I have made the decision to take the August MCAT

[ShoMeYourOhFace]

OK... After careless (i mean careful) consideration, I have decided to take the august MCAT... why??? because a 32 in april doesn't compare to a 36 in august... I am already swamped with 7 classes and 20 hours/week of research... My gpas aren't stellar either, 3.75, 3.68 BCMP... I would rather make a run for the top schools than wasting money applying to them with low stats... anyways...

For all of you knowledgable people... What can/should I do to make sure I get everything in as early as possible??? Which of the following schools should give me a secondary without MCAT?

Yale
Columbia
Cornell
Vandy
UChicago
BU
Tufts
Umass
USC
NYU
Mt. Sinai
Georgetown

Is the plan to send the amcas asap... get the secondaries, fill them out asap, and have my recs in asap too??? does it even matter without my mcat scores??

hope someone can help

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[chandelantern]

OK... After careless (i mean careful) consideration, I have decided to take the august MCAT... why??? because a 32 in april doesn't compare to a 36 in august... I am already swamped with 7 classes and 20 hours/week of research... My gpas aren't stellar either, 3.75, 3.68 BCMP... I would rather make a run for the top schools than wasting money applying to them with low stats... anyways...

For all of you knowledgable people... What can/should I do to make sure I get everything in as early as possible??? Which of the following schools should give me a secondary without MCAT?

Yale
Columbia
Cornell
Vandy
UChicago
BU
Tufts
Umass
USC
NYU
Mt. Sinai
Georgetown

Is the plan to send the amcas asap... get the secondaries, fill them out asap, and have my recs in asap too??? does it even matter without my mcat scores??

hope someone can help

Just a warning, you're not going to get much support whining about a 3.7 gpa and a 36 mcat and only wanting to go to a "top" school. Anyway, I think Yale, Tufts, BU, and Georgetown are all automatic, so there's a good chance that you'll get those before your MCATs are in. UChicago screens, so I doubt you'll get one from them until they have your scores, and Vandy offers interviews at the same time as secondaries (i think) so I would imagine they want everything too. I don't know about the other schools, but look up in the msar if they give automatic secondaries...if they do, you'll likely get it before your scores come out.

 

[theunderdog]

actually, that information is not correct.

as an august mcater, i know for real!

most of the deadlines at the top schools are due by october 15 or october 1. my august mcat score didn't come out ONLINE until at least 4 days after the 15th.

as for the secondaries, it depends on whether you have taken the mcat before. if you have not, your aplpication will be INCOMPLETE at all schools on that october 15 deadline... for example, i believe yale has a october deadline and columbia has a november deadline.

if you have taken the mcat before, columbia and yale will both see that you are taking the august mcat. but they will send you a secondary and wait for your august score... they will take your aplpication after the deadline because you have an april score. but if you don't have a previous score and the deadline reaches but you dont get the august score in time, columbia and yale will both mark your app incomplete and consider auto-reject.

i know, because it happened to me.

 

[chandelantern]

actually, that information is not correct.

as an august mcater, i know for real!

most of the deadlines at the top schools are due by october 15 or october 1. my august mcat score didn't come out ONLINE until at least 4 days after the 15th.

as for the secondaries, it depends on whether you have taken the mcat before. if you have not, your aplpication will be INCOMPLETE at all schools on that october 15 deadline... for example, i believe yale has a october deadline and columbia has a november deadline.


i know because it happened to me.

OP - sounds like the underdog has much more experience than I do with this - so listen to him! I do know one of my friends applied and took the august mcat and she did get some automatic secondaries before her mcat scores were in...but I don't know for sure which ones. Also, her file was not considered complete until her scores came in...and I didn't think any schools would have deadlines before the aug mcat scores came out, but obviously I'm wrong about that.

Underdog - how did you end up getting into columbia if you missed the deadline?

 

[Flopotomist]

I disagree with your premise. If you can get a 32 in April and think that you MIGHT get a 36+ in August I still say TAKE IT IN APRIL!!! The 32 with that GPA with decent ECs will get your foot in the door - but if you wait until August, the room on the other side of the door will be half full.

Take it in April.

 

[theunderdog]

OP - sounds like the underdog has much more experience than I do with this - so listen to him! I do know one of my friends applied and took the august mcat and she did get some automatic secondaries before her mcat scores were in...but I don't know for sure which ones. Also, her file was not considered complete until her scores came in...and I didn't think any schools would have deadlines before the aug mcat scores came out, but obviously I'm wrong about that.

Underdog - how did you end up getting into columbia if you missed the deadline?

I ended up not getting into columbia!!! but its the dream school i support graciously in my signature!

trust me about the august mcat!!! take it in april. it was the biggest mistake of my life to take it in august. my primary app was in by june 20th too!

 

[Bones2008]

I disagree with your premise. If you can get a 32 in April and think that you MIGHT get a 36+ in August I still say TAKE IT IN APRIL!!! The 32 with that GPA with decent ECs will get your foot in the door - but if you wait until August, the room on the other side of the door will be half full.

Take it in April.

this is very good advice, and I like the metaphor, too....

 

[Heimerfink]

I got a 36 and took it in april. Due to laziness and late LoR's, i had to apply mostly with the augusters... Guess what. I found out later, and I didn't get into any of the top schools. Hell, I'm still not in any school, but my friend with the 31 got 10 interviews and is already in 2 schools. Take it early. Get your stuff in. From my experience, the only thing you can count on them liking is applying early.

