MCAT Frequency

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I have heard conflicting opinions about whether you should take the MCAT twice. Lets say I take it at the start of my junior year (since I will have the pre reqs done) and then wish to take it at the end of my junior year. I have heard unless I am confident I can attain more than marginal improvement I should not retake it. Do medical schools have access to all the time you took it and your scores?

 

[Ilovewater]

Yes, they can all all of your scores. Only take it when you are prepared and take it only ONCE. I don't know why you would plan on taking it twice....

 

[tremulousNeedle]

I have heard conflicting opinions about whether you should take the MCAT twice. Lets say I take it at the start of my junior year (since I will have the pre reqs done) and then wish to take it at the end of my junior year. I have heard unless I am confident I can attain more than marginal improvement I should not retake it. Do medical schools have access to all the time you took it and your scores?

Yes, schools have access to all of your MCAT scores.
If your score decreases, it will hurt you.
I do not recommend taking it twice unless you are in dire need to improve your score and are confident you can do so.

-senior medical student / admissions committee interviewer

 

[longhornpremed]

Yeah if you have to take it more than once make sure that your score improves. Most schools like to see an upward trend for those who take it multiple times.

 

[ucsfstudents]

Commit to taking the MCAT only once. Only take it when you feel ready.

 

[ryguy1410]

I took it twice, but you should plan on taking it once and only once. Being a nontrad student, I tried to rush in and take the MCAT without finishing all of the prereqs. Needless to say, I ended up having to take it a second time to improve my score, and this topic came up at every single interview I attended. Just nail it the first time.

 

[DocMcCoy]

Your goal should be to take the MCAT only once. That being said, some schools will take your highest subsection scores, average, or put emphasis on the most recent or highest score achieved. You must report all of your scores when you apply. So aim high, and if your score comes back low THEN you can decide an alternate course of action.

 

[DrSmooth]

Nothing wrong with taking it twice if you can afford it. The advice about knowing definitively whether you can improve your score doesn't totally make sense. I think most of us have an idea within a pt or two how we did by the end of the test. If you did not perform up to your minimum acceptable score then void. Retest in a couple weeks (though you may have to drive for an open seat). Or say you think you barely hit your minimum and felt like you could have done better w a different test, don't necessarily void first test but retest in a couple weeks. If on second test you feel you performed worse or about the same, then void. If you did significantly better then don't void. I did this and went from a 30 to 34 in 2 weeks, thank god. There is a lot of variation between tests, especially if you don't have everything down cold. I wouldn't recommend taking it over and over to try and get lucky but retaking once or even twice can be a useful strategy in many cases, especially using the void option. If you suck at estimating your performance this advice does not apply.

 

[DrSmooth]

Nothing wrong with taking it twice if you can afford it. The advice about knowing definitively whether you can improve your score doesn't totally make sense. I think most of us have an idea within a pt or two how we did by the end of the test. If you did not perform up to your minimum acceptable score then void. Retest in a couple weeks (though you may have to drive for an open seat). Or say you think you barely hit your minimum and felt like you could have done better w a different test, don't necessarily void first test but retest in a couple weeks. If on second test you feel you performed worse or about the same, then void. If you did significantly better then don't void. I did this and went from a 30 to 34 in 2 weeks, thank god. There is a lot of variation between tests, especially if you don't have everything down cold. I wouldn't recommend taking it over and over to try and get lucky but retaking once or even twice can be a useful strategy in many cases, especially using the void option. If you suck at estimating your performance this advice does not apply.

This is all assuming you are actually well prepared for the test. I agree to aim for a single test, but don't be afraid to retake if need be.

 

[Morsetlis]

There's a lot of practice tests, from the AAMC and test prep companies. If you don't EVER want to fall into the "omg I have an average MCAT but I could've done so much better" hellhole, take at least 10 practice tests before touching the real one. Expect a 10% deviation from your practice test score (I actually got about 2 points higher than my practice test scores).

 

[tremulousNeedle]

Nothing wrong with taking it twice if you can afford it. The advice about knowing definitively whether you can improve your score doesn't totally make sense. I think most of us have an idea within a pt or two how we did by the end of the test. If you did not perform up to your minimum acceptable score then void. Retest in a couple weeks (though you may have to drive for an open seat). Or say you think you barely hit your minimum and felt like you could have done better w a different test, don't necessarily void first test but retest in a couple weeks. If on second test you feel you performed worse or about the same, then void. If you did significantly better then don't void. I did this and went from a 30 to 34 in 2 weeks, thank god. There is a lot of variation between tests, especially if you don't have everything down cold. I wouldn't recommend taking it over and over to try and get lucky but retaking once or even twice can be a useful strategy in many cases, especially using the void option. If you suck at estimating your performance this advice does not apply.

