.

[Prehealth1011]

.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bashwell]

Hey guys, long time lurker and posting here for the first time

I'm a Canadian student applying to Australian medical schools for the next cycle. I've taken the MCAT once and scored horribly with a 496 (125-121-126-124) which probably isn't competitive anywhere. I'll be re-taking the MCAT in 2016 and i was wondering if a May MCAT would be too late? The reason i ask is because I've noticed many schools start accepting applications in April..But i wanna give myself as much time as possible for the MCAT given that verbal takes the longest to improve on. I'm essentially trying to figure out a timeline to have my MCAT done and apply early-ish at the same time.

Any advice or opinion would be greatly appreciated !!

I guess they must've changed how the MCAT is scored since I took them because I have no idea what these numbers mean anymore! (I had scores in the low-mid 30s and got in several years ago, but no idea if that's helpful to you now).

Another option is to take the GAMSAT. I've heard that's a lot easier than the MCAT.

 

[pitman]

...except that the GAMSAT is easier for everyone, so I'm not sure how that would help the OP (unless the claim is that Canadians would do better than Australians on the GAMSAT -- if competing directly with their scores -- which is certainly possible). What matters in the end is the percentile score, e.g., for domestic students at UQ, the last *cutoff* was 68, or ~93%ile. Similar for USyd. Insane really, when you think about it.

https://drxiezz.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/gamsat-results-attempt-1/
http://www.gamsat-prep.com/GAMSAT-australia

Interestingly, the GAMSAT is also gender-biased. If you're a female, it's statistically much harder for you, and if you're borderline (while not BPD ) you'd be best served applying to schools where interviews are weighted heavily:

http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/latest-news/female-intake-collapses-at-top-med-school

 

[Lucrezia]

...except that the GAMSAT is easier for everyone, so I'm not sure how that would help the OP (unless the claim is that Canadians would do better than Australians on the GAMSAT -- if competing directly with each other for domestic spots -- which is certainly possible). What matters in the end is the percentile, e.g., at UQ, the last *cutoff* was 68, or ~93%ile. Similar for USyd. Insane, really.

Interestingly, the GAMSAT is also gender-biased. If you're a female, it's statistically much harder for you:
http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/latest-news/female-intake-collapses-at-top-med-school

I agree with Pitman's position. It's your score in relation to everybody else that matters for GAMSAT, so whether the GAMSAT is objectively easier than MCAT is irrelevant. You still have to score better than 90% of other test takers to get into most schools as a domestic (unless you are the beneficiary of our ridiculous rural background affirmative action program but that's a whole other argument). The problem with GAMSAT as opposed to MCAT (as I've been led to understand, I've only ever sat GAMSAT) is that studying will only take you so far. You do need a first year university knowledge of chemistry, physics (high-school level for physics actually) and biology so in that way much less pure knowledge is required than for MCAT - but beyond that it's largely an aptitude test. The questions are of the problem solving / critical thinking / application variety. They don't really look like anything you see on a first year science exam / in your standard university chemistry textbook. So if you suck at knowledge recall but excel at application then the GAMSAT may actually be a better exam for you.

As Pitman mentioned, GAMSAT does seem to favour male test-takers. In my class at UQ (started 2014), where the cut-off was indeed 68 (93rd-ish percentile), the graduate entry domestic student (i.e the ones who take GAMSAT) gender split is 25% female, 75% male. Caused a bit of an uproar haha. Although I do think this speaks more to the poor uptake of sciences by female students PRIOR to taking the exam in Australia / various other systemic educational issues in the maths and sciences in Australia, as opposed anything ingrained in the exam (our science section is weighted double compared to our essay and humanities sections).

edit: sorry I just noticed that you would actually be an international Canadian applicant - in that case you wouldn't need to score so highly in GAMSAT. The GAMSAT cut offs for international applicants are generally considerably lower for internationals than for domestics (not because there's anything wrong with internationals - this is simply a function of supply and demand).

 

[pitman]

My mistake if schools allow int'ls to take the GAMSAT. It could be that on average, weaker int'l candidates take it (compared to the MCAT) and some schools failed to standardise cutoff scores, in which case then the exam could be considered 'easier' in practical terms (assuming you know which schools have done this, implied by their GAMSAT stats).

 

[HibikiR]

I applied to my schools between June and July so I think it would be possible. Ideally you should take it in April as you mentioned, but if you need the time for improvement then go for May as recovering from a bad April test might screw you over more.

 

[mcat_taker]

I think you should take it whenever you are ready and feel you would get the best score. No reason to rush because you feel that you will be "late" on applying. I think getting those scores back in June should put you in good position for most schools. It probably will depend on the school but since Australian schools start in January, having your app in over the summer should be reasonably on time.

 

[jedrek]

It's either UQ or Monash for me,haha

UQ priorities on the MCAT,that means if you do well for MCAT,in you go,provided your GPA is alright.>>no interviews too.

Monash doesn't require internationals to take MCAT for 2017 entry and beyond,just found out today.>>So if you screwed up MCAT,you can still get to Monash.

 

[graham_cracker]

I'm also a Canadian planning on applying this cycle and will be sitting the GAMSAT in DC in March. I'm personally not a science major (applying with a BFA in dance), so I think the GAMSAT will be much more acceptable, though I did take first year bio and chem. It's less memorizing science knowledge and more humanities favoured, so I think it should give me an advantage. Though trying to teach myself organic chemistry is quite difficult, because most of section 3 on the GAMSAT will be organic chemistry... I did purchase the ACER practise exams and studying on that, we'll see what happens, I'm only really interested in Sydney Uni since I lived there from 2012-2014, so if I score poorly then I'll have to try again next year... Also if you're retaking the MCAT in May it's not too late for Sydney Uni and Melbourne I think.