How are schools handling old vs new MCAT?

[henshouse]

I got a 30 on the old mcat in July 2014. I recently took the July 2016 exam and got a 517. My question is how much weight if any are schools placing on the new mcat over the old? Will I be viewed as a 517 or as a ~513 (avg of 517 and 30)?

I'm currently applying and want to know if it's worth my time and money to apply to some of the better schools, or will they see my 30 and disregard me immediately. Also since my 30 was from 2014, this is the final year before it "expires" at most schools. If I apply in 2018 and my 30 has expired, does this mean they disregard it completely, or I can't use it for the requirement of having an MCAT score but they still take it into account in determining my competitiveness?

One other thing. Before I got a 517, I was set on going DO. I feel good about my chances with MD now but would still be comfortable with DO. Will DO schools not invite me to interviews because they see me as unlikely to accept with them b/c of my new mcat?

I realized this has been asked a bunch, but I just want to see if the answers vary, and am particularly curious about the expiring score question.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[redsox93]

I got a 30 on the old mcat in July 2014. I recently took the July 2016 exam and got a 517. My question is how much weight if any are schools placing on the new mcat over the old? Will I be viewed as a 517 or as a ~513 (avg of 517 and 30)?

I'm currently applying and want to know if it's worth my time and money to apply to some of the better schools, or will they see my 30 and disregard me immediately. Also since my 30 was from 2014, this is the final year before it "expires" at most schools. If I apply in 2018 and my 30 has expired, does this mean they disregard it completely, or I can't use it for the requirement of having an MCAT score but they still take it into account in determining my competitiveness?

One other thing. Before I got a 517, I was set on going DO. I feel good about my chances with MD now but would still be comfortable with DO. Will DO schools not invite me to interviews because they see me as unlikely to accept with them b/c of my new mcat?

I realized this has been asked a bunch, but I just want to see if the answers vary, and am particularly curious about the expiring score question.

Take this for what it's worth but I had a friend who took the old and got a 28 and got a 516 on the new one. She got into a few really good schools including UCSD. I think most schools weigh the new score more heavily

 

[Lawpy]

1. Really depends on the school and evaluators. Many still average both old and new using percentiles. Others recognize the new is significantly different from the old in regards to overall format of the exam, so they weigh new more heavily. I would probably infer that schools that strongly prefer or require the new MCAT as conditions to apply/matriculate would weigh the new score more heavily than old.

As a conservative estimate, take the average of two scores but use the upper bound (so 30 and 517 would be 513-515 range, and not purely 513). The averaging method works well for unexpired scores. For expired scores, it depends but most likely, schools/evaluators would choose the most recent score even though they can see all scores. @gyngyn can clarify on this.

2. DO schools do not practice resource management (i.e. yield protection), so you can apply DO without an issue. Just be sure you present your interests genuinely in your essays and interviews, as well as having a DO LOR available/sent.

 

[Goro]

My school is averaging, but a 517 is nothing to sneeze at.

I got a 30 on the old mcat in July 2014. I recently took the July 2016 exam and got a 517. My question is how much weight if any are schools placing on the new mcat over the old? Will I be viewed as a 517 or as a ~513 (avg of 517 and 30)?

I'm currently applying and want to know if it's worth my time and money to apply to some of the better schools, or will they see my 30 and disregard me immediately. Also since my 30 was from 2014, this is the final year before it "expires" at most schools. If I apply in 2018 and my 30 has expired, does this mean they disregard it completely, or I can't use it for the requirement of having an MCAT score but they still take it into account in determining my competitiveness?

One other thing. Before I got a 517, I was set on going DO. I feel good about my chances with MD now but would still be comfortable with DO. Will DO schools not invite me to interviews because they see me as unlikely to accept with them b/c of my new mcat?

I realized this has been asked a bunch, but I just want to see if the answers vary, and am particularly curious about the expiring score question.