How do i explain a low MCAT score at my interview?

[BNH]

So i recently got an interview at a very good school that was my "reach for the starts MD" school. I have an interview coming up and i was wondering the best way to explain my low score if asked in the interview. I took the test in 2007 and got a 19 (8V, 5P, 6B... really bad i know) At the time i did take a course, and studied very hard, but it didn't seem to click. I decided to boost my resume and completed a Masters degree and retook the test this year and got a 28 (10P 9V 9B... not great, but much better). This school has an average MCAT of 36 (hence why i didnt think i had a real shot) and i know a lot of medical students at this school who say they concentrate a lot on numbers so i dont know how i should approach this topic. Especially since most schools believe that your MCAT score will dictate how your boards will go. Also, before my first MCAT it had been about 3-4 years since i had taken some of those courses. However i'm worried that because i had amply to to prepare after that for my current MCAT and still didnt crack the 30s saying that could hurt me. Any suggestions on a way to explain my MCAT issues while still putting a positive spin on it?

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[TheMightySmiter]

Emphasize your improvement rather than your actual scores. Say that you worked hard to increase your score by that much. If your MCAT was really that big of a problem, you wouldn't have gotten an interview. So congratulations! Don't bring up your MCAT unless your interviewer does. Chances are they won't even ask--a lot of schools have semi-blind interviews where the person you speak with won't know your stats at all.

 

[RookTookIt]

Some interviewers (in blind interviews) do ask at the end if there is any information they should be aware of so that they can address it when writing up your evaluation. In this case, should the OP bring up and try to spin his MCAT?

I'm curious about this too. I have a low GPA and it has come up in all of my open interviews. I recently had a closed-file interview and at the end of the interview, the interviewer did the whole spiel of "I'm your advocate on the committee, is there anything else I should know, blah blah blah." We had had an okay conversation so I decided to tell her about the low GPA and she literally put her fingers in her ears and was like "don't tell me another word about it." It was a really awkward ending to an otherwise comfortable interview.

 

[235788]

I'm curious about this too. I have a low GPA and it has come up in all of my open interviews. I recently had a closed-file interview and at the end of the interview, the interviewer did the whole spiel of "I'm your advocate on the committee, is there anything else I should know, blah blah blah." We had had an okay conversation so I decided to tell her about the low GPA and she literally put her fingers in her ears and was like "don't tell me another word about it." It was a really awkward ending to an otherwise comfortable interview.

ohh man!

 

[gmcguitar4]

I agree and disagree with the "don't bring anything up that is negative in an interview." Bring it up only if you have a really good explanation to back it up(obviously). You have to realize they might ask other questions related to this topic so you really need to think about it a lot and try to have good answers to every possible follow up question to this.

In the end, they are going to review your whole application so I feel it is better to have an explanation to go along with the red flag. Not talking about it doesn't hide it. It just leaves it open for the adcom's interpretations, which will probably work against you 98% of the time.

 

[lisi326]

hmm, this sounds suspiciously like my school. (which does do open interviews, btw)

either way, if it's not brought up, I wouldn't mention it. Someone liked your application enough to give you an interview, so clearly they think you could work at the school regardless of your MCAT. And it doesn't sound like you have a stunningly good reason for not having too good of a score, so just kinda trying to talk around it doesn't seem like a great idea.

If you do get asked about it, have a good short response that somehow brings up the awesome things about your application. Don't spend 5min trying to explain exactly what went wrong.

Good luck!

 

[pchemichem]

If they ask why your score is not a 36 or higher, do not find yourself falling into that trap. Like others have said, stress the improvement you have achieved, which is significant and nothing you should not be proud of.

So with a score of 28, and you get asked, don't say something along the lines of "it was an off day," "I was sick," etc (not saying you would). Just straight up say that you studied as much as you could and did the best you could. Most interviewers will appreciate the straight up honest answer that you don't have an exact answer. Good luck!

 

[Sophocles]

I recently spoke with an admissions committee member and they told me that the way that their system works is that one of the committee members reviews your file and gives a thumbs up or down. If this person believes in you they will grant you the interview. Meaning, if you have an interview you already convinced one member of the council that you should be there. All you have to do now is convince whoever interviews you. I think you should go in there confident, and I personally wouldn't bring up any negative comments about yourself. Even if asked, I would find a way to turn it into a positive thing that you have accomplished. i.e. your perseverance, your maturity, your dedication, etc. Good luck, I hope it works out for you.