I took the MCAT in May 2018 (scored 516) and I'm applying in the upcoming cycle (Fall 2022 matriculation). Based on what I've read, I think I have to retake the MCAT and I've scheduled one in April. I made the mistake of taking it too early before my gap years and I'm now regretting it...
I'm mainly concerned because I scored pretty well last time, so I don't want to retake the test unless I absolutely need to. Hypothetically, if I end up scoring less than before (not planning to!), will schools be looking at both my scores or only the most recent one?
I'd appreciate any advice on this. Thanks!
Do you have a proposed school list yet? If not, you need to develop one ASAP, and then check with each school. You will be fine at some schools and not at others, and there is no general rule, so you just have to check school by school and then make a determination whether to kiss those schools that won't take an exam older than 6/18 goodbye, or to subject yourself to the test again.
1/19 will be a common cutoff date, but there are a lot of schools that will go back at least another year. Since most schools probably won't have information on the 2021-22 cycle on their websites yet, just look at the current cycle and add a year. Or, get the information from MSAR, which you REALLY should get access to, either through your pre-health office or by buying it.
Have you started prepping yet? If so, and if it's going well, you can just retake and then not worry about it. The first step, though, is to check with each school, or at least your top choices, and then go from there.
Other than this, there is no advice to give. It sucks to lose such a good score, but, if your schools require a retake, you don't have a choice. With respect to which score they will look at, the answer is always "all." Schools have policies regarding highest, latest, average, etc., but all scores are always there for everyone to see, and schools cannot control what individual reviewers do with the information, regardless of the official policy.
It is kind of crazy that they will see, and might hold against you, scores that they won't accept for admission, but it is what it is. If your score drops, yes, they will be looking at both scores, but that won't necessarily help you since you will be showing a drop, so try really hard not to let that happen. Good luck!!!
