Concerns about Rewriting and Applying

[blink3]

Hey everyone, I want to know how being registered for the MCAT affects current applications (not right now, I mean during the 2015-2016 application cycle).

I took the Jan 15th MCAT and ended up with a 33 (11PS/9VR/13BS), which is an acceptable score for many American Medical Schools however the 9 in VR doesn't make the cut-off at a number of Canadian Medical schools (I'm from Ontario).

From what I gather on SDN, when you are registered for the MCAT - AMCAS reports this to the schools you are applying to and they will hold off on reviewing your application until they receive your new score. What I want to do is apply to American medical schools as soon as possible (hopefully submit by June 1st), become verified and complete secondaries quickly so that I can register for a new sitting in late August to apply to Canadian schools.

I imagine if I pass the stage of receiving a secondary, then the re-write will not affect my application, but I don't know. Does anyone know how this will affect my application?

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[Jack Westin]

Many medical schools give secondaries automatically to anyone who applies. Other medical schools screen students based on their GPA/MCAT. I believe if you are retaking your MCAT, they will not look at your application at all / screen you until your new MCAT score is in (you have to check the box on the AAMC application that asks if you plan to retake in the future).

If for whatever reason they do screen you prior to your new MCAT where the old MCAT score does not make the cutoff, I would call the school and inform them. I haven't heard of that happening though. Plus, your score is stellar, even for Canadian school standards- so I don't think you'll have a big problem.

I had a Canadian student who received an 8 in verbal that was accepted to Toronto med. They screened him out but he called the admissions office and they put him back in the pool of applicants. From my experience, getting in really depends on a lot of factors outside of the GPA and MCAT score.

 

[blink3]

So let me just get this straight, if I do not check the box on AMCAS that asks if I plan to retake in the future then medical schools will not know even if I do register for the MCAT later? I'm not saying that I will take the MCAT again, but I want to keep my options open without impeding the American school application process.