Junior FL resident, 28 mcat first try, 4.0 gpa, applying next year

[Dr.TonySoprano]

edit: original post stripped down to:

4.0 gpa
10/6/12 mcat

what should I do?

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[Dr.TonySoprano]

@Goro I'd love your advice

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

I'm sorry can someone move this to the what are my chances thread?

 

[Goro]

Best chances are with ALL FL schools. If you speak Spanish, you might want to try the Puerto Rican schools, and maybe the HBCs as well.

In addition, Albany, Drexel, Rosy F, NYMC, and any DO program except AZCOM and LUCOM.

@Goro I'd love your advice

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

@Goro thanks. I still have a while to think about retaking MCAT 2015 but I'm assuming I won't for now. You think I could have a shot at the HBC's? I'm cuban but white.


I plan on applying to all the florida schools yes plus more.

 

[ridethecliche]

I think you should retake. That 6 in VR will hurt you. You have enough time to take the january test if you can get your stuff together.

Good verbal resources are:

TPR verbal hyperlearning
EK 101 verbal
TBR verbal (eh)

If you finish the first two and do it well, i.e. pick one of the methods recommended for doing verbal and stick to it so you can learning (passage mapping, etc etc).

 

[Goro]

Mea culpa, I didn't see the VR6. That's going to be lethal. Strongly suggest a retake, but fix the VR deficit first,.

@Goro thanks. I still have a while to think about retaking MCAT 2015 but I'm assuming I won't for now. You think I could have a shot at the HBC's? I'm cuban but white.


I plan on applying to all the florida schools yes plus more.

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

I agree. I will not retake until I'm comfortable with verbal, but it sucks that it's the only real problem in my app.

 

[whatbout2morrow]

I think you should retake. That 6 in VR will hurt you. You have enough time to take the january test if you can get your stuff together.

Good verbal resources are:

TPR verbal hyperlearning
EK 101 verbal
TBR verbal (eh)

If you finish the first two and do it well, i.e. pick one of the methods recommended for doing verbal and stick to it so you can learning (passage mapping, etc etc).

Agreed. OP, you should aim to get that VR score up to at least an 8.

 

[MrChance2]

I agree that I think you are in good shape to apply to any Florida MD/DO school with an MCAT retake if you hit 10/8/12 and should likely get into MD if you prefer it.

Sidenote: I actually don't understand when people get 6VR and 12BS. I know it is common so don't be self conscious or anything but the BS passages to me seem like more complex reading and reasoning than the VR passages. Do you just have extensive experience with the biology that was in the passages or does something in particular make VR hard for you? I'm actually curious, I wasn't a bio major and was VR11/BS10. For me doing a passage or two of verbal everyday for 2 months or so helped (until I regularly saw patterns and could usually predict a few questions before finishing reading the passage)

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

Yeah I

I agree that I think you are in good shape to apply to any Florida MD/DO school with an MCAT retake if you hit 10/8/12 and should likely get into MD if you prefer it.

Sidenote: I actually don't understand when people get 6VR and 12BS. I know it is common so don't be self conscious or anything but the BS passages to me seem like more complex reading and reasoning than the VR passages. Do you just have extensive experience with the biology that was in the passages or does something in particular make VR hard for you? I'm actually curious, I wasn't a bio major and was VR11/BS10. For me doing a passage or two of verbal everyday for 2 months or so helped (until I regularly saw patterns and could usually predict a few questions before finishing reading the passage)

yeah I'm pretty comfortable with bio and Orgo passages. That 6 wasn't normal for me but I had received two 6s on AAMC practice tests towards the end. I think it was all of the detail questions that got me on this test. I don't know. I'll keep thinking about it.

I don't think I want to take the mcat in January. I want to focus on research and my grades. Should I try the new mcat next summer? Maybe..

 

[ridethecliche]

Yeah I

yeah I'm pretty comfortable with bio and Orgo passages. That 6 wasn't normal for me but I had received two 6s on AAMC practice tests towards the end. I think it was all of the detail questions that got me on this test. I don't know. I'll keep thinking about it.

I don't think I want to take the mcat in January. I want to focus on research and my grades. Should I try the new mcat next summer? Maybe..

Unfortunately that 6 was not a 'random chance' thing then.

If you want to try a new test, be my guest. You have over 3 months. I'm not sure why you can't dedicate some time to keep PS/BS fresh and hit verbal hard and take it in jan. I wouldn't be interested in dealing with an entirely new test unless I had to, but it's your funeral.

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

Still deciding when to retake, but assuming I don't, am I in a bad position for the Puerto Rican schools?

 

[Ophthoseidon]

I'm assuming you would be ok for Puerto Rico, and a select few DO schools without a retake. I echo the sentiments of the others though, your best shot is a retake

 

[Dr.TonySoprano]

I'm assuming you would be ok for Puerto Rico, and a select few DO schools without a retake. I echo the sentiments of the others though, your best shot is a retake

thanks.