices for hiring an English tut or in Chicago. It can be worth spending the extra money just to get a more qualified tutor, since they are usually much cheaper than the ones you see advertised on television.You might even end up getting lucky enough to find the tutor you have been looking for with the help of a certain website. If the site you use is very good and has an excellent reputation for bringing qualified teachers to you, you could be glad you took the time to do a little digging and searching around.When it comes to finding an English tutor in Chicago, you will likely need to meet several requirements. This includes making sure the teacher you have chosen has worked at the school before. You may also need to make sure that he or she has experience teaching students of English.It may take a little time before you find the perfect English tutor in Chicago for you. It is worth taking the time to make sure you do not settle for any teacher that does not live up to your expectations. The Internet is a great r esource for you to make sure you get the best for your money.

The Importance Of Private Tutoring for Educational Support

The Importance Of Private Tutoring for Educational Support The Pros And Cons Of Private Tuition For School Help Chapters6 Signs To Spot A Child in Need of Extra School SupportThe Pros And Cons Of Home TutoringIt is never easy to find out that your child is struggling to do well in their education; It can be challenging to know how to solve the situation to help them to achieve their best. Thankfully there are many options available which can help with improving the qualifications of struggling students. Using these solutions can guide your child, from not achieving the required grades, to creating their own successful outcomes.Private tuition can be a great solution to have a tailored and engaging educational experience. Tutors near me are available on a flexible schedule and can also work outside of the school year, which means you can make the most of the summer to catch up or prepare for the coming term.A private tutor can help with your child’s development all the way from preschool and kindergarten right up to primary school and through to university. Tutors can integrate with homeschoo ling or give 1 to 1 support in private education or an independent school, they can also provide support to mainstream students who attend private school or public school at secondary school, college or university level.Personal tutors can specialise in a wide variety of subjects to cater to a growing interest in a wide range of subjects. Academic subjects like Maths, chemistry, physics, English, geography or humanities to name a few. Also, tutors can successfully support you with test prep and exam preparation like GCSE exams, enrollment or entrance exams.Of course, tutors also work with learner lead interests and hobbies, personal and professional improvement tutors might help with cooking classes or public speaking, language tutors support learners to speak their desired languages such as an ESL English tutor, French tutor or Arabic tutor. Even extracurricular activities can be tutored like playing football. The options are really endless.Private tuition is one of the many and mo st flexible options available to your child when they are struggling. A good quality tutor will be your child’s personal guide to help them circumnavigate the difficulties that they are struggling with and locate their strength. The tutor will create an individualized curriculum and work hard to make sure that syllabus topics are understandable to your child. When you find your tutor they will be dedicated to supporting your child in achieving their very best.How to support your child to help them to achieve their best. Photo Source: UnsplashIt is good to bear in mind that online tutoring can be substantially cheaper than one to one tutoring. Online tutoring also has many of the same benefits as face to face tutoring so if you are thinking “I need help to pay for my child’s tutoring”. Then this could be a good compromise.There are also a lot of other alternatives available to you and your child. If you have serious financial need and still want you, child, to have some extra help. You can get in touch with your local council, local church and your child’s school. Make some enquires to see if you might be eligible to qualify for some help or if anyone has any advice about tutoring for a more reasonable cost.You can also contact the citizens advice bureaux hotline you might find that there is a new government grant for financial aid or a bursary that you could apply for. Although it is expensive, it could be the best investment that you can make for your struggling child. We would like to strongly advise you against using credit cards or getting in debt that you cannot afford to pay back.Children Must Make A Dedicated ContributionYour child must be willing to actually put in the time and effort to reap the rewards of success. A tutor is not there to give the answers, they are there to guide and support your child to become the best they can be.Find out what your learner has to do to derive the most benefit from their tutoring experience...You can decid e where you would like to meet. Photo Source: UnsplashFree Time SuffersWhen a child is struggling with their education, it can be very tempting to fill all of their spare time with solutions to get them back on track. But children also need time to de-stress, blow of some steam and just be kids. A full-time education plus a part-time tutoring program can leave the child with much less time to be able to enjoy their childhood. It is essential to try to maintain some balance and give the child time to relax as well. The child preference may be to keep going in an aim to achieve the best and make you proud but there must be a happy and progressive middle ground.Having a private home tutor has many benefits, its importance for a struggling child and as a mechanism to support and guide them towards a better outcome is very clear. A student’s private tuition can be the difference between success and failure for many children.Even school teachers are signing up for tutoring jobs part tim e which means that private school tuition could now become available for your child at school.You had better sign up fast as it appears that the secret is out. Tutoring both online and offline have become hugely popular with adults and children alike. With more people enrolling on courses to learn new things, get help to understand things they are struggling with and just to enjoy education. Only one question remains, what will you choose to learn?Now read this complete guide to personal tutoring...

