Application Timeline. August MCat kiss of death?

[Sartre79]

Here's my story. Undergrad triple major in psychology, philosophy, and political science. Graduate degree in Business (dont ask-but here is a legit reason). Sci gpa 3.9. Und gpa 3.8. Grad gpa 3.8. 80+ hours volunteering, limited shadowing. Lots of research, clinical and academic. I completed the prereqs while doing my MBA and working this past year. Have a full time job, taking Biochem (live in Minnesota and is required by UMn). I really dont feel prepared to take the April MCAT b/c we just moved and I started a new job etc. Is the August MCAT going to be the kiss of death as some say (some exageration noted)? I have checked out other posts but thought I would throw my position out there to see if anyone has a different perspective. Any advice/help is invited. Thanks.

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[lightnk102]

Here's my story. Undergrad triple major in psychology, philosophy, and political science. Graduate degree in Business (dont ask-but here is a legit reason). Sci gpa 3.9. Und gpa 3.8. Grad gpa 3.8. 80+ hours volunteering, limited shadowing. Lots of research, clinical and academic. I completed the prereqs while doing my MBA and working this past year. Have a full time job, taking Biochem (live in Minnesota and is required by UMn). I really dont feel prepared to take the April MCAT b/c we just moved and I started a new job etc. Is the August MCAT going to be the kiss of death as some say (some exageration noted)? I have checked out other posts but thought I would throw my position out there to see if anyone has a different perspective. Any advice/help is invited. Thanks.

You can do a search for the August MCAT interview thread to get an idea of how August MCAT'ers do with the application process. Likewise, there's also an August MCAT Acceptance thread.

 

[Sparky Man]

Here's my story. Undergrad triple major in psychology, philosophy, and political science. Graduate degree in Business (dont ask-but here is a legit reason). Sci gpa 3.9. Und gpa 3.8. Grad gpa 3.8. 80+ hours volunteering, limited shadowing. Lots of research, clinical and academic. I completed the prereqs while doing my MBA and working this past year. Have a full time job, taking Biochem (live in Minnesota and is required by UMn). I really dont feel prepared to take the April MCAT b/c we just moved and I started a new job etc. Is the August MCAT going to be the kiss of death as some say (some exageration noted)? I have checked out other posts but thought I would throw my position out there to see if anyone has a different perspective. Any advice/help is invited. Thanks.

The august mcat slows things down. It depends on the school. I took the august mcat and interviewed in December-February. You sound like a great candidate, so you'll stand out. I don't think it's the kiss of death, but it's not exactly a plus. Try hard to get your amcas app in early as possible and get your secondaries in as soon as you get them.

 

[IDSpud23]

While the August MCAT didn't keep me out of medical school it was a huge disadvantage in the process. I know many classmates with similar to lesser stats who took the April MCAT and were accepted at places I was straight up rejected at. I didn't feel prepared for the April MCAT either so I decided to study all summer and take the August MCAT. While I didn't bomb the MCAT my score was lower than my practice average. If you're in my range, 28-30, and you take the August MCAT you're at a huge disadvantage at rolling schools. Others with similar stats have already had their files reviewed and maybe been offered interviews by the time medical schools receive your score reports. You're basically missing out on two months of the application cycle. So do yourself a huge favor and take the April MCAT if you feel prepared!

 

[erin682]

I really really really recomend the april mcat unless you want to take a year off. The august mcat puts you so far behind in the game. I know its hard to feel prepared now but if you would take practice tests every weekend in march you would be pretty prepared. I'm watching my roommate now struggle after taking an august mcat. She's a great candidate and just hasn't gotten the interviews she deserves. I'm not saying its impossible to get in w/ an august mcat, of course its not. it just drags out an already extremely long, frustrating and stressful process and makes it even more unsure and stressful.

 

[turkeymou]

i took the august mcat and got a much higher score than if i had done it in april. i think the thought is that that april is better than august but the bottom line is you want a very high score and so if august is the best way of getting that, go for it...i've gotten interviews at jhu, harvard, yale, hopkins, cornell, columbia etc and an acceptance at brown so in the end it hasn't hurt me. the way it did hurt was that everything--interviews and acceptances--came much later for me than for april mcaters and so it's made this year very stressful. it's also the case that a lot of the schools i applied to are non-rolling and so august mcat hurts you less at those schools.

i guess the thing to think about is how big a difference it will make on your score and whether you think you will be very competitive at the non-rolling schools.

also, even if you do take august mcat, you should still get your secondaries in as soon as possible and well before your mcat scores come out in october.

good luck though. this process is amazingly stressful, crazy, random and expensive...no matter how you decide to do it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Here's my story. Undergrad triple major in psychology, philosophy, and political science. Graduate degree in Business (dont ask-but here is a legit reason). Sci gpa 3.9. Und gpa 3.8. Grad gpa 3.8. 80+ hours volunteering, limited shadowing. Lots of research, clinical and academic. I completed the prereqs while doing my MBA and working this past year. Have a full time job, taking Biochem (live in Minnesota and is required by UMn). I really dont feel prepared to take the April MCAT b/c we just moved and I started a new job etc. Is the August MCAT going to be the kiss of death as some say (some exageration noted)? I have checked out other posts but thought I would throw my position out there to see if anyone has a different perspective. Any advice/help is invited. Thanks.

First, lots of people who take the Aug MCAT get interviews and get in, so it's not per se the "kiss of death". That being said, there is definitely some disadvantage to being in the August MCAT, as schools do seem to deal with applications sequentially or in batches, so you are by definition putting yourself in a later batch. While there's always going to be a benefit to be in an earlier batch in a rolling process, it's certainly still better to be in a later batch with a very high August MCAT than to be in an early batch with a lower April one. Finally, I note that if you are working now anyhow, it may be to your benefit to push things back a year -- and if so it won't matter (if you skip this April) whether you take next August or the following April MCAT, as you can submit AMCAS in the June of that following year and still be in the front of the pack... Hope that helps.

 

[scrappysurfer]

I took the MCAT in both April and August. I was pretty unhappy with my April score as it was 3 points lower than my practice tests, but it turned out to be a waste because I simply flipflopped sections to get the same score again. (Damnit).

I do suspect that this hurt me. Especially since some schools (i.e. Vandy, UWashington) didn't offer me a secondary until after my Aug MCAT came through. I suspect that this had more to do with my low engineering GPA than with schools waiting to see my MCAT score. Like you, I am moderately non-trad which really helps because there is more to my app than my GPA/MCAT. I sent my AMCAS in during the early summer to get the ball rolling. You will stand out before your scores show up and may get secondaries earlier anyways. With your solid, interesting application and top GPA I suspect that the later MCAT will not hurt you.

I applied MD/PhD and still came out with 6/20 interviews (4 MD/PhD, 2 MD with special research progs) at decent schools. Except for UCSD next week, most interviews were Dec-early Feb so I still interviewed during the regular season.

 

[Fusion]

Sartre - you are a good candidate. Your GPAs are very strong and your ECs are pretty solid as well. With the way medicine and healthcare is today, your MBA will help you to manage a practice and should actually help you get into medical school. The single best piece of advice with regards to the MCAT would be to take it when you feel you will be most prepared for it, whether April or August. Assuming you apply early to a wide range of medical schools, earning a score in the upper-20s will get you a lot of interviews, even if you wait until August to take the MCAT. Although you may not have as many options as to where you would like to go to med school by waiting until August, you will almost certainly get in somewhere.