better to take july or august MCAT 2015

[bluemachine]

hi all. i may be a re-applicant this next cycle, so im currently studying for the new mcat. my current plan is to get my application out as early as possible (in june) with my old MCAT score, and then the new MCAT score will be more of like an update to schools after i take it.

since my mcat score is more of an update rather than being super necessary for schools to look at my app, would it matter whether i take the july or august mcat? my scores wouldn't be released until either mid-august or beginning of september. my reasoning is that if it doesn't make a difference, spending more time studying and taking it in august would only be beneficial to my eventual score, unless people think that taking the august MCAT would be too late, and that i should strive to take the july 18th test?

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[allantois]

What's your MCAT and where are you applying.

 

[bluemachine]

its a pretty balanced 31 (9/12/10). and im applying to 30+ schools, with a good mix of schools below, near and above my LizzyM score. does this factor into when i should take the mcat or whether i should retake?

 

[nolookpass]

I can't really help with this, but why do you think you didn't get in? Your MCAT score is solid so was it somewhere else that held you back? Maybe ask individual schools about this personally on the phone or through email since you're in a unique situation.

 

[allantois]

Don't retake it. It won't help admissions officers that it's a whole new test. AAMC make it sound as if they are trying to normalize the distribution, so it's very well possible you will score worse percentile-wise. Anyway, your score isn't a problem. Reapply ASAP.

 

[bluemachine]

im still on quite a few waitlists for this cycle, so hopefully i wont need to worry about this at all, but im just covering all my bases and preparing for the worst. i did apply quite top-heavy, so most of my interviews were at top tier schools. my app is quite lopsided (with mediocre stats, but amazing everything else), and a couple of things were out of my control with regards to the app process.

lets just say im retaking for sure. in this case, would it be better to take it in july or august?