MCAT expiration and retaking the MCAT

[AgaveCat]

Hi all,

I took the MCAT in the summer of 2014 with full intentions of applying in the 2015 application cycle, but life happened and here I am gearing up for the 2018 cycle. I have some general questions regarding retaking the MCAT and how it will look to medical schools considering that my old scores have expired, so any information or discussion on the topic would be greatly appreciated!

A little about myself: I took the MCAT twice in 2014, and ended up with a 5 point increase from my first to my second score - so my testing went well as far as retaking can go. Unfortunately there were some family circumstances that came up, and I've had to put off applying until this year for the 2018 application cycle. I’ve checked the MSAR and the AAMC MCAT School Preference pdf, and considering a large majority of all medical schools will only accept the 2015 MCAT, including all of the schools I’m applying to, I decided to retake the exam. I retook the MCAT in March and I’m currently waiting to hear back about my score. My questions are as follows:

• Considering that it’s almost considered taboo to take the MCAT 3 times, will this impact how medical schools look at my application considering that two of my scores are expired?
  
  
• Will schools still be able to see my expired scores? I haven’t really been able to find any information on this one, but I’m assuming the answer is yes.
  
  
• If my MCAT ends up not going as well as I hope it did (god forbid), would it be feasible for me to retake it considering my two earlier MCAT scores are expired?
  

I’m not sure if anyone will be able to answer these questions, but thank you for any input in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ambitiousMED]

Hi all,

I took the MCAT in the summer of 2014 with full intentions of applying in the 2015 application cycle, but life happened and here I am gearing up for the 2018 cycle. I have some general questions regarding retaking the MCAT and how it will look to medical schools considering that my old scores have expired, so any information or discussion on the topic would be greatly appreciated!

A little about myself: I took the MCAT twice in 2014, and ended up with a 5 point increase from my first to my second score - so my testing went well as far as retaking can go. Unfortunately there were some family circumstances that came up, and I've had to put off applying until this year for the 2018 application cycle. I’ve checked the MSAR and the AAMC MCAT School Preference pdf, and considering a large majority of all medical schools will only accept the 2015 MCAT, including all of the schools I’m applying to, I decided to retake the exam. I retook the MCAT in March and I’m currently waiting to hear back about my score. My questions are as follows:

• Considering that it’s almost considered taboo to take the MCAT 3 times, will this impact how medical schools look at my application considering that two of my scores are expired?
  
  
• Will schools still be able to see my expired scores? I haven’t really been able to find any information on this one, but I’m assuming the answer is yes.
  
  
• If my MCAT ends up not going as well as I hope it did (god forbid), would it be feasible for me to retake it considering my two earlier MCAT scores are expired?

I’m not sure if anyone will be able to answer these questions, but thank you for any input in advance!

I am curious to know as well.

 

[kwu]

Considering that it’s almost considered taboo to take the MCAT 3 times, will this impact how medical schools look at my application considering that two of my scores are expired?

Considering your situation, I do not think that the 3rd retake taboo applies here. Also, I heard many success stories of people who took the MCAT 3 times and got an acceptance.

 

[BurntFlower]

• Will schools still be able to see my expired scores? I haven’t really been able to find any information on this one, but I’m assuming the answer is yes.

Yes, they can see all your scores.