Interview: Explain Low MCAT Score

[qui1027]

hey everyone! What kind of response do you give to the interviewer regarding a low score on your MCATs? I got an 8 on PS but 10 and 11 on others...I really think it was due to misbubbling at the end of the test, but I don't want to completely contribute the score to that...here's what i told them:
1) the score was kind of a shock to me since i was scoring 10's and 11's on the practice test
2) i've gotten A's in my physics and chemistry classes
3) it might have been due to misbubbling at the last 3 minutes of the exam (i would leave bubble in half of hte exam then come back to it at the end)

both interviewers wrote down this explanation..i'm thinking it's legit?

one interviewer asked me, why did you not re-take it? all i could say was that hopefully my grades in school will show them i know the material and that my score might have been due to misbubbling..i also told them that i wanted to focus on my work and applications during the summer before the cycle...i think she was kinda pissed at me for saying that but that's how i really felt..ahhh! is anyone else in the same situation? How do you answer this question without it hurting you even more?

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[C.P. Jones]

i was asked that at drexel, since i scored low on the ps section

my answer was b/c i skipped out of college chem and half of physics b/c of UConn co-op credits (not even AP, so much easier, and many many credits).
basically i didn't learn anything in those classes (i didn't say that at the interview). so obviously it's a bit hard to take a chem/physics test w/o really taking those classes....and i'm pretty impressed w/ my score anyway since for me i was just learning a lot studying for the mcat

 

[67192]

hey everyone! What kind of response do you give to the interviewer regarding a low score on your MCATs? I got an 8 on PS but 10 and 11 on others...I really think it was due to misbubbling at the end of the test, but I don't want to completely contribute the score to that...here's what i told them:
1) the score was kind of a shock to me since i was scoring 10's and 11's on the practice test
2) i've gotten A's in my physics and chemistry classes
3) it might have been due to misbubbling at the last 3 minutes of the exam (i would leave bubble in half of hte exam then come back to it at the end)

both interviewers wrote down this explanation..i'm thinking it's legit?

one interviewer asked me, why did you not re-take it? all i could say was that hopefully my grades in school will show them i know the material and that my score might have been due to misbubbling..i also told them that i wanted to focus on my work and applications during the summer before the cycle...i think she was kinda pissed at me for saying that but that's how i really felt..ahhh! is anyone else in the same situation? How do you answer this question without it hurting you even more?

Seems like you handled it pretty well... I would definitely stick to the truth- just tell them you were too busy to retake the MCAT. If you don't get accepted to the school you want to go to, however, and they tell you it was only because of your low PS MCAT score, you may want to seriously reconsider taking it again next year and reapplying. For now, all you can do is be honest and hope they understand!

I have a somewhat low VR score (9), but am in a different situation. My VR practice test scores were all over the board from an 8 to a 12; it just depended on the test I was given. I totally did not "connect" with my real VR MCAT test and was expecting a low score... therefore, I was content with my 9. So, if I had the question, I would just be honest and say that based on my feeling during the test, I was satisfied with my 9 and was happy with the rest of the test, so decided not to retake.

 

[63768]

just tell the whatever is the truth. i don't know how well they'd buy the last reason w/ misbubbling but the other ones seem like valid reasons.

 

[QofQuimica]

hey everyone! What kind of response do you give to the interviewer regarding a low score on your MCATs? I got an 8 on PS but 10 and 11 on others...I really think it was due to misbubbling at the end of the test, but I don't want to completely contribute the score to that...here's what i told them:
1) the score was kind of a shock to me since i was scoring 10's and 11's on the practice test
2) i've gotten A's in my physics and chemistry classes
3) it might have been due to misbubbling at the last 3 minutes of the exam (i would leave bubble in half of hte exam then come back to it at the end)

both interviewers wrote down this explanation..i'm thinking it's legit?

one interviewer asked me, why did you not re-take it? all i could say was that hopefully my grades in school will show them i know the material and that my score might have been due to misbubbling..i also told them that i wanted to focus on my work and applications during the summer before the cycle...i think she was kinda pissed at me for saying that but that's how i really felt..ahhh! is anyone else in the same situation? How do you answer this question without it hurting you even more?

