concur w/postings above, especially l2doc & midlife, the mcat tends to kick most of our butts, I'm convinced it's a test intended to see how well you can do on the MCAT, it's not enough to have strong mastery of all materials, it's more about being able to make fast decions with limited info, gain comfort on moving on without double checking any work or figures, etc. It can be learned, but doing well on the mcat is more dependant on studying for the mcat format (assuming a strong knowledge of the basic science materials covered) than about simplying having a good handle on the material.
suggestion for concrete steps on not getting screened out -- many schools have a screening process as a first step. This will most likely be based on 1) gpa 2) MCAT scores, likely with a min per section and also a min overall 3) ECs, particularly clinical volunteer experience. Schools with smaller admissions offices are more likely to have a higher threshhold for screening out applicants as they don't have the time to read 3,000 apps in depth; a screen lets them immediately eliminate, say, 75% of these so they can focus on the "best" applicants.
Only way I'm aware of finding out about this screen is by speaking with schools. Remember, they don't have to tell you this, so I'd ask really nicely, possibly by saying you're interested in the school, have a 3.x gpa, and do they often interview candidates with a similar gpa. Also, public schools (if you're OOS) are sometimes impossiby tough with their initial (academic) screen, like the one looking for 3.8 + gpa (and a high MCAT) from OOS, whereas instate applicants could be interviewed with a 3.2 or so..
You've got a very strong shot at quite a few schools, close to no chance at others, choose carefully & it should work fine!
