better to take mcat in april or august?

[moonbunnie]

I need some advice. Do you think it would be better to take the April MCAT while finishing last quarter of pre-reqs (post-bacc) with the possibility of retaking in August, or just wait and study all summer and take it in August. I know that April is better usually, but would having a better score in August make up for the time difference?

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[DrMike24]

DEF take it in april...unless for some reason you are not ready. It is a big advantage. Plus, you should be fresh with those prereqs you are taking.

 

[silas2642]

Take it in April if you can. Start studying now by looking over practice tests and review books. When March rolls around, see if you feel ready and if you do, take it. If you're not and think you're going to bomb it, then hold off until August.

 

[glp]

i would recommend taking it in april. i took it in april while finishing up my second semesters or orgo, physics, and bio. it didnt seem that there was a lot of material we hadnt covered by the test date, just some orgo stuff. i would definitely recommend a review course. without the princeton review i wouldnt have known $hit.

 

[moonbunnie]

thanks for the advice. i figured that being in the last quarter of my prereqs, i would have covered most stuff already, and i am definitely taking a review course. hopefully i will feel prepared, and i guess if i dont, another 8 weeks of class probably wont help that much. well, ill just have to see how it goes

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

Always better to do it early if you can.

 

[Law2Doc]

I need some advice. Do you think it would be better to take the April MCAT while finishing last quarter of pre-reqs (post-bacc) with the possibility of retaking in August, or just wait and study all summer and take it in August. I know that April is better usually, but would having a better score in August make up for the time difference?

I disagree with most of the responses above. A significantly better score always will trump taking it a few months earlier. So if you truly think you will get 3+ more points by taking it in August, I would suggest taking it in August. For example, the difference in getting, say, eg. a 27 in April versus eg. a 30 in August is huge -- and would far outweigh the later complete application.
While there is certainly an advantage to being complete earlier in any rolling admissions system, the advantage is absurdly overemphasized on this board. Lots and lots of people take August and get in. Doing April with lower scores will hardly ever get a borderline candidate in, and then you would end up retaking it in August and have an initial poor showing to overcome. It is disadvantageous to try and study for the MCAT while having not yet completed the courses both because your MCAT "review" will partly be on brand new information, and because having a simultaneous postbac courseload seriously limits your time to adequately study for the MCAT.
So unless your practice tests indicate that you are ready in April, then wait for August.