Any chance with low CARS?

[Mr.CarpetFlyer]

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Hey everyone,

New member here, but been lurking for some time. Would appreciate opinions regarding my chances with current MCAT score.
Brief history:

• Came as a refugee during senior year in high school, went to community college, transferred to a 4 yr institution, graduated 2015.

GPA (This is after community college):

• Total=3.4
• Science=3.5
• First semester GPA 2.8, but gradually went up, on dean’s list for last 2 years, most of my 4.0s were in upper lvl science courses

MCAT:

• Old = 20, Yikes….It was my fault (didn’t even know the MCAT existed until junior year and studied for 2 months during school)
• New = 500 (128/121/127/123), I don’t know how I bombed CARS 🙁(5 on old scale). English is not my first language, if you are wondering.

Some activities:

• EMT/Non-emergency driver 3 yrs. Shadowed oncologists 2 yrs, and currently a scribe.
• Volunteer: At nearby middle school w/refugees since I speak their language, and other public schools as a math tutor. Also, at radiology dept. in hospital
• Received research scholarship and worked during summer as a research assistant
• LORs include; associate dean of medicine, physician (associate Professor of medicine, chief of Hematology/Oncology division), another associate professor of medicine, and two previous professors

I really despise the MCAT, and would rather not to take it but I will if I have to. What are my chances?

 

[laughingfrog]

for peeps familar with the old mcat, our boy here has roughly a 26 mcat with a 5 on the verbal section.


in the old days, people used to freak out if they got 8s or lower on VR. from what i remember a lot of schools screened out VR scores below 9 or 10.

apply broadly and if youre not a URM you need to apply DO

 

[Cookiess]

Your science GPA is fine considering your upward trend and solid grades in upper division science classes. Your MCAT score, and particularly your CARS score, will probably raise a red flag when you're applying. You may have to retake the MCAT.

If you do decide to retake, make sure you do plenty of practice passages (particularly CARS passages). For the AAMC practice tests, make sure you review every single question from the CARS section (even the ones you got correct) to determine if you used the correct reasoning. Process of elimination helped me with this section. With enough practice, you should be able to eliminate one or two answer choices for each question. Also make an error log and see if there's a particular question type you are missing more frequently. Since this would be your third MCAT, I would wait until you are consistently scoring a few points above your target score before you take the exam.

 

[candbgirl]

So are your final GPAs the ones you listed above? Are you thinking DO schools? When are you applying? Where did you immigrate from? Are you a US citizen or permanent resident.?



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[jih]

Are you URM? If not then retake that MCAT. You would be fortunate to get any acceptance with a CARS score that low.

 

[Mr.CarpetFlyer]

No, I am not URM. I am an Iraqi refugee, but a U.S. citizen now. This is my final GPA and plan to apply in June.

 

[ERDOC555]

No, I am not URM. I am an Iraqi refugee, but a U.S. citizen now. This is my final GPA and plan to apply in June.

I mean this in the nicest way, but I highly recommend against applying this year. You're stats are are far below median for even the lowest MD schools in the nation, and without URM status or another hook, you are highly unlikely to be successful in this cycle.

If you are really serious about medicine I would recommend taking an additional gap year(s) to make yourself more competitive. Try taking the MCAT again after more thorough studying and only when you think you can get a competitive score. You could also use the rest of your gap year to boost other extracurriculars or to continue other medicine related activities to make yourself more well-rounded.

You will spend a lot of money to apply this cycle and then be stuck labelled as a re-applicant, next year if you apply again. Better to make the changes you need to now and then reapply when you are competitive.

That is my honest feedback for you and I apologize if it comes across as harsh

 

[Terror Billy]

Yeah I too cannot recommend applying with a 20 old MCAT score and 500 new MCAT score. You NEED TO RE-TAKE IT

 

[xc_stallion92]

You might be able to swing a DO acceptance, otherwise you're going to need to retake it and probably score above 510 at least to make up for the previous attempts.

 

[Mr.CarpetFlyer]

I mainly focused on science sections, and was able to raise my score from 7 to 11 (128) in physics and 6 to 10 (127) in bio. However, verbal was never my strongest subject, and I am worried I might lower the other sections when I retake. Before the real thing, I took the AAMC scored practice exam and got 507 (130,122,130,125).

On side note, is being a re-applicant not a good thing?

 

[laughingfrog]

sorry bro but iraqi refugee is just not "in" like being native american black or hispanic. wont cut it. best of luck. being a reapplicant is not good. put your strongest foot forward the first time

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

You need a retake and to apply to DO schools, forget MD at this point

 

[Goro]

Either retake and this time do better, or start working on your Plan B. A 500 is lethal for MD schools; OK for DO (but not mine!)

Hey everyone,

New member here, but been lurking for some time. Would appreciate opinions regarding my chances with current MCAT score.
Brief history:

• Came as a refugee during senior year in high school, went to community college, transferred to a 4 yr institution, graduated 2015.

GPA (This is after community college):

• Total=3.4
• Science=3.5
• First semester GPA 2.8, but gradually went up, on dean’s list for last 2 years, most of my 4.0s were in upper lvl science courses

MCAT:

• Old = 20, Yikes….It was my fault (didn’t even know the MCAT existed until junior year and studied for 2 months during school)
• New = 500 (128/121/127/123), I don’t know how I bombed CARS 🙁(5 on old scale). English is not my first language, if you are wondering.

Some activities:

• EMT/Non-emergency driver 3 yrs. Shadowed oncologists 2 yrs, and currently a scribe.
• Volunteer: At nearby middle school w/refugees since I speak their language, and other public schools as a math tutor. Also, at radiology dept. in hospital
• Received research scholarship and worked during summer as a research assistant
• LORs include; associate dean of medicine, physician (associate Professor of medicine, chief of Hematology/Oncology division), another associate professor of medicine, and two previous professors

I really despise the MCAT, and would rather not to take it but I will if I have to. What are my chances?

 

[gyngyn]

Either retake and this time do a lot better, or start working on your Plan B. A 500 is lethal for MD schools; OK for DO (but not mine!)

ftfy

 

[Mr.CarpetFlyer]

Okay, thank you all for your time

 

[Aspiring-Doctor]

I was that student that never knew why I was failing the CARS section when I would always walk out of the test feeling like I aced that section. I was that student that always thought CARS is something you cannot study for. I was also that student that took the test twice and got a 123 both times. The only thing I did differently when taking the test the third time around was that I practiced with more stringent time conditions and with many passages. I also took the passages and pasted them onto a microsoft doc and zoomed out to 120% and practice with this zoomed setting so that I can stimulate the real mcat testing situation. I did it!!! I finally broke the 123 barrier and got a 127. The reason why I am saying this is I was extremely depressed that my score was 123 for the longest time and taking the test a third time was a lot of pressure, but I still managed to improve so don't lose hope! A bit about me…I took the mcat at the end of sophomore year summer after 3 months of studying and got a 26. I took the new version of the mcat having studied for an additional 3 more months and got a 502 (26 again). The third time I took the test I got a 506 (29) and now I'm getting ready to apply! So don't lose hope or get overwhelmed by the # of posts with 510+ because statistics show that there is only 33% of the population getting that score and much lower percentages for scores that are 520+. Only people who do well post so don't let that bother you. Just keep practicing! Good luck!!!

YES YOU SHOULD RETAKE IT! But you have so much potential and if you practice right, you can improve!