How terrible are back-to-back MCATs?

[OchemOficionado]

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Terrible. But only terrible if the second score also sucks, right? If the second score sucks than the applicant looks as if they lack maturity and reasoning skills and may be doomed. But if it's better is that still frowned upon?

I haven't received my score, but every day that passes I feel like I did worse. I'm just thinking of plan b, c and d. I'm wondering if I should study for 6 more weeks and do better. I'll still have time to apply DO but I understand I'll be out of time for the MD cycle. Or, you know, just be mature and retake in Jan if my score sucks.

 

[lexington251]

As the wise gonnif says: Step 1. Relax.

If you took two MCATs back to back and did significantly better on the second one, then the question is "why did you take it on the first date to begin with?"

You should probably consider your options when you aren't in a state of panic. Do you really think six weeks is enough, and if so, based off what? I would wait until you've received your first MCAT back before you make a decision. That way, you could tailor it to your performance (if you did poorly on B/B, you could focus on that).

PM me if you want to talk more about this!

 

[OchemOficionado]

As the wise gonnif says: Step 1. Relax.

If you took two MCATs back to back and did significantly better on the second one, then the question is "why did you take it on the first date to begin with?"

You should probably consider your options when you aren't in a state of panic. Do you really think six weeks is enough, and if so, based off what? I would wait until you've received your first MCAT back before you make a decision. That way, you could tailor it to your performance (if you did poorly on B/B, you could focus on that).

Thank you!
Haha. I LOVE when Gonnif says that. I never thought I'd be on the receiving end!

I don't feel panicked, or even stressed. I'm strangely calm and just weighing my potential options. It could all be ok or it could be terrible, lol. I think I'm just trying to find something to do with my time other than hurry up and wait. Studying will distract me and keep me on track if I have to retake. 6 additional weeks is a significant amount of study time, I'd say.

 

[UBLI-EINSTEIN]

Edit: I found I misunderstood your post.
I originally thought you took two exams within 30 days. Hopefully I understood wrongly.

If OP is planning to take his second MCAT after 6 weeks, actually once I thought similar things.
I thought I would mess up the first one and planed to sign up another exam one month later.
I finally didn't do this because I burned out. BTW, my score was good enough.

BTW, the issue is stated by the people above.
If you really did better on the second one, why didn't you ace the first one?
This is a question to your judgement.
One thing I would say, if you messed up in treating a patient, you might not get a second chance to treat them again. ---- I think med school usually prefer a good score once for all.

 

[lexington251]

Thank you!
Haha. I LOVE when Gonnif says that. I never thought I'd be on the receiving end!

I don't feel panicked, or even stressed. I'm strangely calm and just weighing my potential options. It could all be ok or it could be terrible, lol. I think I'm just trying to find something to do with my time other than hurry up and wait. Studying will distract me and keep me on track if I have to retake. 6 additional weeks is a significant amount of study time, I'd say.

Don't worry, that's just the post-test shock. It'll hit ya eventually 😉

I would say you should take a break from studying and do something fun. You just took the MCAT, and that's not an easy feat. Do you really want to dive right back in? Maybe wait one week or some and then get back into it. That might give you more time to also reflect on how to improve.

That is unless you're insisting on applying this cycle.

 

[Troll-like receptor 4]

Terrible. But only terrible if the second score also sucks, right? If the second score sucks than the applicant looks as if they lack maturity and reasoning skills and may be doomed. But if it's better is that still frowned upon?

I haven't received my score, but every day that passes I feel like I did worse. I'm just thinking of plan b, c and d. I'm wondering if I should study for 6 more weeks and do better. I'll still have time to apply DO but I understand I'll be out of time for the MD cycle. Or, you know, just be mature and retake in Jan if my score sucks.

I agree with the above advice. Just relax, take some deep breaths, and wait till you get your score before you stop panicking.

How were your practice exams? How many did you take? Were you constantly hitting/succeeding your targets? The answers to those questions may put you more at ease.

Are you planning on applying this cycle? If your score ends up lower than expected, you can always add some DO schools if that is something you are open to. Just try to relax and try to do other things to distract yourself from thinking about the score release. From personal experience, I know this is easier said than done.

 

[OchemOficionado]

Don't worry, that's just the post-test shock. It'll hit ya eventually 😉

I would say you should take a break from studying and do something fun. You just took the MCAT, and that's not an easy feat. Do you really want to dive right back in? Maybe wait one week or some and then get back into it. That might give you more time to also reflect on how to improve.

That is unless you're insisting on applying this cycle.

You're right, I really don't WANT to dive back in. I don't want to lose my momentum if I'll need to retake, but I do think the mature thing would be to step back and wait. That's just hard to do.

 

[OchemOficionado]

I agree with the above advice. Just relax, take some deep breaths, and wait till you get your score before you stop panicking.

How were your practice exams? How many did you take? Were you constantly hitting/succeeding your targets? The answers to those questions may put you more at ease.

Are you planning on applying this cycle? If your score ends up lower than expected, you can always add some DO schools if that is something you are open to. Just try to relax and try to do other things to distract yourself from thinking about the score release. From personal experience, I know this is easier said than done.

