Considering MCAT retake (509)

[aymar]

Hi everyone,

I am in a bit of a difficult spot... I am currently waitlisted at two schools and waiting to hear back post-interview at a third. Both schools have a lot of waitlist movement, so I am cautiously optimistic. I am trying to prepare myself for the worst, however. I took the MCAT last year and scored a 509 (128/129/126/126). My cGPA is 3.7 and sGPA is 3.5.

When I prepared for the MCAT, I was taking a full courseload and writing my thesis. I do think that I could have done better, but the question is how much. When I got my score back, prehealth at my school said I did "too well" to justify the risk of taking it again and doing worse. I am starting to wonder whether or not the score will hold me back in a subsequent cycle, especially given the fact that the percentiles will be changing very soon.

So I am looking for opinions: is it worth retaking? I am honestly very nervous about doing so, especially given the possibility that I could do worse. I also have read that retaking a good score sometimes shows poor judgement. Also important to note is that I will probably need to take an additional year off to be able to retake. I have no other reason to do this (got a LOT of clinical experience in this year).

Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated!

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[premedvideos1]

Can you give a detailed list/hours of your extracurricular activities? What schools did you apply to? It might not be your MCAT score. If you do believe it is, then try taking a practice MCAT score. See how you are feeling about the test. Do you still remember most of the concepts.

 

[aymar]

~200 clinical volunteering, 60 shadowing (primary care and specialty), 150 research, 700+ as a scribe, and former D1 athlete.

I applied to 16 schools, chosen based on feedback from a WAMC thread I made previously. About three of those I would classify as reaches. I know people will say that I should have applied to more schools, which is probably true. For family reasons I want to stay on the east coast, which limits me somewhat.

As far as concepts, I think I will be starting from scratch for the most part. I've been out of school for a year now so I am a bit rusty. Also was not a science major so prerec courses were my only exposure to the material in most cases.

 

[nonamesleft]

If you were to break down the three schools that interviewed you, how would they fit in terms of reach, match, and safety?

 

[aymar]

If you were to break down the three schools that interviewed you, how would they fit in terms of reach, match, and safety?

all three matches. two IS and one OOS

idk if I'd classify as any MD school as a safety, especially with average stats like mine haha

 

[Goro]

I can't recommend retaking the MCAT. raising your sGPA would be of better help to your app.

But good luck on the wait list movement! Obviously some med schools saw something in you.

A bigger and better list in the 2nd app cycle (in the worst case scenario) will also be of use.

Hi everyone,

I am in a bit of a difficult spot... I am currently waitlisted at two schools and waiting to hear back post-interview at a third. Both schools have a lot of waitlist movement, so I am cautiously optimistic. I am trying to prepare myself for the worst, however. I took the MCAT last year and scored a 509 (128/129/126/126). My cGPA is 3.7 and sGPA is 3.5.

When I prepared for the MCAT, I was taking a full courseload and writing my thesis. I do think that I could have done better, but the question is how much. When I got my score back, prehealth at my school said I did "too well" to justify the risk of taking it again and doing worse. I am starting to wonder whether or not the score will hold me back in a subsequent cycle, especially given the fact that the percentiles will be changing very soon.

So I am looking for opinions: is it worth retaking? I am honestly very nervous about doing so, especially given the possibility that I could do worse. I also have read that retaking a good score sometimes shows poor judgement. Also important to note is that I will probably need to take an additional year off to be able to retake. I have no other reason to do this (got a LOT of clinical experience in this year).

Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

Side note, but I retook an mcat similar to yours and raised it 10 points, so maybe a worthwhile risk. PM me if you wanna chat study strategies and whatnot


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[aymar]

I can't recommend retaking the MCAT. raising your sGPA would be of better help to your app.

But good luck on the wait list movement! Obviously some med schools saw something in you.

A bigger and better list in the 2nd app cycle (in the worst case scenario) will also be of use.

Thank you everyone for the advice! I ended up deciding not to retake the MCAT. I went 3 for 3 waitlists and have not heard anything yet, although all three are still moving. Obviously preparing for a second application cycle.

Goro- would taking science classes this summer (so not included on AMCAS GPA) have any effect for this cycle? Not sure if schools routinely accept new grades as updates... I did the math and with 7 credits of A's, I could get my sGPA up from a 3.49 to a 3.56.

 

[Goro]

Thank you everyone for the advice! I ended up deciding not to retake the MCAT. I went 3 for 3 waitlists and have not heard anything yet, although all three are still moving. Obviously preparing for a second application cycle.

Goro- would taking science classes this summer (so not included on AMCAS GPA) have any effect for this cycle? Not sure if schools routinely accept new grades as updates... I did the math and with 7 credits of A's, I could get my sGPA up from a 3.49 to a 3.56.

It will be too late for this cycle. One really needs a full semester, not summer to show convincing improvement.

 

[Lulu97]

Side note, but I retook an mcat similar to yours and raised it 10 points, so maybe a worthwhile risk. PM me if you wanna chat study strategies and whatnot


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Hi SDN isn't allowing me to PM you I was wondering if you wouldn't mind sharing any tips of how you raised your score so high! Congrats by the way!