3.6/503/TX/URM. Any advice would be really appreciated

[WT281]

Need help! I retook my mcat and got the same score 503… I was scoring above 516 on all my practice exams. I was wondering if it’s worth retaking on July 22nd and submitting everything by late august. I submitted my primaries already and have my secondaries prewritten already.
Urm Hispanic (Mexican/costa Rican), gpa: 3.6, volunteering over 300 hours, Er scribe/surgical scribe over 500hrs , shadowing physician 30 hrs, research undergrad 360 hrs cardiomyopathy

I keep hearing different things from different people that I should just submit now that I’m kinda early or retake Bc my practice tests are much higher. I want MD schools but I’m not picky on which ones if anyone has strong recommendations. Any advice would help I feel really lost atm. Is august really late if I submit my secondaries by then?

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[KnightDoc]

Need help! I retook my mcat and got the same score 503… I was scoring above 516 on all my practice exams. I was wondering if it’s worth retaking on July 22nd and submitting everything by late august. I submitted my primaries already and have my secondaries prewritten already.
Urm Hispanic (Mexican/costa Rican), gpa: 3.6, volunteering over 300 hours, Er scribe/surgical scribe over 500hrs , shadowing physician 30 hrs, research undergrad 360 hrs cardiomyopathy

I keep hearing different things from different people that I should just submit now that I’m kinda early or retake Bc my practice tests are much higher. I want MD schools but I’m not picky on which ones if anyone has strong recommendations. Any advice would help I feel really lost atm. Is august really late if I submit my secondaries by then?

You're losing me. Other than desperately wanting a higher score, what makes July 22nd any different than the last time you took it? Were you scoring above 516 on all your FLs before then? Besides losing whatever advantage you might have by applying early, what do you expect to gain on July 22?

You already have two 503s, and whatever benefit you might obtain with a slightly higher score will be muted. As you have seen, improving your score is not as easy as it looks, and the median improvement for someone with a 503 on a retake is a whopping 2 points, which will do absolutely nothing for you in this situation.

A URM with a 3.6/503 just might be fine at some MDs, but you can't count on it and really need to expand your lack of pickiness, and be open to DO with your stats if you want to be a doctor. JMHO, but my advice is to go forward with what you have if your 516s were before your last retake because, if that's the case, you have no basis to believe you will do significantly better a month from now.

 

[WT281]

You're losing me. Other than desperately wanting a higher score, what makes July 22nd any different than the last time you took it? Were you scoring above 516 on all your FLs before then? Besides losing whatever advantage you might have by applying early, what do you expect to gain on July 22?

You already have two 503s, and whatever benefit you might obtain with a slightly higher score will be muted. As you have seen, improving your score is not as easy as it looks, and the median improvement for someone with a 503 on a retake is a whopping 2 points, which will do absolutely nothing for you in this situation.

A URM with a 3.6/503 just might be fine at some MDs, but you can't count on it and really need to expand your lack of pickiness, and be open to DO with your stats if you want to be a doctor. JMHO, but my advice is to go forward with what you have if your 516s were before your last retake because, if that's the case, you have no basis to believe you will do significantly better a month from now.

Thank you for your honesty, to be clear I am applying to DO as well that wasn’t my intention. Also do you have any recommendations for which MD school?

 

[KnightDoc]

Thanks to be clear I am applying to DO as well that wasn’t my intention.

Okay, but still -- were you scoring 516s on the FLs before your retake and, if so, what do you think happened? That is the key to determining whether there is any reason to consider a second retake!

 

[WT281]

Okay, but still -- were you scoring 516s on the FLs before your retake and, if so, what do you think happened? That is the key to determining whether there is any reason to consider a second retake!

Tbh I don’t know, I know the information really well however I believe it’s mainly due to time management. I was short on time during c/p and cars. The rest of the exam I was worried about those sections

 

[KnightDoc]

Tbh I don’t know, I know the information really well however I believe it’s mainly due to time management. I was short on time during c/p and cars. The rest of the exam I was worried about those sections

Why do you think you are not having those issues during practice? Are you not taking FLs under test conditions? If not, then the scores are not predictive, as you discovered. If so, what's going on? Again, if you don't know, you can't fix it. And, if you can't fix it, there is no reason to subject yourself to a retake. If you don't improve, a lot, it could actually hurt you, so please be careful.

 

[WT281]

Why do you think you are not having those issues during practice? Are you not taking FLs under test conditions? If not, then the scores are not predictive, as you discovered. If so, what's going on? Again, if you don't know, you can't fix it. And, if you can't fix it, there is no reason to subject yourself to a retake. If you don't improve, a lot, it could actually hurt you, so please be careful.

Thank you for the advice. I believe it was the testing conditions also some anxiety. My weaknesses were focused on C/P too. Do you have any recommendations for md/do schools based off my stats?

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you for the advice. I believe it was the testing conditions also some anxiety. My weaknesses were focused on C/P too. Do you have any recommendations for md/do schools based off my stats?

Not off the top of my head. @Goro is the DO expert, and @Faha generously provides recommended school lists for many. For MD, I'd get MSAR if you haven't already, and focus on schools with above average URM/Hispanic enrollments where your stats are at or above the 10%-ile (your GPA will be fine at most schools; your MCAT, not so much). That's where DO comes in, where I think you will be competitive everywhere as a URM.

 

[WT281]

Not off the top of my head. @Goro is the DO expert, and @Faha generously provides recommended school lists for many. For MD, I'd get MSAR if you haven't already, and focus on schools with above average URM/Hispanic enrollments where your stats are at or above the 10%-ile (your GPA will be fine at most schools; your MCAT, not so much). That's where DO comes in, where I think you will be competitive everywhere as a URM.

Thank you for taking the time to reach out I really appreciate it!

