Do schools care about how many times you write the MCAT?

[starxlit3]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Canadian applicant - planning to take MCAT course and rewrite MCAT this summer. Already took it twice (previous two summers) and scored the same overall score.. 34. I want to aim for some upper-tier schools in the US and hence want to aim for 38+. I'll be taking an MCAT course so hopefully that will help my score.

Does the 3 times I took MCAT look bad to most schools? I hear some schools take your best score, but are there a lot of schools that look at all your scores? Anyone know of any schools that only look at your best score? 😳

 

[GopherMD]

Do not retake a 34, especially since you already retook it once with the same result. What is your GPA? 34 is a VERY good score on the MCAT.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Canadian applicant - planning to take MCAT course and rewrite MCAT this summer. Already took it twice (previous two summers) and scored the same overall score.. 34. I want to aim for some upper-tier schools in the US and hence want to aim for 38+. I'll be taking an MCAT course so hopefully that will help my score.

Does the 3 times I took MCAT look bad to most schools? I hear some schools take your best score, but are there a lot of schools that look at all your scores? Anyone know of any schools that only look at your best score? 😳

ITT: OP gets flamed for re-taking a 34.

 

[DoctorLacrosse]

You retook a 34 not once, but twice. If you never reach your target and score the same or worse again, i don't know what your chances will be.

 

[Irish Football]

I know someone who retook a 37 and got a 38.

 

[GopherMD]

I know someone who retook a 37 and got a 38.

That is just downright silly.

 

[sinombre]

I know someone who retook a 37 and got a 38.

srs?

 

[darkjedi]

While the general convention is to take it once and make it count, have two 34's won't hurt you as they are still 34's. The issue is when people continuously get sub 30 scores.

That said, taking the MCAT the 3rd time will likely have a very limited impact on your application. Because a 34 is already a difficult score to get, there is a significant chance that you can do worse on your 3rd retake.

Unless you have been getting ~40 on your practice AAMC tests, I would advise to not retake the MCAT.

 

[GopherMD]

While the general convention is to take it once and make it count, have two 34's won't hurt you as they are still 34's. The issue is when people continuously get sub 30 scores.

That said, taking the MCAT the 3rd time will likely have a very limited impact on your application. Because a 34 is already a difficult score to get, there is a significant chance that you can do worse on your 3rd retake.

Unless you have been getting ~40 on your practice AAMC tests, I would advise to not retake the MCAT.

Agree 100%

 

[gyngyn]

Do not re-take an unexpired 34. It risks the appearance of hubris.

In other words, the odds that viewers will view you less well is high without regard to the outcome.

 

[Irish Football]

srs?

yeah seriously. Although he didn't get his score back before he retook it, he knew he did well but thought he could do better. Clearly he was right.