Shooting in the Workplace - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / Shooting in the Workplace - Introvert Whisperer Shooting in the Workplace This article was originally published on  Hoganinjury.com You are entitled to expect security and safety whenever you’re inside the workplace. Because you spend a lot of your time in the office, sometimes more than you do at home, your  employer has the responsibility  to make sure that each of their employees is safe within the confines of their establishment. Security and safety don’t refer to just your protection from accidents but also your security whenever an untoward event perpetrated by unscrupulous people occur like gun shooting or robbery. Last April 3 one of the biggest companies in the world had a shooting incident. The Youtube headquarters in San Bruno, California was attacked by a disgruntled user named Nasim Najafi Aghdam, a 38-year-old woman who used a  semi-automatic pistol  in the attack. There were four injuries from the incident, three of which were caused by the shooter and one injury was sustained by an employee while fleeing the building. This incident makes you wonder how the gunman was able to get past the security in one of the most successful companies in the world. Although Youtube’s San Bruno headquarter employs security guards in the premises, they are typically stationed at desks inside the buildings. The reason behind this is because Youtube and other modern tech companies like to maintain a casual and relaxed atmosphere for their employees. Although this may facilitate creativity and cooperation among employees and even company leaders, it opens the workplace to incidents like the one that happened to Youtube. When you suffer from injuries in a workplace shooting incident, you are entitled to damages from your  workers’ compensation insurance. In California, even if you’re the sole employee of a business, you are still entitled to workers’ compensation. While it is essential to have security measures in place for offices, there will be times when an untoward incident may still occur, and a shooter can get past these security measures. Here are some tips for employees when a shooting happens in the workplace: 1.  Run. Make sure that you know all the exit routes beforehand; this applies to your workplace and whenever you go someplace new. Knowing emergency exit location is not just beneficial in shooting incidents, it could be useful for other situations like a fire or an earthquake. Remember that your life is the most important things in these types of situations, leave your belongings if you must, if you could convince your co-workers to run with you, do so, however, do not let them slow you down. Your chance of survival increases the faster you can get out of the shooting range. 2.  Hide.   If you can’t run from the shooter or the exit route puts you in their sight, it’s best to hide and barricade yourself. Look for a place that is outside of the shooter’s view and can protect you in case of shots being fired. Lock the doors and create a barricade using whatever resources are available; use tables, chairs, filing cabinets, or other items that can prevent the shooter from entering your hiding place. Turn the lights off and keep quiet. If you cannot find a safe room, the next best thing is to look for an object big enough to cover you like a wide concrete pillar. Try your best to remain calm and don’t draw attention to yourself. 3.  Fight.   Only do this in dire situations where you can’t run or hide. Commit to hurting your shooter, do not hesitate to go for the most vulnerable body parts like the eyes, throat, and groin; if you can find a weapon use it. Your goal is to disable the shooter to give you enough time to run or hide. In any situation, you should always think of your safety first. Keep a level of calm and call 911 as soon as safely possible. Did you sustain an injury in the workplace?  Contact us at Hogan Injury  for expert legal advice. None of the content on  Hoganinjury.com  is legal advice nor is it a replacement for advice from a certified lawyer. Please consult a legal professional for further information. Image source Go to top Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today!  Start watching now by clicking here! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

What To Expect When Starting a New Job

Introvert Whisperer / What To Expect When Starting a New Job Big vs. Small Companies: What to Expect When Starting a New Job Sarah Landrum July 18, 2016 Career Development, Promotion 4 responses New Job? What To Expect When Starting at a Big or Small Company When choosing to work for a new company, size matters. Aside from having a big name â€" or a not-so-big name â€" to put on your resume, whether you work for a large or small organization can make a difference in how you experience your new job and what you get out of it. If youre undecided about working for an established Fortune 500 company or a relatively unknown with a huge growth potential, heres what you need to know. Pros of Working  for a Large Company Before anything else, lets clear up a few things first. For a company to be considered large, it must have at least 500 employees. As of 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 16,055 large companies in 938 micropolitan and metropolitan areas around the country. That translates to around 17 per area, which isnt much when you look at it from that angle. However, what these organizations lack in quantity, they more than make up for in other aspects: Large