3.888 GPA/29 MCAT.....retake MCATs or not????

[SuNNNy84]

I'm thinking about applying early decision for the Class of 2010. I got 12 in Bio, 9 in Physical Sciences, and 8 in the Verbal Reasoning. I met with the Dean of the School that I want to apply to and he basically said I would be fine and if I should e-mail him how I'm doing on my diagnostics before I retake. I'm already preparing for it but I dont know if I should go through with it? What would you do my situation?????????

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[virilep]

I'm thinking about applying early decision for the Class of 2010. I got 12 in Bio, 9 in Physical Sciences, and 8 in the Verbal Reasoning. I met with the Dean of the School that I want to apply to and he basically said I would be fine and if I should e-mail him how I'm doing on my diagnostics before I retake. I'm already preparing for it but I dont know if I should go through with it? What would you do my situation?????????

applying ED is a GREATTTTT idea. very very great. do it. for sure. depending on what state you're from, your stats should be fine. and if the dean said u were good, i'd take his word. andddd.... i was in a similar situation. I did decent the first time i took it, and the second time I bombed it. and then I interviewed. the admis director basically told me that I would have gotten in with my first score and since i took the 2nd time and did worse, i'd be waitlisted... so i was, and never got off. took the MCAT again, did better and applied and i got it. sooooooo my advice is stick with the 29 and apply ED. make sure to communicate with the Dean and u'll be golden. gluck.

 

[trinitrotoluene]

1) Eight on the VR is a bit low.
2) Just because the Dean says "It's fine" does not mean you will get in. It does mean you are competitive.

You might want to prepare to take the MCAT and only actually do it if your diags are better than your current score.

3.9 GPA is great!

 

[demalo]

So the dean is giving you the thumbs up with this GPA and MCAT score?

If so, no, do not retake the MCAT. Also, with that score and your relatively high GPA you should be set, pending good extra curricular activities, research, volunteer experience, and so on... Just make sure that your application is strong through and through and you will be fine. What school are you hoping for?

 

[LSUwannabe]

As with most people that make similar inquiries doesn't it depend greatly on where you live?

I think the average MCAT for accepted students last time I checked (last summer) was 29.6 O or something...and GPA was like 3.7-ish.

A 3.9 is obviously excellent and a 29 is...well, good for many state schools and probably non-competitive many other places. Then again, there's probably someone w/ a 29 or lower in virtually EVERY school in the country.

If you were in LA (state) you'd be golden (assuming you were solid in other areas)...same as TX and many others I suspect.

In CA you might be a marginal applicant...


If you're invited to go EDP definitely do it in my opinion.

 

[MrTee]

With those stats and some kind of clinical experience and good LORs, you should get into an allopathic school. Retaking the mcat wouldn't be in your best interest unless you felt you completely blew it when you took it (i.e., you were scoring >33 on aamc tests but somehow got a 29) or are looking to go to a top tier school.

 

[Prophecies]

I'm thinking about applying early decision for the Class of 2010. I got 12 in Bio, 9 in Physical Sciences, and 8 in the Verbal Reasoning. I met with the Dean of the School that I want to apply to and he basically said I would be fine and if I should e-mail him how I'm doing on my diagnostics before I retake. I'm already preparing for it but I dont know if I should go through with it? What would you do my situation?????????

Your profile doesn't indicate from what part of the US you are from...but if you are from Texas and you have a 3.9, your MCAT can be a 25 and you'd be in for an interview (except for UTSW and Baylor). Throw in being Mexican American and you are probably guaranteed admissions.

 

[trinitrotoluene]

Well, I have three big questions here:

1) Are you planning on taking the test in April?
2) Have you been preparing since at least the beginning of January?
3) Does it look like a big improvement is coming?

If you answer YES to all three, go ahead and retake the MCAT. If any are answered no, hold off.

 

[qqq]

retake. you just missed the cutoff: 3.889.

 

[AsianDoc816]

Your profile doesn't indicate from what part of the US you are from...but if you are from Texas and you have a 3.9, your MCAT can be a 25 and you'd be in for an interview (except for UTSW and Baylor). Throw in being Mexican American and you are probably guaranteed admissions.

