When to take MCAT?

[Singh13]

Hi all. I'm a Canadian applicant from the University of Toronto, GPA 3.97, 4th year pharmacology.

I'm planning on applying to top-tier med schools in the US. I am registered to rewrite my MCAT on June 21 (scores released on July 24). My current MCAT is 31S, but that was written on a whim (no prep, just walked in and did it for kicks lol). I am going to submit my AMCAS app in early June.

1) Would this be considered "late"? I understand that most US schools work on a rolling basis, and I want to have a good chance.

2) Will I be able to complete my secondaries without having my MCAT score?

3) Is there any delay between submitting your secondary, and the schools processing/ verfiying it? Or would my application be complete upon submission of secondaries (i.e. application complete end of July)?

Thanks for any feedback!

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[kpcrew]

(no prep, just walked in and did it for kicks lol)

glad to see you taking your future so seriously.

 

[Singh13]

i was cocky, and I paid for it. and to be quite honest, I wasn't sure if I was cut out for med, so the MCAT was initially to appease my parents. but now this is something I'm fully pursuing wholeheartedly.

 

[JPodel]

Who the HELL walks in to take the MCAT for kicks? Like seriously, don't post that crap on here, it just pisses people like me off. Anyways, good luck into Med School and hopefully you don't try to walk in and just take the USMLE for the kick.

 

[Singh13]

whoa, ok, perhaps I came across as an ass in my initial post, which was unintended. for that, i'm sorry.

I wrote my first MCAT without prep after first year, and in all honesty, I didn't think med was something I wanted to do at that point. My parents urged me to do it, and I did. Having said that, after 3 more years of study, and a lot of personal growth, it has become a very appealing career path.

 

[JPodel]

Well how come you didn't apply with a 31S? That is not bad, you could of made it into at least 1 med school if you have good EC's and other stuff? Definitely retake it because you scored well the first time by "whimming" it. You shouldn't have a problem because many people study for months and get to 31 where as you just took it and scored in the higher percentile. Good luck

 

[Koosalagoosagoo]

No studying and you got a 31? huh...

 

[JPodel]

^Exactly, that is why I went off.

 

[Tsiana]

Hi all. I'm a Canadian applicant from the University of Toronto, GPA 3.97, 4th year pharmacology.

I'm planning on applying to top-tier med schools in the US. I am registered to rewrite my MCAT on June 21 (scores released on July 24). My current MCAT is 31S, but that was written on a whim (no prep, just walked in and did it for kicks lol). I am going to submit my AMCAS app in early June.

1) Would this be considered "late"? I understand that most US schools work on a rolling basis, and I want to have a good chance.

2) Will I be able to complete my secondaries without having my MCAT score?

3) Is there any delay between submitting your secondary, and the schools processing/ verfiying it? Or would my application be complete upon submission of secondaries (i.e. application complete end of July)?

Thanks for any feedback!

Ignoring the BS,

1) The June MCAT is not too late to apply this cycle. A lot of American undergraduate schools don't have their students crap together until July or Mid August to "finish their application package".

2) I think you can do secondaries without your MCAT score UNLESS the school prescreens secondary. Someone back me up on this. Also, you could always spend July prewriting them. The prompts go up on SDN pretty quick.

3) Your app should be complete when your MCAT score registers on AMCAS which I can't imagine will take long since its internally transferred. The longest part of "finishing" the app is arguably getting your transcript verified if you don't do it early June. There is a pile up after June and AMCAS can take up to 6 weeks to verify your grades. If you submit your transcript and AMCAS app after June, your MCAT score might be ready even before your grade are verified. I think you won't get secondaries until after your grades are verified.

Get your stuff together (might be hard submitting AMCAS and studying for MCAT in early June, but you'll have to suck it up).

Good luck.

 

[sliceofbread136]

You could always just apply next year and spend the rest of this year para-sailing and scuba diving.

 

[Vesh]

Who the HELL walks in to take the MCAT for kicks? Like seriously, don't post that crap on here, it just pisses people like me off. Anyways, good luck into Med School and hopefully you don't try to walk in and just take the USMLE for the kick.

No offense, but as a sophomore in high school, I wouldn't spend my time berating 4th year undergraduate students who are applying to medical school. You have a long ways to go before you can start giving advice like that so I would just cool down a bit and take time to enjoy high school. I have no idea why that would piss you off?