companies tend to have solid systems in place, which hold the entire organizational machine together. If you need to take action on anything, chances are theres already a clear-cut procedure outlined somewhere in the company handbook. Large companies offer better compensation and benefits. Since the organization is profitable enough to expand in the first place, theyre probably also profitable enough to retain top talent. Large companies usually wont fall apart because of one major mistake by upper management. In most cases, those mistakes can be resolved without significant impact on overall operations. Large companies provide more opportunities to advance laterally or upward. Should you decide to pursue a career in a different direction but dont want to leave the company, either, you likely can do it without much trouble. Large companies provide additional valuable contacts to add to your professional network. The more contacts you have, the more likely youll find someone wholl tip you off when theres a job opening in the department â€" or company â€" next door.   Cons  of Working  for a Large Company Of course, not everything is rainbows and roses with large companies. The moment you become the proverbial cog in a gigantic machine, you realize that: Large companies can stifle you with their bureaucracy. It can be frustrating to, say, request for supplies you need today when the person who approves requisitions is currently on a one-month vacation. Large companies can make it difficult for individual employees to stand out. Sure, you may be an overachiever by any metric, but if the company is brimming with overachievers, getting your voice heard among them can be a challenge. Large companies can downsize as they please. If they decide to lay off an entire department for any reason, only to realize they need it back years later, they can always rely on the strength of their brand to attract hordes of fresh, bright-eyed talent. Large companies can make you feel disengaged from your work. If what you do amounts to only a tiny contribution to the organization, it can leave you demoralized and more likely to seek other places where youll be acknowledged for your work.   Pros of Working  for a Small Company As of 2010, there are roughly 6.79 million small companies in the U.S. That means your chances of getting employed by them are 423 times higher than that of the larger ones. It also means that, should you get employed by a small company, these are the benefits you can enjoy: Small companies are more flexible in general. For example, if youre in a startup online marketing agency, you may be churning out blog posts one day and building entire websites from scratch the next. Small companies foster camaraderie. Since you interact with everyone else on a daily basis, theres a stronger feeling that youre in this together. Small companies encourage transparency. Because everyone sees what everyone else is doing, theres also a stronger feeling of accountability for everything you do. Small companies have looser rules and regulations. Until management smoothens those out, youre free to do as you please â€" as long as you do whats expected of you and then some. Small companies make you feel more invested in your job. You dont just reap the fruits of your labor â€" you see firsthand how they impact the company as a whole. No wonder 36 percent of small business employees report as actively engaged in their work, as opposed to 29 percent from larger businesses.   Cons of Working  for a Small Company As with larger companies, small organizations have their downsides, too: Small companies often offer inferior compensation and benefits packages compared to larger ones. If you prioritize money over experience, thats obviously a no-no. Small companies can force you to take on heavy workloads and longer hours. Because theyre short on helping hands, theyll make the most of their available employees whenever possible. Small companies are more vulnerable to the influence of toxic bosses. Their actions may cause only a tiny ripple of negative effects in larger organizations, but in smaller ones, these bosses can inadvertently whip up entire tsunamis to swallow everyone whole. Small companies can be stifling for those who have problems with co-workers. If everyone literally works in the same room, theres no point transferring departments to get away from unsavory people. Small companies magnify both your successes and failures. If theres something youve done or shouldve done but failed to do, people will notice and talk about it. Keep in mind that these are generalized characteristics of small and large companies. Its possible for a 300-strong company to offer a compensation package thats miles better than that of a 500-million strong organization. Likewise, as in the case of Google, a corporation can offer flexibility that rivals that of smaller businesses. Regardless of which you choose, always do your homework, assess your suitability for a job and the company offering it, and you can make an informed decision from there. Go to top Do you know what your next career step is?  Many people don’t. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my eBook on how to construct your Career SMART Goals â€" that will help you put together your actions and keep you accountable. Get your copy now and start your action plan today! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

