What is your threshold score, below which you will retake?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

pithy84

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
247
Reaction score
158
What is your threshold score on the MCAT, the score below which you will retake the exam?

I took the MCAT for the first time on December 6th, and I am trying to choose my own threshold before my score is released on (hopefully) January 6th. I have a seat reserved on January 13th if I need to retake.

My current feeling is: If I get 30 or below, I retake. If I get 31 or higher, I keep it.

I chose the threshold of 30-31 because I am fairly confident that I can either (A) score better on the retake or (B) realize that I have not done much better, and void the retake. If I do void the retake, then med schools will never know I attempted it.

If you tested on December 6th, what is your threshold? If you haven't come up with one, maybe you should do that now.

If you tested at some earlier time, what was your threshold, and did you surpass it? What about on the retake?

Members don't see this ad.
 
As someone who spent the month till score release worrying about this, I promise you that trying to figure this out is completely futile until you get your score.

Your breakdown could play a huge role and it's an individualized decision of how sick you are of studying, I don't think you can figure that out till you get your score.

Take the month off and go chill. Don't think about the MCAT.
 
Wow, so many people (including me) are disobeying the "never retake a 30" rule.

Who am I to argue with my own opinion?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Wow, so many people (including me) are disobeying the "never retake a 30" rule.

Who am I to argue with my own opinion?

I'm starting to think that rule is outdated for MD candidates. Even if you have a 4.0, why settle for a 30 if you feel you can do better?
 
In defense of "never retake a 30", the median MCAT score for MD school acceptees is 29.77 or 31 depending on which data you use. 29.77 comes from the AAMC tables published online (it is not stated directly, but it can be calculated with decent precision). 31 comes from the MSAR. The MSAR highlights 33 as the "national median", but this quadruple-counts people who got four acceptances, and so on. I think the 33 is less meaningful.

So if you have a 30, you are right around average for people who get accepted to an MD program.

However, I think maybe the number should shift with GPA. Maybe it should be 29 if you have a 4.0, and 32 if you have a 3.7 GPA.

If we are using the word "never", then I might suggest the rule: "Never retake a 35". Even if you are gunning for Harvard, where the median is 37, you have a very decent shot with a 35. Furthermore, the chance of doing equal or worse than 35 is very large, and doing equal or worse will hurt you.

So "never retake a 35" seems like an unimpeachable rule, even for Harvard hopefuls. One tiny exception: if you get a 15 (PS) 5 (VR) 15 (BS). You are not getting into Harvard with a 5 VR, you should retake.

Can we push that number down? Probably. I suspect a good rule might be "almost never retake a 33". Minor adjustments for one section score being 8 or lower, or for very bad GPA, or for very high certainty that you can score in the 39 or 40 range. For instance, maybe you had a high fever on test day, and had averaged 41 on the AAMC practice tests.
 
Top