Applying early with low MCAT and retake pending or wait

[Scrambles]

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Hi SDNers!
It's been a minute since I posted. I ended up voiding the MCAT I was going to take today due to getting the flu and taking my fiancee and my grandmother to the ER for separate reasons about 2-3 days apart. And being up 24 hours with them for support and concern. I was scoring between 26-30 on my practice tests (after 6 weeks of studying) but I tried taking a practice exam a few days ago and started passing out during PS with a fever (48 hours after leaving the ER the second time I started having symptoms). I'm nervous about the new MCAT but I am in a better family position now so I believe it will go better. As well as I'm doing much better in understanding Physics and Gen Chem (VR and Bio never were a problem). I've taken and done well in Biochem as an undergrad as well as my minor was Psychology.

My stats are the same: "I've got a letter in the works from an MD, a letter from the Dean of Science and Technology from my school, either a committee letter or my research professor and pre-med adviser (which makes the 3 science professor letters). Plan to shadow a DO or two ASAP. Also, not sure if I want to use the committee letter or 3 science professors (not sure which best to use). I did a lot of ECs (student government executive, various clubs good positions, highest community service award that school bestows, etc) in college as well as elderly care for 6 years. I have a GPA of 3.78. A sGPA of 3.5-3.6. I'd rather not go into my story, but I have been told in a mock interview it was fantastic. My MCAT was a 22 6P/8V/8B"

EXCEPT I now have been a full time 24-hour caregiver for my Grandmother since mid-November as breaking her hip and getting treatment for lung cancer took what was left of her energy. (I cared for her before but not this intensely).

Now I've given y'all enough background information let me get to the point of the post:
I am debating to sign up for either the late June or late July test. BUT my main concern is when to apply.

1) Will one month make a difference for application (June vs July sign up)? I'd rather take as much time as possible especially since the new MCAT will be harder and I will most likely have to get a part-time job.

2) Should I not apply until the score comes back? OR should I apply to only one school to get AACOMAS verified and wait on MCAT to apply to the schools I REALLY want to attend (PCOM-GA first choice)? OR should I just apply to all schools of interest before the MCAT comes back?

 

[PlaqueBuster]

Start your applications and submit the primary in June. On the test date part of the app, you can mention that you have an upcoming MCAT test. These applications take 2-4 weeks to get processed and verified and sometimes even longer. If you think you need that extra month then go ahead and sign up for the test in July. But if you start studying now you have a solid 4 months for the June MCAT. So submit apps in June, prefer to take test in June, and submit test score once its released.

 

[referee3]

I would say take the sooner MCAT. It will take a moth for AMCAS to get your score so you want to take that into consideration. 4 months is plenty of time to study even with a job. I studied for 3 months with a full time job and if I spent any more time studying I would have burnt out.

 

[Goro]

Apply once with the best possible app.

Hi SDNers!
It's been a minute since I posted. I ended up voiding the MCAT I was going to take today due to getting the flu and taking my fiancee and my grandmother to the ER for separate reasons about 2-3 days apart. And being up 24 hours with them for support and concern. I was scoring between 26-30 on my practice tests (after 6 weeks of studying) but I tried taking a practice exam a few days ago and started passing out during PS with a fever (48 hours after leaving the ER the second time I started having symptoms). I'm nervous about the new MCAT but I am in a better family position now so I believe it will go better. As well as I'm doing much better in understanding Physics and Gen Chem (VR and Bio never were a problem). I've taken and done well in Biochem as an undergrad as well as my minor was Psychology.

My stats are the same: "I've got a letter in the works from an MD, a letter from the Dean of Science and Technology from my school, either a committee letter or my research professor and pre-med adviser (which makes the 3 science professor letters). Plan to shadow a DO or two ASAP. Also, not sure if I want to use the committee letter or 3 science professors (not sure which best to use). I did a lot of ECs (student government executive, various clubs good positions, highest community service award that school bestows, etc) in college as well as elderly care for 6 years. I have a GPA of 3.78. A sGPA of 3.5-3.6. I'd rather not go into my story, but I have been told in a mock interview it was fantastic. My MCAT was a 22 6P/8V/8B"

EXCEPT I now have been a full time 24-hour caregiver for my Grandmother since mid-November as breaking her hip and getting treatment for lung cancer took what was left of her energy. (I cared for her before but not this intensely).

