Advice for application

[jjpod48]

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I have a bit of an issue about what I should do. I just took my MCAT on the 21st and I won't receive my score until September 22, the day before the last MCAT testing date is for this year. I'm not really sure about how I did therefore I'm not sure what the best option is. Should I sign up for the test now if I still can and then cancel that day if I like my score? Or would I be better off just waiting until the next testing date which I believe would be January? I would love to get into school next fall. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[bobtheweazel]

I have a bit of an issue about what I should do. I just took my MCAT on the 21st and I won't receive my score until September 22, the day before the last MCAT testing date is for this year. I'm not really sure about how I did therefore I'm not sure what the best option is. Should I sign up for the test now if I still can and then cancel that day if I like my score? Or would I be better off just waiting until the next testing date which I believe would be January? I would love to get into school next fall. Any advice is appreciated!

Hmmm...your plan sounds strategic and we'll thought out. It couldn't hurt to just be signed up and then cancel at the last possible minute if you get an acceptable score. Hopefully though you actually get your score the day before that exam. I don't remember them ever giving an exact time for score release. When I took it I thought they just said at least 30 days and it ended up being like 33 or 34 days.

 

[jjpod48]

Yeah I believe the release date on the AAMC site says September 22nd. So if it were to be late and I didn't sign up I wouldn't be able to take the exam until January. Which I don't want to hurt me because if be applying later in the cycle.

 

[skim25]

I have a bit of an issue about what I should do. I just took my MCAT on the 21st and I won't receive my score until September 22, the day before the last MCAT testing date is for this year. I'm not really sure about how I did therefore I'm not sure what the best option is. Should I sign up for the test now if I still can and then cancel that day if I like my score? Or would I be better off just waiting until the next testing date which I believe would be January? I would love to get into school next fall. Any advice is appreciated!

If you think you did bad on your MCAT test you took on the 21st, then signing up to take the test in September is not a good idea. You are probably burned out from the first test and studying the material again will be more difficult. You should never rush an MCAT test. This is a test where you need the time to improve your score. By rushing it, you might get a lower score than your first test.

What did you think about your test? Was it difficult? Where there parts you struggled with? Usually, one would gauge what they need to work on after getting their score.

If you feel confident enough to know what you need to work on and can work on the issues quickly, then I guess you can go for it. I'd suggest taking the MCAT test in January 2016 (really stupid they didn't add a test date in Oct/Nov..). From what I can see, the competitive deadline for Podiatry school is around April/May. Applying in January is not going to hurt you. Sure, there will be less seats available, but I would rather fight those chances than getting 2 MCAT scores that are bad. Hopefully, you did well enough to not think about this stuff.

You can also contact the schools and see what your chances are or maybe they can give you more information on what to do.

 

[jjpod48]

I agree what what you are saying. That doesn't seem to be a bad idea either and I guess I could base what I should improve on from that previous test if it ends up being poor. However I have never had a good feelings about tests regardless of how I have done so maybe I am worrying for no reason.