how and where to explain poor mcat score?

[chargerboy]

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Good evening all,

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the pre-allopathic forum or the mcat forum, but I'll give it a try on this board... So last year I took the MCAT and got a very dismal 19. To tell you the truth, I took it when I shouldn't have - I did not take it seriously. I took it at a time where a lot was going on in my life (i.e. relationship problems, family problems, a strenuous full-time job). I was mentally not ready and decided not to void, a HUGE mistake. Anyways, I retook the MCAT earlier this spring and got a 33. I was wondering if medical schools prefer applicants to explain poor MCAT scores in their personal statements? If not, when or where (which document) should I explain to them what went wrong. If any of you have been in this situation before, can you please give me input as how you integrated your circumstances in the MCAT or if you encountered questions pertaining to it in interviews? Thank you very much everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend and nice Mother's Day.

 

[Rzarecta]

Way to explain **insert unfavorable circumstane**...

He meant WHERE to explain it.

OP don't put it in your PS. I think that you really don't have to say anything about it. If it comes up on interviews then be honest. I don't think it is going to be a huge issue for you, especially if the rest of your application is fine.

 

[longhorn09]

" I just forgot to press the 'VOID' button."

 

[mdbound1987]

You have a 33. That's all that matters. If you were applying with a 19, then I would say explain it in your secondary essays because many schools give you the opportunity to answer the question, "is there anything else you would like us to know?" You have no need to explain your first score. Honestly if you do, it will just seem like you are making excuses for something that is completely irrelevant and may make you look bad. It may come up in interviews because you had such a dramatic increase, but in a good way. Now if you had a 33 and then retook it and got a 19, then you should worry.

 

[MilkmanAl]

If you're going to work the relationship and/or family issues into your PS, you can state specifically when they were and that they affected your academic life substantially. It'll be clear that they tanked your MCAT score, and you won't look like a tool for using your precious PS space to talk about your numbers. If you're not including those things, then just leave it alone. It's likely going to be pretty obvious that the 19 is a fluke score.

 

[armybound]

In an interview.

 

[JJMrK]

Here's another vote for not mentioning it at all unless asked in an interview.

 

[chargerboy]

thank you very much everyone,
this is more help than i could've have even imagined. i deeply appreciate all the insight. best wishes to all of you! have a great week ahead!

 

[Helen Wheels]

I agree you probably don't want to draw undue attention to this. The adcoms can see you improved a lot and are smart enough to realize they should disregard the first test. I wouldn't bring it up. Though if it comes up in an interview you should have a good answer prepared.

 

[VOP]

you don't talk about the elephant in the room. If you don't talk about it, people may not notice it.

 

[jturkel]

Good evening all,

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the pre-allopathic forum or the mcat forum, but I'll give it a try on this board... So last year I took the MCAT and got a very dismal 19. To tell you the truth, I took it when I shouldn't have - I did not take it seriously. I took it at a time where a lot was going on in my life (i.e. relationship problems, family problems, a strenuous full-time job). I was mentally not ready and decided not to void, a HUGE mistake. Anyways, I retook the MCAT earlier this spring and got a 33. I was wondering if medical schools prefer applicants to explain poor MCAT scores in their personal statements? If not, when or where (which document) should I explain to them what went wrong. If any of you have been in this situation before, can you please give me input as how you integrated your circumstances in the MCAT or if you encountered questions pertaining to it in interviews? Thank you very much everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend and nice Mother's Day.

it will 100% get brought up in interviews. there is no doubt. i wouldn't mention it in your primary application but you could think of two things if you want:

1) some secondaries have a question/section about your working/being/struggling through a difficult time/situation......you COULD talk about it here if you want

2) you could also send in a supplemental letter to each school explaining your situation.

.......i was in a difficult situation, and took the mcat over.....i had a huge difference in my MCAT....10 points. And it was brought up in EVERY open file interview I had. I also mentioned it in secondaries where applicable and sent in letters/info about it. I had mono when i took it the first time, and i told schools that when it was brought up in interviews and, again, told them that in either the letters or secondaries where applicable. i also send in copies of my mono/EBV lab results in case there were any doubts to the credibility of my statement (i know, that was a bit overboard, but w/e).

if you don't want to write about it, then be prepared to answer questions about it in your interviews because it WILL be something that is brought up.

