Latest time to retake the MCAT?

[nick1456]

So I recently took the MCAT, got a 511 and planning on retake (low cars, high state school averages, ORM), and when would be the latest I could take with still being really early? My advisor said late June is fine, although I don't know how this situation will work since I already have an MCAT score. Do I get verified right away if I Submit on June 1st? I'm really focused on getting it in as EARLY as possible and start pre-writing secondaries to my state school in June.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

What are your subsection breakdowns? CARs is given most leniency among the subsections. SDN generally does not support retaking a 511 since the risk of not doing better outweighs the reward.

 

[nick1456]

What is your subsections breakdown? CARs is given most leniency among the subsections. SDN generally does not support retaking a 511 since the risk of not doing better outweighs the reward.

128/125/130/128, but I am mainly doing it because my practice scores were in the 520s, and felt like I really underperformed that day. I totally understand the risk, but I am kind of going with it.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

This is from @gonnif

1) MCAT has absolutely nothing to do with verification of AMCAS. You can submit AMCAS without MCAT score
2) You can send your AMCAS primary application on June 1 and have your transcript sent in prior.
***Please Note: You do not enter the verification queue until BOTH your primary application AND your transcripts have been received
3) Once you have submitted your AMCAS it is final with not essay or EC changes.
4) Once your application is verified, you can add more schools later without delay
5) NEVER SUBMIT AN APPLICATION WITHOUT KNOWING YOUR MCAT SCORE except for a single "throwaway school" that you do want to go to or is such a reach you are unlikely to be accepted. This is done SOLELY to get verification completed.
6) After you get your MCAT score back, you then can add schools without affecting you verification or transmission timeline
7) Focus on MCAT until its completed. Do not get sidetracked by AMCAS.
8) AMCAS opens on May 2, submission May 31, Transmission begins June 29, Being transmitted by August 1 is still rather early

That 125 CARs will not prevent you from getting into medical schools as long as everything else is in order. You do you fam, but I can not recommend a retake...

 

[nick1456]

@DV-T
Thanks for the in-depth response. So I can just submit to one reach school as soon as it opens and then just add schools once I get my score back right? And I'm guessing score will automatically update when I retake it?

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Yes, once AMCAS opens, you can fill out it out and submit your app to be verified after selecting a "throwaway" school. This will start the verification process. I believe on AMCAS, there is an option that you click or fill in where you indicate you will be taking a second MCAT.

Once you get back your second MCAT, then you can add other schools. AMCAS will then transmit your app to the other schools within 1-2 business days.

 

[HomeSkool]

The best time to retake that is never. Retaking a 511 is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could do. Aside from 511 being a fine score, becoming a 2X MCAT taker will do more to harm your application than any score increase could help.

@Goro, please weigh in here.

 

[21Rush12]

I think with the score you have, you are very likely to be accepted as is. However you’re not here to hear me tell you what you know, which is that it’s probably not advisable to retake.

If you have to do this:

In my opinion, you should take the MCAT May 24, for a June 26 score release.

Focus entirely on the MCAT, take it, and then use June to finish compiling your application. On 6/26, get your score back and then submit your app for verification to all the schools you want to apply to.

I don’t see a reason to submit early and distract yourself with AMCAS when you should be MCAT studying, and submitting 3.5 weeks into the cycle is still plenty early enough to enjoy all the benefits of an early application.

To the experts, am I missing something?

