3.97 gpa, awesome extr-cur, 25 mcat. what to do??????

[theDr.]

Hi guys,
I did very very well in my classes and I have very good extra curricular activities and letters of rec, but I did so bad on the mcat. I am still devastated. Shoudl i take it again, should I even apply. I knew my stuff...i choked big time. Please help. anybody been in the same situation and get in?

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[theDr.]

I really need advice guys...please

 

[GatorWell]

I am in the same situation here.. i am even considering switching to dental......i didn't expect this and submitted my application already....... for me, it was the verbal that gave me the trouble

I need to make decisions fast because if i do switch to dental, i need to start preppin for the dental school test

i will appreciate if you can give me feedbacks thanks!

 

[BobbyDylanFan]

Originally posted by theDr.
Hi guys,
I did very very well in my classes and I have very good extra curricular activities and letters of rec, but I did so bad on the mcat. I am still devastated. Shoudl i take it again, should I even apply. I knew my stuff...i choked big time. Please help. anybody been in the same situation and get in?

I'm in pretty much the same situation except my GPA isn't quite as stellar as yours. I am pretty sure (still haven't decided) that I will be cracking out the mcat books to take it in August. I suggest you do the same. A friend I took with improved 4 points total from a 25 and you could do just the same. The problem I'm having is : should I even apply this cycle?
Can anybody contribute to this question?

theDr., we're in this together, okay?

 

[siempre595]

Hi people,
re-take the test and increase your scores. it is easy to say and takes tons of work to do. i know, i was in your shoes one year ago. i took the april 2002 mcat with fire alarms going off in the background, officially blew the verbal, and re-took in august. i did not even see it as an option to not re-take. schools were, for the most part, extremely understanding of this. just keep calm, start studying again, and, if do not mind taking a year off, i would suggest doing so, taking the late mcat does hurt your chances, it worked out okay for me, but in hindsight i would have waited a year to apply and done so VERY early in the AMCAS cycle. NEVER give up if you wanna do this. a bad score is just that, a bad score, it is NOT your entire application and it will not be looked at as such. PM if you need more advice, i'm basically a self-proclaimed expert on the art of re-taking the mcat, getting interviews, getting in, and getting of waitlists....went through it all. patience is key.

 

[theDr.]

what do you think?

 

[fonzy]

If I were you, I would still apply to a few schools and try my luck.

best

 

[Killbot]

I know I?m opening a can of worms on this one, but it?s the truth. If you are a member of an ?Under Represented? minority, then apply and there is a good chance you?ll get in given your NON MCAT record. If on the other hand you are Caucasian, then I would not apply until getting a 30+.

The '+' of an ?Under Represented?, would balance out your mediocre, albeit, average MCAT score.

 

[quideam]

Alright, so 25 isn't so hot, but you definetly DON'T need 30+ to get accepted. If you have a 3.6+ gpa and good ECs and LORs, then a 28 should be enough to at least get you some interviews, and that will give you the opportunity to woo them over. 25 to 28 is just 3 points, and YOU GUYS CAN DO IT!!!

Good luck studying... I recommend doing as many practice problems and exams as possible!!! If you guys really want to be doctors, then it is possible. My diagnostic was a 22 and I got a 33 on the MCAT - so IT CAN BE DONE!! Don't switch to dental unless you actually want to be a dentist. Remember, the career you choose now is what you're going to be doing for at least the next decade or so..... don't switch because you think you can't make it. Just keep at it! My best wishes go out to all of you...... if I run into the MCAT god, I'll put in a good prayer!

- Quid

 

[tatabox80]

Hey there, I am now accepted to 3 allopathic medical schools and scored a 26 on the mcat. I had a 3.75 gpa on amcas and a 3.62 science. I had a great personal statement good lors and extracurriculars. I would apply to medical school if I were you depending on where you live. I live in ohio, where there are several medical schools, but I know that at some schools that a extremely high gpa can compensate for a lower mcat. Plus, many times when you get an interview your numbers don't mean as much as they did prior. A 25 isn't stellar, but it's ok. Also, if you are interested in osteopathic medicine at all they tend to accept people with SLIGHTLY lower stats. However, I don't believe that a 25 will keep you out if everything else is stellar....just my 2 cents...

 

[efex101]

Apply, my good friend non-urm got in with a 25 MCAT and about a 3.7 GPA. It can be done if all else is very good.

 

[Azcomer]

I have a friend that got a 24 on last April's MCAT and retook in August and got a 27. He has a 3.90 science and a 3.94 overall. He had three interviews and was accepted by two allopathic schools.

 

[theDr.]

hey,
what schools did all your friends apply to that got accepted with a good gpa but not so hot mcats.

I simply have sooo much going on this summer and i don't feel i can be better prepared in august than in april. I haven't looked at a thing since april....thanks gusy..any other advice.

 

[aquaboy]

I would apply, but you need to have "cautious optimism". The hardest part will be receving interviews because schools will not give many 25 MCAT applicants interviews. However, the EC's and GPA might help. It also depends on how skewed the scores are also. If you got 8,8,9 then that is better than 5, 10, 10. There will always be stories of people being accepted with 25 on the MCAT but for every one that is accepted with a score like that I bet there are 50 that get rejected so there's a chance for acceptance but not a good one. try anyway, you could be one of the lucky few. You never know. GOod job on the GPA and if you don't get in then retake the MCAT and improve a couple of points and your chances will increase dramatically.

 

[Azcomer]

My friend interviewed at Med School of Wisconsin, Utah and University of Washington. He was waitlisted at Washington and Utah and was accepted at Wisconsin. About a month ago he was taken off the waitlist at Utah (He's an Idaho resident and so I think that helped him get into Utah).

If I were you, I would plan on retaking the MCAT in August if you know that you can do better. To get the same score or only improve by a point or two, I've heard, will actually do more damage.

 

[efex101]

My friend was accepted to his state school UT-Memphis.

 

[vixenell]

Don't lose hope.... visit MDapplicants.com. There are plenty of non-URMs who are accepted with stats similar to yours, and GPAs lower than yours who are still accepted (one person accepted @ columbia)... so as long as the rest of your application is strong, including a rocking personal statement and LORs, you should have nothing to worry about.

If your score was low because you, as you said, choked, then don't take it again until you are certain that you won't do it again-- the worst possible thing you could do is retake it and score the same or lower. So, unless you absolutely know that you can improve your score by at least three or four point, don't bother retaking it (seems like a waste of money, also). If that means intensively studying one section, so that you can have a few extra cumulative points, then do that. Take a course, if you think that it would help, and have a grand to waste.

If you choose not to retake, apply to a wider range of schools than you originally anticipated.

 

[gryff]

----Tatabox80
I am in a very similar situation, I scored a 27 and the thought of taking the test again is overwhelming. I live in Ohio also, I have a 3.88 gpa,played a sport, lots of research experience, a great letters of recommendation...but this still does not change my score. Any advice you can give me about which schools overlooked this would be great. Thanks for your time!
_gryff

 

[theDr.]

can a 25, 3.97, awesome everything else get me in these schools.....or at least an Interview...honestly?

albert einstein
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Jefferson medical college
Mount Sinai
New York Medical
Temple
Tufts
University of connecticut.

 

[theDr.]

can a 25, 3.97, awesome everything else get me in these schools.....or at least an Interview...honestly?
I am also beginning my MPH in september...at Uconn

albert einstein
Drexel
George Washington
Georgetown
Jefferson medical college
Mount Sinai
New York Medical
Temple
Tufts
University of connecticut.