How to explain a bad MCAT score?

[Choboy]

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So I took the MCAT twice.

I took the MCAT last year in May and got a 27 (9P, 10V, 8B). I took it again last August and got a 34 (11P, 11V, 12B).

I had taken practice MCATs before the first one and got 30-32 so I don't think I was unprepared for the info. However, I did have to travel for 2 hours to take the exam and stayed in a hotel but didn't get much sleep the night before.

I was asked about it in interviews last year and stumbled over myself trying to answer it. I accept that score is my fault but I am not sure how to explain its lowness given my second score without sounding like I am looking for excuses.

 

[jk1006]

Just be honest
interviewers will be able to call bull****

say even though you felt you were prepared, you had an off day and test anxiety got to you and you believe it affected you more than it should have, then talk about how you made sure to steel yourself for the next test and thats why the next test with a similar level of prep got you the second score

make no excuses, make it simple, honest, and direct

 

[StephanieZ]

I have a similar situation (got a 28 first time, 35 two years later). I hadn't even really thought that I would be asked to explain it. Isn't it sort of self-explanatory? I was ill-prepared the first time, I worked my butt off the second time.

 

[Umyo]

I have a similar situation (got a 28 first time, 35 two years later). I hadn't even really thought that I would be asked to explain it. Isn't it sort of self-explanatory? I was ill-prepared the first time, I worked my butt off the second time.

Exactly

 

[Jennyfishy]

I have a "meh" score as well, but I do not intend to retake the MCAT, unless it's for the next application cycle.

It's pretty much the one thing that looks inconsistent in my application, but I don't really have anything to justify/prove that I've learned from it. A lot of people have told me not to even mention it in my secondaries (under "is there any red flags or areas we should be concerned about" type of questions). Should I bring it up as well or not?

not meaning to take away from your thread, but I don't want to start another thread if someone else can help me with this )

 

[Radon XP]

I don't think you should make excuses, unless you had a very real and pressing emergency.

Anecdote. When I was applying to college, I had to explain an F that I got my freshman year of high school due to family reasons. I explained the situation in the "additional information" section, STRESSED how I grew as an individual/learned from the ordeal, and moved on. Ended up getting accepted to a Top 20 university (didn't matriculate, though).

Adcoms are understanding, within reason. But if you sound like you are trying to make excuses, it won't look good. It also helped that I had a perfect GPA from there on out.

 

[Jennyfishy]

It's somewhere along those lines, but I wouldn't call it a pressing "emergency!" I definitely am not trying to make excuses, I admit that 95% of it was my fault/due to errors in judgment, the other 5% being me not knowing how to deal with such unexpected tragedies/events (lol).

My Spring quarter grades shot up and showed that I was actually actively making an effort to correct my mistakes/issues, but I have nothing "tangible" to prove that my MCAT score was an anomaly, if that makes sense. But I will take your response into consideration and think this over some more 😀

 

[Radon XP]

It's somewhere along those lines, but I wouldn't call it a pressing "emergency!" I definitely am not trying to make excuses, I admit that 95% of it was my fault/due to errors in judgment, the other 5% being me not knowing how to deal with such unexpected tragedies/events (lol).

My Spring quarter grades shot up and showed that I was actually actively making an effort to correct my mistakes/issues, but I have nothing "tangible" to prove that my MCAT score was an anomaly, if that makes sense. But I will take your response into consideration and think this over some more 😀

It should be enough that you retook and did much better.

 

[Jennyfishy]

I didn't retake, so I have no higher score to prove it, but thanks for responding!

 

[StephanieZ]

I didn't retake, so I have no higher score to prove it, but thanks for responding!

If you never retook, your "meh" score is not an anomaly, it is your score. Regardless of how out of place it may look with the rest of your app, it can and will keep you out of some schools. You may want to consider retaking.

 

[Radon XP]

I didn't retake, so I have no higher score to prove it, but thanks for responding!

I confused you for the OP. Sorry.

Depending on how meh your score is, I'd recommend a retake.

 

[Redpancreas]

So I took the MCAT twice.

I took the MCAT last year in May and got a 27 (9P, 10V, 8B). I took it again last August and got a 34 (11P, 11V, 12B).

I had taken practice MCATs before the first one and got 30-32 so I don't think I was unprepared for the info. However, I did have to travel for 2 hours to take the exam and stayed in a hotel but didn't get much sleep the night before.

I was asked about it in interviews last year and stumbled over myself trying to answer it. I accept that score is my fault but I am not sure how to explain its lowness given my second score without sounding like I am looking for excuses.

Numbers are so close to mine! 10,8,10 first time followed by 11,11,12 (hello MCAT twin 😛)
The first time, I had a lot of activities on the side along with my preparation. I should have dedicated more time to the test rather than cramming most of my practice into the last month when most my other stuff subsided. It just seemed like there was a deadline and I talked myself into the belief that everything was fine because I studied. The second time I studied almost every day for 4 months (with school). It was a stressful time but looking back I am glad I had the experience. It made me learn to study at a marathon-prep pace and I know I will encounter this in medical school as well. ***Also, I was able to solidify a lot of information I learned when I went over it a second time. Repetition is key and I plan to incorporate it into my study plan in medical school*** -debating whether to say that starred part.

