Mcat Help moving forward

[Newyorkgirl24]

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Hey guys,

6/28 and just got my results back. Scored a 501 ( 123/125/125/128) after having a full length average of 508. Very devastated by this but ready to go at it again on 8/14.

any retailer advice would be great!!

 

[KnightDoc]

Hey guys,

6/28 and just got my results back. Scored a 501 ( 123/125/125/128) after having a full length average of 508. Very devastated by this but ready to go at it again on 8/14.

any retailer advice would be great!!

Is one month enough time to make a material difference? If not, you are going to torture yourself for nothing and if for some reason you slip below 500 then you'll have really created a problem for yourself. 501 is plenty good for lots of DO schools.

 

[GreenDuck12]

Honest advice is don’t retake it so soon. I’ve tutored a lot of students over the past few years. A 6-7 point drop is not uncommon. The biggest mistake I see is folks jump in for a second attempt too soon after the first and end up with a similar or lower score. The MCAT is a test you only want to take once. Some folks will take it twice. No one wants to be the applicant with 3+ MCAT scores. Your score indicates weakness in three of the four sections. This will take time to address. It will also take time to process a disappointing MCAT score and get back into a positive/productive frame of mind.

 

[KnightDoc]

Honest advice is don’t retake it so soon. I’ve tutored a lot of students over the past few years. A 6-7 point drop is not uncommon. The biggest mistake I see is folks jump in for a second attempt too soon after the first and end up with a similar or lower score. The MCAT is a test you only want to take once. Some folks will take it twice. No one wants to be the applicant with 3+ MCAT scores. Your score indicates weakness in three of the four sections. This will take time to address. It will also take time to process a disappointing MCAT score and get back into a positive/productive frame of mind.

I agree with everything you are saying about not taking it again so soon. In OP's case, though, I think the real risk is slipping below the magical 500 threshold rather than risking a 6-7 point drop.

I really think pointing out that 6-7 point drops are not uncommon is overstating the case when you are starting at 501! On the other hand, in this case I think even a 2 point drop could be catastrophic. If I were OP, while I'd be very disappointed, I'd resolve to go forward with the 501, since the score would really have to rise by at least 10 points to make any real difference in an application. Even a 508 wouldn't move the needle for schools that average. The score is above 500 and below 511, so I would just work with it rather than killing myself trying to squeeze a few more points out of it at this level.

 

[GreenDuck12]

I agree with everything you are saying about not taking it again so soon. In OP's case, though, I think the real risk is slipping below the magical 500 threshold rather than risking a 6-7 point drop.

I really think pointing out that 6-7 point drops are not uncommon is overstating the case when you are starting at 501! On the other hand, in this case I think even a 2 point drop could be catastrophic. If I were OP, while I'd be very disappointed, I'd resolve to go forward with the 501, since the score would really have to rise by at least 10 points to make any real difference in an application. Even a 508 wouldn't move the needle for schools that average. The score is above 500 and below 511, so I would just work with it rather than killing myself trying to squeeze a few more points out of it at this level.

The 6-7 point drop I was referencing was the drop that already occurred from practice average to the OP’s actual score. It certainly is possible another score drop could occur, as demonstrated by the AAMC’s data on second attempts.

 

[KnightDoc]

The 6-7 point drop I was referencing was the drop that already occurred from practice average to the OP’s actual score. It certainly is possible another score drop could occur, as demonstrated by the AAMC’s data on second attempts.

Oh -- I thought you meant a 6-7 point drop on a retake!!!!

 

[GreenDuck12]

Oh -- I thought you meant a 6-7 point drop on a retake!!!!

Yeah, I just reread what I wrote and it wasn’t clear. That’s my bad.

 

[ahhhsomanyquestions]

OP what were your individual scores for each AAMC FL practice exam if you took any? What was your study plan leading up to the exam and what do you plan to change?

 

[Newyorkgirl24]

Thank you all for your insight and replies!!
Here are my full length break downs:

aamc fl 1: 125/128/126/126
2: 126/126/126/129
3: 127/125/127/128
4: 128/125/127/128

I always knew cp was gonna be my weakness. I hit that the hardest by doing TBR chem and physics, and re doing content review from the fall of 2019. Re read Kaplan books for all.

I did all of uworld, and all aamc material.

while I know cars needed some work, I was shocked to see how low I had dipped in chem and physics. However I felt like this exam hit a lot of my weak spots, and there was a ton of or go on it. I think that I don’t need that much content review since I have already been through it twice. The one thing I really want to change is take a lot more third-party exams because I feel like I’ve neglected that a lot and I also feel like I didn’t give cars enough attention. My goal was to go through chem and physics one more time even more thoroughly, as well as brush up on more of the bio bio cheHowever I felt like this exam hit a lot of my weak spots, and there was a ton of orgo on it.

 

[Newyorkgirl24]

I agree with everything you are saying about not taking it again so soon. In OP's case, though, I think the real risk is slipping below the magical 500 threshold rather than risking a 6-7 point drop.

I really think pointing out that 6-7 point drops are not uncommon is overstating the case when you are starting at 501! On the other hand, in this case I think even a 2 point drop could be catastrophic. If I were OP, while I'd be very disappointed, I'd resolve to go forward with the 501, since the score would really have to rise by at least 10 points to make any real difference in an application. Even a 508 wouldn't move the needle for schools that average. The score is above 500 and below 511, so I would just work with it rather than killing myself trying to squeeze a few more points out of it at this level.