5 Things to Do During Any Job Interview - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / 5 Things to Do During Any Job Interview - Introvert Whisperer 5 Things to Do During Any Job Interview OFFICE POLITICS Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today!  Start watching now by clicking here! Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleashing your professional potential. Introvert Whisperer

How to excel at learning to play the piano

How to excel at learning to play the piano The Top 5 Tips for becoming a Pianist ChaptersOur first advice for learning to play the pianoHow to learn to play the pianoIs it necessary to learn solfege to play the piano?What are the basic piano chords?How to learn piano scalesLearning to play the piano is far from straightforward.All aspects of piano training â€" solfege, reading sheet music, posture, dexterity, head-hands-feet coordination, method â€" are difficult, technical and process-driven.Although certain student pianists learn quicker than others (remember, we don’t all have the same cognitive and musical predispositions), all beginner pianists go through the same phase of feeling handicapped at the keyboard!To become a fluid player and feel at ease with your piano, you must be motivated, determined, perseverant and strict, while also taking pleasure from playing those piano chords and arpeggios!Here, Superprof presents you with 5 steps to remember as you learn to play piano. You’ll be playing like Mozart in no time! LouisPiano Teacher £40/h1st lesson f ree!Discover all our tutors AlisonPiano Teacher £32/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ErenPiano Teacher 5.00 (6) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors BarbaraPiano Teacher £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Chi yuenPiano Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors TomPiano Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValtiePiano Teacher £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors DanielPiano Teacher 5.00 (5) £37/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsOur first advice for learning to play the pianoBefore you even touch those keys, you must adopt proper posture for piano playing.Learning proper posture is key to becoming a true pianist.Body postureFirst,  sit in the middle of the keyboard, where the middle octaves are found. Your main benchmark for positioning your left hand is the middle C. Make sure your seat or piano stool is at the right height: not too high or low.The classic posture taught to every beginner pianist to play the piano correctly is as follows:Your elbows: they should be at the same height as the keyboard.Sit on a bench: better than a chair, a bench will allow you to move yourself easily from side to side, towards the low notes or the high notes, whatever the piano song calls for!Your back: it must be straight and not curved forward.Your shoulders: they must be lightly behind you to avoid pain, open up your thorax and allow for easy breathing while you play.Your hands: your 10 fingers should be slightly bent, so that they press the keys with the tip of the phalanx, almost at the nail.The palm of your hand should be somewhat lifted, which will give each hand speed, range and fluidity.Your feet should be placed firmly on the floor, in parallel to each other.To learn to play the piano, begin by playing the keys separately and lightly. Generally, the key of F is played with the left hand (the 5 lines at the bottom of each measure) and the key of G with the right hand.Play the rhythm sep arately from the melody.When you play a piano piece, try to avoid mixing up the steps, and play a song at the speed noted in your sheet music. This will mean that:Your brain will memorize the chord sequences correctlyYou will improve your dexterityYour technique and fingering will get betterYou’ll understand the piece’s nuances, and make it your own!So progressively increase the tempo as you attain a more advanced level. Remember that if you are taking piano lessons, your piano teacher should be guiding you and giving you all these directions.Can you play with small hands?Some people who aren’t blessed with big hands consider themselves unable to play the piano and believe that their physique is incompatible with the keyboard. The same goes for those who think their fingers are too fat for guitar playing. These two misconceptions are excuses! All you have to do is take a glance at the hands of jazz pianist Michel Petrucciani to see that this argument doesn’t hold!Hand size o r finger length and width won’t affect the playing quality of the pianist.  What’s more, having small hands will help you do those chromatic movements (C-C#-D)!Now that you know the right positions, let’s move on to the question of piano courses: can you learn by yourself or are piano lessons necessary?How to learn to play the pianoTeaching yourself, taking private lessons, attending music school, playing on the internet, learning with friends… everything is possible depending on your way of working, your budget and your music experience and level.Teach yourself the piano: it's difficult but possible!Teach yourself to play the pianoIf you are reticent about taking a piano class and prefer to do it on your own for whatever reason, you’ll need to assemble a bunch of resources:A metronomeA manual for beginner pianoA music theory manual to learn solfegeA book of sheet music for absolute beginnersA lot of determination and willThe big advantage of creating a beginner piano meth od when one is self-taught is that one learns to read notes by producing automatic reflexes.A metronome can help you keep time.As you progress you may need to:Purchase more