Can I retake the MCAT without losing my acceptance at a DO school?

[Godhelpmegetintoschool]

I really need everyones help!

I am accepted into my top DO school. I put my deposit down and plan to attend. Late December, I decided I want to try to take the MCAT again to see if i do better, and if so, reapply for the hopes of an MD acceptance next year. If I take the MCAT in early April will the DO school that I am accepted and put my deposit down see that and either revoke my acceptance or anything like that?
I just dont wanna risk what I have in effort to get something better?

Thank you so much for your help!!!!!

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[Goro]

They will see that, but the only thing that would rescind your acceptance would be you absolutely bombing the MCAT.

 

[Godhelpmegetintoschool]

They will see that, but the only thing that would rescind your acceptance would be you absolutely bombing the MCAT.

Thank you so much for your response. So if I were to take the MCAT and bomb it, they could take back the acceptance? Would I have to release scores to them?

Sorry trying to make sure im making the right decision here.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Thank you so much for your response. So if I were to take the MCAT and bomb it, they could take back the acceptance? Would I have to release scores to them?

Sorry trying to make sure im making the right decision here.

Yes, they can rescind it for any reason, and honestly, if I were in the admissions committee, I'd rescind regardless of score. Clearly you are not satisfied with your acceptance, so I should give a shot to someone that would be

 

[Goro]

Thank you so much for your response. So if I were to take the MCAT and bomb it, they could take back the acceptance? Would I have to release scores to them?

Sorry trying to make sure im making the right decision here.

Let's hypothesize that you get a score so bad that it drives the average of the two scores below the minimum required for admission.

That would get your acceptance rescinded.

I believe schools get to see your scores even if you don't tell them about the new exam.

Lastly, everybody thinks that they can do better, especially when they're getting good practice scores. But even I can hit .300 in batting practice. It's a lot different when you're facing a Jake Brentz fastball.

So, proceed with caution. And heed AlbinoHawk's wise words very carefully.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Do you want to be a doctor? If yes, go to the school that you got an acceptance to and never look back.. if you want to potentially give up your chance and NEVER have another chance again(like many people who apply to MD and DO) schools every year then go ahead and try to take the MCAT and risk having an acceptance rescinded .. giving up the bird in hand to get a potentially bigger bird is just a bad idea. I know that just my own DO school has had applications implode since COVID, the applicant pool gets more competitive every year. The MCAT screen for my school alone has gone up from a 500 to like 504-505 now(unless you have some really compelling story, extra circulars or did a masters there) you won't even get secondary without a 505. And this is happening across the board. Don't listen to people on this site or premeds or old time MD docs who have no idea what the current climate is like. Them encouraging people to drop a medical school acceptance (MD or DO) and a 90+% chance at a career of a six figure salary is nauseating...

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Have you been outright ghosted or rejected from your other MD schools? I think it is risky/foolish to spend more money when you have an A in hand. What are the conditions of your acceptance of the offer?

 

[Calizboosted76]

It troubles me to see some individual's want/need to go to an MD school. The competitive specialties are competitive regardless of if you are an MD or DO. Yes as a DO you have to work harder but in reality you should be working as hard as you possibly can anyways. Good-luck and if you decide that you are going to retake the MCAT I would just give up the DO seat because if you would rather take a grueling 7 some odd hour test again to try for MD than you give me the vibe that you will always be unhappy as a DO.

P.S. When I reread this it sounds like I am being harsh and I promise you that I am not. I just don't think individuals that are so gungho for MD will ever truly be happy as a DO and the less self hating DOs we have in this career the better.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

It troubles me to see some individual's want/need to go to an MD school. The competitive specialties are competitive regardless of if you are an MD or DO. Yes as a DO you have to work harder but in reality you should be working as hard as you possibly can anyways. Good-luck and if you decide that you are going to retake the MCAT I would just give up the DO seat because if you would rather take a grueling 7 some odd hour test again to try for MD than you give me the vibe that you will always be unhappy as a DO.

P.S. When I reread this it sounds like I am being harsh and I promise you that I am not. I just don't think individuals that are so gungho for MD will ever truly be happy as a DO and the less self hating DOs we have in this career the better.

I get your point, but I would never encourage someone to give up any medical acceptance in the US..

 

[Angus Avagadro]

OP, can you tell us why you would apply to a med school you don't want to attend?

 

[MDMechEngr]

A retake of a 505 MCAT is risky. a good amount of people can improve by 2 or 3 points on a retake with a good amount of studying (3 months). lots of people hover around their original score or even drop in score. If you are fortunate to increase it by 3 points, you are still not competitive for MD even with your 4.0 gpa. considering you may lose your A at the DO school if you do this, there is way more risk than reward in this situation.

 

[Godhelpmegetintoschool]

OP, can you tell us why you would apply to a med school you don't want to attend?

If you read the question, I started with stating that it is my top DO school. I appreciate everyones opinion but for anyone thats coming at me for applying to something I dont want, I know that you all apply to schools that aren't your top choice and you hold out to see if you get into a better school before putting your deposit down. Interesting to see people coming at me for this when it is similar to what everyone does when applying aside from the fact that I would retake the MCAT. Thanks for all the constructive advice.

 

[wysdoc]

Your question, combined with your choice of member name, could only bring to my mind this old parable or joke Two boats and a helicopter

By your post history you seem to have 3 DO offers, so I encourage you to accept one of them. Don't risk "drowning" next year!

 

[Ho0v-man]

A statistic (which I can’t readily find in 10 seconds of google-fu) was presented to me about a year ago that there’s enough people out there with 513+ MCATs that don’t get into any MD schools to fill up essentially every DO school slot every cycle. So numbers-wise, the competition for MD slots is a completely different level than DO.

This really isn’t a safe bet unless you KNOW you can score 10+ points higher. And that’s something most people can’t do.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

A statistic (which I can’t readily find in 10 seconds of google-fu) was presented to me about a year ago that there’s enough people out there with 513+ MCATs that don’t get into any MD schools to fill up essentially every DO school slot every cycle. So numbers-wise, the competition for MD slots is a completely different level than DO.

This really isn’t a safe bet unless you KNOW you can score 10+ points higher. And that’s something most people can’t do.

I believe it... certainly enough people with 3.4- 3.5 with 508-510+ to fill every single DO slot in the country.