MD Retake my MCAT for Texas?

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I have a 30 on my MCAT, which I thought would be enough for the Texas medical schools. However, I have been looking at different school websites and it doesn't seem so clear cut anymore.

From the Texas A&M website: "The class is distinguished by a mean GPA of 3.63 and average total MCAT score of 29."

From the Texas Tech Lubbock website: "If your grades are not as competitive as our averages, (GPA: 3.7; MCAT: 30) then you want to have strong health care exposure, solid letters of evaluation, and an upward grade trend to name a few elements."

From the Texas Tech El Paso website: Average GPA - 3.69 and Average MCAT - 29

From the UT San Antonio website: "The grade point average of the accepted class is 3.65 and the average MCAT is 31."

I couldn't find any information about UTMB or UTH, but I assume they are much higher than these schools.

Should I retake my MCAT and shoot for a 32 to be safe for the Texas schools and give myself a better chance at UTMB and UTH?

If I were you, I wouldn't retake. A thirty is around average for most Texas school matriculants, meaning that some get in with higher scores and others with lower. I think your stats make you competitive everywhere except maybe UT Southwestern and Baylor, but I would still apply, especially to UT Southwestern because it is only $10 extra and you never know unless you give it a shot. Whether or not you get into one of the schools this cycle will depend on your ECs, personal statement, and interview skills.

Thanks for the response, Salaam.

I would say my ECs and personal statement are around average, so it's a little concerning to see how competitive all these Texas schools have gotten.

The difference between a 30 and a 32 is negligible. No decision of admission hinges on that small of a difference. And a word of warning, there is some statistical variation on the MCAT. if you got a 30 and are aiming for a 32 next time around, you can easily get a lower score and even more likely will see a drop in at least area even if the total score stays the same. The only reason to re-take the MCAT with your other numbers and prior score of a 30 is if you have reason to aim for 34+. If you can get a 34+ your application will be improved.

Now, the decision to re-take is not as trivial as an evaluation of two digit numbers. There is a significant financial and time commitment to re-taking the MCAT. This decreases resources available for other endeavors. If you think that you can realistically study and prepare to retake the MCAT effectively to increase your score significantly, then it is well worth it to do so. If not, then it is far better to spend your time doing a whole host of other things.

Very good points, mimelim. Thank you for your response.

When I studied for the MCAT before, the highest score I got on a practice test was 33 while the lowest was a 30.

I think I will try to find ways to improve my app further besides retaking the MCAT.

Originally Posted by tennischamp822

Very good points, mimelim. Thank you for your response.

When I studied for the MCAT before, the highest score I got on a practice test was 33 while the lowest was a 30.

I think I will try to find ways to improve my app further besides retaking the MCAT.

I got into UT southwestern and UTH with a 3.9 and 31R. Got invited to an interview to every texas school that I applied to (baylor included). You are more than likely to get an acceptance with what you have. Re-taking the mcat will mean that you'll be applying really late in the cycle which will hurt you a lot (cos you kind of wanna study a lot for it because really it would be disastrous if you don't score better). And really...is there a guarentee that you will get more than a 30 the next time? I was scoring between 31 and 34 consistently and I took my mcat stragiht after sophomore year. I still didn't think it was worth it for me to give it another shot. I mean I could invest 3 months into studying for the mcat, but at the end of the day, there really is no guarentee that I will get a better score. The point is, you are more than likely to get accepted at a texas school with your numbers provided you have well rounded application. You're scores are typical for those who are usually accepted to these schools (utsw and baylor excluded). Let me look up MSAR and tell you the exact mcat percentile scores for all the schools. You'll see that people with much worse mcat scores have matriculated to these schools.

Originally Posted by tennischamp822

Very good points, mimelim. Thank you for your response.

When I studied for the MCAT before, the highest score I got on a practice test was 33 while the lowest was a 30.

I think I will try to find ways to improve my app further besides retaking the MCAT.

So here are the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentile scores for all the texas schools. As you'll notice, your numbers will fall right in between for the students that have matriculated in these schools for last year. So, your numbers are enough for all of the schools(except UTSW probably). You're basically going to be like their typical average candidate that they normally accept (which is a good thing)

A&M - 10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 26:31:34
UTSA -10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 28:31:36
TT - 10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 26:30:33
UTMB- 10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 24:31:36
UTH - 10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 28:32:36
UTSW- 10th percentile: 50th percentile: 90th percentile: 30:35:39

Originally Posted by tennischamp822

Thanks for the response, Salaam.

I would say my ECs and personal statement are around average, so it's a little concerning to see how competitive all these Texas schools have gotten.

And you can probably work on your personal statement btw...You still have time to fix that. I took my girlfriend's disasterous personal statement and completely re-vamped it. And her statement is definitely better than mine now and 3 interviewers told me that they loved my statement. Her health care experiences are pretty limited too. The point is, you don't need a powerful experience to make a powerful statement. You can take the smallest incident in your life and draw a picture of the thing, as long as you present yourself in a positive light and adequately show that medicine is the right career choice for you.

Thanks for all your help, cyanide. I appreciate all the data on the Texas schools.

I submitted my primary application a few weeks ago, so now I'll just wait and see what happens.

Congrats on UTSW and good luck with everything next year!

Originally Posted by tennischamp822

Thanks for all your help, cyanide. I appreciate all the data on the Texas schools.

I submitted my primary application a few weeks ago, so now I'll just wait and see what happens.

Congrats on UTSW and good luck with everything next year!

You'll be fine. You'll be getting interviews based on your numbers. Here's my prediction. You'll get 3 - 5 interviews inside Texas. And then, you probably won't get a prematch, but would be getting matched to a pretty good school in febuary :P Good luck.