Thanks for your reply! Wow I was under the impression that even a few point increase would help my chances. Isn’t that why most people retake anyway? Wouldn’t a retake with a 505+ look better then sticking with a 501?

‘my cGPA is 3.52 and my sgpa is lower 3.28. I’m not sure what my chances would be a 501

 

[ahhhsomanyquestions]

Thank you all for your insight and replies!!
Here are my full length break downs:

aamc fl 1: 125/128/126/126
2: 126/126/126/129
3: 127/125/127/128
4: 128/125/127/128

I always knew cp was gonna be my weakness. I hit that the hardest by doing TBR chem and physics, and re doing content review from the fall of 2019. Re read Kaplan books for all.

I did all of uworld, and all aamc material.

while I know cars needed some work, I was shocked to see how low I had dipped in chem and physics. However I felt like this exam hit a lot of my weak spots, and there was a ton of or go on it. I think that I don’t need that much content review since I have already been through it twice. The one thing I really want to change is take a lot more third-party exams because I feel like I’ve neglected that a lot and I also feel like I didn’t give cars enough attention. My goal was to go through chem and physics one more time even more thoroughly, as well as brush up on more of the bio bio cheHowever I felt like this exam hit a lot of my weak spots, and there was a ton of orgo on it.

Did you do much in-depth review of the FL practice tests you took? I haven't taken my actual exam yet (I postponed it until August because I felt like I wasn't quite ready to do my best), but I feel like the one thing that has really helped me so far is spending 90% of my time taking practice quizzes and then reviewing the wrong answers in a lot of depth. I did a full content review using Kaplan self-paced, but I ended up scoring the same on the 2nd FL as my baseline since I didn't do enough practice along the way. Practice quizzes and reviewing wrong answers helped me increase by 4 points in a week, and I feel like I am continuing to improve using this method.

Also, did you feel like timing affected you at all when compared to the regular FL practice timing?

 

[KnightDoc]

Thanks for your reply! Wow I was under the impression that even a few point increase would help my chances. Isn’t that why most people retake anyway? Wouldn’t a retake with a 505+ look better then sticking with a 501?

‘my cGPA is 3.52 and my sgpa is lower 3.28. I’m not sure what my chances would be a 501

No --AAMC recommends that schools average all scores, and many schools, although not all, follow that. The bottom line is that each section has a confidence interval +/- 1 point, so your improvement would have to be pretty big to be significant, and it's REALLY difficult to have such a big move in such a short period of time. Anything better than a 501 certainly won't hurt you, but a 505, resulting in a 503 average, won't open up any schools to you that are not viable now. On the other hand, a 499 will really mess you up. Please just be careful.

Did you take it in January, or was this your first time? I think your GPA and MCAT is okay for DO, not so much for MD, where that 3.28 is going to hurt no matter how you do on a retake. I really think you should check in with a DO adcom expert like @Goro to see if the squeeze will be worth the juice on a retake for DO, and whether or not you are okay for DO as-is before you put yourself through this again.

 

[Newyorkgirl24]

No --AAMC recommends that schools average all scores, and many schools, although not all, follow that. The bottom line is that each section has a confidence interval +/- 1 point, so your improvement would have to be pretty big to be significant, and it's REALLY difficult to have such a big move in such a short period of time. Anything better than a 501 certainly won't hurt you, but a 505, resulting in a 503 average, won't open up any schools to you that are not viable now. On the other hand, a 499 will really mess you up. Please just be careful.

Did you take it in January, or was this your first time? I think your GPA and MCAT is okay for DO, not so much for MD, where that 3.28 is going to hurt no matter how you do on a retake. I really think you should check in with a DO adcom expert like @Goro to see if the squeeze will be worth the juice on a retake for DO, and whether or not you are okay for DO as-is before you put yourself through this again.

i agree with this. Yes I was only banking on going DO to begin with. Thank you for your advice! I just feel like I want to retake to also prove to myself that I can do better. But I do see the harm in that. I guess I could prep and see how it goes?

 

[Newyorkgirl24]

@Goro would love your advice with this. I took my first MCAT on 6/28 and scored a 501. I had a 508 full length average and had a pretty big drop in each section minus psych. I am primarily a flying DI took my first MCAT on 6/27 and scored a 501. I had a 508 full length average and had a pretty big drop in each section minus psych. I am primarily applying DO and have a 3.52 cumulative with a science gpa of 3.28.

do you think it’s worth a shot to raise that mcat score By even a little ? Any advice would be so appreciated!

 

[KnightDoc]

i agree with this. Yes I was only banking on going DO to begin with. Thank you for your advice! I just feel like I want to retake to also prove to myself that I can do better. But I do see the harm in that. I guess I could prep and see how it goes?

Sure -- if you want to retake, you should definitely prep unless and until you decide not to. Hopefully @Goro will respond. He really is the stud in this area.

 

[El-Rami]

How is a several point drop "not uncommon?" It's supposed to be within a couple points of your FL. This sounds like the OP didn't get enough rest/panicked on test day.

If it were me, I would recommend taking a few months to study for a retake.