Rewriting the MCAT ~10 days after the first write

[lzsek]

I wrote the exam on the 25th, and I'm currently debating whether I should reserve a seat for a rewrite in early September. I know I screwed up on CARS (flew through the first two passages after realizing I was taking too long and may not have enough time for the later passages, guessed much more than I did for practice FL's) and not sure what I can do to not make the same mistake if I were to write it again in 9-10 days. I've done all the aamc section banks, question packs full lengths and 3 NS fl's before my august 25th write. I've been doing some content review and redoing some section bank questions but I'm finding it futile since I remember a lot of the passages.

Does anyone have experience rewriting the MCAT within 1-2 weeks without knowing your score and have any advice for this situation?

Thanks a lot!

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[cyang55]

If you don't think you can improve A LOT, then don't retake it! You don't even know what the score for your first MCAT is yet, why retake it?

If you have more than one MCAT score, you have to make sure that the second one shows significant improvement. Med schools frown upon seeing more than one MCAT score WITHOUT improvement. A point or two does not count as a huge improvement. It's even worse if you get lower than your first score! (Which happens to some people). Who's to say the Sept test isn't going to be harder than the one you just took? Maybe it'll have more things on there that are your weak spots, or maybe the passages are harder? You'll never know.

Wait and see what your score is first! Then think about retaking it. If you really want to, you can keep on practicing for the next month until your score comes out. If it's not a good score, you can schedule a new test and still be prepared for it.

 

[SwordOfTheMorning]

I had a friend who retook within a week. He went from a 30 to 35. He only did that because the old, pre-2015 exam was being phased out, otherwise he would've never risked it. Since that scenario doesn't apply here, I wouldn't risk it either. You really never know what to expect. He expected a score lower than a 30. But got exactly a 30 on his first MCAT. He was then freaked out while waiting for his second score, incase it was sub-30.

Here, I just don't think it's worth the risk. Even if you did do bad, do you really expect to improve that much within a week or so? My friend did, but that was because he had excellent practice scores, but felt he ran out of time and choked.

 

[lzsek]

If you don't think you can improve A LOT, then don't retake it! You don't even know what the score for your first MCAT is yet, why retake it?

If you have more than one MCAT score, you have to make sure that the second one shows significant improvement. Med schools frown upon seeing more than one MCAT score WITHOUT improvement. A point or two does not count as a huge improvement. It's even worse if you get lower than your first score! (Which happens to some people). Who's to say the Sept test isn't going to be harder than the one you just took? Maybe it'll have more things on there that are your weak spots, or maybe the passages are harder? You'll never know.

Wait and see what your score is first! Then think about retaking it. If you really want to, you can keep on practicing for the next month until your score comes out. If it's not a good score, you can schedule a new test and still be prepared for it.

This is for Canadian med schools so thankfully it doesn't matter for these schools. I'm just really concerned about not having met the cut-off for CARS which is 125 to make it for this application cycle (and this isn't my first time applying). The one I wrote on the 25th will count only towards another school that has a minimum cut off of 124 and I'm not sure if I even met the cut off. I scored 126 on my scored FL and 81% on my unscored FL for CARS but for the actual test, I feel that I severely underperformed because of timing for the first few passages throwing me off track and giving me an anxiety attack lol I guess my main issue is about meeting the cutoff mark for CARS.

Ideally I would do what you suggested, but all the applications are due by October 1st so I have to play this guessing game right now and try to figure out what's best Thanks for your advice!

 

[cyang55]

This is for Canadian med schools so thankfully it doesn't matter for these schools. I'm just really concerned about not having met the cut-off for CARS which is 125 to make it for this application cycle (and this isn't my first time applying). The one I wrote on the 25th will count only towards another school that has a minimum cut off of 124 and I'm not sure if I even met the cut off. I scored 126 on my scored FL and 81% on my unscored FL for CARS but for the actual test, I feel that I severely underperformed because of timing for the first few passages throwing me off track and giving me an anxiety attack lol I guess my main issue is about meeting the cutoff mark for CARS.

Ideally I would do what you suggested, but all the applications are due by October 1st so I have to play this guessing game right now and try to figure out what's best Thanks for your advice!

Ohh, if it doesn't matter how many times you take the MCAT, then it might be okay to try again. Just keep in mind that the passages could be even harder than what you had. If the cutoff is 124 and you're scoring 126 on the practice tests...that isn't too much higher than the cut off. Be really confident that you won't score even lower than your first test. If you feel like the best chance you have to getting in this year is retaking it, then go for it! But be very realistic with your goals, especially considering the timeline.

Good luck!