I presume a lot of these responses about taking the test once, aren't considering the voiding option, they are talking about scored exams. Beware: the habit of voiding a MCAT to get a higher score is not without its risk, a voided MCAT still counts towards the maximum of 3 attempts permitted per year.

page 22: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatessentials.pdf

 

[DrSmooth]

There's a lot of practice tests, from the AAMC and test prep companies. If you don't EVER want to fall into the "omg I have an average MCAT but I could've done so much better" hellhole, take at least 10 practice tests before touching the real one. Expect a 10% deviation from your practice test score (I actually got about 2 points higher than my practice test scores).

And then there will always be outliers. I took all the AAMC practice tests and 2 Kaplan, scoring between 33 and 37. Then I got an MCAT with way more Ochem than I was mentally prepared for, allowed myself to get off pace, and ended up with a 30. I was glad I retook. YMMV

 

[DrSmooth]

I presume a lot of these responses about taking the test once, aren't considering the voiding option, they are talking about scored exams. Beware: the habit of voiding a MCAT to get a higher score is not without its risk, a voided MCAT still counts towards the maximum of 3 attempts permitted per year.

page 22: http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/mcatessentials.pdf

Great pt.

 

[musicsung3]

What is the latest date you can take the mcat and still apply that cycle? Is there an exact date for all schools or do different schools have different deadlines?

 

[Schemp]

Once you've actually seriously studied for the MCAT you'll understand a big part of the reason you don't want to take it twice.

 

[Schemp]

What is the latest date you can take the mcat and still apply that cycle? Is there an exact date for all schools or do different schools have different deadlines?

You can take it as late as the last date (it was Sept. 12th for 2009 I believe) and still have time to apply to all, or nearly all, schools by their deadlines. Take note that if you took it on Sept. 12th you'd get your scores around Oct. 12th, give or take a week, so you'd be extremely disadvantaged in terms of the timing of your application.

Edit: And different schools have different dates, but most of them seem to be October/November. AMCAS has this data when you are choosing schools to apply to. A friend is borrowing my MSAR but I'm sure it's in there too.

 

[awang54]

I actually know people who have taken it 3 times and have gotten in after that 3rd time, so there is still hope if you don't do well the first (two) time(s)!

But what is really considered an "improvement"? For example, I have a friend who got a 40M and is re-writing because the M isn't good enough for any Canadian schools. If he gets a 37T on the next one, how will that be considered?

 

[Tutmos]

The convential wisdom I always saw here was that taking it just once and getting a decent score was somehow a big deal to schools. Having said that it seems like virtually everyone getting in to the school I'm trying for has taken it twice, including people I know personally. It doesn't seem to be holding them up at all. I'm actually pretty amazed at the number of people that have taken it more than once. It almost seems like that group is the majority. Now I'm stuck wondering if I don't get in this year, applying at only one school late in the year, should I take it again to improve on a 32 for a state school with average matriculant score of 32.xx.

 

[mfrizzo3]

I actually know people who have taken it 3 times and have gotten in after that 3rd time, so there is still hope if you don't do well the first (two) time(s)!

But what is really considered an "improvement"? For example, I have a friend who got a 40M and is re-writing because the M isn't good enough for any Canadian schools. If he gets a 37T on the next one, how will that be considered?

he will undoubtedly be destined for a life in the trash collecting business.

 

[awang54]

he will undoubtedly be destined for a life in the trash collecting business.

You know, that's what I told him too. He should just give up because he has no hope with such garbage scores like that.

=P

 

[richse]

I actually know people who have taken it 3 times and have gotten in after that 3rd time, so there is still hope if you don't do well the first (two) time(s)!

But what is really considered an "improvement"? For example, I have a friend who got a 40M and is re-writing because the M isn't good enough for any Canadian schools. If he gets a 37T on the next one, how will that be considered?

Tell him to go to a US school, they don't care about the writing grade. Some of my interviewers seems confused as to what the letter after my score meant. For reference, I also got an M.

 

[Morsetlis]

Hahahahahahhaahah.

Yeah, just apply to US schools with a 40M. They'll think you're a 40 year old male or something.