Now I've given y'all enough background information let me get to the point of the post:
I am debating to sign up for either the late June or late July test. BUT my main concern is when to apply.

1) Will one month make a difference for application (June vs July sign up)? I'd rather take as much time as possible especially since the new MCAT will be harder and I will most likely have to get a part-time job.

2) Should I not apply until the score comes back? OR should I apply to only one school to get AACOMAS verified and wait on MCAT to apply to the schools I REALLY want to attend (PCOM-GA first choice)? OR should I just apply to all schools of interest before the MCAT comes back?

 

[Scrambles]

PlaqueBuster: Thanks man 🙂.
referee3: Appreciate your input. I'll definitely see if I can do it sooner, but I've learned the hard way to make SURE you have as much time as possible.
Goro: So your advice is to wait until the score comes back and then apply? If so would you elaborate on the reasoning. You give sage advice.

 

[gavinator]

Hi SDNers!
It's been a minute since I posted. I ended up voiding the MCAT I was going to take today due to getting the flu and taking my fiancee and my grandmother to the ER for separate reasons about 2-3 days apart. And being up 24 hours with them for support and concern. I was scoring between 26-30 on my practice tests (after 6 weeks of studying) but I tried taking a practice exam a few days ago and started passing out during PS with a fever (48 hours after leaving the ER the second time I started having symptoms). I'm nervous about the new MCAT but I am in a better family position now so I believe it will go better. As well as I'm doing much better in understanding Physics and Gen Chem (VR and Bio never were a problem). I've taken and done well in Biochem as an undergrad as well as my minor was Psychology.

My stats are the same: "I've got a letter in the works from an MD, a letter from the Dean of Science and Technology from my school, either a committee letter or my research professor and pre-med adviser (which makes the 3 science professor letters). Plan to shadow a DO or two ASAP. Also, not sure if I want to use the committee letter or 3 science professors (not sure which best to use). I did a lot of ECs (student government executive, various clubs good positions, highest community service award that school bestows, etc) in college as well as elderly care for 6 years. I have a GPA of 3.78. A sGPA of 3.5-3.6. I'd rather not go into my story, but I have been told in a mock interview it was fantastic. My MCAT was a 22 6P/8V/8B"

EXCEPT I now have been a full time 24-hour caregiver for my Grandmother since mid-November as breaking her hip and getting treatment for lung cancer took what was left of her energy. (I cared for her before but not this intensely).

Now I've given y'all enough background information let me get to the point of the post:
I am debating to sign up for either the late June or late July test. BUT my main concern is when to apply.

1) Will one month make a difference for application (June vs July sign up)? I'd rather take as much time as possible especially since the new MCAT will be harder and I will most likely have to get a part-time job.

2) Should I not apply until the score comes back? OR should I apply to only one school to get AACOMAS verified and wait on MCAT to apply to the schools I REALLY want to attend (PCOM-GA first choice)? OR should I just apply to all schools of interest before the MCAT comes back?

I'm in a similar dilemna.... I've been told to just take the later MCAT to allow for studying time in the summer (in my case I will be in school until the semester finishes and studying for the mcat will be hard). But to apply to one school or two schools in early june to get the verification process going, then apply with the most updated mcat, even if its in july or august.

 

[PIacebo]

Apply early and wait for retake scores. Takes while for processing anyway

 

[PKA<0]

I'm in a similar dilemna.... I've been told to just take the later MCAT to allow for studying time in the summer (in my case I will be in school until the semester finishes and studying for the mcat will be hard). But to apply to one school or two schools in early june to get the verification process going, then apply with the most updated mcat, even if its in july or august.

^^ This. As long as you do well on the MCAT July or August is totally fine, and especially if you are already verified.

Just realize that the schools you initially apply to might reject you based on first mcat, so don't apply to top choices. Then add schools after mcat result.

 

[IslandStyle808]

You have a competitive GPA so this helps your situation a lot. I would suggest applying early and letting your app be processed. Wait for your new scores to come in before applying to other schools. You should be fine even doing your MCAT in July/August.