 

[theunderdog]

I got a 36 and took it in april. Due to laziness and late LoR's, i had to apply mostly with the augusters... Guess what. I found out later, and I didn't get into any of the top schools. Hell, I'm still not in any school, but my friend with the 31 got 10 interviews and is already in 2 schools. Take it early. Get your stuff in. From my experience, the only thing you can count on them liking is applying early.

heimerfink, i sympathize with you man. i'm sorry to hear that.

to the original poster, i was almost in a very similar situation. and you really should consider taking it in april. even if you do bad, you still at least have an april score.

 

[dbhvt]

actually, that information is not correct.

as an august mcater, i know for real!

most of the deadlines at the top schools are due by october 15 or october 1. my august mcat score didn't come out ONLINE until at least 4 days after the 15th.

as for the secondaries, it depends on whether you have taken the mcat before. if you have not, your aplpication will be INCOMPLETE at all schools on that october 15 deadline... for example, i believe yale has a october deadline and columbia has a november deadline.

if you have taken the mcat before, columbia and yale will both see that you are taking the august mcat. but they will send you a secondary and wait for your august score... they will take your aplpication after the deadline because you have an april score. but if you don't have a previous score and the deadline reaches but you dont get the august score in time, columbia and yale will both mark your app incomplete and consider auto-reject.

i know, because it happened to me.

I'm not sure what happened to the underdog, but I applied with an August only MCAT and had no problems with auto rejects from schools with deadlines before the scores came out. It's kind of hazy through the sake, but I seem to remember thinking this would be a problem, and talking to someone at AMCAS, who explained to me that it wasn't a problem.

Don't buy the hype--you're right, a 32 in April doesn't compare to a 36 in August. Just get some steel nerves, because you'll have to wait longer at non-rolling schools, and that is painful.

Your list looks pretty good to me (you're a Mass resident, I'm assuming), though i'd consider not wasting your money on NYU. They finish interviewing in December, and are that much less likely to get to August MCATers by my understanding.

 

[riceman04]

actually, that information is not correct.

as an august mcater, i know for real!

most of the deadlines at the top schools are due by october 15 or october 1. my august mcat score didn't come out ONLINE until at least 4 days after the 15th.

as for the secondaries, it depends on whether you have taken the mcat before. if you have not, your aplpication will be INCOMPLETE at all schools on that october 15 deadline... for example, i believe yale has a october deadline and columbia has a november deadline.

if you have taken the mcat before, columbia and yale will both see that you are taking the august mcat. but they will send you a secondary and wait for your august score... they will take your aplpication after the deadline because you have an april score. but if you don't have a previous score and the deadline reaches but you dont get the august score in time, columbia and yale will both mark your app incomplete and consider auto-reject.

i know, because it happened to me.

is this what someone in the admissions office told you or is this what you have come to suspect?

 

[theunderdog]

is this what someone in the admissions office told you or is this what you have come to suspect?

neither. i'm currently in this application cycle and it's by experience (stuff happening to me) that i know this. just trying to help another applicant out and not make the same mistakes as me.

i did get an interview to columbia though. and my august mcat was addressed at the interview.

 

[riceman04]

neither. i'm currently in this application cycle and it's by experience (stuff happening to me) that i know this. just trying to help another applicant out and not make the same mistakes as me.

i did get an interview to columbia though. and my august mcat was addressed at the interview.

Ok that's cool!!!

But I just went to the aamc/amcas website to check out the primary app deadlines for the schools and noticed that the schools you mentioned were on there. Emory is apart of that oct 15 deadline group too. I mention that school in particular b/c a friend of mine took the august mcat during the 2004 cycle for entrance in 2005 and she was accepted with no problem.

cya

 

[drmota]

not to hate, but the title of this thread is pretty funny. its as if we've all been waiting by our computer waiting for the verdict about when you will be taking the MCAT.

go with april. i did. and i have no regrets
-mota

 

[xaviera_o]

go with whatever you feel comfortable with.

i took the august MCAT and the scores are up by october 14th. this was enough time to get my columbia 2ndary in and receive and complete my nyu 2ndary as well as a number of others. i still got interviews at 12 out of 14 places i applied to and got in to the 2 i mentioned.

just make sure you don't wait til your MCAT scores are in to fill out everything that way the schools are only waiting on the MCAT scores and i guess all your other stuff needs to balance out (i mean extra-curriculars, GPA, and all that).

the good thing about columbia and nyu is that they are both non-rolling so even if you get a late interview you still have a chance.

good luck!

 

[MedChef]

I disagree with your premise. If you can get a 32 in April and think that you MIGHT get a 36+ in August I still say TAKE IT IN APRIL!!! The 32 with that GPA with decent ECs will get your foot in the door - but if you wait until August, the room on the other side of the door will be half full.

Take it in April.

I have to agree from personal experience; take it in April. You will be in a better position if you submit your primary and secondary applications in June/July.

Think of it this way: The earlier your apps are in, the earlier you will be eligible for an interview, and the earlier you will potentially get in. This year, I had some acceptances before and during December and it sure relieved alot of pressure and stress. Last time I applied, I was an August MCAT-er who interviewed in Jan/Feb, was then waitlisted come March and April, and never came off the waitlists. My MCAT was decent and my grades were stellar.

In the end it is your decision, but I hope that this helps.

 

[notdeadyet]

OP- there's really not so much controversy as it sounds on first read of all the replies.

Applying later due to the August MCAT (around mid-Oct at best) is a disadvantage. No arguments there. Applying early due to the April MCAT is (around mid-June) is much better. Applying early with a bad score is WORSE than applying late with a good score.

'Nuff said. If you can pull a decent score in April, do it. If you can't, wait until August. Personally, I'm on the fence and will wait until just before the April MCAT to determine if I'm capable of getting a decent score; if not, I'll postpone until August.