HUGE problem and Score Question

[PullMyFinger]

Let me keep this short and sweet...

Took the MCATs last year in May and got a 24S. Applied strictly to DO schools, go interviews, but no acceptances. My GPA is fine, so I know it was probably my MCAT score that cost me acceptances.

I decided two months ago that I wanted to take the MCAT again and re-apply...and no matter what I do, my score is nearly the same 22 or 23 on my exams...and the last one (AAMC 9) was the worst I've ever done..it was a 22 but the score breakdown was 8 PS. 8 VR. 6 BS. I haven't really scored below a 7 in any section since last year in my diags.

My MCAT date is soon...I'm freaking out and ready to panic. What do I do? I can't reschedule now either. Is it possible for me to climb up in pts within less than 2 weeks?!

MY OTHER QUESTION IS...

If god forbid, god forbid I do worse my second time taking it. Since my application with AACOMAS has me sending my score from AAMC to their central server...is there any way I could withhold that score from being sent over? Will the schools know that I took the exam? Or not until I send them the score?

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[student1799]

The important thing is not to panic. That won't help you at all.

To answer your specific questions:

1. You can always not show up. If you don't take the test, you won't get a refund, but it won't even count as an "attempt" for MCAT purposes. 48 hours after your original test date (i.e. 8/24), you will be able to register for a new date.

Since you won't have a score, NOTHING will be sent to AACOMAS (because there is nothing to send). The fact that you stated you'd be taking the MCAT on 8/22 is "self-reported," not official data. That means no one will care if you don't have a score for that date. (I'm not sure if it stays on your app anyway, but if it does and someone asks you about it, you can always say you decided to reschedule.)

2. You can take the test as scheduled on 8/22, but void your test. This has to be done while you are still in the testing room; once you finish the MCAT, you will see a screen that asks you if you wish to void or have your test scored. You have 5 minutes to decide, and if you don't press the button that says "void," your test will be scored.

The good thing about voiding is that you STILL won't have a score, and nothing will be reported to any med schools, but you will get some valuable practice taking a REAL MCAT. And you may even get lucky and do all right on it, in which case you could have your test scored instead of voiding. (However, if you have found while taking practice tests that you are poor at predicting how you did, it may be risky for you to decide on the spot whether you want to keep your score. Only you know whether you have a decent feel for this or not.)

Myself, I'd take the exam and plan to void. You're already out the $210 no matter what, so you might as well get some practice out of it.


As for when you should take the MCAT again for real, I wouldn't rush it. You really do need to improve your score, because low 20's is going to hold you back even at DO schools. (DO is getting more and more popular, and many of the best schools get just as many applicants per seat as allo schools.) I think you need to spend a good 6 months doing content review and practice exams before you try this again.

Have you taken a prep course, like Kaplan or Princeton Review? I would HIGHLY recommend it if you haven't. These classes have computerized practice MCATs which are MUCH better practice than the paper tests you might have taken in books. Not only that, they have specialized topic tests to drill you in particular areas where you might be weak.

If you have already tried that and it didn't help, get a tutor for one-on-one help in your very weakest areas, if you can afford it. I've heard from some people on SDN that just a week with a tutor was enough to raise their section score about 4 points.

The point is, you have to give this everything you've got, because getting a better score (high 20's or above) is really important even in DO admissions. Plenty of people have done this before, and I'm sure you can too if you try hard enough.

Good luck, and once again, DON'T PANIC.