HELP! MCATs again???

[redwingie]

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I'm a recent graduate taking a year off trying to get EMT certified and also volunteering at a local hospital. Here's the thing, it's been three months since I turned in my secondaries and I've only gotten interviews at 2 of my 15 schools. One school has me on their waitlist and the other still hasn't gotten back to me. I'm getting kinda worried cuz I keep reading other posts where people have gotten tons of interviews already! My stats aren't that great, esp. my MCAT scores. So my question is: Should I retake my MCATs or do u think I have a shot at getting in? Here are my Stats:

Undergrad: Top 25 US NWR

Science GPA: 3.71
Non-Science GPA: 3.97
MCAT: V9 P10 B8

President of 2 student orgs.
3.5 year research, published 2x
Physics tutor
Children's hospital volunteer
TA for Psychology class
TA for Biochem class

I'm pretty sure my LOR are pretty good cuz I have good relations w/ all of my profs. What do you all think? AHHHH! This is so stressful... hehe. Ok, thanks everyone!!!

 

[X]

Well you still have a good shot of getting in since you have had two interviews. If you don't get in, then it might not be a bad idea to retake MCAT as the rest of your app looks solid.

X

 

[lola]

i'm sorta wondering the same thing myself but have decided not to retake in april. i really don't want to waste time studying for it if i'm going to get in this year anyway. i might retake in august if i don't get in.

what schools haven't you heard back from? some request interviews well into the spring.

 

[redwingie]

hey lola,

haven't got word back from GW, Tufts, BU, UCLA, MSU, UofMich, UCinn, OSU, NW, AI, and MT.S. Got rejections from Georgetown and Tulane already. Erg! I would take the MCAT again in Aug, but I dont wanna get put off into the later batch of apps. Wanna get everything in early. But again, like u said, I dont wanna study for the exam if I dont have to. What a dilemma! K, good luck!

 

[lola]

yeah... i'm in the august batch this year and it kind of sucks. i feel like it would be pretty silly to reapply with my same mcat score, though, as obviously that is the major weakness in my application. i dunno.... we'll see what happens this year i guess!

i think you should write to bu and nw expressing your strong interest in their schools. i recently received rejections from these schools, so if you haven't received them you may still be in the running. i don't know much about the other schools. where did you interviw? good luck!

 

[Kovox]

Hey RedWing:

I would go ahead and start studying for the MCATs again. You could never be too sure about anything, especially the medical school application process.

 

[redwingie]

I got interviews at Wayne State (waitlisted) and Loma Linda (still no word and its been a month and a half). What should I include in my letter of interest? How long should it be? How is a letter of interest different from a letter of intent? alrite, thanks everyone for your continued advice! =)

PS. Kovox - I think in the back of my mind, I think ur right. I just dont wanna face the music and go thru the long hours of study, again. =(

 

[Mike59]

Originally posted by redwingie How is a letter of interest different from a letter of intent?

Interest = "I like your school, here's why I'm a good fit for your prgram (please pull me off the waitlist!)"
Intent = "I like your school so much that if you accept me, I will withdraw my apps from every other school".

Risky business!

Originally posted by redwingie
I just dont wanna face the music and go thru the long hours of study, again. =(

Don't worry, if you were meant to be a doctor, it will happen. Rewriting is a small bump in the road.
If I don't match anywhere in TX on Feb 1, I'll be dusting off the books too! Chin up, it could be a lot worse!😉

 

[Ramoray]

hey redwingie, if it makes u feel better im studying for april mcat .. itll be my THIRD mcat!! so if that makes u feel better. I am in same boat, have gotten some interviews but i am not takign a chance if i dont get in i want to have my april scores in. I was an aug mcater this year and it sucked. My verbal just plained sucked so that is my main goal.. go for it the nice thing is it all comes back really quick, after 2 weeks of studying im almost completely back to where i was before last mcat as far as teh sciences go, i mean it comes back quite easily if u knew it well teh first time.. ok good luck!

 

[lola]

did you apply early? i suppose the 8 in bio could be giving you a problem. how is wayne state's waitlist movement? are you sda?

if you're going to write a letter of intent, only write it to one school.

whether or not to study again is a tough choice. i find it rather agonizing to think about it. maybe i'd feel differently if i'd recently completed the coursework. i wish the mcat were offered more than twice a year. i would have retaken it august 18th if i could have b/c i knew it did not go well. at this point i'm in denial that i should retake. i figure i can always apply to tons of lower tier schools next time around even if i don't retake the mcat.

 

[md-student]

Your app looks pretty solid. Your MCAT scores could be better, but they are not awful. I know plenty of people who got into medical school with worse MCAT scores and GPAs. Statistically, most people improve their score very little if at all when they retake the MCAT...so the odds are stacked up against you...but it is only a statistic. It probably depends most on how much effort you put into the test the first time. Do feel you prepared well for it? Or, did you blow it off?...if yes, then you can probably do better. So think about it...do you think you could improve your score?

