latest time to take MCAT for fall 09 acceptance

[doctito]

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hello everyone,

i would like to know when is latest time/month i should take the MCAT this year to apply for DO schools for fall 09' admission?

if anyone knows please let me know..it would be greatly appreciated!
good luck to all applying!

-m🙂

 

[Bond8204]

For a deadline you can find on most school's websites. Realistically, though, to stay competitive and smart you shouldn't be taking the MCAT for the first time much later than July or August. I'm sure there's exceptions to this of people who took it later and were accepted, but it's still the smartest route to take.

 

[a817]

i would say julyish, try not to do late august or September unless you have to, because then your application will be complete in october. But the most important thing is to be ready for it when you take it. Quite a few DO schools do except the January mcat of the same year but it is not the greatest idea to take it then.

 

[doctito]

thanks for the reply guys...indeed i will make sure im ready by julyish then.

and this is because most applications are complete by this october for next fall 09' admission. YIKES!! thats pretty early isnt it?!

to Bond8204...

you said "to stay competitive and smart you shouldn't be taking the MCAT for the first time much later than July or August" ...im not sure i understand, what do you mean by first time?...you mean in case i want to retake later this year??...

thanks!
-m

 

[Bond8204]

Are we talking DO here? While timing isn't AS important as allopathic schools, it still helps a lot...so you should really be planning to get that Primary AACOMAS application in by June...and those secondaries in by the end of August.

What I was referring to by "the first time" is that 1) taking it for the first time by July ensures your application will be complete by sometime in August (assuming Primary/Secondaries/Letters of Rec are in by then...which as I just said they should be). and 2) Allows leeway for you to retake it if you're not happy with the score you got or if med schools straight up tell you "Retake the MCAT, do X points better and get back to us" (as they've told one of my friends).

Hope that clarifies things as far as the timing of this all is concerned? One thing to note is that while the primary application and secondaries list "deadlines" they're not really deadlines. Because of rolling admissions in med school (accepting people throughout the process rather than on one date), the earlier you're complete the better. If you're ready to take that MCAT sooner than July, you should. April used to be the tradition before the computerization and multiple tests a year format...May seems to be the most common now (based on my unscientific experience).

 

[Hoebo54]

I agree with the previous posts that the earlier you take the MCAT the better off you'll be. However, to answer your question i'd have to say september is the latest you can take the MCAT. But note that taking it later in the cycle requires a higher score to be competitive. For me I pushed my MCAT back to september 7th and did fairly well, but taking it late definitely pushes you back in the application cycle. I wasn't complete till december.