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mariposas905 said:
Are any schools that will not interview otherwise qualified candidates (assuming all ECs, LORs and essays are good) solely because they took the MCAT twice and got a low score the first time, despite doing much better the second time?
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Yes. And there are others who get their better matriculants this way.
 
mariposas905 said:
Hmm...do you know some examples of schools that do this?



What do you mean? I'm a bit confused...
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Some schools have the luxury of limiting interviews to applicants who get 515 on the first try.
Others do not.
 
Went from a 504 to a 512. Went from 0 interviews to 8 interviews the next cycle. I'm sure some schools may filter you out but just apply broadly and you're fine. 515 is a solid score


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robojobo said:
Went from a 504 to a 512. Went from 0 interviews to 8 interviews the next cycle. I'm sure some schools may filter you out but just apply broadly and you're fine. 515 is a solid score


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What did you do to prepare the second time? I have a 505 right now and I think I'm going to retake in July.
 
rufflev said:
Referring to schools that reward reinvention and such.
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I see, thank you. Are there any schools that are known to reward reinvention? And do you know if any top schools do this?
 
stickgirl390 said:
What did you do to prepare the second time? I have a 505 right now and I think I'm going to retake in July.
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Used Berkeley Review and Exam Krackers instead of Kaplan. Also used next step FLs. Go to reddit.com/r/MCAT they're really helpful there!


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mariposas905 said:
Okay, I'm guessing you mean the top schools. But that's not to say that someone who improves significantly on the MCAT cannot get into a top 10 or 20 school right?
I'm sure there must be some matriculants that retook the MCAT twice and still got into a top school...😕 if not, then that is very depressing.
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People do get into top 10 schools with a high second MCAT despite a low first attempt. I know someone who got into 3/4 top 10 schools they applied to who was in that situation (the second score was more 518+)
 
mariposas905 said:
Okay, I'm guessing you mean the top schools. But that's not to say that someone who improves significantly on the MCAT cannot get into a top 10 or 20 school right?
I'm sure there must be some matriculants that retook the MCAT twice and still got into a top school...😕 if not, then that is very depressing.
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There are schools who are allowed to be choosy. If a certain applicant is very appealing to that school, they could be willing to overlook a less than stellar first MCAT. Schools aren't just recruiting strong MCAT scores; they're recruiting future physicians, so review is a lot more holistic than SDN would have you believe.
 
robojobo said:
Used Berkeley Review and Exam Krackers instead of Kaplan. Also used next step FLs. Go to reddit.com/r/MCAT they're really helpful there!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
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Wait, I bought the Kaplan books, are they not effective?
I thought they had harder practice tests than the real thing...
 
Are schools likely to "forgive" the low first MCAT, even if the improvement is subtle (e.g. from 505-509)?
 
mwsapphire said:
Wait, I bought the Kaplan books, are they not effective?
I thought they had harder practice tests than the real thing...
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I used Kaplan and EK for my MCAT. Kaplan was good for content review, but to say the Kaplan practice tests are harder is an understatement, and in my opinion not a positive quality. I was scoring in the 480s on the Kaplan tests, and thinking I had serious gaps in my understanding. Switched over to EK and the AAMC tests, and I immediatley started scoring around 506 each time. I ended up getting 505 on the actual MCAT.

Knowing where you stand on practice exams is detrimental to your preparation, both for the exam and your overall application. I don't think taking the Kaplan practice tests gives you a good idea of where you stand.
 
gonnif said:
This came to mind (below) either that or the line "Go Ahead Applicant, Make My Day"

Unforgiven.jpg
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D:
Why are earlier bad grades more likely to be forgiven ( like a weak freshman year that myself and many users had) , but one weak MCAT is not?

Knowing where you stand on practice exams is detrimental to your preparation, both for the exam and your overall application. I don't think taking the Kaplan practice tests gives you a good idea of where you stand.
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Typo, or is knowing where you stand on practice tests bad for your App in some way?
 
gonnif said:
an immature freshman is to understand than the misjudgement of supposedly much more mature junior or later
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It is sad to see some schools average both of your MCAT , especially when your first one was below competitive.

Is there a list of schools that are more leinent toward this policy? Or should we contact each school to find out? This "averaging" scores are not encouraging.
 
DameJulie said:
It is sad to see some schools average both of your MCAT , especially when your first one was below competitive.

Is there a list of schools that are more leinent toward this policy? Or should we contact each school to find out? This "averaging" scores are not encouraging.
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The AAMC (the folks to develop the test) advise us to average the scores.
Policies aside, applicants must realize that there is no way to force examiners to "unsee" scores. Thus, there is no way to predict how they will be interpreted. That is why we emphasize the importance of a single strong score. It avoids the problem of idiosyncratic interpretation.
 
gonnif said:
an immature freshman is to understand than the misjudgement of supposedly much more mature junior or later
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Welp, that does make me feel better about having an UW trend be important in my app ( and not feeling like bad freshman year grades will destroy me).
On the other hand....I better take a lot of practice tests before taking that MCAT , because you only get one shot D:
 
mwsapphire said:
D:
Why are earlier bad grades more likely to be forgiven ( like a weak freshman year that myself and many users had) , but one weak MCAT is not?


Typo, or is knowing where you stand on practice tests bad for your App in some way?
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knowing where you stand isn't good or bad, it's just important to have an accurate idea of how much work you need to put in/if you should postpone your test date.

What I meant to say is it's a bad thing to use tests that are intentionally much more difficult than the real thing, because you won't get a good idea of how you're doing. I could have phrased that better 😉
 
mwsapphire said:
D:
Why are earlier bad grades more likely to be forgiven ( like a weak freshman year that myself and many users had) , but one weak MCAT is not?
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DameJulie said:
It is sad to see some schools average both of your MCAT , especially when your first one was below competitive.
Is there a list of schools that are more leinent toward this policy? Or should we contact each school to find out? This "averaging" scores are not encouraging.
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It's a seller's market, and schools can afford to ignore many otherwise qualified applicants.

To follow up on one of gyngyn's comments, many of us take a dim view of people who do not prepare for a high-stakes career deciding exam, or take it when they are not at their best (like being sick, or suffering a recent life event.) We're allergic to people who make bad choices.
 
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