The night before her practice tests, Weinberg junior Emily Haak spends about half an hour painting her nails.

The pre-MCAT manicures keep her from “worrying about a hangnail instead of a problem,” she said.

Haak will be painting her nails Friday night to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test this Saturday.

“I (also) get the same dish from Trattoria Demi the night before the test,” she said. “They say load up on carbs. It’s like swim team.”

The MCAT is a standardized, multiple-choice exam designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking and writing skills. Almost all U.S. medical schools require applicants to submit MCAT scores during the application process.

“It shows how academically prepared they are for the first two years of medical school,” said David Owen, the director of admissions and financial aid at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Pre-med students are hitting the books to compete for coveted spots in medical schools. Pritzker, ranked 17th by U.S. News and World Report, received about 5,000 applications for 104 spots last year, said Owen.

McCormick junior Abizer Sakarwala, who said his entire life is devoted to the MCAT, was set to take the exam at the beginning of his sophomore year but changed his mind the week before the test.

“I wanted to do it once and do it well,” he said.

He said he has already taken six practice exams and a Princeton Review prep course.

The prep courses, which often cost more than $1,500, are popular among pre-med students.

“You’re at a disadvantage if you don’t take one,” said SESP senior Chris Stolte, adding that most NU pre-meds he knows have taken a prep class.

When he took the GRE this past summer, Stolte said he studied for “maybe a week.” He has studied “50 times more” for the MCAT, while also balancing a thesis and a physics class.

Other factors, such as a student’s GPA, the rigor of the school attended and the curriculum’s combination of lab and non-lab classes, are important, said Owen.

“It’s part of an array of qualities we look at in an applicant,” said Owen. “When we get an application, we read everything about the person before we make a decision.”

Weinberg junior Bill Godley said he will drink Full Throttle for a boost before Saturday’s exam.

Because he won’t be applying to medical school for two years, Godley said he isn’t too worried about Saturday. But like other pre-meds, Godley has had to cut back on his social life.

“I’ve gone out a little but haven’t drank at all this quarter,” he said. “It’s my 21st birthday two days afterwards. So I’ll probably go out for the next three days and then recover.”

Reach Alissa Dos Santos at [email protected].