scoring lower on the second MCAT attempt

[fewcherpeedsdoc]

for those of you who took it twice and did worse on the second, did you still get accepted?

anyone hear of any stories?

does anyone know the avg increase in mcat score for those who took it twice?

i mentioned this at the bottom but i'll mention it up here. my MCAT is 30Q, gpa is prob 3.5 cumu, 3.2-3.3 sci
i want to stay in cali or go to a decent oos school so thats why i was going to try and retake. so far ive studied about 200 hrs for my april 24th mcat...ill take a practice test this weekend and see where i'm at. if i get 30 i think i can bring it up to a 35ish by april 24th. sad thing is the first time i took the mcat, i was getting 22's on practice but somehow got a 30 on the real test....hahaha i have NO idea what to do...

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[NotAndrew]

What was your score the first time? What was your score the second time?

 

[slowbutsteady]

It happens, which is why it is very risky to take it again unless you have no choice.

If you stay the same, go down, or even go up just a point or 2, it will look bad.

Will it mean absolute rejection, no. But you have made your job that much harder.

Unofficial SDN Rule: Do NOT retake unless you have lower than a 29 and are sure, based on practice tests, that you will go up at least 3 points. (By "sure" I mean you are testing 5 or 6 points higher!!!)

Exception to SDN Rule: If you have a low GPA and need a good MCAT score, you prob have no choice but to roll the dice and retake.

Sorry I don't have a real story to tell. I took it over with a 28S and got a 33S. With a 3.5 GPA, I do not think I would have made it without the retake.

 

[Jolt21]

i have a 3.44 and got a 31R (12p/8v/11b). i am kinda on the fence about this as well. on practice exams, i had anywhere between a 28-34. if i take it in June, i feel i can give myself more time to study/read and hopefully hit 36. plausible?

 

[ucladoc2b]

If you stay the same, go down, or even go up just a point or 2, it will look bad.

I doubt taking the MCAT a second time with a two point improvement would be detrimental to your application especially since those two points may correspond to an overall percentile improvement of 10-20%.

 

[sarahl86]

Boyfriend went from a 33 to a 28, accepted to WVU with a "what the hell happened" kind of question on his interview, which was on the first day they offered them.

But he went to JHU and is a token WV boy, so I guess they didn't care too much.

 

[chad5871]

i have a 3.44 and got a 31R (12p/8v/11b). i am kinda on the fence about this as well. on practice exams, i had anywhere between a 28-34. if i take it in June, i feel i can give myself more time to study/read and hopefully hit 36. plausible?

I don't think you need to retake (unless you are 100% sure that you can get a higher score in verbal).

 

[flip26]

for those of you who took it twice and did worse on the second, did you still get accepted?

anyone hear of any stories?

does anyone know the avg increase in mcat score for those who took it twice?

AMCAS has those stats on its website, shown by section scores. People who scored an 11 on PS or BS (can't recall which) had a 75 percent chance of getting the same score or lower, and only a 25 percent chance of a higher score...these odds will shift, of course, with a lower score to begin with...but people who score in the low 30s with at least one or two 11s are running a big risk of getting a lower score on those sections...

I would only retake a sub 30, or if I was low 30s, I would retake anything with a low section score (8 or less), especially if it was verbal...if your score fell in your practice range - anywhere in it - then expecting to improve it is a very risky proposition...

 

[sarahl86]

i have a 3.44 and got a 31R (12p/8v/11b). i am kinda on the fence about this as well. on practice exams, i had anywhere between a 28-34. if i take it in June, i feel i can give myself more time to study/read and hopefully hit 36. plausible?

I'd be more concerned about a 3.44 GPA than I would a 31R MCAT...but I have 31R/3.85 and no acceptances (10p/12v/9b). You have great scores in PS and BS, don't fret too much about the 8 in VR. It is notoriously hard to pull up, and I am a large exception by going from an 8 to a 12. Work on pulling up the GPA and well-rounded ECs and you should be fine with an early application.

EDIT: As for the arguable "value" of your verbal score, I've seen more people with strong BS and PS scores and low verbal accepted than I have people in my situation with average sciences and high verbal. At least among the mid-tier schools I applied to. You re-taking the MCAT is all dependent on where you want to end up, but if I were in your position (and I kind of am because its looking like I may have to do this a THIRD time) I wouldn't retake. 31 to 36 is a huge jump.

 

[slowbutsteady]

I doubt taking the MCAT a second time with a two point improvement would be detrimental to your application especially since those two points may correspond to an overall percentile improvement of 10-20%.

any score is looked at as +/- 2 points anyway. so if you go up 2 points you have stayed the same.

it "hurts" in the sense that it looks like that is really your range and that you didn't just have a bad day. one bad day they can forgive, but 2?

i stick with my advice.

 

[fewcherpeedsdoc]

so my MCAT is 30Q, but my gpa is up in the air since i have cc grades and uni grades. i'm guessing cumulative gpa is about 3.5 and sci is prob 3.3...

i'm hoping to take a practice exam this weekend to see if it's worth it. ive spent about 200 hrs studying for the MCAT so far...it would be sad to not go through with it, but my test date is april 24th.

 

[Demas567]

I remember reading somewhere that ~50% of people who retake the MCAT either do worse or do not improve their original score.

You definitely do NOT want to do worse if you retake it. While it isn't the end of the world, you will have really hurt your chances to get into medical school. I'm guessing that the people who do retake the MCAT are those who don't do well on it the first time and then if they retake it and do worse, well....good luck.