Acceptances with <125 subsection score

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Coltuna

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Hello all,

Recent MCAT taker here (6/30). I'm pretty sure I got <125 on chem/phys and am really freaking out. This section was pretty easy for my test I think, and I walked out of the testing center and realized I missed 5-6 absolute gimme questions. The average of AAMC FL1 and FL2 for me was 504 with a 125 average in that section, and I'm anticipating a 503 on the real thing. I'm just really worried that the chem/phys <125 will be a red flag especially considering all of my prereqs except biochem were taken at community college. Also, I got a 4.0 in community college followed by a 3.7 at university, so there's a downward trend there. Is there anyone who was in a similar situation and was accepted with a <125 subscore?
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Coltuna said:
Hello all,

Recent MCAT taker here (6/30). I'm pretty sure I got <125 on chem/phys and am really freaking out. The average of AAMC FL1 and FL2 for me was 504 with a 125 average in that section, and I'm anticipating a 503 on the real thing. I'm just really worried that the chem/phys <125 will be a red flag especially considering all of my prereqs except biochem were taken at community college. Also, I got a 4.0 in community college followed by a 3.7 at university, so there's a downward trend there. Is there anyone who was in a similar situation and was accepted with a <125 subscore?
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I had a 507 overall with a miserable 123 CARS. I don't think it hurt me much, but the 123 was a shocker to me. I think my humble community college background hurt more than my CARS with some of the snob schools.
 
CastleG8 said:
I had a 507 overall with a miserable 123 CARS. I don't think it hurt me much, but the 123 was a shocker to me. I think my humble community college background hurt more than my CARS with some of the snob schools.
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I'm glad a fellow CC'er commented on this! My application plays to the tune of someone from humble beginnings who hopes to serve a similar rural area to the one I grew up in one day. I'm just hoping a low subsection score won't overshadow an otherwise strong application that fits the mision statements of many schools to which I've applied. Were you eventually accepted somewhere?
 
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No real use in worrying about it now, you still have what, almost 3 weeks before you get your score back? I would take this time to just kind of chill out and get your mind off of your impending MCAT score. Work on your application if need be, and maybe prewrite some secondaries if you really want to. Do something to distract yourself from your score because obsessing over it for nearly a month won't help you at all. You may have done much better than you think; it's not uncommon for people to be pleasantly surprised by their scores.

I not only attended a CC, I started off at a university, dropped out to get an associate's, finished at University and then did a DIY post-bacc at a CC. As long as you can provide valid reasons for things outside of the normal trajectory and as long as you're a good fit for the school you can get in somewhere. Some day you'll look back and smile over how important you thought certain steps, criteria, qualities, etc. were.
 
austintr said:
No real use in worrying about it now, you still have what, almost 3 weeks before you get your score back? I would take this time to just kind of chill out and get your mind off of your impending MCAT score. Work on your application if need be, and maybe prewrite some secondaries if you really want to. Do something to distract yourself from your score because obsessing over it for nearly a month won't help you at all. You may have done much better than you think; it's not uncommon for people to be pleasantly surprised by their scores.

I not only attended a CC, I started off at a university, dropped out to get an associate's, finished at University and then did a DIY post-bacc at a CC. As long as you can provide valid reasons for things outside of the normal trajectory and as long as you're a good fit for the school you can get in somewhere. Some day you'll look back and smile over how important you thought certain steps, criteria, qualities, etc. were.
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This makes me feel much better. Thank you.
 
Coltuna said:
I'm glad a fellow CC'er commented on this! My application plays to the tune of someone from humble beginnings who hopes to serve a similar rural area to the one I grew up in one day. I'm just hoping a low subsection score won't overshadow an otherwise strong application that fits the mision statements of many schools to which I've applied. Were you eventually accepted somewhere?
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Yes.
 
Quit fussing, you're fine. Cars is the subsection that gets cut the most Slack

Coltuna said:
Hello all,

Recent MCAT taker here (6/30). I'm pretty sure I got <125 on chem/phys and am really freaking out. This section was pretty easy for my test I think, and I walked out of the testing center and realized I missed 5-6 absolute gimme questions. The average of AAMC FL1 and FL2 for me was 504 with a 125 average in that section, and I'm anticipating a 503 on the real thing. I'm just really worried that the chem/phys <125 will be a red flag especially considering all of my prereqs except biochem were taken at community college. Also, I got a 4.0 in community college followed by a 3.7 at university, so there's a downward trend there. Is there anyone who was in a similar situation and was accepted with a <125 subscore?
Click to expand...
 
Goro said:
Quit fussing, you're fine. Cars is the subsection that gets cut the most Slack
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I think CARS will actually be my best subsection. I appreciate the input!
 
Coltuna said:
Not helping haha. I felt very confident about this section on test day.
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So did I, haha. I felt indifferent about B/BC when I left and I got 97th percentile and felt I nailed CARS and got 37th percentile. It doesn't match up at all with my practice tests or how I felt on my drive home. The other two sections went as expected.
Hope you do great. I just think it's a weird exam.
 
CastleG8 said:
So did I, haha. I felt indifferent about B/BC when I left and I got 97th percentile and felt I nailed CARS and got 37th percentile. It doesn't match up at all with my practice tests or how I felt on my drive home. The other two sections went as expected.
Hope you do great. I just think it's a weird exam.
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Weird exam for sure! Thanks!
 
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I had a 124 on C/P. Thought I rocked that section. On my first attempt at the old exam I thought I bombed that section. Got a 10. You just can't know. If you thought it was tough but we're well prepared, so did everyone else. The scale will reflect that to a degree.

Also, I got 3 acceptances out of 5 interviews. Tons of community college too, including most my prereqs. Turned down a bunch of interviews too.
 
Don't sweat it. CARS was my best and chem/phys was my worst (like 40th percentile bad) as a non traditional student. I started at a CC with a worse GPA/downward trend in university than yours (but was working in a lab at the same time) If you are >500 on the MCAT you definitely have a shot my friend, especially if you genuinely match the mission statement. Work on your LORs, I honestly think that's what put me over the edge/set me apart to receive an II.
 
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Overall score seems to matter more than subsection scores for DO schools.
 
Update: Somehow scored a 127 in the section I was worried about. Thanks to all for the peace of mind during this wait period though!
 
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