learning materials that correspond to your levelDownload free piano music on the internet to learn to read musicLook at piano tutorials on Youtube and DailymotionConsult online piano coursesTrain yourself to play a song that you hear: this will improve your musical ear and help you play by earBut everything has its downside. Here are some disadvantages to teaching yourself to play the piano as opposed to taking a piano lesson:You aren’t structured or supervised, so no one will correct your errorsYour solfege attempts wont be listened to by a professionalYou risk taking up bad habitsThe risk of frustration and discouragement is higherIt’s therefore possible to learn the piano alone, but you don’t have the best chances on your side. Taking music classes is the preferred means of learning and making regular pr ogress on the keyboard.Take piano lessons with an instructorYour private piano teacher will provide a structure for learning, while observing and encouraging you. He or she will teach you how to surmount challenges, something that may also benefit other situations in your daily life! Piano classes are an exchange of positive energy and music appreciation that feed the beginner piano player’s motivation.Different formulas are at your disposal: private lessons (like the ones you’d book at Superprof, for example), a music school or a conservatory for higher education students.And since you’ll be spending a lot of time with your piano teacher, at least an hour per week depending on the method you choose, it’s very important that you get along with one another. So choose a teacher who corresponds to your personality and objectives. And if you don’t find the right match at first, try again!I found my ideal music teacher on Superprof, after several fruitless Internet searches for piano lessons London.Finding the right piano teacher is the key to learning piano. LouisPiano Teacher £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlisonPiano Teacher £32/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ErenPiano Teacher 5.00 (6) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors BarbaraPiano Teacher £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Chi yuenPiano Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors TomPiano Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValtiePiano Teacher £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors DanielPiano Teacher 5.00 (5) £37/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsIs it necessary to learn solfege to play the piano?Contrary to what countless frustrated students think, solfege is not just an evil game devised by piano instructors.It’s a language one must master, and it works for all musical instruments. With solfege you’ll be able to read a piece of sheet music just as you would a novel.Solfege training is a fundam ental aspect of piano lessons: 15 minutes of solfege often precedes playing, as it’s the basis for reading, playing, arranging and composing music.So when and how should you learn solfege?Learn solfege as a child: children learn new things faster than adultsPractice solfege exercises throughout your lesson: at the beginning, a little in the middle and again at the end.Learn solfege to distinguish between different rhythmsSolfege will improve your global understanding of musicMastering solfege will boost your self confidence when you playIf you are comfortable with solfege, you’ll be able to learn other instruments much faster and easier.Learning solfege allows you to truly understand music and speeds up your overall training!What are the basic piano chords?A piano has 88 keys. That’s right, Beethoven’s favorite instrument has 52 white keys and 36 black keys.While we’re on the subject, perhaps you want to know the main piano chords? Why spend time working on all the chords if you’re an amateur pianist who is learning piano songs for beginners? Mary had a little lamb, anyone?The 4 main piano  chords are:A minorC majorF majorG majorAll you need to know to get your first record deal with Universal! Well almost…How to learn piano scalesAll beginner musicians, whether they are pianists, guitarists, or…, must ceaselessly repeat their scales to begin to master their ear training become more advanced.For the piano, this often means repeating the C scale: do-ré-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do-si-la-sol-fa-mi-ré-do and again… and again… and again. We do this for two reasons:So that the musician will automatically recognize the proper sounds of each note.To work on finger placement and movement.The major piano scales are:Scale of C major,Scale of D major,Scale of E major,Scale of F major,Scale of G major, etc…A piano has 88 keys.And while we’re on the subject, the minor scales are: the natural minor scale, harmonic minor scale, ascending melodic minor scale a nd the descending melodic minor scale! You’ll need to learn all these piano basics before you can think about things like chord progressions and improvisation!You’ll also have to think about what music style you want to play. There are different methods for classical piano and others for jazz piano, for example. Or what about blues, pop-rock or variety piano? In every case, you must work with regularity, being even stricter with yourself if you are self-taught! If you are taking piano lessons, tell your music instructor what songs you’d like to play and he or she will guide you on the best method to use to get there.You’ve now mastered your posture, read sheet music, and learned some piano chords and scales. Time to play piano!

