July vs. August....HELP! Need to change in 4 days!

[k2on3hru]

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Hey,

I am sure this question has been asked many many many many times, but unfortunately.....I need to make my decision to move my MCAT date in 4 DAYS and It would be nice to have someones' opinion on this. I am currently signed up for the May 19th MCAT and I am not scoring as high as I want to (I've taken 3 practice tests and I've gotten up to a 31). I really want to move my date to June 21 so that I can spend time looking over my mistakes and hopefully improve my verbal. So I was wondering if submitting my application in late July/ early august would hurt my chances. I am familiar with the whole getting your application verified trick, but I don't really know how that works when you're using a school committee (they want MCAT scores before they review your file.) I will honestly appreciate all the help that I can get...any comments in the next 4 days. Everyone that I know is trying to get their application ready to go in June and I'm sure this is very helpful, but I was wondering if people who apply a bit later are really THAT disadvantaged. Here are my stats:


Double Major: B.S. Biochemistry, B.A. Chemistry
CGPA: 3.9 SGPA 3.92

Awards/Honors
Scholarship in Biochemistry
Another Scholarship
College and University Honors Program
Statewide Research Fellowship ($5000)

Research
Lab at School : 2 years. 1 publication
Lab at a Medical School: 3 months. Will continue

Leadership
T.A. for Orgo II
Tutored for a company
2 leadership positions in a fraternity (over 1 year)

Clinical
Volunteered at a small private clinic in a reallllly small town. 150 hours
Shadowed a doctor at the same place. 50 hours
Volunteered at a hospital 100 hours


Thanks for helping me out. Really appreciate it.

 

[unrealplayer]

Ideally you want to submit your application ASAP. Everyday that goes by, literally hundreds of people are submitting their applications. Nonetheless, your chances are not blown if you submit everything in mid July. I know some people with similar/less impressive stats as yours who received multiple MD school acceptances (Applied mid-late July). When it's all said and done, your MCAT is the most important factor in your control right now. The date you apply doesn't matter if you get a bad score. If waiting to take your MCAT at a later date means you will be confident and well prepared, then so be it. Confidence is huge when entering the MCAT. Take it one step at a time, dominate the MCAT first then worry about applying. Your GPA and activities are solid. It won't hurt you too much if you apply later.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

scoring a 33 in and submitting at the end of july trumps getting a 29 and submitting at the end of june. When you are waiting for your scores, bust out your application so when you get our scores you can submit. You have a great application. Get the MCAT score you need and you will have success. When waiting for verification, prewrite some secondaries and you should be fine.

 

[DanGee777]

From http://admissions.med.miami.edu/questions/mcat-questions , just to give one example:

"Will taking the MCAT in August hurt my chances of getting accepted to medical school?

Admissions offices get this question all the time and for us the answer is no. Scores from the August test usually reach medical schools in the first half of September. Most schools are just beginning the interview process at that time. If you are going to take the MCAT in August, the best thing to do is to send in everything else needed to complete your application way before September. That way, when your MCAT scores arrive in September your application will become complete instantly."


If they don't think an August MCAT hurts you, then it's hard to see how a June one does. Some schools may disagree but I believe more than a few of them like good scores whenever they see them. Sure, it's rolling admissions, but if you can pick up 2 extra points with a month of extra studying, it's worth it.

 

[k2on3hru]

Ah ok thanks alot. Definitely feel better about changing my date now! Hope I can get my score up!

 

[notbobtrustme]

From http://admissions.med.miami.edu/questions/mcat-questions , just to give one example:

"Will taking the MCAT in August hurt my chances of getting accepted to medical school?

Admissions offices get this question all the time and for us the answer is no. Scores from the August test usually reach medical schools in the first half of September. Most schools are just beginning the interview process at that time. If you are going to take the MCAT in August, the best thing to do is to send in everything else needed to complete your application way before September. That way, when your MCAT scores arrive in September your application will become complete instantly."


If they don't think an August MCAT hurts you, then it's hard to see how a June one does. Some schools may disagree but I believe more than a few of them like good scores whenever they see them. Sure, it's rolling admissions, but if you can pick up 2 extra points with a month of extra studying, it's worth it.

