MCAT rescoring

[DentalGal]

Did any of you ever have your MCAT rescored in any way? And what came of the rescoring? Did you consider it to be beneficial?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[91Bravo]

If you want to waste $50, send it to me.

Don't bother with having it rescored. It's exceedingly rare that they change a score and it takes forever for them to do it. Good luck with your application.

 

[ForbiddenComma]

It's a multiple choice exam. Even with undergrad courses that rely on the scantron, they MAYBE will find 2-3 questions to be bad and rescore. With something as controlled as a national standardized exam, you'd be lucky to get one of these across the entire 3 sections.

Now with the writing section, there's more room for flexibility for a regrade. However, the writing section is mostly irrelevant anyway to adcoms. If you had a nice numerical score with a J or K, maybe... otherwise, nobody will care.

Don't waste your money. It's a money grab by the AAMC, pure and simple. Retest in April if you must, or if you got at least a 27, apply anyway.

 

[Code Brown]

Did any of you ever have your MCAT rescored in any way? And what came of the rescoring? Did you consider it to be beneficial?

Yes. I had my writing sample re-scored and it went up. It took them 4 months to do it though. In the end it made no difference anyway.

 

[SearsTower]

Yes. I had my writing sample re-scored and it went up. It took them 4 months to do it though. In the end it made no difference anyway.

From what to what?

 

[MedNut]

I had it rescored for peace of mind. No difference though. However, I also know someone who misbubbled and went up like 5 points. Just do it so you don't always have to wonder about it.

 

[DentalGal]

I had it rescored for peace of mind. No difference though. However, I also know someone who misbubbled and went up like 5 points. Just do it so you don't always have to wonder about it.

I thought that they didn't take misgriding into consideration? I though perhaps the only reason would be if you didn't erase completely or something to that effect?

Btw, I got 7PS, 8VR, 10BS for a total of 25N. I thought that I did a lot better than that, and I felt really confident after the exam. On my previous MCAT the year before - I made a 22 without studying barely. Since I took a review course this summer, I thought that I would do a lot better. Don't get me wrong - I'm very GLAD that I scored higher the second time around. I'd just like to know if my rebubbling a whole row or more in 2 sections made a difference or not.

Thanx MedNut for not making me feel bad for wanting to rescore.

I'm glad that you BROKE the myth that NO ONE has EVER had their score changed with a rescore.

A girl private messaged me that a friend of hers had had her score changed from a 2 to a 9. So I guess it's possible if there have been 2 cases of it happening. Although it may be rare.

 

[DentalGal]

I had it rescored for peace of mind. No difference though. However, I also know someone who misbubbled and went up like 5 points. Just do it so you don't always have to wonder about it.

Do you know what score they had before? Was it something really low like a 2 in a section? Also, does anyone know of anyone whose score went DOWN after rescoring? Heaven forbid that would happen...

 

[SearsTower]

I had it rescored for peace of mind. No difference though. However, I also know someone who misbubbled and went up like 5 points. Just do it so you don't always have to wonder about it.

Crap, I just made my mind up about not pursuing that regrade nonsense, now I'm back on that path leading to nowhere! What do you mean they misbubbled, as in putting C's instead of B's?

 

[DentalGal]

I just searched the forums and I got this:

05-29-2003, 08:06 PM #5
Mike59
Registered User
1000+ Posts

Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: The inner-net

Someone who took the MCAT around the same time as me said they knew someone who got their MCAT rescored because they were unhappy with the 8 verbal and wanted to double check it. After the rescore, it became a 7.

I also got this:

10-17-2002, 03:52 PM #8
pearlemmy
Registered User
0+ Posts

Join Date: Oct 2002 Yeah I got mine rescored!!!

DON'T DO It!!! I got a 7 on my verbal section, so yeah of course i though i did better, so I did the stupidest thing and got it rescored, so yeah, guess what happened, think about the worst....my score was changed....for the worse, I ended up getting a 6 instead of a 7 on the test....... Please don't do it unless you are dying for a lower score or are looking to get rid of some spare change.

And this:

11-07-2002, 01:28 PM #16
ocean11
Registered User
500+ Posts

Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Toronto

o.k I promised I'd tell you guys the results of my verbal rescoring and here they are:

1) the AAMC did infact rescore all the multiple chioce sections even though I only specifically asked for verbal.

2) my score did NOT change... I still have a 7,10,10,Q MCAT

oh well it was worth a try.....

