How many times did you take the MCAT?

[screwedpremed88]

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Is taking the MCAT more than once considered unfavorable to med school admissions committees?

 

[Barfalamule]

Depends how you do on the repeat. I would say that 3 is max without really special circumstances. I don't think twice, especially if you show improvement, is looked at unfavorably-at least I choose to believe that based on my circumstances as a reapp with a better second attempt.

 

[Entropy2009]

Some schools specify that they only look at the most recent score, and that it is NOT held against you.

 

[J ROD]

Is taking the MCAT more than once considered unfavorable to med school admissions committees?

Depends on your score on the first one! 😀

 

[RySerr21]

It is very common to take the MCAT more than once. In fact, i wouldnt be surprised if more people took it multiple times than those who took it only once. I dont have any source to back that up with, just my guess.

 

[studiddy]

I'm going for my third after the test center disaster that was my attempt no.2 a few weeks ago. I just got a letter in the mail from the AAMC stating they looked into my complaint and verified that (my words) my computer was garbage, and that I should take a copy of the letter to interviews should someone ask about it. So hopefully at least 3 times is okay.

 

[Raryn]

Well, the last data on the subject I could find available from the AAMC (2005), out of 66,435 test takers, there were 21,086 retakers. That means roughly 1/3rd of the people who took the test that year had taken it previously. The retakers average score was slightly lower, but this can be expected just because the guys capable of the 41 most likely aren't gonna be part of that group.

 

[Kaustikos]

I'm going for my third after the test center disaster that was my attempt no.2 a few weeks ago. I just got a letter in the mail from the AAMC stating they looked into my complaint and verified that (my words) my computer was garbage, and that I should take a copy of the letter to interviews should someone ask about it. So hopefully at least 3 times is okay.

That's ridiculous. They didn't even offer you anything for having to deal with that?

"We have examined the computer testing site in which you took your MCAT examine and have verified that, Yep, it's garbage. Goodluck."

Reminds me of the mechanics that worked on my car after a collision I got into that ruined my radiator. I got the car back and before I made it home the temp gauge went through the roof and there was radiator fluid everywhere. I took it back and told them what happened, they opened the hood and looked at it and then promptly responded:
"Yep, there's a leak in your radiator."

30 second pause

Me - "You missed it when you fixed my car...aren't you going to fix it?!"

"Well, there's no way of verifying that it was collision related...."

The last part was off-tangent.

 

[Pourquoipas]

The same happened to me. My computer went blank during the exam and aamc only sent me a letter to present to schools. So I'm on my third try now, too.