How many times can you take the MCAT?

[godzilla0120]

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I understand that you can take up to 3 exams per one season cycle.
I have already taken 3 MCAT exams, two of them are expired.
my highest is 25.

Is it an absolute turn-down to the adcom if you take it the fourth time?

 

[Greenlady05]

bump

 

[Isoprop]

if you can improve to 30, it would be worth it. there's not absolute limit except what the aamc says. but the more times you take it, the less of an impact a high score will have.

 

[cliquesh]

According to Dr. Foxwell, the admission officer at Univ. Maryland med school, he expects applicants to take the exam twice. However, after 2 times, he said it looks bad. So don't take the exam until you are ready, and you must improve each time you take it, otherwise you look like you reached your potential.

 

[littlealex]

Do it once and do it right. If you've taken it 3 times and ended with a 25, you should probably retake it. Do not take the test this time without getting your practice test over 30.

Seriously I don't know what people are thinking when they go into a test scoring below their target. Never take it 'just in case I get lucky.'

 

[Food]

Do it once and do it right. If you've taken it 3 times and ended with a 25, you should probably retake it. Do not take the test this time without getting your practice test over 30.

Seriously I don't know what people are thinking when they go into a test scoring below their target. Never take it 'just in case I get lucky.'

Yeah, I agree with this. I know many people who took the MCAT knowing they were unprepared, and ended up voiding it. Like he said, the odds of getting lucky are so ridiculously low that you'd probably have a better chance of getting into Johns Hopkins with a 20.

Just plan on taking it one more time, but make this the one time that it works out. This means you actually have to take it seriously. I'm not going to question the amount of time you have put into this exam, but if you have not been seeing significant improvement over the course of these re-takes perhaps you should invest some time into doing a complete overhaul of your preparation strategies and devise a new broader approach to the problem.