I've been reading through some of these "should I retake the MCAT?" threads and the common advice I'm seeing is that people shouldn't retake a 30 (or the 2015 MCAT equivalent) or higher. This barely applies to me, and I'd appreciate a sanity check from you all.
A bit of background on me: though I was premed for most of undergraduate career, and completed all of the prerequisite courses, I ultimately decided not to pursue medicine at that time. I did end up taking the MCAT then largely because the test format was about to change, and the relevant coursework was still fresh in my mind - I wanted to leave the med school door open. I took it and scored a 30 (10/10/10).
I've recently felt myself being drawn back towards the medical path, and plan on applying during the upcoming cycle (for 2018 matriculation). I have an issue in that I'm just not happy at all with that MCAT score. My heart wasn't really in it at the time, and the fact that I did not adequately prepare for the test (did all of my studying over a three-week winter break) gives me reason to believe that I can do substantially better on a retake.
Though it's possible that I would get into medical school with my current score, I do think that the score would keep me out a a substantial number of schools that I'm interested in, and is harming my application profile when it could be helping it.
The average MCAT score for students at my undergraduate institution for people with similar sGPAs is ~515-516, and I don't think there's any reason I can't score similarly assuming adequate prep. Furthermore, since I am already over a year out of undergrad there's not a lot else I have to focus on in the next 9 or so months until I apply. I have plenty of research, community service, clinical experience, etc at this point.
Main caveats to all of this are (1) that I work pretty long hours (~60/week), so studying would be painful (doable though), and (2) the content isn't as fresh in my mind as it was during undergrad.
I would be taking in mid-January, so I'd have 4+ months to prepare. Would people retake or apply with the current score in my situation?
A bit of background on me: though I was premed for most of undergraduate career, and completed all of the prerequisite courses, I ultimately decided not to pursue medicine at that time. I did end up taking the MCAT then largely because the test format was about to change, and the relevant coursework was still fresh in my mind - I wanted to leave the med school door open. I took it and scored a 30 (10/10/10).
I've recently felt myself being drawn back towards the medical path, and plan on applying during the upcoming cycle (for 2018 matriculation). I have an issue in that I'm just not happy at all with that MCAT score. My heart wasn't really in it at the time, and the fact that I did not adequately prepare for the test (did all of my studying over a three-week winter break) gives me reason to believe that I can do substantially better on a retake.
Though it's possible that I would get into medical school with my current score, I do think that the score would keep me out a a substantial number of schools that I'm interested in, and is harming my application profile when it could be helping it.
The average MCAT score for students at my undergraduate institution for people with similar sGPAs is ~515-516, and I don't think there's any reason I can't score similarly assuming adequate prep. Furthermore, since I am already over a year out of undergrad there's not a lot else I have to focus on in the next 9 or so months until I apply. I have plenty of research, community service, clinical experience, etc at this point.
Main caveats to all of this are (1) that I work pretty long hours (~60/week), so studying would be painful (doable though), and (2) the content isn't as fresh in my mind as it was during undergrad.
I would be taking in mid-January, so I'd have 4+ months to prepare. Would people retake or apply with the current score in my situation?
