Can you get into a top school if you retake the MCAT?

[StayingSteady]

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I'm just wondering how taboo it is at a top school if you retake the MCAT. I improved from 32 to 39 on my retake (I retook because of a poor VR score the first time). With my GPA, ECs, LORs, etc. etc. a 39 should put me in prime position for a top school. But is the fact that I had to take the MCAT twice to get that 39 a negative on my app? Have people (and yes, I'm looking for anecdotal evidence) ever gotten into a top 10 school after retaking and doing better?

 

[NotAndrew]

I'm just wondering how taboo it is at a top school if you retake the MCAT. I improved from 32 to 39 on my retake (I retook because of a poor VR score the first time). With my GPA, ECs, LORs, etc. etc. a 39 should put me in prime position for a top school. But is the fact that I had to take the MCAT twice to get that 39 a negative on my app? Have people (and yes, I'm looking for anecdotal evidence) ever gotten into a top 10 school after retaking and doing better?

If you only retook once you will be ok. What was your initial VR score?

 

[dw2158]

puh-leeeez. 🙄

you're worried that a 39, in any way shape or form, will decrease your chances?

 

[LizzyM]

Yes, people in your shoes have gotten admitted to top schools. Figure that some schools may avg your 2 exams - that still places you well into the top 10% of MCAT takers.

 

[nycneighbor]

LizzyM, is there any way to find out which schools will average your MCAT scores?

 

[htownpremie]

i don't think you can find a really general answer to your question. i think it depends in part on the school. some schools take the highest subscore in each section i think. some take only your most recent score into account. some take all of the scores into account. the MSAR and school websites often have pretty specific information about how they treat repeat MCAT scores.

 

[LizzyM]

Schools can change over time too, with new administration, new adcom members. When I started out, the school let us interprete as we pleased but later suggested that we handle it in a specific way. I doubt you can figure out how a school will handle the information.

In general, do it right the first time.

 

[deleted249431]

I have a friend who got a 28 the first time, retook it, and got a 34 the second time. She just found out she got into mayo this cycle. If you consider mayo a top school (which I do), then yes, it is possible.

 

[pathophys17]

It probably depends a lot on the score increase. I would say a 32 to 39 is pretty significant. A 39 is a 39, and a 32 wasn't even a terrible score. May I ask what you did differently the second time to get see such an increase? Did you just decide to take it a second time because you knew you could've scored near 40?

 

[guestdoc]

I'm just wondering how taboo it is at a top school if you retake the MCAT. I improved from 32 to 39 on my retake (I retook because of a poor VR score the first time). With my GPA, ECs, LORs, etc. etc. a 39 should put me in prime position for a top school. But is the fact that I had to take the MCAT twice to get that 39 a negative on my app? Have people (and yes, I'm looking for anecdotal evidence) ever gotten into a top 10 school after retaking and doing better?

If you do well the second time, then yes, you definitely can. I would consider 39 to be in the "nice job" category. 🙂

7 point jump is nice. I have seen someone do the same thing and get into a good school, although their jump was only to 37. I think you're going to be ok!

 

[Red Leader]

Can someone explain to me the logic behind averaging MCAT scores? Thanks

 

[StayingSteady]

It probably depends a lot on the score increase. I would say a 32 to 39 is pretty significant. A 39 is a 39, and a 32 wasn't even a terrible score. May I ask what you did differently the second time to get see such an increase? Did you just decide to take it a second time because you knew you could've scored near 40?

I didn't do anything differently; I was scoring around a 36-38 on my practice tests the first time and I think I just hit a fluke test (and ended up with an 8 in VR, 12s on sciences). I was frustrated and signed up for the next available date, knowing that I couldn't possibly do worse than that (32 was my diagnostic).

The 32 just happened and I really can't explain why. I just hope that I won't be negatively affected for the schools I am aiming for, just cuz I signed up for the "wrong" test the first time around...

By the way, are you all saying I'm fine for those schools cuz I ended up wiht a 39? What if it had been a 36? How is that viewed? just curious

 

[dw2158]

By the way, are you all saying I'm fine for those schools cuz I ended up wiht a 39? What if it had been a 36? How is that viewed? just curious

as i understand it, there is less and less separation the higher the scores are... don't get me wrong, a 39 is definitely considered better than a 36, but the difference between mid-30s and high-30s could very well be 3 questions on the test. so once you're up at like 34/35+ you're generally in good (great?) standing. obviously a 42 > 38 > 35, but you get what i'm saying.

EDIT: just realized this made very little sense. bahhh i am tired.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

as i understand it, there is less and less separation the higher the scores are... don't get me wrong, a 39 is definitely considered better than a 36, but the difference between mid-30s and high-30s could very well be 3 questions on the test. so once you're up at like 34/35+ you're generally in good (great?) standing. obviously a 42 > 38 > 35, but you get what i'm saying.

EDIT: just realized this made very little sense. bahhh i am tired.

Lol, well I agree with the bolded part at least. An adcom I talked to at a top 5 school and his philosophy at least is that once you're above 33, he doesn't really care what your score is. At that point, gpa/EC's come into play. Although, I would rahter take a 39 over a 33 any day (as most probably would).

 

[RoadRunner17]

You're fine, man. Just cover the rest of your bases and you'll get your shot.

 

[StayingSteady]

hm, so has anyone here actually taken the mcat more than once and still gotten into a top 15?

this is partly for my friend as well, who got a 29 on her january test. She and I both know that she's capable of much more than that (she was avging something like 35-36 consistently on her practices). She's going to retake next month, but is she pretty much barred from the top schools because of the fact that she had to retake, regardless of whatever she gets in april? basically, if she were to score a 36 on her retake, would the top schools look at her negatively because it took her two tries to get that score?

 

[bozz]

I really doubt they care. I interviewed at 2 top schools with a similar score increase (I started below 30). I'm sure you'll find anecdotal evidence... not much, but you will. That's because it's rare to see such score increases.

 

[Aladdin]

I'm just wondering how taboo it is at a top school if you retake the MCAT. I improved from 32 to 39 on my retake (I retook because of a poor VR score the first time). With my GPA, ECs, LORs, etc. etc. a 39 should put me in prime position for a top school. But is the fact that I had to take the MCAT twice to get that 39 a negative on my app? Have people (and yes, I'm looking for anecdotal evidence) ever gotten into a top 10 school after retaking and doing better?

I don't know about top 10 schools but I got into a top 20 school with 3 MCATs. Although, the first one was when it was still all on paper (and significantly different, IMO). I improved a little with my first retake and the a lot with the second. It also helped that my grades improved dramatically. I guess it showed that I had gotten serious about it.

I think it definitely depends on the school, but yeah...possible. Plus, you got a 32 the first time. That's pretty good, all things considered. A 39 is like 98.8th percentile overall. I'm pretty sure they won't mind.