 

[Dr. Snow]

This is from @gonnif

1) MCAT has absolutely nothing to do with verification of AMCAS. You can submit AMCAS without MCAT score
2) You can send your AMCAS primary application on June 1 and have your transcript sent in prior.
***Please Note: You do not enter the verification queue until BOTH your primary application AND your transcripts have been received
3) Once you have submitted your AMCAS it is final with not essay or EC changes.
4) Once your application is verified, you can add more schools later without delay
5) NEVER SUBMIT AN APPLICATION WITHOUT KNOWING YOUR MCAT SCORE except for a single "throwaway school" that you do want to go to or is such a reach you are unlikely to be accepted. This is done SOLELY to get verification completed.
6) After you get your MCAT score back, you then can add schools without affecting you verification or transmission timeline
7) Focus on MCAT until its completed. Do not get sidetracked by AMCAS.
8) AMCAS opens on May 2, submission May 31, Transmission begins June 29, Being transmitted by August 1 is still rather early

That 125 CARs will not prevent you from getting into medical schools as long as everything else is in order. You do you fam, but I can not recommend a retake...

Quick question! So I will be taking my MCAT June 16 and won't get my score back until July 16. If I submit my application on June 1 without my score, will schools see other people's application that have their MCAT scores before me?

When do schools actually start viewing people's applications and begin sending secondary applications or interview invites?

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Quick question! So I will be taking my MCAT June 16 and won't get my score back until July 16. If I submit my application on June 1 without my score, will schools see other people's application that have their MCAT scores before me?
When do schools actually start viewing people's applications and begin sending secondary applications or interview invites?

Schools will not start reviewing your app until it is complete. This means they must have at least your MCAT score. If other apps are complete before yours is, then schools will review them before yours.

Reviewing apps, sending out secondaries, and II are entirely school dependent.

 

[Dr. Snow]

Schools will not start reviewing your app until it is complete. This means they must have at least your MCAT score. If other apps are complete before yours is, then schools will review them before yours.

Reviewing apps, sending out secondaries, and II are entirely school dependent.

I've heard many schools send secondary applications before they even receive an MCAT score as long as you applied to the school.

So wouldn't it be beneficial to apply to all the schools you want to apply to right away on June 1st (if you are confident you did well on the MCAT) so you can receive and complete your secondaries faster/increase their quality?

 

[21Rush12]

@Dr. Snow your MCAT will upload immediately when the score is released. Will schools see other applications before yours shows up? Yes.
Will it matter this early in the cycle? Not one bit.

 

[SpoiledMilk]

So wouldn't it be beneficial to apply to all the schools you want to apply to right away on June 1st (if you are confident you did well on the MCAT) so you can receive and complete your secondaries faster/increase their quality?

It is advisable to not transmit your app to schools that you really would attend without a MCAT score already in hand. Thus the advice about sending your app to a "throwaway" school to get your AMCAS verified is sound.

 

[nick1456]

The best time to retake that is never. Retaking a 511 is quite possibly the dumbest thing you could do. Aside from 511 being a fine score, becoming a 2X MCAT taker will do more to harm your application than any score increase could help.

@Goro, please weigh in here.

I have really given this a thought. I have kind of diagnosed what went wrong on my exam day, and specially for CARS. I did score in the 520s on FL 3/2, and consistently scored over 513ish for Altius (I Understand they are third party and thus not representative), and 512+ on the NS exams. This score was shocking to me, as I never expected anything this low. If I were to improve, hypothetically, to 516, would that look bad? According to my advisor, any retake above my score looks better, although I know this isn't the case at all, since a small jump within the confidence band is actually looked down upon.

 

[nick1456]

Applying to medical is as much reducing risk as it is impressing an adcom or being “early”. You have already impacted having the most efficient application cycle thus having the optimal chances by taking a late MCAT which is solely under your control. Now you want to compound that issue by inserting a huge risk by submitting applications to multiple schools without knowing your MCAT score based on your perception of how you did?

Every cycle we get people who walk out of MCAT absolutely sure they bombed it getting a 512 and those who are sure they did well getting a 501. And if you submit your application w/o a score to 20 schools and you get a 501, you will then likely be a reject from those schools as well as reapplicant next cycle.

Applying w/o knowing your MCAT score is a one of my top 10 premed application mistakes and is a foolish step to take

Thank you for the input, I will definitely reconsider my decision. I was aiming for at least mid-tier med schools (since I'm ORM) and thus felt like I needed to retake the exam.