GL

 

[PinkIvy08]

Here's another vote for don't talk about it unless they bring it up.

 

[Speculatrix]

Don't explain. You will get asked about this on your interview. You will be fine. Good luck.

 

[werd]

yeah. you have a good mcat score... it's almost implicit what happened (unprepared score vs. prepared score), so don't take up PS room talking about it. if an interviewer asks about it, say it was a learning experience and you won't make that kind of mistake again, or something like that 🙂. cheers.

 

[noshie]

Good evening all,

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the pre-allopathic forum or the mcat forum, but I'll give it a try on this board... So last year I took the MCAT and got a very dismal 19. To tell you the truth, I took it when I shouldn't have - I did not take it seriously. I took it at a time where a lot was going on in my life (i.e. relationship problems, family problems, a strenuous full-time job). I was mentally not ready and decided not to void, a HUGE mistake. Anyways, I retook the MCAT earlier this spring and got a 33. I was wondering if medical schools prefer applicants to explain poor MCAT scores in their personal statements? If not, when or where (which document) should I explain to them what went wrong. If any of you have been in this situation before, can you please give me input as how you integrated your circumstances in the MCAT or if you encountered questions pertaining to it in interviews? Thank you very much everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend and nice Mother's Day.

I received some bad MCAT scores in the past... Personally, I'm not going to bring them up. Sure, there are many reasons why I did poorly (someone died the morning of my first MCAT, I was in the middle of writing my thesis prior to the third MCAT, and my computer froze during my fourth MCAT), however I am not going to make excuses for it. It will just cheapen the fact that I did well this time. So my advice, just be glad you only have one crappy MCAT score, and its just one thing, its not like a bad GPA that took you years to earn...

Oh, and congrats on the 33! Quite an accomplishment!

 

[NickNaylor]

I think the fact that you have a jump from a 19 to a 33 demonstrates that the first test was a bit of a fluke. I don't think you have to explain anything.

 

[z31]

wow, huge improvement to a really solid score. it speaks for itself 🙂.

talking about it in your PS would just waste space and raise questions.

 

[afugazzi]

it will 100% get brought up in interviews. there is no doubt. i wouldn't mention it in your primary application but you could think of two things if you want:

1) some secondaries have a question/section about your working/being/struggling through a difficult time/situation......you COULD talk about it here if you want

2) you could also send in a supplemental letter to each school explaining your situation.

.......i was in a difficult situation, and took the mcat over.....i had a huge difference in my MCAT....10 points. And it was brought up in EVERY open file interview I had. I also mentioned it in secondaries where applicable and sent in letters/info about it. I had mono when i took it the first time, and i told schools that when it was brought up in interviews and, again, told them that in either the letters or secondaries where applicable. i also send in copies of my mono/EBV lab results in case there were any doubts to the credibility of my statement (i know, that was a bit overboard, but w/e).

if you don't want to write about it, then be prepared to answer questions about it in your interviews because it WILL be something that is brought up.

GL

Hm... is it possible they only asked in interviews because you went kind of overboard explaining it in your secondaries?

 

[pumpkin patch]

Hm... is it possible they only asked in interviews because you went kind of overboard explaining it in your secondaries?

I don't think so. They likely asked because it gives them a better sense of how you deal with adversity/difficult situations, what you learn from your experiences, and how you deal with stress.

 

[chargerboy]

gosh, you all are awesome. thank you so very much for all the input and kind words, it's definitely a monkey off my back! ill be more than sure to incorporate all the advice. thanks again and have a good one everyone!

 

[nurseawesome]

" I just forgot to press the 'VOID' button."

LOL good one

 

[morning]

👍👍 That's a tremendous improvement and you should feel proud of yourself! I bet some of the adcoms will see it the same way.

 

[mfrizzo3]

Dental school.