------------------------------------------------

Man, this search was good and gave me a lot of useful information on rescoring that I would like to share.

SO BEWARE. There's always a chance you will score lower, and they always score all three sections regardless of what you tell them to do. They don't like to give higher scores b/c then everyone would want a rescore if it got around!!! They'd rather give the same or a lower score to discourage it. I'm going to stay away from the rescoring!!!

 

[futurepaedsdoc]

i think i will too...eek

 

[MedNut]

Crap, I just made my mind up about not pursuing that regrade nonsense, now I'm back on that path leading to nowhere! What do you mean they misbubbled, as in putting C's instead of B's?

I believe he went from a 25 to 29, not sure of the breakdown. By misbubbling I mean he skipped a line halfway through the test and all his answers were shifted up which he did not realize until 1 minute before the end of the test. I have never heard of anyone going DOWN any points. That would really be unlikely. ANyway, I still say do it. What's $50 if it means a possibility in gaining even one point. You neva know.

 

[DrBowtie]

I believe he went from a 25 to 29, not sure of the breakdown. By misbubbling I mean he skipped a line halfway through the test and all his answers were shifted up which he did not realize until 1 minute before the end of the test. I have never heard of anyone going DOWN any points. That would really be unlikely. ANyway, I still say do it. What's $50 if it means a possibility in gaining even one point. You neva know.

If you are implying that the MCAT regrader saw that his answers were shifted and shifted them down and rescored is completely wrong. They do not take this into account when regrading and is clearly stated.

Could you clarify?

 

[futurepaedsdoc]

I have never heard of anyone going DOWN any points. That would really be unlikely.

but dental gal showed some posts where ppl did go down or are those all urban legends. has anyone on this forum gotten a regrade and went up? in writing or multiple choice; and has anyone on the forum had a decrease in score after the regrade. please speak up. these friend of friend stories might not be as accurate as actual personal experiences. your personal experience will be much appreciated by all those who wish to get a regrade and are scared of doing so because of these urban legends that scores go down when you get the mcat regraded.
thanks

 

[DentalGal]

I believe he went from a 25 to 29, not sure of the breakdown. By misbubbling I mean he skipped a line halfway through the test and all his answers were shifted up which he did not realize until 1 minute before the end of the test. I have never heard of anyone going DOWN any points. That would really be unlikely. ANyway, I still say do it. What's $50 if it means a possibility in gaining even one point. You neva know.

How long ago was this? Last year or 3 years ago? B/c the rules on regrading may have changed. (Maybe they used to look for misgridded answers but stopped at a certain year)

 

[SearsTower]

doesn't make any sense for your score to go down.

 

[SearsTower]

I was considering a regrade not because I'm hoping for a higher MCAT score. I am just curious because I was so focused on the exam, well, at least on the PS and VR and the scores weren't so impressive. I blazed through PS like an third grade math test, but for BS, I was totally clueless as I have no knowledge of anatomy nor physiology and didn't bother reviewing for them. In the end, I got the same score in both section. I understood every single passage in VR and got a bad score there. I always have a feeling of doing horrible on practice exams and when I score them, it always turned out okay (30-32). I walked away from the actual MCAT feeling pretty good.
So up to today, I still don't understand my score.

 

[habanero]

For what it is worth, I called the AAMC the day after receiving my scores to ask about requesting a re-score. The man I spoke with told me that a multiple choice score has never been changed. I continued to inquire, asking if they've ever seen smudging cause an error, and he said the machine always detects the darkest bubbled circle. Therefore, I'd highly doubt there is any truth to the "I know a guy who knows a guy who said his sister's mcat score was changed."

If you spend the time to read the AAMC website, this is part of the explanation about re-scoring:

"If you think a scoring error has occurred, you may request that your multiple-choice answer documents be rescored by hand. Answers recorded in the test book will not be considered in this verification process. At your option, you may be present during the rescoring, which is done at the MCAT Program Office in Iowa City, Iowa. The result of rescoring the multiple-choice answer sheets by hand will be reported to you in writing. The response letter will either confirm that your original scores were correct as reported or you will be informed of the corrected scaled scores for each test section.
Please note: Answer sheets or test booklets will not be examined for indications of misgridded answers. This is a determination we cannot make."


If you don't believe me, instead of listening to people on this forum, call the AAMC and ask. After finding out what I did, I realized it would be a lost cause to ask for a re-grade.