Advice on applying late this cycle or next cycle?

[eaglehawk]

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[Hopeful_vet]

Don't do option 1... What if you bomb it again? You won't get accepted anywhere and then you'll be a reapplicant..
Even if you don't bomb it, your stats aren't high enough to count on being a successful late cycle applicant.


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[eaglehawk]

Don't do option 1... What if you bomb it again? You won't get accepted anywhere and then you'll be a reapplicant..
Even if you don't bomb it, your stats aren't high enough to count on being a successful late cycle applicant.


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I've been considering that too, I know being a re-applicant is bad, but i'm not sure how bad it really looks on your application? Is it a deal breaker?
And the second thing that I've been questioning is what I would do in my year gap that would substantially improve my application?

I also personally think the second option is better but I just don't to miss out the potential acceptance I could've gotten this year if I were to get any and save a year

 

[Hopeful_vet]

I've been considering that too, I know being a re-applicant is bad, but i'm not sure how bad it really looks on your application? Is it a deal breaker?
And the second thing that I've been questioning is what I would do in my year gap that would substantially improve my application?

I also personally think the second option is better but I just don't to miss out the potential acceptance I could've gotten this year if I were to get any and save a year

Keep in mind that your MCATs will be averaged by nearly all schools.. So you're looking at a low MCAT and fairly low GPAs. Not a recipe for success late in the cycle. Is it possible that you could get in? Sure, but it's not very likely. I would 100% wait.


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[eaglehawk]

Keep in mind that your MCATs will be averaged by nearly all schools.. So you're looking at a low MCAT and fairly low GPAs. Not a recipe for success late in the cycle. Is it possible that you could get in? Sure, but it's not very likely. I would 100% wait.


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Do schools average the new 2015 MCAT as well? I thought that was just for the old MCAT

Thank you for your responses!

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

My eventual goal is surgery and from research it seems DO schools do not have as many surgery residencies hence my reluctance to apply to them.

DOs can do surgery if they work for it. With your stats it will most likely necessitate considering DO schools. While I can personally relate to having a surgical career goal, remember that to be a surgeon you need to first get into a medical school and stats often dictate which ones you have a shot at.

Retaking a bad MCAT in the same cycle with the intention of applying late in the cycle, without a clear understanding of what the issues are for your bad performance and fixing those issue, is not only a bad idea for current application, but can affect future applications by compounding 1 poor MCAT score with another. I call this the "Summer Cascade"

To answer your question OP this is solid gold here ^^. Don't rush into anything, you might just dig a deeper hole.

With your GPAs you most likely will need a 512+ to have a better than minimal chance (also your state of residence will play a role)

 

[MaxPlancker]

Don't apply this cycle.

You don't really know you want to do surgery yet lol. You really don't. Take life one step at a time...deep breath.

 

[eaglehawk]

Thank you for all your responses! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.

I will not be applying this cycle. I will take the summer to take an online MCAT course, and study well into next semester and take it again next January.

I am confident through my senior year I can get my GPAs at: cGPA - 3.6, sGPA - 3.5. With those number and my extracurriculars, what MCAT score do you think I should aim for?