 

[Dr. Snow]

Applying to medical is as much reducing risk as it is impressing an adcom or being “early”. You have already impacted having the most efficient application cycle thus having the optimal chances by taking a late MCAT which is solely under your control. Now you want to compound that issue by inserting a huge risk by submitting applications to multiple schools without knowing your MCAT score based on your perception of how you did?

Every cycle we get people who walk out of MCAT absolutely sure they bombed it getting a 512 and those who are sure they did well getting a 501. And if you submit your application w/o a score to 20 schools and you get a 501, you will then likely be a reject from those schools as well as reapplicant next cycle.

Applying w/o knowing your MCAT score is a one of my top 10 premed application mistakes and is a foolish step to take

So your advice is to wait to add schools until I get my score back on July 16? How late will my secondaries come if I do this?

Not everyone can have the perfect application cycle you speak of. I just want to maximize my chances of getting in with my current situation. I believe having the extra month off before my MCAT will help my score a lot and my current semester is very busy.

 

[HomeSkool]

I have really given this a thought. I have kind of diagnosed what went wrong on my exam day, and specially for CARS. I did score in the 520s on FL 3/2, and consistently scored over 513ish for Altius (I Understand they are third party and thus not representative), and 512+ on the NS exams. This score was shocking to me, as I never expected anything this low. If I were to improve, hypothetically, to 516, would that look bad? According to my advisor, any retake above my score looks better, although I know this isn't the case at all, since a small jump within the confidence band is actually looked down upon.

As @gonnif noted above, if you were to improve your score to the 517-518 range, that would be seen positively, but that's very hard to do. Overall, the probability of you harming your application is greater than the likelihood of helping it. A 511 is a perfectly good score; coupled with strong academics and ECs, you should be just fine.

 

[Gilakend]

What were your practice tests? If your AAMC practice tests were 520+ I would agree it should be considered. But if you were in the 508-513ish score range I think it would be hard to improve to 518+ Especially in just a couple months

 

[Isoval]

I’m a little late, but I’ll hop on the train too:

Retaking your score is kind of stupid unless you have your heart set on T20 and you’ve been having a sky-high showing on practice exams.

There is no logical reason why your score alone would keep you out of most medical schools. Possibly it’d make a list of reasons why you won’t receive an interview or won’t be accepted, but nobody is going to point to your MCAT score and say “this is why you didn’t get in”.

 

[Lucca]

Gonna break with consensus on this one.

We have someone who is already practiced and prepped and was scoring well on AAMC practice exams. It’s perfectly likely to score below your AAMC exams (I did as well), but a 9 point difference is considerable.

If you have absolute confidence that you can score above a 515, I would practice, practice, practice for that score. You can devote as much of your time as you need to do this and if you are proactive about collecting your letters, writing your PS, etc then you will be well on your way. After your exam you can focus on putting your application together and still be on time for the cycle.

There are good reasons to wait for another cycle or take a gap year.
I don’t think that having to spend 2 weeks in June studying for an exam is a good reason to wait a year. You should still be able to be complete everywhere you apply before August.

That being said, I think your score will be good enough to get in and only you can decide if the risk of a retake is worth it. I’ve known people who’ve retaken higher scores and been very successful.

 

[Goro]

Gonna break with consensus on this one.

We have someone who is already practiced and prepped and was scoring well on AAMC practice exams. It’s perfectly likely to score below your AAMC exams (I did as well), but a 9 point difference is considerable.

If you have absolute confidence that you can score above a 515, I would practice, practice, practice for that score. You can devote as much of your time as you need to do this and if you are proactive about collecting your letters, writing your PS, etc then you will be well on your way. After your exam you can focus on putting your application together and still be on time for the cycle.

