Did I mess up? Or am I nuts?

[literallybased]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi SDN,

I've been lurking here a while, and needed to get something out of my mind. I took the MCAT only once and got a 35 (PS 11, VR 11, BS 13) and I'm beginning to regret not re-taking it. I just got rejected from Pitt, and I really wanted to go to a top-tier school. My practice tests indicate that I could have done better, and my test day was kind of a mess (iffy night of sleep, chugged Red Bull before test and got anxious). Everyone told me it would be stupid to re-take the MCAT and risk a lower score, so I didn't act on it and its obviously too late now.

tl;dr: am I nuts for considering retaking a 35 MCAT or did I potentially hose my chances of getting into a top-tier school?

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Retaking a 35 would be stupid and should not be considered. That score will not keep you out of any school in this country.

Why the fixation on "top tier"? What's your definition of "top tier"?

 

[sinombre]

tl;dr: am I nuts for considering retaking a 35 MCAT

Yes.

 

[Goro]

I'm assuming you're not a troll. Retaking the MCAT after a stellar performance (a 35 is in the 95th %ile) is only an exercise in hubris. If you got rejected from Pitt, you're lacking in something else.

Hi SDN,

I've been lurking here a while, and needed to get something out of my mind. I took the MCAT only once and got a 35 (PS 11, VR 11, BS 13) and I'm beginning to regret not re-taking it. I just got rejected from Pitt, and I really wanted to go to a top-tier school. My practice tests indicate that I could have done better, and my test day was kind of a mess (iffy night of sleep, chugged Red Bull before test and got anxious). Everyone told me it would be stupid to re-take the MCAT and risk a lower score, so I didn't act on it and its obviously too late now.

tl;dr: am I nuts for considering retaking a 35 MCAT or did I potentially hose my chances of getting into a top-tier school?

 

[Jennyfishy]

Unless you got like a 39 or higher, it would not have a significant make-or-break impact on your application for those top tier schools.

 

[deleted407021]

Don't retake. That is a score many would give up various body parts to have. A 35 didn't keep you out of where you wanted to go. There are many other factors that you, as someone who has been "lurking here a while" should be aware of. If you applied wisely, you will be getting in somewhere assuming your other stats are on par with your MCAT.

 

[muddyduck7]

Retaking a 35 would be stupid and should not be considered. That score will not keep you out of any school in this country.

Why the fixation on "top tier"? What's your definition of "top tier"?

When you consider that the median MCAT score for Penn last year was a 37, then a 35 seems kind of low. Is a 35 a death sentence to top tier aspirations? Certainly not. But a 35 is also not a very impressive score among top tier medical school applicants.

As for the fixation on top tier, I cannot say...

 

[medicsb]

 

[Jabbed]

I was in a similar boat, I really wanted 37+ and was targeting for 39. Few things to consider:

1) If you do worse on the re-take, it'll be a huge black spot on your app.
2) If you do score the same (34-36), it won't look bad, but it won't look good either. You're very likely to hear something along the lines of "so.. I noticed that you decided to take the MCAT twice. Could you explain why {you're such a gunner}?"
3) If you score better (37-39), grats. You moved up 1-3% in relation to the rest of MCAT takers. When considering your application as a whole (EC's, academics), this might just seem like a marginal gain in your competitiveness.

To me, the risk outweighed the benefits.

 

[Ismet]

A 35 did not keep you out of Pitt. In fact, retaking a 35 would be seen as a risky and unnecessary behavior unless you blow the test out of the water and get 40+. Even then, there's probably something else in your app that is lacking.

 

[Dral]

Don't feel bad. A few years back I got wait listed there with a 37 MCAT. 🙂

 

[nemo123]

A 35 is definitely competitive enough for the top tiers. What is your GPA? A 35 doesn't matter if you have a 3.1. And a 35 doesn't matter if you don't have the ECs to match it. If you look at people with MDApps, there are a lot of people with MCAT scores of 35 and interview invites from top 10 schools.

 

[literallybased]

Thanks for the help all. I was a little late getting on the pre-med track, so sorry for my naivety.