MCAT Date Advice

[TryingToDoc]

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Hi,

A little background: I'm 29, 30 next month. I have two BAs already and spent a few years overseas in the Peace Corps. A few years ago I decided I wanted to pursue medicine so I've been working a full time job and taking some classes at the local community college to finish all the prerequisite classes (13 A's and 1 B, all in a two year span). My original GPA coming out of college was slightly over 3.00 with one bad semester early on bringing it down.

My current work hours fluctuate (worked 182 hours in the last 3 weeks) but it's usually 45-50 hours a week. I have one more class and lab to take so that will also cut into my study time. So, I will still have similar demands on my time as I do now.

To the point, I could use some advice. I'm currently scheduled to take the MCAT on Jan 22nd, 2016. I've been studying for the last few months a good bit, mainly biochem because I've never had the class. I took my first full-length test today. I took the AAMC sample test. It wasn't scored but my break down was as follows.

Chem/Phys: 29/59 at 49% correct
CARS: 44/53 at 83% correct
Bio/Biochem: 27/59 at 46% correct
Psych/Soc: 50/59 at 85% correct

I am trying to decide whether to push back the test a few months, or not. I've heard a lot of secondhand opinions on how you should never take the MCAT twice because schools will average and look down on you for it, not matter what they tell you. I've also hear it is not that big a deal to take it twice.

Would it be better to push the MCAT back a few months to the spring and try and only have to take it once, or to take it in January and really study hard over these next three weeks. My main concern is staying in the application cycle to start in Fall 2017 and I'm worried if I wait longer to take it that I may not have a chance to take it again and stay in the same cycle if I do not get a desirable score on the first attempt.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

 

[BluMist]

Less than 50% on C/P and B/B is troubling; generally you want to aim for 75-80% on each section to be 510+. You might want to aim even higher given your GPA.

Right now, your 'predicted' MCAT score is ~504. If I were you, I would wait until I can take a biochem course or maybe even add chem/phys depending on which one needs more work. Those areas definitely need improvements.

With that said, you seem to be doing well with CARS and Psych while CARS generally considered difficult to improve.

 

[TryingToDoc]

Less than 50% on C/P and B/B is troubling; generally you want to aim for 75-80% on each section to be 510+. You might want to aim even higher given your GPA.

Right now, your 'predicted' MCAT score is ~504. If I were you, I would wait until I can take a biochem course or maybe even add chem/phys depending on which one needs more work. Those areas definitely need improvements.

With that said, you seem to be doing well with CARS and Psych while CARS generally considered difficult to improve.

Taking biochem would be ideal but it's not feasible really until at least the fall and I'd have to take it online. With my job I live in a place with only a community college and no biochem is offered. I work full time to support myself and I still have to take physics II and the associated lab on top my full time job. Adding something else this semester would be too much.

I don't mind doing studying on my own because I am starting to slowly, but surely, pick up the material.

My biggest concern/thought is whether it's better now to take it and give it my best and hopefully not have to take it again. Or, wait until the spring or fall and possibly not have the time to take it again if I need to.

My job is also quarter based so I am always going to have almost double the work at the end of each three month period.

 

[esob]

You should definitely wait. Even if you manage to bring chem up on the real test, if you score that low in the bio section, all those A's you worked for are going to be dismissed as simply an easy prof that handed out A's to everyone. That point is made even stronger by the fact that you did well in other sections, negating the idea that you are simply a bad standardized test taker. Therefore, the most logical conclusion someone can draw regarding an application with A's in chem/bio but poor scores specifically in those sections on the MCAT is that the classes were fluff classes. Even if you take it now, blow it, then retake it and bring those up, it will still reflect poorly that your CC classes were easy.

Now, conversely, if you rock the MCAT, especially in those sections, it will make a world of difference in the way you are evaluated. When an interviewer says to you "how can we be sure that those CC classes you took prepared you for the rigors of medical school," you can simply point to your high scores in those sections and remark that it would not have been possible to score well on those sections if you had taken fluff courses.