Age of MCAT scores

[jschu121]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I tried searching the forums and couldn't find anything too easily. Schools are pretty clear about oldest acceptable MCAT scores. Are there any exceptions?

I took the MCAT in August 2007 and scored above average. I applied that year and withdrew applications because of some personal problems. I applied this past year, got an interview at Temple, and screwed up making an appointment to interview. I thought I registered on the web, but didn't, and my app was withdrawn.

I'd like to reapply, ideally without retaking the MCAT. Does anyone have experience in a situation like this?

 

[mspeedwagon]

For most schools you are ok, as long as you start in the Fall of 2010. In other words, if you are not going to school this cycle, you need to re-take.

I tried searching the forums and couldn't find anything too easily. Schools are pretty clear about oldest acceptable MCAT scores. Are there any exceptions?

I took the MCAT in August 2007 and scored above average. I applied that year and withdrew applications because of some personal problems. I applied this past year, got an interview at Temple, and screwed up making an appointment to interview. I thought I registered on the web, but didn't, and my app was withdrawn.

I'd like to reapply, ideally without retaking the MCAT. Does anyone have experience in a situation like this?

 

[MiniMoo]

Your scores are going to be too old for the majority of schools. There are some that accept scores that are 3+ years old, but these are few and far between.

 

[arlingtonjohn77]

I believe you need to make a retake regarding this. Get a brochure from the school you are interested in applying, most of them right the qualification needed in the brochure and see if they would still entertain your credentials..but did you say 2007?..i still stick to my first suggestion. Retake!

 

[DrMidlife]

They still make brochures?

According to the MSAR for the class entering 2010, more than half of the schools accept an MCAT score older than 2007. Meaning that if you apply for the class entering 2011, you could infer that half the schools will accept a score older than 2008. Make no assumptions about MSAR data without confirming from a school's website.

Best of luck to you.

 

[MiniMoo]

OP, I would check the MSAR. Assuming the information from the 2009-2010 version stays the same, there are quite a lot of schools that won't accept your August 2007 scores for the upcoming cycle -- this includes Temple where their oldest MCAT accepted is projected to be January 2008.

 

[DrMidlife]

Your scores are going to be too old for the majority of schools. There are some that accept scores that are 3+ years old, but these are few and far between.

OP, I would check the MSAR. Assuming the information from the 2009-2010 version stays the same, there are quite a lot of schools that won't accept your August 2007 scores for the upcoming cycle -- this includes Temple where their oldest MCAT accepted is projected to be January 2008.

Pardon my jihad, but the following 70 US MD schools for the 2010 entering class accept an MCAT older than 2007, implying that they may accept an MCAT from 2007 for the entering class of 2011. Again, watch out for typos, and confirm each med school's policy on each med school's website.
School name Oldest MCAT considered
U of S. Alabama 2006
U of Arizona 2006
U of Southern California 2006
Stanford Aug '06
UC Davis Aug '06
U of Connecticut 2006
Yale Apr '06
Emory 2006
Loyola 2006
Indiana U Aug '06
U of Iowa Apr '04
LSU New Orleans 2006
LSU Shreveport Aug '06
Tulane 2004
Johns Hopkins 2006
U of Maryland Jan '06
Boston 2006
Harvard 2006
Tufts Jan '05
U of Massachusetts 2006
Michigan State Apr '06
U of Michigan 2006
Wayne State Sept '06
U of Minnesota 2006
U of Mississippi Apr '06
St. Louis U Apr '06
U of Missouri Columbia 2006
U of Missouri KC 2006
Washington U Sept '06
U of Nevada 2006
UMDNJ-NJMS 1999
UMDNJ-RWJMS Sept '06
U of New Mexico 2005
Albany 2006
Einstein 2006
Cornell Sept '06
NYU 2006
U at Buffalo Apr '06
SUNY Upstate 2006
Stony Brook 2005
U of Rochester Aug '06
East Carolina Apr '06
Duke Aug '06
U of N. Carolina 2005
Wake Forest 2006
U of N. Dakota Aug '06
Case Western 2006
Wright State Jan '06
U of Oklahoma 2006
Jefferson 2006
U of Pennsylvania Sept '06
U of Pittsburgh 2006
San Juan Bautista Jan '06
U Central del Caribe Jan '06
Brown 2005
U of S. Carolina 2004
U of Tennessee Apr '04
Vanderbilt 2006
Baylor 2005
Texas A&M Aug '05
Texas Tech Lubbock 2005
Texas Tech El Paso 2005
UTMB Apr '05
UT Houston Aug '04
UT San Antonio 2006
UT Southwestern Sept '05
U of Vermont Dec '06
EVMS 2006
Virginia Commonwealth Aug '06
U of Wisconsin Apr '06

 

[MiniMoo]