I dunno, that's just one medical school out of 117 across the nation. The data is pretty convincing that applying late hurts your chances significantly. Many schools have already sent out the first wave of acceptances by mid-Oct and have already lined up interviews for Oct/Nov/Dec. There are schools that don't operate on rolling admissions, but they tend to be highly selective. Finally, who knows when that page was written. Back when the MCAT was offered two times a year, an August MCAT might have not have mattered since you would be dropped into one of two groups (April vs August). Now, there's a steady trickle of applicants throughout the season and getting your application on an adcoms desk faster is better.

To put it in perspective, I scored a 37, applied end of Sept/mid-Oct and received only two interview invites in March/April.

 

[k2on3hru]

Well...great now I get to think about this more. Thats an awesome score! but then again im only trying to delay it till mid july. Do you think that will make a difference or no? I dont think I would feel comfortable with the august mcat thats pretty late.

 

[theseeker4]

Well...great now I get to think about this more. Thats an awesome score! but then again im only trying to delay it till mid july. Do you think that will make a difference or no? I dont think I would feel comfortable with the august mcat thats pretty late.

How much do you really think you can improve your score between your scheduled MCAT and the July one? If you might gain a point or two, I wouldn't bother. If you really think you can bump it by several points in that time, I am sure your increase in score will offset the less early (since it really isn't that late) application.

ETA: the person above applied in late Sept/early Oct. You will have your score in hand in mid-Aug assuming a mid-July test. There is a big tipping point between the two.

 

[k2on3hru]

CRAP. Jun 21st date is closed in my state. Next available date is July 6th.....What about that?

 

[k2on3hru]

So you dont think august is too late? This sucks man. Should I just take a year off and apply early next year?

 

[penguinism]

So you dont think august is too late? This sucks man. Should I just take a year off and apply early next year?

If you have EVERYTHING ELSE complete, then taking the July 6th MCAT will not be a problem. I was complete in mid-August for most schools due to my late committee letter. I received a few interviews almost instantaneously, and many more throughout the cycle. If you submit your primary application (you can always add more schools later) and get it verified by the time you take your MCAT, then you will hopefully be able to write secondaries in the month before you get your score back. The only problem I foresee is turnover time from your MCAT score release until your committee letter is sent in. If the school can do it right away, great. If it's going to take them another month to write it after you get your score, then you have a bigger problem. A friend of mine had his committee letter delayed until late August and it cost him an acceptance at one school that was full before he even interviewed in late November. That's n=1 though.

 

[k2on3hru]

Thank you so much! I just looked into the committee letter and apparently I have the option of submitting to the committee without my MCAT scores so I might just do that. I'll talk to my advisor and see what she says. But seriously, thanks a lot.

 

[notbobtrustme]

So you dont think august is too late? This sucks man. Should I just take a year off and apply early next year?

If you are complete in early August, you should be okay. Don't be complete in mid-Sept like I was.

 

[Bing4]

Hey! I was having the same problem glad to hear that applying in July/early August should be alright.

I am scheduled for the may 31st exam, I think I am going to push it back to the June 21st exam, which bums me out because I wanted/ originally planned to go back to Africa during that time to help my friend handle the NGO we started together.

the problem is I am very behind in my MCAT studying, I have only just got through reviewing gen chem. The Nato summit is just around the corner here in Chicago and there is a lot of work to be done as an employee of campus environmental health and safety office.

But from what I am hearing it is important to be confident going into the exam, which at this point I definitely would not be with only two weeks to prepare and my basics not solid.

I am nervous about applying late, but if I plan ahead well enough I should be able to submit the application for verification during early June and have it all done at the latest early August. I would really like to get into the state school in particular because it's what I can afford.

I haven't taken any full length practice test yet 🙁 but I think anything over a 30 would make me happy. Should I be trying for something higher?

Other stats:

Major: Biology/ 4.0 GPA

Extra curricular and experience:

medic in Army
some children's hospital volunteering (only for a semester)
campus EMT/ student EMT job
Volunteering at a clinic in rural Ghana
Volunteer at elementary school in Ghana
Founded a small NGO in Ghana to help homeless girls and women.

No research, no student orgs. 🙁

Sorry for being redundant.

 

[alexrgross]

With really solid GPA, I think applying late only reduces chances of interview by about 10 - 20 %. This is based on the fact that most schools interview well into January and Feburary, and that GPA puts you into a bracket with fewer more elite applicants.