May 20th or June 2nd

[w107232]

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Should I take the MCAT May 20th with the score being released on June 21st or June 2nd with the score being released July 6th?
I will be in school in the spring semester taking my last prerequisite and wont be ending school until late April. I'm also taking a prep class from Feb-April.
My concerns/pros for both dates
May: I won't have enough time to study thats purely devoted to MCAT study however I'll have my score back earlier right around the time primaries seem to be verified.
June: I will have two more weeks to study however that results in my scores being two weeks later.
Basically it comes down to the question is a slightly improves MCAT score more beneficial than a two week earlier application submission?

 

[Ad2b]

1. Take the MCAT when you're ready. Period.
2. You can submit to AMCAS and that MIGHT be verified by the end of June (dig around on here, I'm sure you can find people who submitted June 2 or 3 or whatever day it opened and were considered complete); therefore, rushing your date seems kind of silly
3. Adcoms see the "submission" date
4. Don't underestimate how difficult this test is
5. See #1

 

[DrDorianTurkleton]

Since your primary AMCAS app won't even be transmitted to medical schools until July 1st, it won't matter what day you take it. If you get your app prepared and submit in June, you don't need to have your scores to submit and get the app verified and by the time it actually gets into med school hands, your score will be reported. So it'll come down to how prepared you feel and whether you can study for the MCAT while you work on your app.

 

[deleted659912]

I personally would do it in June. If you submit your AMCAS app on the first day, you'll probably get verified late June/early July and complete the secondaries early July so it wouldn't matter which day you took.

 

[wavvvvvves123]

i took my mcat on july 17 this past summer and i've gotten two med school acceptances thus far. so i think analyzing the difference between may 20th and june 2nd is splitting hairs in terms of how late/early the score will get to you. i honestly dont think it'll matter. just pick the date that you feel you'll be best prepared for.

what i did was i submitted my AMCAS in late june, focused on mcat studying, then after july 17, i began pre-writing secondaries until i got my scores back. then i added more schools (i initially only added 1 school when i submitted my primary. then i felt like i did well enough on the mcat to add a few more schools, then i added my full list when i finally got my actual mcat score back). then i began submitting secondaries during the 3rd week of august and finished all but two of them by the 3rd week of september, i believe. then i submitted those last two secondaries on november 15th lol. they were major reaches and so my defeatist attitude saw no point in filling them out until the last minute. i spent money on the apps so, i might as well. and i somehow got an interview at one of those schools i submitted to!

so yeah, your mcat date is fine. just get the ball rolling early on your AMCAS app and then start on your secondaries early as well. if you end up submitting your AMCAS app before you get your mcat score, try to only put down 1 school to save yourself money and trouble if your mcat score ends up less-than-ideal. good luck!

 

[Hospitalized]

A better score will by and far make your application more competitive than a 2 week earlier submission.

 

[Flashfan]

Just make sure you pre-write your secondaries. I had a transcript delay that prevented my application from being complete and didn't get verified until July, but I was still able to be complete at all schools the first of August.

 

[carpediem22]

My $0.02, definitely take the MCAT when you are ready, but taking it earlier will also mean that if you DON'T do well you still could possibly study for another month and retake in July, which as others have said is still not too late for schools.

However you should of course aim to just take the MCAT once and knock it out of the park, so if you think the extra two weeks will enable you to do that, then take it in June.

 

[XxThaDoggxX]

However you should of course aim to just take the MCAT once and knock it out of the park

God how I wish I could say this is what happened to me 😛 😛

 

[mw18]

I was signed up for early may and changed it to June 5th and it was the best decision possible. I wasn't close to ready before that. You can take the mcat. Take a few days off. Start your primary and submit to your state school (if you would submit there with your average mcat practice score) to get verified. Then add schools that fall in line with your score. That's what I did, at least. I imagine you could also apply to some obscure school so that you can never have applied to your state school if you need to re-take.

 

[Ad2b]

I imagine you could also apply to some obscure school so that you can never have applied to your state school if you need to re-take.

This is critical for anyone who thinks they may have to retake the MCAT and/or reapply the following cycle.

 

[ImmunoLove]

Many schools won't even send secondaries out until July, so take the later date if it's better. Really, take the test when you're ready.

 

[mirablefreckles]

once you submit your application and chose to add another school do your application have to go through verification again or do amcas just send that information to the schools. i ask this because i am prepping for the mcat starting January and i want to push back my test until the end of may instead of the beginning of may. i am not sure if i need this much time to prep for the exam because i will only be focusing on the mcat. i took biochem in 2007 so its been awhile and i want to spend time reading the textbook for biochem and A&P. has anyone taking the new mcat and can weigh in on how important A&P is and if kaplan covers all the biochem need or i should in fact read the textbook.

 

[ImmunoLove]

once you submit your application and chose to add another school do your application have to go through verification again or do amcas just send that information to the schools. i ask this because i am prepping for the mcat starting January and i want to push back my test until the end of may instead of the beginning of may. i am not sure if i need this much time to prep for the exam because i will only be focusing on the mcat. i took biochem in 2007 so its been awhile and i want to spend time reading the textbook for biochem and A&P. has anyone taking the new mcat and can weigh in on how important A&P is and if kaplan covers all the biochem need or i should in fact read the textbook.

To answer your questions:
-Once the app is verified, you can add other schools to it and AMCAS doesn't need to "re-verify" it. In fact, many submit amcas with initially one school just to get the verification process started, and add schools as they do their research.

-not sure about mcat questions (I took the old one).

 

[mirablefreckles]

To answer your questions:
-Once the app is verified, you can add other schools to it and AMCAS doesn't need to "re-verify" it. In fact, many submit amcas with initially one school just to get the verification process started, and add schools as they do their research.

-not sure about mcat questions (I took the old one).

ohay so is it better to submit without mcat score just to get the process started or wait until you get mcat score back?

 

[ImmunoLove]

ohay so is it better to submit without mcat score just to get the process started or wait until you get mcat score back?

Submit when ready -- mcat is added automatically and is not part of the verification process (though it's part of being marked "complete" by the school). In other words, You can be verified without mcat. So submit AMCAS as soon as you're ready, because you can submit to only one school and add others later, and the mcat will be added automatically.

 

[Lost in Translation]

As others have said, take it when you're ready. I ate the $150 registration cost for a sitting because I thought I was going to be able to study during the semester. I was wrong. I moved the test from May to July (not early enough to only pay $30 to reschedule), and took the time in between to study my ass off. I did alright, but it's certainly far better than I would have gotten had I gone in cold.