Thank you. I appreciate everyone's replies BTW!

Those questions don't put me at ease because the exam was harder than my FLs, haha. I was pretty shocked through most of it. I actually felt ok after, but as the days pass the worst case scenario gets worse.

I'd love to go to a DO school. I know if I retake and apply this cycle that's my only option.

 

[efle]

Sounds like a "cross that bridge if you come to it" situation. Wait for the retake score. Worrying about it ahead of time doesn't help at all!

 

[Goro]

Where is that old curmudgeon when you need him? Yes @gonnif, the Prince of Punnery, I'm talking about you!

 

[OchemOficionado]

Where is that old curmudgeon when you need him? Yes @gonnif, the Prince of Punnery, I'm talking about you!

I was hoping you'd come in here and go off on me. Haha. I know I'm probably not thinking straight.

 

[raiderette]

Through all this I thought these six weeks would be the worst. Until I was on 5 waitlist. I wouldn't charge a thing, since I love my school. Laugh often, keep busy and be flexible.

 

[OchemOficionado]

🤣

I needed that. Thank you guys!

 

[aldol16]

You're highly unlikely to significantly change your score on back-to-back MCATs unless there was some unusual circumstance during the first MCAT that did not allow you to test to the best of your abilities and you are confident that the same unusual circumstance won't manifest itself on the second administration. In other words, improving your score on the MCAT takes time and taking it back-to-back doesn't help you because it doesn't give you the time to substantially improve your skills.

 

[Troll-like receptor 4]

Thank you. I appreciate everyone's replies BTW!

Those questions don't put me at ease because the exam was harder than my FLs, haha. I was pretty shocked through most of it. I actually felt ok after, but as the days pass the worst case scenario gets worse.

I'd love to go to a DO school. I know if I retake and apply this cycle that's my only option.

What is your cgpa and sgpa?

Depending on what those are, you have a lot of room for error since you are open to DO schools.

If you have to retake because you really want MD, you should probably wait at least 4 months so you can really increase your chances for a significant score increase. In this case, you wait to wait to apply next year. You want to make sure you are applying with the best application possible, so hopefully waiting an extra year should be no issue.

Like @Goro likes to say, med schools aren't going anywhere.🙂

 

[Goro]

What is your cgpa and sgpa?

Depending on what those are, you have a lot of room for error since you are open to DO schools.

If you have to retake because you really want MD, you should probably wait at least 4 months so you can really increase your chances for a significant score increase. In this case, you wait to wait to apply next year. You want to make sure you are applying with the best application possible, so hopefully waiting an extra year should be no issue.

Like @Goro likes to say, med schools aren't going anywhere.🙂

FYI, I love the screen name!

 

[calivianya]

I actually signed up to retake it the day after I took it. It was going to be four weeks between each test. I just KNEW I did terribly - knew it was the worst score in the history of really bad scores! xD

Of course, once I got my actual score back, I had done well. It was too late to get a refund for my second test, but I was okay with that, because I was a total basket case until I signed up for that second test. Knowing I could take it again in a short time frame was my $300 security blanket and kept me from losing my mind.

For the record, I took the MCAT three days after my last final exam (poor judgment at its finest), so I essentially had no time to study for it whatsoever. Four weeks of studying would have made a huge difference. Probably should have studied those four weeks and taken it again anyway, but I just couldn't make myself do it.

 

[OchemOficionado]

What is your cgpa and sgpa?

Depending on what those are, you have a lot of room for error since you are open to DO schools.

If you have to retake because you really want MD, you should probably wait at least 4 months so you can really increase your chances for a significant score increase. In this case, you wait to wait to apply next year. You want to make sure you are applying with the best application possible, so hopefully waiting an extra year should be no issue.

Like @Goro likes to say, med schools aren't going anywhere.🙂

Thank you! This puts things in perspective. I agree and would say the same to anyone else asking. I'm just emotionally attached to this cycle so it's clouding my judgment. I think 6 weeks of FLs and only AAMC material can make a difference, but that's probably the emotions talking!

My GPAs are fine. So maybe I'll just keep studying. I'll come back with my MCAT score in a few weeks and we'll see if I have a shot. If a retake is necessary, I'll share my FLs scores and see if I should go for it or wait until 2018.

I actually signed up to retake it the day after I took it. It was going to be four weeks between each test. I just KNEW I did terribly - knew it was the worst score in the history of really bad scores! xD

Of course, once I got my actual score back, I had done well. It was too late to get a refund for my second test, but I was okay with that, because I was a total basket case until I signed up for that second test. Knowing I could take it again in a short time frame was my $300 security blanket and kept me from losing my mind.

For the record, I took the MCAT three days after my last final exam (poor judgment at its finest), so I essentially had no time to study for it whatsoever. Four weeks of studying would have made a huge difference. Probably should have studied those four weeks and taken it again anyway, but I just couldn't make myself do it.

I hope my story turns out the same! I won't pay for another MCAT until I get my score though. If there's no seats by that time I guess I have my answer.