August MCAT too late for this cycle?

[BigOlLollipop]

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So I received my MCAT scores back today. I got a 25 (6/11/8) 🙁. I've signed up for a retake on August 7th, I've already have my application verified. I know I should be able to improve my MCAT score, I haven't taken physics 2 yet and I thought I focused enough time on physics 2, but the PS was brutal. If i were to retake it on August 7th would I still be fine?

Stats: URM(African American Female in MD). GPA: current cGPA(repeated course included): 3.57 sGPA: 3.42 Non-science gpa: 3.74
cGPA of 3.51 and sGPA: 3.31 An upward GPA trend, especially in higher biology classes. 4.0 last semester-all science classes.
MCAT: 25 (6/11/8) (have yet to take physics 2)
No Research.
ECs: Average. President of student organization for 2 years, VP of religious organization on campus for 3 yrs. 100+Volunteering hours outside clubs. Shadowing Hours: ~80 hrs. Clinical internship and volunteering in HS. LoRs: Outstanding LoRS from my school committee, teachers and volunteer coordinator.

 

[claduva94]

Keep in mind experiences in high school don't count for much. What clinical experience do you have in college outside of shadowing?

 

[BigOlLollipop]

Keep in mind experiences in high school don't count for much. What clinical experience do you have in college outside of shadowing?

None, just shadowing. I had a lot of clinical volunteering and internships in HS. I have non-clinical volunteering instead.

 

[allantois]

None, just shadowing. I had a lot of clinical volunteering and internships in HS. I have non-clinical volunteering instead.

Well that is very bad. You should start non-clinical volunteering right away and prepare to take MCAT next year, probably in January.

 

[DreamerAchiever]

Well that is very bad. You should start non-clinical volunteering right away and prepare to take MCAT next year, probably in January.

I disagree, I only have clinical experience from HighSchool too, I've talked to my Pre-med advisor and a med school rep, as long as you have some type of constant volunteering you are perfectly fine.
On the other hand while August 7th is late, as long as everything else is turned in you should be relatively okay.

 

[claduva94]

Having only shadowing for clinical experience in college is bad. Adcoms on here consistently emphasize that high school activities are only meaningful if they are continued into college. Consult the advice Goro frequently gives.

 

[allantois]

I disagree, I only have clinical experience from HighSchool too, I've talked to my Pre-med advisor and a med school rep, as long as you have some type of constant volunteering you are perfectly fine.
On the other hand while August 7th is late, as long as everything else is turned in you should be relatively okay.

My pre-med adviser sincerely believes that a Bachelor of Arts degree won't get anyone into med school. As for med school rep, it really depends on who you talked to. Was it the dean of admissions or somebody who just came to advertise their school on your campus? The later ones have told me some of the most peculiar things.

The OP can still give it a shot though; I personally know somebody who got into med school with hundreds of hours of shadowing but no clinical experience.

 

[peudamour]

My pre-med adviser sincerely believes that a Bachelor of Arts degree won't get anyone into med school. As for med school rep, it really depends on who you talked to. Was it the dean of admissions or somebody who just came to advertise their school on your campus? The later ones have told me some of the most peculiar things.

The OP can still give it a shot though; I personally know somebody who got into med school with hundreds of hours of shadowing but no clinical experience.

I agree with what was said by others. If you were involved in some activity in high school that continued into college, then its meaningful. If not, then you'll look like you're scraping around for meaningful ECs. And as allenlchs said, pre-med advisors don't always know what they're talking about. My advisor recently told me that I MUST take Statistics in order to get into medical school even though I've taken Pre-Cal and I'm taking Calc 1.

You can still give it a shot especially since you're URM. If your heart is set on MD, I might give it another year to improve on the MCAT and get some clinical/non-clinical volunteer experiences.

What did you do for MCAT prep?

 

[funtertaining15]

So I received my MCAT scores back today. I got a 25 (6/11/8) 🙁. I've signed up for a retake on August 7th, I've already have my application verified. I know I should be able to improve my MCAT score, I haven't taken physics 2 yet and I thought I focused enough time on physics 2, but the PS was brutal. If i were to retake it on August 7th would I still be fine?

Stats: URM(African American Female in MD). GPA: current cGPA(repeated course included): 3.57 sGPA: 3.42 Non-science gpa: 3.74
cGPA of 3.51 and sGPA: 3.31 An upward GPA trend, especially in higher biology classes. 4.0 last semester-all science classes.
MCAT: 25 (6/11/8) (have yet to take physics 2)
No Research.
ECs: Average. President of student organization for 2 years, VP of religious organization on campus for 3 yrs. 100+Volunteering hours outside clubs. Shadowing Hours: ~80 hrs. Clinical internship and volunteering in HS. LoRs: Outstanding LoRS from my school committee, teachers and volunteer coordinator.

Your VR was pretty good, and BS is fine, so I guess it's PS? To categorize your score under AAMC's stats for African American past applicants, a 25 is okay, but if you could get PS to at least an 8 then it might be worth retaking. Like everyone has said, HS activities aren't too relevant unless it continued into college, where that is more meaningful. You at least have shadowing and as for the volunteering, I've been told that as long as it's consistent, it's fine. Research is a grey area, so I would not worry that much about not having any. There are people who have no research experience, so that can go either way...
I'm applying this cycle, too, also URM. It is late (Aug), but since you took it once, you're better off than people who are taking it for the first time in August, though some are more prepared than others. Anyways, if you feel you can do better, retake it.

P.S. since your problem is Physics, I'd look into the NOVA MCAT Physics book; I got it late, when I was about to take my exam, but I heard it's really great for learning the Physics material.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[BigOlLollipop]

Well that is very bad. You should start non-clinical volunteering right away and prepare to take MCAT next year, probably in January.

I have alot of non-clinical volunteer experience, I've volunteered since my freshman year.

 

[IL Pre Med]

I disagree, I only have clinical experience from HighSchool too, I've talked to my Pre-med advisor and a med school rep, as long as you have some type of constant volunteering you are perfectly fine.
On the other hand while August 7th is late, as long as everything else is turned in you should be relatively okay.

Volunteering isn't constant when you did it in high school and stopped in college. First off pre med advisors aren't the most knowledgeable about the application process, second what they are referring to when they say "constant volunteering" is volunteering from high school through college, making it consistent.

 

[DreamerAchiever]

Volunteering isn't constant when you did it in high school and stopped in college. First off pre med advisors aren't the most knowledgeable about the application process, second what they are referring to when they say "constant volunteering" is volunteering from high school through college, making it consistent.

I am aware, I was referring to the fact that OP has constant college volunteering.

 

[claduva94]

I am aware, I was referring to the fact that OP has constant college volunteering.

100 + hours is hardly constant. And it is certainly not enough to make up for the lack of clinical volunteering, as many schools look for at least 200 hours of that alone. The problem is, in college, OP has not shown that they like working with patients. And that will be a big problem.