It’s said that this newer and longer test will more accurately predict performance on the USMLE Step 1 assessment (the first of a pair of tests that occur during medical school). This milestone was taking the MCAT (or the “MEDICAL COLLEGE ADMISSIONS TEST” as it was dauntingly displayed on the screen in front of me), the seven-plus hour test which put me through my paces on the topics that the American Association of Medical Colleges deem important for future doctors to master before being admitted into a medical program. Maybe it’s a self-defense mechanism as I attempt to comprehend that my collegiate life is still less than half over. Although I know that acceptance into a school is merely the start of an even longer journey than the one that I embarked on in 2012 when I entered NYU, I can’t help but see it as a kind of finish line. This past Friday, I completed a milestone – perhaps the milestone – in my slow, steady march toward medical school.