The Official August 21, 2014 MCAT Thread

[LLawliet]

Welcome
For those of you who plan on using the SN2ed study schedule, you should be finishing up on gathering prep materials and getting ready to start around mid May.
Who else is with me?

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[sharkbyte]

I don't claim to be as knowledgeable as the adcoms here, but imo if you only think you could max do 3 or so points better i'd say stick with the 31. There's plenty of ppl that get in with 31 3.9 and lower. Your stats are better than over half of all MD matriculates. But taking it again and doing about the same (or worse ) would just make things worse. And let's be honest, nobody wants to go thru this process again. It depends on how confident you feel in your abilities now vs. when you took it the first time, but you scored close to your AAMC average so it might be your best bet to stick with the 31.

Retaking an excellent score as a 31 is a red flag. It labels you as a type of applicant that adcoms generally try to avoid. Further added is the fact that you scored within your average, which does not merit the opportunity cost of retaking. You have absolutely no reason to retake.

Guys - what do you think I should do? Got a 30 (11/10/9) while averaging abut 38 or so on the AAMCs. I'm from CA, cGPA is 3.7, sGPA 3.6. Pretty good ECs. Will the 30 keep me from getting in MD?

 

[Aerus]

Guys - what do you think I should do? Got a 30 (11/10/9) while averaging abut 38 or so on the AAMCs. I'm from CA, cGPA is 3.7, sGPA 3.6. Pretty good ECs. Will the 30 keep me from getting in MD?

A 30 will absolutely not keep you from getting an MD. Statistically, half the matriculants to MD programs in the US have a 30 or lower if the average is a 31. Just make sure you have the right clinical exposure, apply broadly to schools with stats and missions that fit you, and not bomb the interview and you should get in somewhere. Best of luck!

 

[sharkbyte]

A 30 will absolutely not keep you from getting an MD. Statistically, half the matriculants to MD programs in the US have a 30 or lower if the average is a 31. Just make sure you have the right clinical exposure, apply broadly to schools with stats and missions that fit you, and not bomb the interview and you should get in somewhere. Best of luck!

Thanks so much for the help! Also, one more thing - do you think the 30 is a red flag for CA schools though? I feel like a 30 plays me out of contention. I do have an extenuating circumstance (death of a parent) that I experienced while in college but that did not have anything to do with my MCAT score at all, so I'm not entirely sure.

 

[Aerus]

Thanks so much for the help! Also, one more thing - do you think the 30 is a red flag for CA schools though? I feel like a 30 plays me out of contention. I do have an extenuating circumstance (death of a parent) that I experienced while in college but that did not have anything to do with my MCAT score at all, so I'm not entirely sure.

If you're a premed in California, you shouldn't expect to go to med school here. Statistically, 2/3 of all matriculants (people with apps competitive enough to get into med school) must leave the state to go to med school. California has more applicants than all the states in the midwest, all the states in the south, and more than half of all the states in the Northeast (including New York). Your chances of staying in California aren't high regardless if you retake your 30 or not.

 

[jagster92]

Thanks! Also, congrats on your crazy awesome score, I bet that feels so good! Also any advice for bio??? I suck at Orgo and I think that was my downfall on this exam.

Thanks! Myself for BS i pretty much exclusively did EK supplemented with a couple chapters of TBR bio for extra practice and LOTS OF WIKIPEDIA. I also used the GS exams and i thought that was useful for the sciences. I'm probably not the best help on orgo tho. That was probably the course i have the best background in.

 

[jagster92]

Guys - what do you think I should do? Got a 30 (11/10/9) while averaging abut 38 or so on the AAMCs. I'm from CA, cGPA is 3.7, sGPA 3.6. Pretty good ECs. Will the 30 keep me from getting in MD?

First, I like the new avatar! one of my fave movies. Again, certainly don't take my word as gold and make sure you talk to an adviser at your school, but your situation is much different than the previous poster. You had a significant drop from your average and I'd be willing to bet that if you took the exam again the next day you would have done better. If i got a 30 i would have retaken and i had a similar average as you. I know it could be a red flag if you retook a 30, but if you retook a 30 and replaced it with a 36+ i think that flag goes away. For myself i would've known i could do better, and i'm sure that's kind of how you feel right now with the 38 average. If your AAMCs were relatively consistent and you truly think this was a fluke, I don't think it would be ridiculous to retake. But just keep in mind that you can def get into a school with what you have now and that if you score about the same score or worse when you do it again, that will only hurt you.