You can't get into a Texas medical school with a 25 MCAT (unless you're a minority)....I personally know people who applied with MCATs this low, and they barely received any interviews--even with close to perfects GPAs. Let's not exaggerate the numbers here....

 

[SuNNNy84]

I'm applying EDP to New Jersey Medical School. I'm taking Kaplan right now and on my first diagnostic, I got a 29 again but I haven't finished reviewing all the material. It's verbal that brings my score down. I'm doing all the Examkrackers 1001 questions for Verbal and I'm scoring 9's on most of them so I'm kind of scared about retaking. My GPA is good and my Extracurriculars are good too(volunteering, physician shadowing, exec position on a honor society, work about 16 hours a week as a pharmacy tech, research at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Golden Key Honor Society, NSCS). I'm just sooo confused because I don't want to take the chance and have my MCAT scores go down.

 

[Law2Doc]

I'm applying EDP to New Jersey Medical School. I'm taking Kaplan right now and on my first diagnostic, I got a 29 again but I haven't finished reviewing all the material. It's verbal that brings my score down. I'm doing all the Examkrackers 1001 questions for Verbal and I'm scoring 9's on most of them so I'm kind of scared about retaking. My GPA is good and my Extracurriculars are good too(volunteering, physician shadowing, exec position on a honor society, work about 16 hours a week as a pharmacy tech, research at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Golden Key Honor Society, NSCS). I'm just sooo confused because I don't want to take the chance and have my MCAT scores go down.

A good rule of thumb I've heard a lot of people use is that you take the average of the three most recent full length practice tests you have taken, and assume you will be within two points above or below this score. Tends to be pretty accurate for most people. Thus if you are still scoring around a 29 when you get close to the test I would worry that you could run the risk of a 27 to 29 with a particularly hard MCAT. You want to consistently be scoring 31+ to expect improvement.

(As for the Kaplan diagnostic, I wouldn't put a ton of stake in it as I think they might grade it harder than the normal MCAT so you will see some progress as you go through the course, to give you a bit of a confidence boost by the time you take the exam.)

 

[visualwealth]

You can't get into a Texas medical school with a 25 MCAT (unless you're a minority)....I personally know people who applied with MCATs this low, and they barely received any interviews--even with close to perfects GPAs. Let's not exaggerate the numbers here....

What about these people... They are not minorities... and did texas not cancel AA??

http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=1601
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=521
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=3070
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=3017
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2629
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2978
http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=2998

 

[Prophecies]

You can't get into a Texas medical school with a 25 MCAT (unless you're a minority)....I personally know people who applied with MCATs this low, and they barely received any interviews--even with close to perfects GPAs. Let's not exaggerate the numbers here....

Sounds like the people you know had bad luck, because I know several people from my school who had not-so-great GPAs and made 26s on the MCAT and were at least offered interviews. As I said earlier, it definitely does help if you are Mexican American, but you can get an interview with lower scores if you are Caucasian. I guess it just depends on the applicant.

In response to another poster, yes...Texas no longer supports AA in the admissions process. However, most Texas schools have found a way to "work around" this. For example, some interviewers at UTHSC San Antonio (such as the one I had) will ask you if you are willing to be interviewed in Spanish. Obviously this is an indirect way to "give points" to Mexican Americans because (I don't know for sure) most Caucasians probably are not fluent in Spanish. UTMB is a school known for taking a large number of minorities...there's no discrimination in the application process concerning ethnicity, but because they have a reputation for having entering classes with large numbers of minorities, most minorities apply...keeping up the reputation.

However, as of 2006 all UT schools will begin considering ethnicity/race a factor in the admissions process...so I guess it doesn't really matter anymore

 

[SuNNNy84]

I'm definitely not considered a minority (especially in med school) so there isn't going to be any help for me based on my ethnicity.

 

[trinitrotoluene]

Did texas not cancel AA??

The 5th Federal Circuit Court of Appeals stopped affirmative action under the Hopwood case. However, SCOTUS overturned that order two years ago. Now, the undergraduate programs in TX have that 10% rule that is supposed to serve as a race-nuetral alternative, but it doesn't apply to med schools.

The only state that I know that does not use AA is CA. The board of regents outlawed its use. Note that SCOTUS did not require the use of AA.