Should I retake MCAT?

[Banana364]

Hey everyone I just got my MCAT score today and got a 508 C/P:127 CARS: 126 B/B:127 P/S: 128. I'm not sure if I should retake it and would appreciate your advise! I don't have a great undergraduate GPA because I actually didn't decide to want to go to medical school until after I graduated.

My overall GPA is a 3.149 with my sGPA trend being Freshman: 3.238 Sophomore: 2.611 Junior: 2.5 Senior: 3.417 with no extra activities.

When I decided to go to medical school after a burn accident involving a close family member, I went to do a Biomedical Sciences Masters degree GPA: 3.889 only getting 1 B and all A's with only one class left till I finish.

I got a lot of clinical experience working at an urgent care and became a fire fighter and was able to get a NASA fellowship where I did research for my schools college of medicine and research at a NASA space center. I would be considered economically disadvantaged and from disadvantaged background but I am Asian so that might effect my chances due to the stats when it comes to Asian matriculants.

I know ideally I would want a 511 to be an average matriculant but I've already taken 31 FL practice exams over the course of a year long prep because I kept pushing it back due to scoring low and inconsistent.

I took Blueprint FL 1-8 twice and 9 & 10 once, took the 2022 and 2023 free Princeton and Kaplan tests, took both 2022 and 2023 free AAMC exams twice, AAMC exams 1 & 2 twice, and AAMC exams 3 & 4 once. I didn't finish all the practice bank questions and didn't finish UWorld either when I actually took my MCAT. I've kept studying since taking my actual MCAT just in case I would need to retake so its not like I dropped the MCAT completely, I've been on top of my Anki and finished more practice bank passages.

I'm just not sure if I should take it again because I would be running low on new practice exams and potentially review materials by the time I take it again and scared I might score lower for whatever reason.

I also keep looking at the MSAR reports of school especially ones that I would have a connect to go to/in state schools my MCAT isn't within reach and I'm 1 point lower then the lowest MCAT my school took last year. I know MSAR isn't something I should base my decision on but I honestly can't help think I won't even make it past the computer screening.

Any advise would be appreciated!

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[Nontrad_FL_LGBT]

Honestly, 30 FLs, you've probably reached your ceiling. I wouldn't retake. Apply MD/DO, mostly DO.

 

[Banana364]

Honestly, 30 FLs, you've probably reached your ceiling. I wouldn't retake. Apply MD/DO, mostly DO.

Appreciate the advice, that's what I was thinking, I scored higher on my actual MCAT then any of the practice ones I took so assuming the deviation the AAMC has of +/- 2 points I might have reached my ceiling. I wouldn't say I finished content review because I didn't finish the BluePrint biology book or P/S book and I only really focused on Organic and Biochemistry so would you think after a bit more content review and taking the MCAT again in another month after seeing how I score on practice exams be even worth it? I don't know how viable it would be since I already took so many without finishing all the books.

 

[chilly_md]

Appreciate the advice, that's what I was thinking, I scored higher on my actual MCAT then any of the practice ones I took so assuming the deviation the AAMC has of +/- 2 points I might have reached my ceiling. I wouldn't say I finished content review because I didn't finish the BluePrint biology book or P/S book and I only really focused on Organic and Biochemistry so would you think after a bit more content review and taking the MCAT again in another month after seeing how I score on practice exams be even worth it? I don't know how viable it would be since I already took so many without finishing all the books.

I think there is little reason to believe you could raise your score significantly. You would need at least 5 points, and have exhausted all the good practice material as well as many other sources over a year of studying.

 

[Naruhodo]

Also, think of all the other things you could do with that study time that would be significantly more meaningful to your life (and others) and might even be something you could discuss on the interview trail

 

[issslinggling]

I think just do it but formulate a school list and post it on sdn. I wish I did that.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I've already taken 31 FL practice exams over the course of a year long prep because I kept pushing it back due to scoring low and inconsistent.

My goodness. It's too late now, but it sounds to me you never really maximized using the practice exams to actually improve your score. If that were the case, you would have really gotten a stellar result. How much of your strategy overlapped with the new 100 Day Plan we posted?

(I grumble about the days where only 6 AAMC FLs existed and before so many other simulated exams were available. I'm old.)

 

[theoceanman]

Which state are you a resident of? If you’re in CA, you might not even make the average cutoffs for any CA MD schools, but if you’re in places such as GA or FL, you have Mercer (504-505 average) and FSU (506 average) available to you respectively as MD options. Maybe MD’s like Quinnipaic/Temple/NYMC, etc. may accept you as well, but as stated previously, you’re probably more than qualified for DO schools so you’ll be DO-heavy on your applications.

 

[gyngyn]

I know MSAR isn't something I should base my decision on but I honestly can't help think I won't even make it past the computer screening.

The MSAR is the best information we have. 508 is well above any computer cut point.
You can be a doctor with a 508 MCAT.

 

[Banana364]

My goodness. It's too late now, but it sounds to me you never really maximized using the practice exams to actually improve your score. If that were the case, you would have really gotten a stellar result. How much of your strategy overlapped with the new 100 Day Plan we posted?

(I grumble about the days where only 6 AAMC FLs existed and before so many other simulated exams were available. I'm old.)

I didn't know about the student doctor network forums until I took my MCAT and needed advice about transcripts 😭. I kept studying and depending on my practice exams from Kaplan that I never took, which I might retake at the end of May. I appreciate the advice everyone has given me!

 

[Banana364]

Which state are you a resident of? If you’re in CA, you might not even make the average cutoffs for any CA MD schools, but if you’re in places such as GA or FL, you have Mercer (504-505 average) and FSU (506 average) available to you respectively as MD options. Maybe MD’s like Quinnipaic/Temple/NYMC, etc. may accept you as well, but as stated previously, you’re probably more than qualified for DO schools so you’ll be DO-heavy on your applications.

I'm a Florida resident and luckily qualified for the fee assistance program so I can apply to all the Florida schools and then 12 more schools that I match up with. I also plan to apply to DO also. My MCAT score according to MSAR is the exact median in overall score and section score for FSU!

I'm almost finished with all my activities prewriting and on the last draft of my personal statement from a lot of feedback. My extracurriculars include a lot of research under a professor of medicine at my school, doing research for NASA, a lot of clinical job hours, and me being a former intercollegiate athlete.

According to a lot of medical students that go to schools with really high stats that I'm friends when they read my personal statement and learned about my upbringing they said it was really great things I talk about and includes a lot of what medical schools look for in applicants that come from really bad areas and broken homes.

I appreciate all the feedback everyone has given me! I hope to get good feedback before submitting my primaries for verification in like a week when my transcripts update!