Need advice on MCAT scores!!!:(

hsc1986 · Aug 12, 2008

I felt REALLY bad walking out of the MCAT test room in July and
I just found out my MCAT score: VR 7 Bio 11 Physics 11 Essay Q (well at least I did fine in the other ones..which was quite unexpected for me)

I've never been strong in verbal section......and I'm not sure if it would be better to retake MCAT.

Do most schools take the best, average MCAT scores, or the latest one?

If I retake my MCAT the scores will be released in the end of September and I'm thinking that may be disadvantageous?

Tell me how you think about this. Any advice is welcome!🙂

soisauce · Aug 12, 2008

thats not bad. i believe your best mcat score is your mcat score, its not like the sat where you take the best scores of separate tests and put them together. my school says that anything below a 7 you should retake. so i guess its your choice. it depends on your gpa and extracurriculars and such. mmhmm.

ghost08 · Aug 12, 2008

Unless you have a state school that takes a lot of instate students (Some state schools take close to 50% of all instate applicants), I would retake. A personal advice on retaking- study your other sections too because your 11s could drop if you don't study them. Good luck.

BayAreaDude · Aug 12, 2008

i agree. a score of 7 is below the mean and very few schools accept students with a 7. if you could improve a few more points, I would retake.

Yoyomama88 · Aug 12, 2008

i think it depends on ur gpa and the rest of ur app...if the rest of your app is perfect...then i would apply broadly and not retake.

stixx · Aug 12, 2008

Even if your science scores drop, you'd do better with a 9/10/10 than a 7/11/11. Retake.

rocketbooster · Aug 13, 2008

ghost08 said:
Unless you have a state school that takes a lot of instate students (Some state schools take close to 50% of all instate applicants), I would retake. A personal advice on retaking- study your other sections too because your 11s could drop if you don't study them. Good luck.

Oh, for sure man. I got a 10 on VR on my first MCAT and thought verbal was something that would stay static from test to test. For my retake a few months later, I only studied more for the sciences and didn't touch verbal at all. My VR dropped to a 7!

Fortunately, most schools look at all scores, highest score, or a few even take the highest subscores (2 of my schools do this). This is going to be a very rough cycle for me now since my retake destroyed me. Everything else of mine is decent but still nothing is really excellent. Cinderella story here I come!

RSAgator · Aug 13, 2008

While the overall score (a 29) would be good enough to get you into med school, the 7 in VR definitely hurts (some schools have 8 as the cutoff). That's not to say that it would be impossible, but since you're already flirting with the lower end of the MD acceptance spectrum the score might warrant a retake. Schools all have different policies as far as what they'll accept. Some take the highest score, some take the more recent score, some take the highest sub sections, so it's something you'll need to check with each school individually.

Now I obviously don't know what your timeline is like so it may be difficult to say what you should do, but if you have the time for a retake then I think it'd be worth giving it a shot.

Timus · Aug 13, 2008

gopens67 said:
i think it depends on ur gpa and the rest of ur app...if the rest of your app is perfect...then i would apply broadly and not retake.

I second that. IMO, 7 in VR is not end of the world. If rest of your application is good then apply broadly and dont waste your time on retake..especially for this application cycle. :luck:

Ashlianaa · Aug 13, 2008

The 7 in verbal is definitely going to hurt you.

I applied to about 21 schools last cycle and I have a BS 10, VR 7, PS 11. I even had a BS 12 in the MCAT before for schools that take the best score out of each section.

I had 2 interviews and didn't get in anywhere so am reapplying.
I called the schools that would talk to me about how to improve and they all said that my Verbal was holding me back and to retake the MCAT even tho I had already taken it 3 times (over the past 3 years).

I hope you have better luck than I did!

joponoda · Aug 13, 2008

Just don't ruch to retake. I had no friend that just signed up for the next MCAT and did not have enought time to study properly. In the end he recieved the same score, so now there is more evidence that he has trouble with verbal and writing. (I believe this would look way worse than just one bad score...once can be a fluke, twice is...

Need advice on MCAT scores!!!:(

hsc1986

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soisauce

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ghost08

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BayAreaDude

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Yoyomama88

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stixx

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rocketbooster

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RSAgator

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Timus

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Ashlianaa

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joponoda

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