Advice on Taking an August MCAT and Applying this Cycle

[mickieg1029]

Hey guys! I am just looking for some advise on taking the MCAT this year. So I applied last year with an okay MCAT score but no where near outstanding. I ended up getting waitlisted at majority of my schools. Well now I am trying to improve my application on every aspect and was wanting to retake the MCAT. Although I will not be fully ready to retake the MCAT until end of August. I sent my application in on June 6th and I am still waiting verification. But I was curious if you guys think I will still receive secondaries early since I already have a MCAT score. Or should I not put on my application that I am retaking it until after I take the MCAT. This is just my second time applying and I would really like for there not to be a third. Any advice will be appreciated.

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[KnightDoc]

You will definitely receive secondaries, just like you did last cycle, since your "okay" MCAT score is obviously okay enough.

You NEED to tell the schools you are retaking at the end of August. If you wait until then to tell them, you run the risk of being marked complete before they know to wait because you have another score coming. Telling them you will have another score in September will not stop them from sending you a secondary in June or July with a good enough first score.

 

[gyngyn]

Schools are under no obligation to wait for an additional score before screening.
You should not take the MCAT again until you are confident of a successful outcome, but sending an application before knowing that score is not recommended.

 

[Goro]

Hey guys! I am just looking for some advise on taking the MCAT this year. So I applied last year with an okay MCAT score but no where near outstanding. I ended up getting waitlisted at majority of my schools. Well now I am trying to improve my application on every aspect and was wanting to retake the MCAT. Although I will not be fully ready to retake the MCAT until end of August. I sent my application in on June 6th and I am still waiting verification. But I was curious if you guys think I will still receive secondaries early since I already have a MCAT score. Or should I not put on my application that I am retaking it until after I take the MCAT. This is just my second time applying and I would really like for there not to be a third. Any advice will be appreciated.

If you indeed have an okay MCAT score, that's not the reason why your were WL'd. I suggest working on interview skills. Take a gap year and work on ECs as well.

 

[candbgirl]

Hey guys! I am just looking for some advise on taking the MCAT this year. So I applied last year with an okay MCAT score but no where near outstanding. I ended up getting waitlisted at majority of my schools. Well now I am trying to improve my application on every aspect and was wanting to retake the MCAT. Although I will not be fully ready to retake the MCAT until end of August. I sent my application in on June 6th and I am still waiting verification. But I was curious if you guys think I will still receive secondaries early since I already have a MCAT score. Or should I not put on my application that I am retaking it until after I take the MCAT. This is just my second time applying and I would really like for there not to be a third. Any advice will be appreciated.

How could you have improved your previous application enough to reapply so quickly?
How many interviews to did you have last cycle?
Do you realize that schools do not have to wait for your new score to arrive before they evaluate your application and they can decide if you move forward before you even retake the test? Did you only apply to one school so you can get verified? (I hope this is what you did.)

 

[mickieg1029]

You will definitely receive secondaries, just like you did last cycle, since your "okay" MCAT score is obviously okay enough.

You NEED to tell the schools you are retaking at the end of August. If you wait until then to tell them, you run the risk of being marked complete before they know to wait because you have another score coming. Telling them you will have another score in September will not stop them from sending you a secondary in June or July with a good enough first score.

Thank you for the quick reply. That was what I was thinking but I wasnt sure.

 

[mickieg1029]

If you indeed have an okay MCAT score, that's not the reason why your were WL'd. I suggest working on interview skills. Take a gap year and work on ECs as well.

I am doing all that as well. The two schools I was waitlisted at told me that my MCAT was one of the major reasons I was waitlisted instead of accepted.

 

[mickieg1029]

How could you have improved your previous application enough to reapply so quickly?
How many interviews to did you have last cycle?
Do you realize that schools do not have to wait for your new score to arrive before they evaluate your application and they can decide if you move forward before you even retake the test? Did you only apply to one school so you can get verified? (I hope this is what you did.)

I am entering my second gap year. Last year I was already doing everything I could to improve my application incase I did not get in. Therefore, I have improved my ECs dramatically. I currently am applying to 10 schools, all of which I have researched and have the scores to pass the initial screening. I am just wanting to improve this one weak spot so that hopefully instead of a bunch of waitlist spots I will receive at least one acceptance.

 

[KnightDoc]

Thank you for the quick reply. That was what I was thinking but I wasnt sure.

No problem. What the others are saying about nobody being required to wait for a new score is technically true, but, the question is there for a reason, and most schools will absolutely put your application aside and wait for a new score if you tell them one is coming.

If they don't, it's because they have no interest in you regardless, and there is nothing you can do about that. For the others, however, if you don't tell them it's coming, you have an excellent chance of being reviewed without it, and that would defeat the whole purpose behind retaking in the first place.