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you for taking the time to reach out I really appreciate it!

My pleasure! Good luck!!!

 

[Faha]

Thank you for the advice. I believe it was the testing conditions also some anxiety. My weaknesses were focused on C/P too. Do you have any recommendations for md/do schools based off my stats?

Where is your state of residence ? Are you fluent in Spanish ?

 

[WT281]

Where is your state of residence ? Are you fluent in Spanish ?

Yes I am fluent in Spanish and I am a resident in Texas

 

[KnightDoc]

Yes I am fluent in Spanish and I am a resident in Texas

Then it's obvious that you should start by looking at all of the TX MD schools. They all have a HUGE IS preference (90%+ IS, other than Baylor, where your MCAT won't be competitive anyway), and their stats aren't nearly as crazy as some other states.

 

[Faha]

Yes I am fluent in Spanish and I am a resident in Texas

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
All your Texas MD schools
For AMCAS schools consider these:
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
NOVA MD
Tulane
Miami
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Einstein
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
TCOM
UIWSOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
OSU-COM
TUNCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
ACOM
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools)
Touro-NY

 

[WT281]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
All your Texas MD schools
For AMCAS schools consider these:
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
NOVA MD
Tulane
Miami
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Einstein
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
TCOM
UIWSOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
OSU-COM
TUNCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
ACOM
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools)
Touro-NY

You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I’ve barely left my bed in 2 days because of that score atleast now I have some hope. Much love ❤️

 

[KnightDoc]

You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I’ve barely left my bed in 2 days because of that score atleast now I have some hope. Much love ❤️

Definitely invest in MSAR. It is the best single source for all sorts of information on all US MD schools. The more data you have at your fingertips, the more confident you will be.

 

[wysdoc]

Need help! I retook my mcat and got the same score 503… I was scoring above 516 on all my practice exams. I was wondering if it’s worth retaking on July 22nd and submitting everything by late august. I submitted my primaries already and have my secondaries prewritten already.
Urm Hispanic (Mexican/costa Rican), gpa: 3.6, volunteering over 300 hours, Er scribe/surgical scribe over 500hrs , shadowing physician 30 hrs, research undergrad 360 hrs cardiomyopathy

I keep hearing different things from different people that I should just submit now that I’m kinda early or retake Bc my practice tests are much higher. I want MD schools but I’m not picky on which ones if anyone has strong recommendations. Any advice would help I feel really lost atm. Is august really late if I submit my secondaries by then?

Have you already submitted the TMDSAS primary? That's the most important one to submit early.
For the TMDSAS secondaries, be sure to check the individual school threads because a couple of the prompts have changed since last year.
I have seen applicants with your profile get several Texas interviews.

 

[WT281]

Have you already submitted the TMDSAS primary? That's the most important one to submit early.
For the TMDSAS secondaries, be sure to check the individual school threads because a couple of the prompts have changed since last year.
I have seen applicants with your profile get several Texas interviews.

Yes I have already, thank you for the support I was not expecting to have so much help with my first post on here🙏🏼

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Also make connections with officers of SNMA chapters especially at your Texas schools.

 

[WT281]

Also make connections with officers of SNMA chapters especially at your Texas schools.

How would you recommend I do that? Sorry if this is a stupid question

 

[WT281]

Have you already submitted the TMDSAS primary? That's the most important one to submit early.
For the TMDSAS secondaries, be sure to check the individual school threads because a couple of the prompts have changed since last year.
I have seen applicants with your profile get several Texas interviews.

I was wondering, I sent it on June 16th am I late? Or am I still early?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Start with a Google search then see if you can get a listing of chapter or region officers. This is your homework so you better understand your support community once you get into medical school.

 

[wysdoc]

I was wondering, I sent it on June 16th am I late? Or am I still early?

Take a breath.
Go to all the TX schools threads on SDN and get your secondary prompts and start writing them one by one.

 

[WT281]

I suggest these MD schools with your stats:
All your Texas MD schools
For AMCAS schools consider these:
TCU-UNT
Creighton
Loyola
Medical College Wisconsin
Oakland Beaumont
Wayne State
NOVA MD
Tulane
Miami
George Washington
Georgetown
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
Seton Hall
New York Medical College
Einstein
Vermont
Quinnipiac
Also apply to DO schools and I suggest these:
TCOM
UIWSOM
SAM HOUSTON STATE
OSU-COM
TUNCOM
KCU-COM
ATSU-KCOM
DMU-COM
MU-COM
ACOM
LECOM (all schools)
PCOM (all schools)
CUSOM
VCOM (all schools)
Touro-NY

Why Jefferson? It’s mcat & gpa are much higher than mine. Also why not New Mexico?

 

[Faha]

Why Jefferson? It’s mcat & gpa are much higher than mine. Also why not New Mexico?

New Mexico admitted two non residents last year out of 1587 non resident applicants. It is very unlikely that you will be one of those two. There is a large and growing Hispanic population in Philadelphia and you are URM Hispanic.

 

[WT281]

New Mexico admitted two non residents last year out of 1587 non resident applicants. It is very unlikely that you will be one of those two. There is a large and growing Hispanic population in Philadelphia and you are URM Hispanic.

So even if on msar it shows that my mcat is out of the range that’s doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t get an interview?

 

[Faha]

So even if on msar it shows that my mcat is out of the range that’s doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t get an interview?

Correct.

 

[WT281]

Correct.

Hey I had a quick question, would it be too late to add more schools to this list? & if not would you have any more suggestions? I have been complete at all the schools you suggested since early august.

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

 

[Faha]

Hey I had a quick question, would it be too late to add more schools to this list? & if not would you have any more suggestions? I have been complete at all the schools you suggested since early august.

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

You can add any DO schools that appeal to you at this time. It is too late to add any more MD schools.