Is it worth retaking the MCAT ? 513

[Mugi7]

Hi everyone, i took the MCAT and scored a 513 (130/127/130/126, 89th percentile) and i'm very seriously considering retaking it for several reasons:

• My undergraduate GPA is not bad, but it definitely seems to be lower than the average pre-med (3.63 cGPA, ~3.85 sGPA). I'm also an ORM, Asian to be exact.
• Definitely not trying to brag but i feel like i could improve my MCAT scores to make up for my GPA. This may seem delusional but I feel like i was definitely not well-prepared for the MCAT test i took. I barely prepared the P/S section content and did not prepare well enough for C/P and B/B; hence, there were quite a few memorization questions on the test that completely caught me off guard.

More info on my situation: Going to do a M.S with thesis in biochemistry for the next 2 years to see whether a career in academic medicine is right for me (that is if i ever get accepted into med school 😀) and also to improve my ECs.
I appreciate any advice and input. Thank you!

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[BigBoss]

You may take the risk of scoring lower if you retake, which would look bad on an application.


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[787593]

You’d be foolish to retake

 

[retrofusion720]

Don't get too greedy or it would bite you in the behind.

 

[Drekan311]

Hi everyone, i took the MCAT and scored a 513 (130/127/130/126, 89th percentile) and i'm very seriously considering retaking it for several reasons:

• My undergraduate GPA is not bad, but it definitely seems to be lower than the average pre-med (3.63 cGPA, ~3.85 sGPA). I'm also an ORM, Asian to be exact.
• Definitely not trying to brag but i feel like i could improve my MCAT scores to make up for my GPA. This may seem delusional but I feel like i was definitely not well-prepared for the MCAT test i took. I barely prepared the P/S section content and did not prepare well enough for C/P and B/B; hence, there were quite a few memorization questions on the test that completely caught me off guard.

More info on my situation: Going to do a M.S with thesis in biochemistry for the next 2 years to see whether a career in academic medicine is right for me (that is if i ever get accepted into med school 😀) and also to improve my ECs.
I appreciate any advice and input. Thank you!

Don't retake! 513 isn't a bad score! From my experience, i have seen people getting into top 10 with a 513!

 

[smukke]

Why you not get 1000? Tiger mom not happy with odd score (the first thing my parents did was ask me what the perfect score was)

To be fair, you may have to retake if you're doing a 2 year MS depending on what your timeline is. Don't do it now.

 

[puahate]

no

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

Dude you have a 90 percentile MCAT and nearly a 3.9 science GPA. There is no need to retake MCAT or take any more classes. If you want to take a gap year to improve extracurriculars then go ahead.

 

[jj_Sharp2]

I think it's a very personal decision and you need to be very confident you will increase if you decide to. I don't mean you think you can do better, but that you fundamentally understand exactly what went wrong the first time and are certain it is fixable while not lowering any other scores. Even then, there's still a big chance that you can go down or not improve as everyone says.

But for what it's worth - I retook from 512 to 519 so I resonate with you. But note I only did so because I knew I'd have a full month off from school to restudy for the second time and I recognized exactly what had gone wrong the first time.

 

[LAIsTheBestPlaceEver]

I will never take that risk...

 

[Dwight Snoot]

Probably not worth the added stress of retaking, but if you really think you could significantly increase your score it would certainly open up higher tier schools. I'd only consider it if you are certain you will do better and you really want to get into a top tier school.

 

[71ubpmk]

Don’t retake. Spend that time developing weaker parts of your application.


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[Pagan FutureDoc]

You would need a SUBSTANTIAL improvement to make it not look like poor judgement on your part.
The risks way outweigh and perceived rewards

 

[Walter Raleigh]

I would retake only if you've gotten back-to-back 518+ scores on official AAMC practice tests, taken under conditions approximating Test Day. You really need a 518+ on that test in order for a retake to not look like hubris. If you've been knocking out stellar practice-test scores in the 520s and had a fever that day, go for it. If not? How confident are you that you can make a significant improvement, and how much are you willing to bet on it?

 

[Kpw101]

Barring any weird red flags or bad ECs, you're likely to get in somewhere. If you want to get into a top 20, you'll certainly improve your chances with a better MCAT but even with a higher MCAT T20s are a crapshoot. That also comes at a risk of scoring lower and hurting your chances at the schools you were likely to get into. Good luck!

 

[Goro]

Hi everyone, i took the MCAT and scored a 513 (130/127/130/126, 89th percentile) and i'm very seriously considering retaking it for several reasons:

• My undergraduate GPA is not bad, but it definitely seems to be lower than the average pre-med (3.63 cGPA, ~3.85 sGPA). I'm also an ORM, Asian to be exact.
• Definitely not trying to brag but i feel like i could improve my MCAT scores to make up for my GPA. This may seem delusional but I feel like i was definitely not well-prepared for the MCAT test i took. I barely prepared the P/S section content and did not prepare well enough for C/P and B/B; hence, there were quite a few memorization questions on the test that completely caught me off guard.

More info on my situation: Going to do a M.S with thesis in biochemistry for the next 2 years to see whether a career in academic medicine is right for me (that is if i ever get accepted into med school 😀) and also to improve my ECs.
I appreciate any advice and input. Thank you!

Adcoms dislike the attitude of "I think I could have done better." We dislike perfectionist tendencies.

 

[Harambe]

Adcoms dislike the attitude of "I think I could have done better." We dislike perfectionist tendencies.

To clarify my situation to OP, I retook my original 513 after an unsuccessful application cycle.

 

[Mugi7]

It seems like retaking may not be worth it after all. Thank you everyone for your advice!

 

[Dagrimsta1]

Lmao the humble brag is real.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

lets fight