 

[jagster92]

I'mma be real here. I did so well on verbal because my mother is a professional copy-editor and while growing up she and I used to take passages from the SAT/GRE/whatever test and play a game where we would see how many questions we could get right without reading the passage. So it's totally not because I'm brilliant or anything.

I have the following advice: just read all the frikkin' time. I read mostly fiction, because you get really good at figuring out tone and main ideas. Also, I read a question and look back and see if there are any matching words in the passage! Like, if it says, "How does something relate to such-and-such," I look for the word "relate" back in the passage. Sometimes the MCAT just lifts words directly and you know your answer is from there.

Also, hilighting "fancy" words and descriptive words beforehand often gives me a reference point where if a question mentions those words, I could go back to them quickly.

Hope this helps! Seriously though I am mostly just supremely lucky.

i think the craziest part is that you beat your average by 8pts. I'm still in awe haha.

 

[sharkbyte]

First, I like the new avatar! one of my fave movies. Again, certainly don't take my word as gold and make sure you talk to an adviser at your school, but your situation is much different than the previous poster. You had a significant drop from your average and I'd be willing to bet that if you took the exam again the next day you would have done better. If i got a 30 i would have retaken and i had a similar average as you. I know it could be a red flag if you retook a 30, but if you retook a 30 and replaced it with a 36+ i think that flag goes away. For myself i would've known i could do better, and i'm sure that's kind of how you feel right now with the 38 average. If your AAMCs were relatively consistent and you truly think this was a fluke, I don't think it would be ridiculous to retake. But just keep in mind that you can def get into a school with what you have now and that if you score about the same score or worse when you do it again, that will only hurt you.

Thanks a lot for the help. I think I'm leaning toward retaking because I know I can do better than a 30 and I showed that with my AAMCs.

What did you do for PS? I used TBR as well as some of TPR. I'm kind of worried because I feel like I used the best materials out there for PS and only got an 11.

 

[jagster92]

Thanks a lot for the help. I think I'm leaning toward retaking because I know I can do better than a 30 and I showed that with my AAMCs.

What did you do for PS? I used TBR as well as some of TPR. I'm kind of worried because I feel like I used the best materials out there for PS and only got an 11.

TBR of course was a huge help. The only other option is you could buy the GS exams. On ebay you can get em for <$100 and it's 10 FL exams.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Retaking an excellent score as a 31 is a red flag. It labels you as a type of applicant that adcoms generally try to avoid. Further added is the fact that you scored within your average, which does not merit the opportunity cost of retaking. You have absolutely no reason to retake.

why would they avoid them?

 

[InfiniteHold]

Test Date: 8/21/14
Time: 01:00 pm
FL AAMC Average: 39.13 (14.13, 11.63, 13.38)
AAMC 10-11 Avg.: 40 (14, 12, 14)
Post-test expected score: 37-39 (13-14, 10, 14-15)
Actual Score (PS/V/BS): 41 (14/12/15)

I've been following this thread pretty much since it began, and I want to thank all the regular posters on here. You guys definitely made this a go-to resource for me during my studying. In terms of the test, I am extremely happy with my score! 41 is definitely higher than what I thought I could get (my absolute most hopeful score was a 40). My post-test prediction for PS was about a 13-14, given that everything besides that one passage was pretty straightforward. The BS section felt about like AAMC #11. So, I predicted I would get about a 14-15. I happened to know the answers to the random discrete questions that were thrown in, so I felt pretty good about BS. The 12 in Verbal is definitely higher than I expected. My MCAT Verbal section felt about like the practice tests where I got a 10, so I was hoping that I could at least make that. After reading about how everyone thought the Verbal section on this test was really hard, I started to worry that I got even below a 10. It ended up working out even better than I had hoped! So glad to be done!!

 

[Aerus]

why would they avoid them?

Put yourself into the shoes of an admissions committee member. They already received a fantastic score. That's enough to get into medical school and be a doctor. What does it say about the person when they retake it? They could be an over-perfectionist. They could be someone who feels entitled to a good score. They could be a gunner. These traits aren't ones schools want in a doctor.

