MCAT subsection score matters for deciding which schools to apply to?

[medlife123]

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Hello,
I'm trying to make a list of schools to apply to but I'm not sure whether I should be considering the subsection breakdowns when applying. If my overall score is at the median of the school (516) but my CARS score (125) is not within the 10th percentile of a school, should I bother applying there? Will I get screened out? I.e. schools like Albert Einstein has a median MCAT score at 516 but their 10th percentile for the CARs section is a 126. I'm worried whether I'd be wasting my money applying to schools like these. My gpa is fairly high at a 3.91. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[MCATISEZ]

It's hard to say. I'm in the same boat. I typically avoided applying to those who's 10th percentile was higher unless they were my state schools or I felt I was above average in many other ways.


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[randomuser17]

I'm in the same boat. I heard that having one bad section isn't a deal breaker; it's better to do well in 3 sections and poor in another rather than average in all 4. i.e just had a bad passage or messed up on a section. Can someone corroborate or refute this?

 

[Goro]

Hello,
I'm trying to make a list of schools to apply to but I'm not sure whether I should be considering the subsection breakdowns when applying. If my overall score is at the median of the school (516) but my CARS score (125) is not within the 10th percentile of a school, should I bother applying there? Will I get screened out? I.e. schools like Albert Einstein has a median MCAT score at 516 but their 10th percentile for the CARs section is a 126. I'm worried whether I'd be wasting my money applying to schools like these. My gpa is fairly high at a 3.91. Any advice is appreciated!

CARS is the one section that's gets cut the most slack. Somebody has to be in the < 10th %ile...why not you?