When Should I Take the MCAT

When Should I Take the MCAT MCAT Medical School Admissions College in and of itself is a daunting process for most students. Studying constantly for twelve to eighteen hours of course work, juggling extracurricular activities, and trying to maintain an active social life can be challenging. Add in aspirations to attend medical school and suddenly you are overwhelmed. Needless to say, this entire process requires a significant amount of planning. Hopefully by the end of this article you’ll have at least resolved one concern on your list and answered the question of when to take your medical college admission test (MCAT). Evaluate Your Coursework The most important consideration in taking the MCAT is what level of premedical course work you have completed. Pertinent to this is the understanding that the MCAT tests extensively on required premedical courses and additional information not covered in these courses. For example, there is a portion of physiology on the cardiovascular, renal, and genitourinary systems on the MCAT that is not normally taught in premedical prerequisites but might be covered in classes the student takes electively such as anatomy and physiology. Because of the large burden of information, it is ideal to take the MCAT after you have completed all of your required course work and if possible a few extra courses to solidify and deepen your understanding of the content that will be covered on the MCAT. Most schools recommend taking cell biology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, and biochemistry to aid with the MCAT as well as the transition to medical school. Some students are particularly adept at t eaching themselves and are able to perform extraordinarily well on the MCAT despite not completing their prerequisites prior to taking the exam. However, this is a small margin of the population of premedical students and not typically advised. Consult the Calendar Another factor to take into account is the timing of the application process. The typical timeframe for application and interviews to medical school is a year. For example, most application systems open in May of the year prior to enrollment and students are admitted up to June of the following year. This requires that the MCAT be taken at latest by May of the year prior to attendance. Backtracking even further, MCAT scores take a month to be released, which means ideally, your MCAT should be taken at latest by April of the year prior to enrollment in medical school. Taking into consideration the fact that many students do not achieve their target score and retake the MCAT means that you should consider having a buffer of time to retake the test if necessary. While this seems a bit tedious or even cautionary, keep in mind that this could cause you to either apply with a noncompetitive score or delay your application by a year. If you do not have a score that meets the standards of ad missions you are investing both money and time in a process that may have minimal or no yields. In addition, you are required to disclose if you have applied to medical school previously which can affect how your application is viewed by an admissions committee. Give Yourself Time Taking these factors into consideration, it is ideal to take your first MCAT in the summer or fall of the year prior to application. For most students this falls in the beginning of their ‘Junior’ or third year of school. Taking the MCAT in the fall allows you to evaluate your score early and make crucial decisions from there. If you end up needing to retake the MCAT this gives you a few months to assess changes to make in your next test preparation period. It also allows you a window to register for the test which can be difficult some years when testing sites are limited and many students are taking the exam. If you end up receiving a score that you are satisfied with, this gives you a good window of time to plan for the application cycle and prewrite essays. This period of time could also be used to address any weaknesses in the student’s application such as volunteer work or extracurricular activities. Be Prepared Finally, realize that the best time to take the MCAT is when you are most prepared and able to perform well on the exam. While most students are anxious to get moving through the long process that a career in medicine requires, realize that a year or two spent working toward your goal will not impact your career in the long run. Put in the time now and perform your best so that you can set yourself up early to do well. About the Author Jordan Salley is one of MyGuru's most accomplished MCAT tutors. Clickhereto learn more!