-
The 2026-2027 MD School Specific Threads are now live in the School Specific Discussions forum. The 2025-2026 cycle threads can be found here. -
Scholarship Access: Becoming a Student Doctor course
Free access to comprehensive medical school prep. Eligible students include AAMC FAP recipients and HS graduates from underserved areas. Apply today.
mcat retake?
Started by stillpremed
tulane with much lower GPA than you
it is possible to get into med schools. a friend of mine last year had around a 3.9, and a 31 on the mcat (7V and 12s on the sciences), and is now at Northwestern. HOWEVER, he had a killer time trying to get into the top ranked schools. If his verbal had been higher, he would have had a good chance at schools like Penn or JHU or WashU. he did have a columbia interview but was waitlisted there. To be on the safe side, I would suggest maybe retaking them and getting the verbal up.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
so it depends on what kind of school you're shooting for. if you want a top 10 school, then you definitely need to retake it. A 7 in verbal really hurts at these places. If you just want to get into A school, then you should be fine in terms of numbers. Remember it also depends on a lot of other stuffs (EC, undergrad, LOR, race, state of residence, interview, etc.).
There's been several threads on this and most people agree that a high MCAT (33+) and lower (3.3-3.5) GPA is better than a low MCAT (<30) and high GPA (3.7+).
i'm not so sure about this. i think a 36 mcat can overcome a 2.9 gpa, but i don't think a 4.0 gpa could make up for a 24 mcat.
but, to the op, if your ec's are really good & your personal statement catches some attention, you definitely have a shot at a number of schools.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Every adcom, pre-med advisor, and bit of pre-med urban myth has it that if your scores are widely off from each other, you are not a "well rounded" candidate. Of course, all kind of people get in all over the place with weirdnesses on their GPA and their MCAT. Hell, I got a C in my first semester of Orgo, and I got in, but an Ad Com told me that my 12 verbal was more impressive than a 12 in either of the others. I don't think they see those alot. I think it depends on what the rest of your app is like. If you have strong clinical or research or volunteer experience and can really speak to those, it'll draw people away from other inconsistencies in your app. If you're really only going on MCAT's and GPA, then I'd say retake it. It seems like you're super-golden on the sciences, so I'd say throw all of your concentration into studying for the verbal. And even if you come down to an 11 or a 10 in Physical and Biological and bring the verbal up to a 9 or a 10, I think you're in better shape. Either way, it'll suck to take that test again, I'm glad I don't. My heart is with you, brother!
Originally posted by Mr Reddly
Same here! Oh and Tas... Love the sig...
'If a medical school doesn't admit me, I'll probably become an SDN troll...'
🙂 Thanks! Ya know, we all have to have our future backup plans 😉
I have been amazed that I get interviews, but then they reject me based on grades. They really should look at my grades first... at least it'd save me a couple hundred on traveling and such.
