is taking the MCAT in August too late for 2021-2022 cycle?

[TempestNinefingers]

Hi,

life has been hectic lately and I feel like I should push my MCAT date to August so that I am 100% prepared. Do people think this will be too late?

I know this cycle is a little different since there are schools that aren't requiring the MCAT (or at least some are not giving admission offers until MCAT score is received, but will send secondaries). I am waiting on one transcript and then I will be submitting my app for verification (to a throwaway school) next week once my transcript is received. I'm a nontrad and my sGPA is 3.48 (cGPA = 3.35), so I'm relying on a strong MCAT showing. Any advice would be appreciated

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[Goro]

The earlier, the better. Late Aug? not good for MD, but still fine for DO

 

[TempestNinefingers]

The earlier, the better. Late Aug? not good for MD, but still fine for DO

Do you think that that standard is different this year due to COVID?

 

[Flareicus]

Do you think that that standard is different this year due to COVID?

No. Schools said that last cycle when the pandemic was at its worst. The vast majority of schools pretty much went right along with their typical timelines, and late applicants which listened to schools saying they would be "lenient" got screwed over.

With the pandemic ending in a large amount of areas in the US, it would be foolish to rely on schools being understanding, especially now.

 

[Mr.Blackdoc.5]

Do you think that that standard is different this year due to COVID?

No, plenty of other people who have their things together in a timely manner

late mcat is not ideal but if you are a superstar applicant and mainly applying to “non-rolling” schools you may be ok. Even then, every school has rolling interviews so even then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. I took the mcat in July but didn’t get first secondaries in until October and still had a good cycle. But I’m sure it would have gone better had I done things earlier. If you do this and have submitted your primary application plan to have your secondaries completed by Labor Day when you get the mcat score back . But this is risky if you don’t do well on the teat

rushing to take the mcat and scoring lower than your target may be worse depending on how poor you do

Best case scenario is to put everything into the mcat and take it when you are ready. Then submit an application as early as possible, but that may not fit your timeline

 

[Goro]

No. Schools said that last cycle when the pandemic was at its worst. The vast majority of schools pretty much went right along with their typical timelines, and late applicants which listened to schools saying they would be "lenient" got screwed over.

With the pandemic ending in a large amount of areas in the US, it would be foolish to rely on schools being understanding, especially now.

This is true, but keep in mind that apps were up everywhere, much to our surprise.

 

[PostiveVibesOnly]

The earlier, the better. Late Aug? not good for MD, but still fine for DO

How about early August for this year?

 

[Goro]

How about early August for this year?

Fine

 

[PostiveVibesOnly]

Fine

Thank you so much for replying, but to clarify this goes for MD as well?

 

[Goro]

Thank you so much for replying, but to clarify this goes for MD as well?

Yup

 

[PostiveVibesOnly]

Yup

Great! Thank you so much for clarifying!

 

[spartandoc2019]

@Goro if the app is complete by late aug is that okay for MD? i wasn't sure from the earlier post if you meant late Aug MCAT or late aug complete

 

[Goro]

@Goro if the app is complete by late aug is that okay for MD?

Yes

 

[d0s3key]

Hi,
I was lurking on this and had a similar question. I took the MCAT in April but received a low score. If I were to have my AMCAS application processed and complete by July, but retake my MCAT in early August, will I be at a disadvantage for MD schools?

 

[candbgirl]

Hi,
I was lurking on this and had a similar question. I took the MCAT in April but received a low score. If I were to have my AMCAS application processed and complete by July, but retake my MCAT in early August, will I be at a disadvantage for MD schools?

You should have started your own thread. This one is 11 months old.

You can do whatever you want to do but even when you indicate on your primary that you have a MCAT date scheduled, schools are under no obligation to wait for the new score to screen your primary. Many schools will wait and many won’t .
Also many schools average multiple MCAT scores. There is no way to know what schools do or don’t. So whenever you decide to retake your test be fully ready. Two bad scores would be very unfortunate.
Good luck.