Voided MCAT--wait one more year to apply?

[freelyjointed]

Hi guys,

Looking for some brutally honest advice here. Give it to me straight.

I just graduated from college last month. I was planning to take the MCAT today, the 21st, and send in primary in a week for admissions 2013. This is already on the late side, but I needed the time to study for the MCAT. Today, however, I screwed up and voided my score. The earliest test date I can reschedule for is July 6th. I hear that sending applications in early is a big factor in admissions. I wonder how much this MCAT date would hurt me (July 6th test --> application complete in August). Should I just take an extra gap year and apply next year? I suppose another option is to apply this year despite the late timeline, see how it goes, and reapply next year if I believe the timing hurt me?


Thanks for all your advice and support,
freelyjointed

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[espagueti]

if you're ready to apply this year, i'd still apply with the later scores. you can always re-apply, but may as well give it a shot. middle of august is by no means hopeless.

EDIT: doctor bert beat me to it.

 

[Oo Cipher oO]

Have you done any practice tests? What scores are you averaging? If they are high enough (30+) I think it may be worth it to take the MCAT asap and apply this cycle

 

[tn4596]

sound rly risky to me...if u take the july 6 test u will be submitting ur app without knowing the score you are sending in (right? cuz when u get your score back is when the med school recieve them also)
I would delay and practice on the mcat properly to get solid score prior to application. also, the fact that you voided ur last test sound as if u are not yet comfortable taking the test. thats just me

 

[penguinism]

Being complete in early- or mid-August is fine. Just make sure that you're writing secondary essays for the schools that you intend to apply to during the month of July. You can wait until you receive your score in August to add more schools (just start with one so that you don't waste money if your score is poor). I was complete in mid-August last year and had a great cycle. I interviewed September through January.

The bigger question is whether or not you will be prepared for the July 6th test. What went wrong this time? Was it content-related or nerves-related?

 

[RedSox10]

July 6ths test date is absolutely fine. I took mine mid-July and didnt feel like it hurt me substantially (still got multiple acceptances). You did the right thing in voiding the exam if you didnt feel prepared. Good luck.

 

[AestheticGod]

If you have done well on the practice tests(30+), i would apply this year. And thats me assuming that your gpa is above 3.6 and have some ecs

 

[alexrgross]

Apply this year. If your MCAT turns out very low I would withdraw.
If you have good EC LOR and GPA a decent MCAT will be expected, so schools wont red flag you...

 

[Dan1804]

+1 on giving it a go this year, assuming everything else is in order.

 

[MedPR]

Apply this year unless you have below average GPA/ECs.

 

[freelyjointed]

Thank you for your responses. I'm moving forward with the AMCAS, and am feeling much better about the unforeseen delay. (As for the voided MCAT, I did a very bad job of time managing on the BS section--I practiced too many passages untimed--so hopefully this next exam will be different.) Thank you for the help!