How to address a poor MCAT score in an interview?

[bme94]

Hi guys.

My interview is coming up soon, and I was told to be prepared for the interviewers to ask about any weakness on my application. The only weakness is my MCAT. How did I address/explain this appropriately?

The only section that brought my score down was my CARS score. Truthfully, I'm just a slow reader and ran out of time at the end of the section.

In college, I was so used to getting all this time for tests. Obviously the MCAT was different.

I don't want to make excuses for myself. What's a good answer for this?

To make matters worse, I got the same score twice. But my GPA is pretty high, and I think that's why they're willing to interview me.

Any advice would be appreciated!

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[AnatomyGrey12]

How low is your MCAT?

Just own it honestly. Don't make excuses or say anything that could be construed as such because adcoms don't like that.

 

[bme94]

How low is your MCAT?

Just own it honestly. Don't make excuses or say anything that could be construed as such because adcoms don't like that.

499 unfortunately. I do have a 3.71 GPA though

 

[Medic741]

Eep. That is pretty low. I explained mine saying that I felt ready to become a doctor and prepared as best I could while working full-time. Own why you got the low score and point them to something that could make them confident in your ability... like your 3.7 GPA, which is pretty solid. Nice work there!

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

Don't bring it up unless they do. A lot of interviews are closed file and they don't see your stats.

I also had a low CARS score (retook and got >70% after) and my prepared explanation that highlighted my improvement was getting into reading novels. I had 6 months between my first and second MCAT attempts and I believe I read 17 novels (greater than 300 pgs) during that time. My explanation about my previous low score was that I never honed the skill of critical reading during my middle and high school days and it reflected on my first performance on the MCAT. I know it's kind of basic, but I feel an honest explanation can be conveyed much better than trying to think of something up.

 

[bme94]

Thank you everyone. I'm not sure how I can say I "improved" on anything, though. The reason why it was so low was because I'm not the best speed reader, and I really like to take my time when I when I read. I basically underestimated the time constraints. Is there any way I can somehow turn this into a positive thing?

 

[bme94]

Don't bring it up unless they do. A lot of interviews are closed file and they don't see your stats.

I also had a low CARS score (retook and got >70% after) and my prepared explanation that highlighted my improvement was getting into reading novels. I had 6 months between my first and second MCAT attempts and I believe I read 17 novels (greater than 300 pgs) during that time. My explanation about my previous low score was that I never honed the skill of critical reading during my middle and high school days and it reflected on my first performance on the MCAT. I know it's kind of basic, but I feel an honest explanation can be conveyed much better than trying to think of something up.

I won't. But I know this interview is going to be open file, so I'm pretty sure they will. That's definitely a good explanation. Unfortunately I can't really say that I improved on anything like you though.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

499 unfortunately. I do have a 3.71 GPA though

Eep. That is pretty low

Eh that's not that low. It's right at the national average. The fact you got that score twice is more likely to get talked about. I agree with the above poster, don't bring it up unless they ask about it. If they ask about it then just own it.

 

[GypsyHummus]

499 is fine. Why y'all complaining when OP has a 3.7?

 

[Marrowist]

499 is fine. Why y'all complaining when OP has a 3.7?

It's just what we do

 

[SlugMD]

Don't make excuses

 

[WAnative]

I had similar predicament where I only improved one point on my retake not too mention my reading score went from 98th percentile down to 70th. They asked about it at some interviews and not at others. But I just told them straight up that I could make all the excuses I wanted but really felt like my retake was just a bad test day. Pointed them to the section I improved on and then moved conversation right along. I think by bringing it up they are more looking for how you handle a situation that didn't go as you had hoped, if you got an interview your score is adequate in their eyes

 

[Goro]

You tell the truth.

Hi guys.

My interview is coming up soon, and I was told to be prepared for the interviewers to ask about any weakness on my application. The only weakness is my MCAT. How did I address/explain this appropriately?

The only section that brought my score down was my CARS score. Truthfully, I'm just a slow reader and ran out of time at the end of the section.

In college, I was so used to getting all this time for tests. Obviously the MCAT was different.

I don't want to make excuses for myself. What's a good answer for this?

To make matters worse, I got the same score twice. But my GPA is pretty high, and I think that's why they're willing to interview me.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[GBCrzzyy]

I would definitely say the MCAT was my biggest weak point. My first score was horrendously low. I got a 488. I'm not sure what happened honestly. but I retook it two months later and scored 501. Not an amazing score but it was a score I could apply with. During my interview they asked me what happened and how I improved myself and I made sure to be honest but also keep it short. I didn't want it to become the focus of my interview, I just addressed it and moved on. after that, it didn't come up again and the rest of the interview went by smoothly and my interviews seemed pretty happy and upbeat overall. Trust me I've been kicking myself for not trashing that first score since the day I took that exam but it was just something I had to own up to. My cGPA is a 3.5 and sGPA is a 3.4 so I was accepted with a lower GPA and my second score was comparable to yours. As long as the rest of your app is strong, I don't see why you wouldn't get love from somewhere. Have hope

 

[luckyely91]

I too also had a low MCAT score (I had a 19 the first time I took it because I didn't take the verbal section seriously... AND I took it several times after that). I took the newest MCAT in 2015, and I got a 500. So, believe me when I say that I have had a bad experience with the MCAT. Fortunately, when I applied to both MD and DO schools this cycle, NONE of the schools had approached me about my MCAT score. NONE. N-O-N-E. In fact, the interviewers were more interested about my community service and work experiences (at the movie theatres, actually). I am pleased to say that I got accepted to 2 of my top schools. I really think it depends on the school and what they focus on.

If they were to ask you about the low MCAT score (which is only one point lower than mine), just own it and don't make any excuses. If anything, turn it positive - say that you learned a lot about yourself and your study habits as a result. Good luck!

 

[JB50]

"What's up with your mcat score?"

"It's a 499 and I f**king own it."

"Ok great. I see that you..."

 

[Dr. Rafiki]

I doubt they bring it up. Perhaps if you also had a low gpa they would... but you don't.

Also, hasn't it only been the last few years that most DO schools are seeing average MCAT scores around 500 (or 25/26/whatever the old scale was)? Pretty sure Adcoms will be used to accepting students with exactly the same score.

Sent from my LGLS676 using SDN mobile

 

[kidsuave]

Don't bring it up unless they do. A lot of interviews are closed file and they don't see your stats.

I also had a low CARS score (retook and got >70% after) and my prepared explanation that highlighted my improvement was getting into reading novels. I had 6 months between my first and second MCAT attempts and I believe I read 17 novels (greater than 300 pgs) during that time. My explanation about my previous low score was that I never honed the skill of critical reading during my middle and high school days and it reflected on my first performance on the MCAT. I know it's kind of basic, but I feel an honest explanation can be conveyed much better than trying to think of something up.

what books did you read? i am trying to make my reading skills better as well

 

[Mr. D.O.five]

what books did you read? i am trying to make my reading skills better as well

Read difficult books. I personally took books from my university syllabus for english language and literature majors and read them from start to end. One of my friends did this also and got a 130 in CARS after starting off with a 126 in AAMC FL 1 which he took as a diagnostic.

 

[JB50]

what books did you read? i am trying to make my reading skills better as well

Download the previous MCATs version of critical reasoning passages. The CARs have barely changed. Can't recommend doing that enough. You need to do more than relearn how to read. The cars section is 50% reading and 50% strategy. There are questions you simply will never be able to answer and you have to become comfortable with moving on and being confident on the next one.


503-->512 here