Reapplication Conundrum

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Did you really just say risk going to SGU/Ross??? Dude. Calm Down. I would not take a post-bacc at this point. You have two choices, 1, apply DO. 2, do an MCAT prep course and retake and reapply. Make sure all your stuff (PS) ECs etc are all written well... You should not have retaken the MCAT however, you should have just reapplied June 1st. Your stats are low for a late app, but they're solid for DO and you could apply to that now... If you don't want to do DO, you can check with schools and see if they'll use your most current or highest score... and apply again...

To SBB2016: Thanks for the advice. I think re-taking the MCAT a third time would be a huge risk for me, as I don't want to make the same mistake I made initially and risk not getting above a 31. Even though I was scoring 34+ on all my AAMC/TPR practice tests during my second MCAT run, I really am not sure what happened for my score to drastically drop like that. There's nothing I can really do about that now, however.

I'll definitely consider the DO route, even though I hadn't though much about DO programs prior to May of this year. Do you recommend DO solely based on match statistics? There seem to be a some CA programs with quite a lot of USIMG/IMG grads while DOs seem to be scattered all over the place in terms of allopathic residency positions.

Here's the thing, match results are what you do most of the schools do have people going into primary care, but RVU had 11 anesthesia matches, so it's not impossible to get into a specialty of your choice. However, you really need to move quickly, time will be against you shorty...

Originally Posted by One Day MD

and applied late in the application cycle

Big piece of evidence right here as to your un-success. Retaking a 31? That's like Tiger (or a less than Tiger golfer more like) trying to win the Masters 2 years in a row. Person I know had 3.2, got into DO after applying early following cycle after initial failure. No big fancy ECs, no big fancy upward trend. If you really want the allopathic though you should try to beef up for allo, get some connections or something. Applying early is number one. When you apply early, you are in the pile, if they have 10 mediocre candidates in the first day of looking at apps, you could even stick out.

Originally Posted by One Day MD

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around the forums trying to see if someone has been in similar situation as me, but I couldn't find anything. I apologize if this has been discussed before but I'll appreciate any advice anyone has.

I applied for the 2011-2012 US allopathic MD cycle but was unsuccessful in obtaining admission. I have a 3.65 cGPA and 3.49 sGPA, extensive research experience (w/ poster presentation at national conference), multiple leadership positions, shadowing, and attended a top-tier university. When I applied last year, I had a 31Q MCAT (12V, 11BS, 08PS) and applied late in the application cycle. I applied broadly all over the US.

Recently I took the MCAT over and and worked extremely hard to raise my PS score. To my dismay, I achieved a much lower score, a 28S. Every subscore stayed the same except my verbal somehow dropped to a 9 -__-.

I find myself completely confused as to what to do. My advisor told me to do a post-back and retake the MCAT and apply next June in 2013. Ive already been a year out of school (finished undergraduate degree in 3 years) and this would mean I would have had a total of 3 years off before starting medical school.

My question is: should I risk going to SGU/Ross (I applied/interviewed recently) to start this August or should I reapply to Allopathic schools next year, or apply to osteopathic schools this year for Fall 2013 entrance. Do I even have a chance at US MD schools if I have to retake the MCAT a third time? How about a chance at DO schools for Fall 2013 entrance?

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Never should've retaken a 31. Right now you absolutely need to retake if you want to go to a US MD school. You can probably get in to a DO program this cycle though.

Some schools look at best MCAT, some look at most recent and some average. Call the schools where you plan to apply and ask.

Originally Posted by ChiveON

Some schools look at best MCAT, some look at most recent and some average. Call the schools where you plan to apply and ask.

This. Most take your best. Call the schools to find out or just search SDN.

Originally Posted by SBB2016

Here's the thing, match results are what you do most of the schools do have people going into primary care, but RVU had 11 anesthesia matches, so it's not impossible to get into a specialty of your choice. However, you really need to move quickly, time will be against you shorty...

To be fair, Anesthesia isn't always that competitive of a match. Certainly wouldn't use that fact to say that those students can "match into a specialty of your choice."

It's still on you... It is YOUR effort and test scores...

Thank you all for your responses. In retrospect, I probably should not have taken the MCAT again. At the time, I only took it again because I thought my low PS score of 8 was the primary cause of my rejection, as the lowest quartile PS score I encountered for allopathic matriculants was 9. With that said, I did have two friends with a 30 on the MCAT with an ~3.4 cGPA get into one medical school each.

I am definitely looking into allopathic schools that take the best set of MCAT scores. I submitted my primaries early, so hopefully that helps.

Do any of you really think taking the MCAT a third time, even if I score higher than 31, is worth it? Will schools be nervous to accept an applicant who took the MCAT three times, even though my initial score wasn't that bad?...*sigh*

Originally Posted by One Day MD

Thank you all for your responses. In retrospect, I probably should not have taken the MCAT again. At the time, I only took it again because I thought my low PS score of 8 was the primary cause of my rejection, as the lowest quartile PS score I encountered for allopathic matriculants was 9. With that said, I did have two friends with a 30 on the MCAT with an ~3.4 cGPA get into one medical school each.

I am definitely looking into allopathic schools that take the best set of MCAT scores. I submitted my primaries early, so hopefully that helps.

Do any of you really think taking the MCAT a third time, even if I score higher than 31, is worth it? Will schools be nervous to accept an applicant who took the MCAT three times, even though my initial score wasn't that bad?...*sigh*

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