My MCAT score was the same as yours and I got in. I was asked during my interview (of the school I am now attending) if I would consider taking the MCAT again. I said no, I felt that I prepared as well as I could for it...I assured them based on my other app info there would be no doubt I would be a successful med student.

The fact that you got invites to interview is a very good sign. Once you get your foot in the door, the MCAT score matters little compared to everything else. Most programs (from my understanding) use the MCAT to screen applicants for interview invitations. It matters much less when sending acceptances. Once invited, you have a good shot of getting in, especially if you sell yourself well. You applied to some competitive schools, so don't get discouraged if everyone is not inviting you. If you really want to get into medical school, it will happen.

Good luck...

 

[Kovox]

Originally posted by Ramoray
hey redwingie, if it makes u feel better im studying for april mcat .. itll be my THIRD mcat!! so if that makes u feel better. I am in same boat, have gotten some interviews but i am not takign a chance if i dont get in i want to have my april scores in. I was an aug mcater this year and it sucked.

Hey RedWingie:

I would follow Ram's advice. If you can, try to take the April MCAT. First off, you won't go through some of the disadvantages of being an August Mcater. Second of all, if you don't do as well as you thought you would, you'd still have the August MCAT.

It sucks to have to study for it again and the thought of having to retake it again is of course disheartening but if you don't get accepted, at least you're preparing for the next battle, and not sitting on your arse sulking. However, if you study for the MCATs and end up getting accepted, consider the studying early preparation for medical school.

At this point and time, I would also suggest you make a Plan B for the following year just in case you don't get accepted. Will you be working? Do you want to get a Masters? If you want a masters then you should start looking into applying A.S.A.P. Again, this is just backup...it's better to expect the unexpected.

Studying for the MCATs is kinda like physics, the static energy is stronger than the kinetic energy...hence...STARTING is always the harder thing to do.

RedWingie, people who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under.😉

 

[Desdemona]

redwingie,

I think retaking the MCAT may or may not be a good idea, depending on how you felt after you took the last one. Did you feel like you did really well and then get disappointed by your scores, or did you feel like it went really badly? I took kaplan the spring before I took the MCAT. They make you do all these practice tests, and they score them reasonably accurately. Some days I did really well on the practice tests and other days I didn't..it just depends on the test. But I was usually able to predict whether my score was good or not depending on how I felt when I took it. I think you should retake it if you felt like it went really badly, because you'll probably be able to improve. But if you thought you did great and then you didn't, it may be harder to get a better score. Does that make sense? I guess what i mean is that if you knew that your bio section was impossible and felt like you were bombing it and you were doing much better on the practice tests if you did any, then it would be worth it to retake it. A few of my friends took the april MCAT, and we compared what form our tests were, based on the letter and the questions/passages we had. None of us had the same test or even the same questions. It's almost a matter of luck, getting a form that has lots of questions on things you're good at.

 

[UCspunky]

Hi Redwingie,

I would probably start studying for the MCAT again. I'm in the process of studying a second time. If you put time into it now, you can definitely score better. You can look at the statistical data of people who retake the MCAT at AAMC's MCAT website. You'll see the lower your score the more improvement there is the second time taking it and the higher your score the less improvement there will be. If you're in the middle, it's kind of a toss up. So, that's where effort and hard work will make you. Besides you could start studying now and register late for the April MCAT, if you aren't getting the interviews and acceptances you want.

Good luck!

 

[shanet74]

I would say that you have nothing to loose by beginning to study for the MCAT again. The real question is do you take it in April or August? As an August MCAT taker, I would reccomend against it. However, don't make the same mistake I did and wait to apply. I waited; thinking my scores would hold up any sort of consideration. Instead, apply the first day, and simply state you are retaking the MCAT. Some schools may interview you based on the score you have right now. I retook the test last August and improved by 2 (damn that O-chem), however, I have seen people on here improve their composite by 10.
At the same time, I must say that your stats are good enough to get in. Your stats are almost exactly like mine (except for my military experience), and I got in with a 27. I really think the whole process is somewhat a roll of the dice, as there are so many well qualified individuals. Remember the average MCAT score for those that matriculate into medical school is somewhere around 29-30. So your 27 is easily competative. It is easy to get caught up in the MCAT hype here on SDN, where I would venture to say the MCAT average is much higher then 29-30.

 

[redwingie]

Thanks everyone for all the great advice!!! Y'all Rock! hehe. But wouldn't you know it? As soon as I started hitting the books again, I got a phone call from a school saying I got in =) Ok, thanks to everyone who supported me and good luck to everyone who is still waiting. Work hard and keep persistent!