Mca

[verygooddoctor]

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Hey everyone. I got my mcat scores back and they were pitiful. I got a 17M.(6 VR, 5P, 6B). Anyway I can't believe I did this bad, I studied my but off and took a Kaplan course. I'm not to get down on myself. So obviously Im going to retake in August. My question would be is there a good review book that I can get from a bookstore or should I just review with my Kaplan books? Also I have not finished my AMCAS applciation. Does it really matter when I turn it in my application now seeing as schools will not get my MCAT score until August. Or should I still get my AMCAS in ASAP? I have a good GPA about 3.6 and pretty good extracurriculars. However I know I need to boost my MCAT.Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[aquaboy]

I would seriously reconsider taking the August MCAT. It's a month away and if you studies hard for the last test then not much will change within a month. To be competitive you need to atleast score a 27 and that would be a 10 point improvement. I would sit down for a couple of hours and think of what went wrong this last time!!!!! Then come up with a plan, because a 10 point improvement is very hard to pull off and I would say it is impossible within a month's time. Maybe spend the next 10 months preparing a little at a time and more when the next April MCAT approaches. Also with a sub 25 score it doesn't really matter what your EC's are or your GPA. You won't even get to the interview stage for allopathic schools. You might want to consider osteopathic schools because they are more forgiving of low MCAT scores.

I don't mean this post to be harsh, I just want you to see the dilemna if you are planning to retake in Aug. Waiting may be better and it doesn't matter if you lose a year. I did and it has been the best decision for me.

 

[steve007]

was there any special reason you got that 17? meaning, did you totally freak out, were you sick, etc. b/c if not, i'd have to agree w/ aquaboy. how much more can you really learn in a month or 2.

 

[ScoobySnack]

If you intend to apply to medical school this year, you need to retake the MCAT and show dramatic improvement. To anybody in your situation reading this discussion, take aquaboy's advice and think hard about what went wrong. Ask yourself if you were conscientious about following the instructions and schedule that your test preparers at Kaplan offered you. If you did, why would you have any confidence in your Kaplan material? All the professional exam preparation courses essentially have similar programs, follow them and you should see an improvement. What were your previous scores on diags and practice exams? If they were that low, you would have been better off waiting until August and using the last two months to study some more. A pre-med advisor should have counseled you on this. If your diags were high, then this low score should be a surprise and you need to identify the condition that changed and caused you to do so poorly (if this is true then the good news is you can raise your scores to an acceptable level quickly). Finally, if you have no diags as a basis to judge your performance on then you did not do one of the fundamental steps that everyone recommends for preparing to take the MCAT.
If you are applying this year, the earlier the better. I don't think any school will admit that their is a threshold MCAT score for admission and maybe you have a fascinating personal comments section. Regardless, I still think you will need to retake the MCAT.