I did worst on my MCAT retake

[OrangeCorgi]

I went from a 516 down to a 511. How bad will this look on my MD applications? Is a downward trend like this a dealbreaker for MD schools?

A little background info:
I took my first MCAT in 2022, and I got a 516. I applied during the 2023-2024 cycle, and only got one MD interview and no acceptances. I spoke with the ad comms committee for the school that interviewed me but ultimately didn’t accept me. They said the biggest hole in my application was lack of clinical hours. So I am spending the second half of 2024, 2025, and 2026, working a job with more clinical experiences and getting more clinical volunteer hours. I decided that the best step forward was reapplying during the 2025-2026 cycle so I could have sufficient clinical hours to be competitive during my reapplication. I made this decision knowing my mcat score was going to expire and that I would have to retake it.

I retook the MCAT this past summer and just got my score back: a 511. I’m extremely disappointed. I think all the pressure to do better on the second MCAT caused me to study too hard to the point of burnout, and it also led to a lot of test anxiety that effected me on test day. I know that a 511 is still decently competitive for a lot of state MD schools, but I’m worried that the significant score drop will really hurt my chances.

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[Nave]

Why even re-take it in the first place?

 

[OrangeCorgi]

Why even re-take it in the first place?

I had to retake because my 516 score was going to expire and not be valid for the 2025-2026 cycle

 

[Nave]

I see I see. I am pretty far removed from the process (just submitted my application for residency), but I don't think it's unreasonable for knowledge atrophy after you took it 2.5 years ago. I'll let others give there 0.2 cents.

 

[eigen]

It's not great, but I don't think it's going to be nearly as big of a deal as you're making it out to be.

I'm not sure why you felt like you needed to get a score better than 516 on your re-take: what you needed was to get in the same relative score band, or an equivalent score.

 

[AJS59]

It's not great, but I don't think it's going to be nearly as big of a deal as you're making it out to be.

I'm not sure why you felt like you needed to get a score better than 516 on your re-take: what you needed was to get in the same relative score band, or an equivalent score.

I think OP said their score would have expired for that cycle

 

[Hollow Knight]

It doesn't look good but it's certainly not a deal breaker. Relax. You're competitive for MD.

Probably not going to Harvard but a 516 probably wasn't going to get you there anyway without a very compelling story.

More experienced adcoms, feel free to correct me if I'm missing something, but I really wouldn't worry too much about this

 

[GoSpursGo]

It stinks, but there's nothing to be done now. You just need to recalibrate your school list for your new MCAT. But if you've done a good job of getting clinical experience and your GPA is solid then MD is possible.

If your GPA is on the low side or you're from a particularly brutal state like CA, you may need to consider DO schools. Not what you were hoping for I'm sure given your original 516, but the past is past. I say this not to kick you when you're down but just as a learning point for students in the future--don't take the MCAT until you've got all your other ducks in a row, including clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

It stinks, but there's nothing to be done now. You just need to recalibrate your school list for your new MCAT. But if you've done a good job of getting clinical experience and your GPA is solid then MD is possible.

If your GPA is on the low side or you're from a particularly brutal state like CA, you may need to consider DO schools. Not what you were hoping for I'm sure given your original 516, but the past is past. I say this not to kick you when you're down but just as a learning point for students in the future--don't take the MCAT until you've got all your other ducks in a row, including clinical hours and non-clinical volunteering.

I agree, there's not much more that can be done for the OP. Just trust the process and move forward. Some schools will weigh the average, others take the best, others the most recent. But all scores will be posted for review.

There is no WAMC profile on the OP (welcome to the forums), so we have no clue how this changes an outlook for a school list.

 

[eigen]

I think OP said their score would have expired for that cycle

Yes, and they also said:

I think all the pressure to do better on the second MCAT caused me to study too hard to the point of burnout

Hence, the point that they didn't need to do better: just within the equivalent range to what they had before, since their score was expiring.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Yes, and they also said:

Hence, the point that they didn't need to do better: just within the equivalent range to what they had before, since their score was expiring.

516-->511 is on the outer edge of what could realistically be called an "equivalent range." And while obviously 511 is still a "good" score, it's really hard to take an MCAT score in a vacuum without knowing the rest of the application. If the OP is 3.8/511 in TX, they're probably still good for MD, though likely no longer in range for some of their former reach schools. If they're a 3.4/511 in CA, that's a very different story.

 

[eigen]

516-->511 is on the outer edge of what could realistically be called an "equivalent range." And while obviously 511 is still a "good" score, it's really hard to take an MCAT score in a vacuum without knowing the rest of the application. If the OP is 3.8/511 in TX, they're probably still good for MD, though likely no longer in range for some of their former reach schools. If they're a 3.4/511 in CA, that's a very different story.

Yup! I wasn't trying to say it was, I was just saying that the OPs idea that they needed to increase their score (and hence, the pressure that led to them getting a lower score) wasn't necessary, that for a re-take of an expired score they just needed to get in the same ballpark.

 

[SerUnMedico]

Yup! I wasn't trying to say it was, I was just saying that the OPs idea that they needed to increase their score (and hence, the pressure that led to them getting a lower score) wasn't necessary, that for a re-take of an expired score they just needed to get in the same ballpark.

I’d take the 516 to 511!!! It can’t be nearly as doomed as 494 last year, then 501 (June 2024)… then 501 AGAIN, taken 4 weeks from previous.