Did I ruin my chances at residency prospects before medical school.

[BTR41]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

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[DrStephenStrange]

Your MCAT history has NOTHING to do with residency application. You got accepted, move on, you'll be totally fine. Stop with the pre-med neuroticism, you're gonna be a doctor.

 

[frenchyn]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

You need to chill. As long as this does not affect you starting medical school...no one cares about your Mcat score in or after medical school...

 

[frenchyn]

Your MCAT history has NOTHING to do with residency application. You got accepted, move on, you'll be totally fine. Stop with the pre-med neuroticism, you're gonna be a doctor.

and I thot I am type A and neurotic...

 

[bananafish94]

It sounds to me like you have an MCAT score and got accepted to medical school. That's all that matters! You don't ever have to think about the MCAT again.

 

[ciestar]

Your MCAT is now a thing of the past. The only thing that matters going forward is USMLE.

 

[Mad Jack]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

No one cares about your MCAT score ever again after you start medical school

 

[operaman]

Your MCAT won’t keep you from residency but your poor preparation for step 1 will. Most competitive students have already made their first pass through First Aid by this point and are usually on pass number 2 while also doing Zanki every day. By June 1st of M0 you should be able to draw at least 50% of the sketchy pictures in the steam on your bathroom mirror every morning after you shower. Really any less and you’re going to be lucky to find a FM spot in rural South Dakota.


Seriously though: you’re gonna be a doctor. Congratulations on your acceptance and now enjoy your last summer of total freedom before retirement.

The only things that could hurt you for residency that happened before Med school would be criminal charges and convictions. Of course these would have likely kept you from Med school too. For everything else, it’s basically a fresh clean slate.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I stopped here. -> "I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th."

 

[DrRedstone]

I'm looking over residency applications now, there aren't any fields to fill out any MCAT data.

 

[Goro]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

Very sorry to hear about your aunt, but seriously, STOP thinking like a pre-med. No one knows how many times you void the exam. And you've already been accepted!

Matriculate and then worry about residences.

 

[premeddestiny]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

MCAT is not gonna matter once you are in med school; go ahead and recharge before med school starts!

 

[BTR41]

Thank you for the responses. I am going to try on working on not being so neurotic.

 

[DrRedstone]

Thank you for the responses. I am going to try on working on not being so neurotic.

You've got a lot of time to sit and overthink things right now. We're all in the same neurotic boat together.

 

[Naruhodo]

You've got a lot of time to sit and overthink things right now. We're all in the same neurotic boat together.

Agree 1000%. In case it makes OP feel better, after I got into med school I saw there was a place in our online portal where we could look at our application information. So I clicked through it and to my dismay saw that they had listed my crappy MCAT score from the first time I took the test (expired, from a million years ago) and not my stellar re-take score. I emailed the admissions admin whether they'd ever gotten the re-take score (and this is where this story gets even more embarrassing for me), saying that maybe this was why I'd gotten so few med school interviews and thanking them for looking past the numbers and still considering that I could make a good medical student. She wrote me back... they'd definitely gotten the new score

 

[Raryn]

The only things you can do before medical school to potentially ruin your chances at a residency all typically result in a criminal record. Assuming you didn't somehow get a felony for voiding your MCAT, you're fine.

 

[medstud56]

You are good man!!

However, would advise working on your standardized test taking skills/ multiple choice exams in general. There are still at least 3 standardized tests to go before becoming a licensed physician, and the scores are very important, especially if you want to do a competitive specialty, but also if you want to get into a top program in a "non-competitive" specialty

 

[jdp207]

If your APGAR score is high enough they might overlook it.

 

[BTR41]

You are good man!!

However, would advise working on your standardized test taking skills/ multiple choice exams in general. There are still at least 3 standardized tests to go before becoming a licensed physician, and the scores are very important, especially if you want to do a competitive specialty, but also if you want to get into a top program in a "non-competitive" specialty

How would you advise getting better at standardized test taking? I never really had serious problems with standardized tests until the MCAT. But I always did well enough and not stellar.

Would you advise using materials like first AID while learning course materials? Or is it just a matter of doing a lot of practice problems to do well on STEP?

 

[cyanide12345678]

Hello everyone,

I was accepted to 2 MD programs recently. But before I was studying to retake the MCAT. My MCAT was scheduled for May 29th and I got my acceptances before April 30 th. I could not cancel my MCAT April 30th and get a partial refund. So I called AAMC and they told me to send in an emergency refund request to get the refund. Since the system was down April 30th due to COVID. I sent in the request to get the refund. I called them a week or two later and they told me on the phone they would get back to me about the refund in a week. Skip to May 22nd it is past my bronze date and have not gotten the issue resolved and will probably have to void this MCAT. I already had to void my first MCAT since I was not ready and a couple hours before taking my MCAT I was up with my family because my aunt had a severe stroke The night before and was in the ICU (it was her second one). My scored MCAT is not very good, a 506. Will this shoddy MCAT history of 2 voids and this score prevent me from matching into semi competitive residencies (Not interested in neurosurgery, ortho, ENT) . I know I messed up really bad but I want to make up for this mistake in medical school.
Any advice would be great.

I don't even think residency application has a section for the mcat...

 

[deleted50541]

I don't even think residency application has a section for the mcat...

Exactly. Nobody's looking that closely at what you did to move up the ladder on this journey.

Residency applications are going to be focused on what you actually did in med school, not what it took for you to be accepted into it.