I don't think they're looking for any specific answer when they ask you these kinds of questions as much as they just want to see how you'll respond. I've been asked about being ten years older than my future classmates, not having graded pre-reqs, being in school for so many years, and other such "weaknesses." So it's not just you; they do this to everyone. If you stay calm and give a reasonable response, you should be fine. FWIW, I don't think that your MCAT score is objectively low; 29 is statistically a pretty normal score for matriculated med students.

 

[BooMed]

A 29 is low enough to ask about? Jeez, where were you interviewing?

I used the time I would have spent studying to retake the MCAT volunteering, working and having a life.

Once you get in nobody will give a whit about your MCAT score.

 

[QofQuimica]

Once you get in nobody will give a whit about your MCAT score.

Agree.

 

[caffeine37]

I got asked about a "low" MCAT score at drexel too! my score is at their average AND they gave us a talk in the morning about how they "aren't all about numbers". I don't understand why an interviewer would make a fuss about an MCAT score during an interview, when its something that they can learn about you before you are invited to miss a day of work/school/etc. do they just invite us to interviews for kicks? what the heck.

 

[BooMed]

I can't stand it when I hear about applicants being asked to explain each B on their transcript.

Since when is a B a bad grade?!?!?!

I would want to laugh at interviewer and tell them that I had two jobs and a life.

 

[tigress]

The only question I got like this was also at Drexel. My interviewer asked me about my one C (in physics), and I explained, and that was that. I think as long as you have a good explanation (and qui1027, yours sounds great to me) you can just go on with the rest of the interview. I was actually glad tohave the opportunity to explain that C. I didn't say anything in my application, because I didn't want to draw attention to it and I didn't want to seem like I was making excuses, but I do have a good explanation and I was happy to be able to provide it.

but yeah, since when is 29 a bad score?? It's not excellent, but it's certainly good enough to be in med school, and not needing explanation... I have friends with 27 and 28 who are at an excellent, ranked school. There's much more to a person than MCAT score!

 

[qui1027]

thanks everyone for the info....i think i'll just leave out the misbubbling thing...funny how they fail to mention the great stuff on your app and just grill you for one lil thing..=I

 

[RayhanS1282]

I would have just gone off on the guy and be like "you think you can do any better you smug sonofa ......." But that's the hidden ballsy me that never show up. I have to say you handled it pretty well, I would have just sat there uncomfortably and smiled saying, "yeah, well, it surprised the heck out of me too".

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

thanks everyone for the info....i think i'll just leave out the misbubbling thing...funny how they fail to mention the great stuff on your app and just grill you for one lil thing..=I

Could it be that the admissions committee who asks about your MCAT score (and a 29 is perfectly respectable!) doesn't care at all about your score - they just care about how you answer the question? When I think about how important the MCAT is to all of us, it strikes me that asking about one's score is not a bad way at all to evaluate character and maturity. We all had a lot of blood, sweat, tears, and ego involvement in our MCAT, and probably none of us can be impartial when we discuss our scores.

If I were on a committee asking about the MCAT and a candidate gave me a reasonable explanation (and mis-bubbling can and does happen) in which he/she took responsibility for his/her performance, I would be favorably impressed. If a candidate blamed a low section score on his parents, his school, and the mean MCAT proctor who kept sneering at him - well, that would raise some serious doubts for me about that candidate even if the rest of the app looked great.

 

[crazy_cavalier]

Weird. I had the same total score (29), but 8 in the VR. I'm guessing the R on my writing section helped illustrate that I'm not totally inept at using the English language...

but I digress. The "low" MCAT never came up in interview, unless I brought it up, to which I added "If I don't get in anywhere this cycle, then I plan on retaking in April"

 

[juiceman311]

Some schools ask you to explain every B on your transcript??? I really hope there's no one waiting to interview behind me, and that the interviewers get paid overtime. With a 3.27, I have a lot of explaiining to do...hopefully less next year, but as of now...

 

[thegenius]

On more than one occasion I've been asked about my two previous MCAT scores that I took in '96 and '98, I scored a 7 and a 6 on the verbal section (accordingly).

There are two reasons for me, 1) I've never, ever neen good at verbal reasoning on any standardized test I've ever took, and 2) test anxiety.

Upon retaking the test in 2004, I shot up into the 80th percentile in Verbal and I attribute that to 1) Over the past 8-10 years I'm a better reader and comprehender, and 2) I was not nervous, AT ALL, for the MCAT.

If you think bad bubbling is the answer then just say that.