Is it too late to apply with august mcat?

[ramakul]

What are the disadvantages of taking august mcat? what is the chance of getting accepted with an august mcat by applying this year?

Thanks

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[rpkall]

The disadvantage is that schools don't take a definitive look at your file until your MCAT comes in, and that's usually around October if I'm not mistaken. By then, most schools have sent out lots of interview invites already and started filling their classes.

Point being, if you're going to do the August MCAT, you should have an already-strong application that stands out in some other way--so that adcoms are more likely to say, "Oh wow, let's hold on to this guy and wait for his MCAT" rather than "Yeah, he's just like all the other candidates who did the same stuff AND we already have their MCATs, toss it."

If you're coming right from college, that's harder to do because your application looks very similar to everyone else who's coming right from college, because you just don't have all the time in the world to do extracurriculars and get clinical experience, etc.

The most annoying thing would be to get into one or two safety-type schools (expensive, private, non-ranked MD programs) and KNOW inside yourself that if you had taken a year off, done work to get new recommendations and new experiences, you could have had a better chance getting into top-tier schools. But, if you think your application's good enough to get into *a* med school, and you just want the chance to be a doctor *this year*, then I say go for it.

Just do everything in your power to rock the August MCAT. If you have to, take one of those review courses or buy some books and spend a couple hours each day this summer doing practice problems.

Good luck to ya.

 

[dr.z]

If you do well and are strong candidate, it should be o.k. However, you won't have your files complete at schools till October (you can fill out secondaries before you get your score). By then some people may have began interviewing, and you maybe a little behind.

 

[Law2Doc]

What are the disadvantages of taking august mcat? what is the chance of getting accepted with an august mcat by applying this year?

Thanks

Since it's a rolling admission process (for the majority of the schools), some seats will already be gone if you take the MCAT in August and thus are only complete in October. Thus you want to get your application in as early as it can feasibly be ready, and taking the test in April and applying in June is the ideal. However the detriment of August MCAT is sometimes over-hyped on this board. LOTS of people take the August MCAT, get interviews and get in. Some people simply haven't completed their prereqs until August and would do much better if they waited until the August test. And much better numbers will usually trump the few months delay.
(But if you are going to do August, be sure to have AMCAS already submitted prior to the MCAT, so that you don't end up getting delayed beyond October.)

 

[ElKapitan]

I took last years august MCAT and applied late, my scores were pretty good, above a 30 MCAT score, ~3.5 GPA double major, (BCPM was 3.47, but cum. Physics, Gen Chem, Gen Bio, Orgo, was 3.5+) Reqs from a full proffessor at MGH/Harvard, Post Doc at MGH/Harvard, My Advisor, an old physio proffessor, and a service based rec. I had lots of community service, and over 2-years of research before I will start MS1. I recieved 6-interviews, and I am on 6-waitlists. I am sure that I will eventually be accepted but I might not. I feel if I had applied earlier, then I would already be holding an acceptance somewhere.

I think that you are at a disadvantage if you apply late, but no so much that you can't get in. You won't get accepted early, and you will have a lot of stress to deal with. However, if you think that your MCAT score will be low, I think that definitely can keep you from getting in. You won't know your score until mid-october.