Sure, there's a chance they might not be. But with such a big pool to choose from, why take the risk? Some schools might be willing to take the risk, some might not.

And that's considering if you got a better score. What happens if you do worse? It's definitely possible, especially when you're averaging 1 point above your actual score. It wasn't a fluke. A retake would be an idiotic risk.

 

[IslandStyle808]

why would they avoid them?

Put yourself into the shoes of an admissions committee member. They already received a fantastic score. That's enough to get into medical school and be a doctor. What does it say about the person when they retake it? They could be an over-perfectionist. They could be someone who feels entitled to a good score. They could be a gunner. These traits aren't ones schools want in a doctor.

Sure, there's a chance they might not be. But with such a big pool to choose from, why take the risk? Some schools might be willing to take the risk, some might not.

And that's considering if you got a better score. What happens if you do worse? It's definitely possible, especially when you're averaging 1 point above your actual score. It wasn't a fluke. A retake would be an idiotic risk.

An example of what Aerus is talking about:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...advice-to-assess-app-weakness-thanks.1074437/

 

[TulaneUnderdog]

#prayforTulaneUnderdog

i find that the ones where you're torn between 2 answer choices haunt you more than the ones you completely guess on

Practice FL Range: 29-31
Post-Test Expected Score: 28
8/21 AAMC Test Score: 32 (13/9/10)

My reaction:

This proves how wrong I was and that you truly have nothing to worry about because I truly didn't understand entire passages in this test and completely guessed on at least 2, had huge insomnia the night before (1 hour of sleep), and I truly considered just pursuing another career path after taking this disaster of a test. When I first saw this score, I wanted to be certain I didn't failed high school algebra and just couldn't add up the scores right because I still can't believe it adds to a 32. I expected a 7-8 on BS after those terrible orgo, 9 on Verbal as expected (it's the closest thing to the practice tests imo), and at least a 10 on PS lol.

 

[4-cyclohexene]

Hey guys! Has anyone been to the SuperBio review event? I'm planning on taking the MCAT again on October 21st and just need a refresher for bio before I take it again. Any feedback on the course? Is it helpful??? Thanks!

 

[4-cyclohexene]

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but I just wanted to let you all know that I did decide to retake and I just got my score back for the 10/21 exam today. I had a 4 point improvement from a 31 to 35 and am just ecstatic about it and wanted to share the news with someone! Thanks for all your guys' support through out this journey. It was so helpful knowing we all were facing the same obstacles and that we all came out on the other side with scores we were proud of. The MCAT journey is finally over holla!!!!! Good luck everyone with all your future plans!! I am sure we will all be excellent doctors some day

8/21/14 Score
VR:10
PS:11
BS:10
Composite:31

10/21/14 Score
VR:9
PS:12
BS:14
Composite: 35

 

[TheAnonymous]

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but I just wanted to let you all know that I did decide to retake and I just got my score back for the 10/21 exam today. I had a 4 point improvement from a 31 to 35 and am just ecstatic about it and wanted to share the news with someone! Thanks for all your guys' support through out this journey. It was so helpful knowing we all were facing the same obstacles and that we all came out on the other side with scores we were proud of. The MCAT journey is finally over holla!!!!! Good luck everyone with all your future plans!! I am sure we will all be excellent doctors some day

8/21/14 Score
VR:10
PS:11
BS:10
Composite:31

10/21/14 Score
VR:9
PS:12
BS:14
Composite: 35

Congrats dude - that's amazing ! Well done

 

[deleted642188]

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but I just wanted to let you all know that I did decide to retake and I just got my score back for the 10/21 exam today. I had a 4 point improvement from a 31 to 35 and am just ecstatic about it and wanted to share the news with someone! Thanks for all your guys' support through out this journey. It was so helpful knowing we all were facing the same obstacles and that we all came out on the other side with scores we were proud of. The MCAT journey is finally over holla!!!!! Good luck everyone with all your future plans!! I am sure we will all be excellent doctors some day

8/21/14 Score
VR:10
PS:11
BS:10
Composite:31

10/21/14 Score
VR:9
PS:12
BS:14
Composite: 35

You go dude!