That's my true story. I don't plan on saying anything about nervousness. For me, once I hit that first PS passage, I was in the zone. It was purely my lack of solid preparation. This is just my biased opinion, but I don't get how "nervousness" and stuff can make that much of a difference. For me, the adrenaline just puts me through and it's almost a blur I can't remember when it's over. Knowing the test will induce this adrenalin response anyways, why do people stay up so late anyways when they know this test is the most important one in their pre-medical path?!?! Just practice going to bed at 10-11 a week in advance and you should be good. As for driving, ya it would put me a bit out of my comfort zone but not once I entered the site and everything was order I would feel better (I don't get why people arrive late either***this isn't a typical day of college class! people need to plan to be at least an hour early...not that ludicrous if you realize you only have to do it once). Unless your emotional state made a SIGNIFICANT different for you OP, I would not try to chalk up bad test results to nervousness (unless you really feel that's what happened...I mean don't you recall being nervous the second time as well?) Are you sure your studying wasn't at all part of the difference? I mean, you scored above your initial range the second time you took it.

 

[Redpancreas]

It's somewhere along those lines, but I wouldn't call it a pressing "emergency!" I definitely am not trying to make excuses, I admit that 95% of it was my fault/due to errors in judgment, the other 5% being me not knowing how to deal with such unexpected tragedies/events (lol).

My Spring quarter grades shot up and showed that I was actually actively making an effort to correct my mistakes/issues, but I have nothing "tangible" to prove that my MCAT score was an anomaly, if that makes sense. But I will take your response into consideration and think this over some more 😀

:/ Your MCAT score is your MCAT score.

 

[Jennyfishy]

If you never retook, your "meh" score is not an anomaly, it is your score. Regardless of how out of place it may look with the rest of your app, it can and will keep you out of some schools. You may want to consider retaking.

Hahah, right, right, I figured as much. It's way too late in the cycle to retake, and I'm out of the country until the end of August. If I was going to retake, I'd want a solid 3 months this time around to study, not 3 weeks to cram again, otherwise it'd be a repeat.

We'll see how this cycle ends up, but I'll definitely retake for next cycle if I reapply 😛

 

[Choboy]

this was great guys, thanks for the advice!

 

[catzzz88]

So I took the MCAT twice.

I took the MCAT last year in May and got a 27 (9P, 10V, 8B). I took it again last August and got a 34 (11P, 11V, 12B).

I had taken practice MCATs before the first one and got 30-32 so I don't think I was unprepared for the info. However, I did have to travel for 2 hours to take the exam and stayed in a hotel but didn't get much sleep the night before.

I was asked about it in interviews last year and stumbled over myself trying to answer it. I accept that score is my fault but I am not sure how to explain its lowness given my second score without sounding like I am looking for excuses.

I am in a similar position (9/9/9 last year, 12/9/12 this year). Going from a 27 --> 33 is extremely uncommon based on AMCAS re-take statistics, so your 7 point jump is also extremely uncommon in re-takers.

Personally, I will probably just state that the first score was a surprise to me (it was several points below the average of my practice exams) and say that I honestly cannot explain it. I might add that I was working full time while studying, but I was doing that the second time around as well.... so I don't think that explains it.

In other words, I think it is perfectly okay to just say that you are not sure what happened, but make it clear that you knew the first score was not representative of your abilities and that is why you wanted to re-take. The other strategy is to say that you don't feel like you fully prepared, but it doesn't seem like you think you fit into that category (I don't feel like I did either). I studied my tushie off for both tests and didn't necessarily feel much more prepared for the test the second time around. I think that another strategy might be to make some kind of excuse for your poor performance like "I had to drive far," or "I was having an off day," or "I had test anxiety." Personally, I don't think that this is a very good way to go about it. Unless there is some huge explanatory factor like: "I studied for 3 days for the first one and 3 months for the second," or "my father died the morning of my first MCAT," or "I had Ebola during the first MCAT," there is no reason to feel like you need to make excuses or explain WHY things happened.

Like others have said, because you re-took with a significant improvement, it will likely be seen as an anomaly. In fact, I think it is more honest to simply say "I do not know how to explain my first MCAT score. All I know is that a 28 is not representative of my capabilities, as evidenced by the improvement in my score to a 34 the second time I took the exam."

Hope this helps! 🙂

Best,
C

 

[VictorAlpha]

I had a worse score on my app (sandwiched between two fine scores). I didn't really think too much about how to "explain" that. I just wasn't as prepared and wasn't feeling good about the test but went ahead anyway. No one asked...I only had complements on my "good" score. I doubt anyone will even bring it up.

 

[Goro]

Sometimes "I haven't a clue" IS an acceptable answer.

So I took the MCAT twice.

I took the MCAT last year in May and got a 27 (9P, 10V, 8B). I took it again last August and got a 34 (11P, 11V, 12B).

I had taken practice MCATs before the first one and got 30-32 so I don't think I was unprepared for the info. However, I did have to travel for 2 hours to take the exam and stayed in a hotel but didn't get much sleep the night before.

I was asked about it in interviews last year and stumbled over myself trying to answer it. I accept that score is my fault but I am not sure how to explain its lowness given my second score without sounding like I am looking for excuses.