Pardon my jihad, but the following 70 US MD schools for the 2010 entering class accept an MCAT older than 2007, implying that they may accept an MCAT from 2007 for the entering class of 2011. Again, watch out for typos, and confirm each med school's policy on each med school's website.
School name Oldest MCAT considered
U of S. Alabama 2006
U of Arizona 2006
U of Southern California 2006
Stanford Aug '06
UC Davis Aug '06
U of Connecticut 2006
Yale Apr '06
Emory 2006
Loyola 2006
Indiana U Aug '06
U of Iowa Apr '04
LSU New Orleans 2006
LSU Shreveport Aug '06
Tulane 2004
Johns Hopkins 2006
U of Maryland Jan '06
Boston 2006
Harvard 2006
Tufts Jan '05
U of Massachusetts 2006
Michigan State Apr '06
U of Michigan 2006
Wayne State Sept '06
U of Minnesota 2006
U of Mississippi Apr '06
St. Louis U Apr '06
U of Missouri Columbia 2006
U of Missouri KC 2006
Washington U Sept '06
U of Nevada 2006
UMDNJ-NJMS 1999
UMDNJ-RWJMS Sept '06
U of New Mexico 2005
Albany 2006
Einstein 2006
Cornell Sept '06
NYU 2006
U at Buffalo Apr '06
SUNY Upstate 2006
Stony Brook 2005
U of Rochester Aug '06
East Carolina Apr '06
Duke Aug '06
U of N. Carolina 2005
Wake Forest 2006
U of N. Dakota Aug '06
Case Western 2006
Wright State Jan '06
U of Oklahoma 2006
Jefferson 2006
U of Pennsylvania Sept '06
U of Pittsburgh 2006
San Juan Bautista Jan '06
U Central del Caribe Jan '06
Brown 2005
U of S. Carolina 2004
U of Tennessee Apr '04
Vanderbilt 2006
Baylor 2005
Texas A&M Aug '05
Texas Tech Lubbock 2005
Texas Tech El Paso 2005
UTMB Apr '05
UT Houston Aug '04
UT San Antonio 2006
UT Southwestern Sept '05
U of Vermont Dec '06
EVMS 2006
Virginia Commonwealth Aug '06
U of Wisconsin Apr '06

I amended my first statement with my second posting. I'm not disagreeing with you in saying that many schools will still accept the OP's MCAT, but what I AM saying is that 50+ schools will NOT -- including Temple, which the OP is obviously interested in applying to and was grated an interview at.

Also if you look at the list above, many are extremely competitive institutions or have high in-state bias. The OP would be hurting himself by not retaking the MCAT and limiting himself to applying to only those 70 schools.

 

[DrMidlife]

I'm not arguing against a retake. I'm arguing against the lack of a factual answer to the OP's question: what schools don't require <3yo MCAT?

 

[MiniMoo]

I'm not arguing against a retake. I'm arguing against the lack of a factual answer to the OP's question: what schools don't require <3yo MCAT?

Well my apologies then for interjecting my opinion and straying off the OP's main question.

 

[DrMidlife]

50+ schools will NOT -- including Temple, which the OP is obviously interested in applying to and was grated an interview at.

Conjecture. If you were faced with prepping for an MCAT retake vs. not having to retake, would you not consider editing your list of schools around score expiration?

 

[MiniMoo]

Conjecture. If you were faced with prepping for an MCAT retake vs. not having to retake, would you not consider editing your list of schools around score expiration?

If you were granted an interview at a school and somehow missed it and were prepping for another cycle, would you not be interested in applying again to that same school? Seeing as how they obviously liked your application enough to extend an interview invite, and you probably had a chance at an acceptance there? I get what you're saying -- that I'm inferring all of this from the original post and the OP might be totally and completely fine with not applying to Temple again, and of course that's his choice. But would that be likely?

 

[DrMidlife]

If you were granted an interview at a school and somehow missed it and were prepping for another cycle, would you not be interested in applying again to that same school? Seeing as how they obviously liked your application enough to extend an interview invite, and you probably had a chance at an acceptance there? I get what you're saying -- that I'm inferring all of this from the original post and the OP might be totally and completely fine with not applying to Temple again, and of course that's his choice. But would that be likely?

For the OP I wouldn't guess. In general one interview invite is no guarantee you'll get the next one. For Temple, I'd be concerned about the possibly burned bridge more than the expired MCAT.

I'm feeling less supportive about not retaking. A retake is something under the applicant's control; a successful retake would take advantage of every opportunity to shine. Even if everything else in the app is in great shape, reapplicants are expected to show progress from the last app.

 

[jschu121]

Wow! Thanks for all the information guys, especially the list. I think I'm going to end up retaking the MCAT. For personal reasons I'd like to stay in Philadelphia, so I'll be applying to Drexel, Jefferson and Temple. I'm hoping that I didn't burn a bridge at Temple and if I did that they forget me🙂

I'm not sure I'll score as well as I did last time since it's been a while since I've taken the pertinent classes, but we'll see. Thanks again.