There are good reasons to wait for another cycle or take a gap year.
I don’t think that having to spend 2 weeks in June studying for an exam is a good reason to wait a year. You should still be able to be complete everywhere you apply before August.

That being said, I think your score will be good enough to get in and only you can decide if the risk of a retake is worth it. I’ve known people who’ve retaken higher scores and been very successful.

I'll have to disagree with my young colleague because from all the SDN posts I've seen on this subject, people are far more likely to to either:
get the same score
improve only by 1-2 popints
get a worse score.

I understand the desire to get into Harvard/Stamford class schools, but the OP already has a low CARS score. This implies ESL or 1st generation American, and it's a harder thing to fix the CARS deficits than it is for simple unpreparedness or having test taking anxiety.

Again, I understand ambition, but to me, retaking a perfectly fine score that will get the OP into every DO school, and tons of MD schools is a sign of hubris and wishful thinking.

So, OP, try a cycle and see how it shakes out. If you are shut out by next January, then retake.

I suggest these schools with your score:
Hofstra
Albert Einstein
Rochester
USC/Keck
Mayo
Dartmouth
U VM
Miami
George Washington
Georgetown
SLU
Albany
Rochester
Rush
Rosy Franklin
NYMC
MCW
VCU
EVMS
Wake Forest
Netter
Jefferson
Temple
Drexel
Creighton
Tulane
Loyola
Nova MD
Cali U Med
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Oakland-B
Any DO school. I can't recommend Touro-NY, Nova or LUCOM, for different reasons. MSUCOM is suspect given the details of the Larry Nassar case.
Your state schools

 

[altblue]

They've indicated 2 520+s on their AAMC full lengths, which is at least 9 points higher each than their actual. You could take their actual as a 10th percentile outcome, and another run-through after even more practice would probably be much closer to the 520s.

I really do think that retaking is a smart option if OP wants to get into a top school.

 

[nick1456]

Thank you guys for the input, I have pretty much made up my mind on going for a retake. I definitely understand the risk, but also think it can truly make my life easier, if I could even get a 517. CARS is definitely my weakness and thats due to being ESL, but I did get a 128/129 on AAMC Fls, so again it doesn't make sense to me.


EDIT: Glad I decided to retake, ended up with a 522 (130/128/132/132)

 

[kb1900]

fwiw i had a few friends who retook their tests (512 and 514 first time) and got 520+ the second attempt. Their practice scores were above 520 on the AAMC fls and said that their nerves got the best of them on test day. They both were stellar applicants who would have gotten in without their retakes but they knew they had no shot at certain schools with their original scores.

To op: It’s my opinion that cars is at best 80% skill and 20% confidence. At 125 I highly recommend doing like 5-10 passages each day until ur second test date

 

[nick1456]

@kb1900
Thanks for the reply. Would you recommend any specific CARS resources? Since I'm going for a retake, I have exhausted all AAMC/TPR/Khan/NS 108 (just about any good resources lol). I have looked into LSAT/GMAT ones, although they are obviously bit different.

 

[Lucca]

@kb1900
Thanks for the reply. Would you recommend any specific CARS resources? Since I'm going for a retake, I have exhausted all AAMC/TPR/Khan/NS 108 (just about any good resources lol). I have looked into LSAT/GMAT ones, although they are obviously bit different.

People have had success using the EK CARS passages. I dont think TPR or Khan CARS are all that good but probably better than nothing. EK was probably the closest to the AAMC material. Do passages every day and use the Sage 7 step blind review (google it). 50% of doing well on CARS is learning the different question types and how to instantly recognize them and how to avoid the (many) traps.

 

[Goro]

Thank you guys for the input, I have pretty much made up my mind on going for a retake. I definitely understand the risk, but also think it can truly make my life easier, if I could even get a 517. CARS is definitely my weakness and thats due to being ESL, but I did get a 128/129 on AAMC Fls, so again it doesn't make sense to me.

Let us know how it works out.