MCAT...take or back out?

[raDiOnut]

Hi everybody,

Here's my situation. This spring, I knew I wouldn't have time to study for the MCAT. My pre-med advisor told me to take the April MCAT anyway, so that I'll experience the whole test, pressure and all, and know what I have to study over the summer for the August MCAT. I signed up for April, figuring that only the highest MCAT scores are looked at by schools. Today I was reading up on MSUCOM, my #1 choice, which said that "All MCAT scores are considered." If I bomb April MCAT in two weeks, yet still score decently in August, is that going to mess up my chances??????
(I am planning to apply to med schools this summer)

a little woed,

raDiOnut

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[aidan73]

OK, a disclaimer here: I am no expert on the admissions process by any stretch of anyone's imagination, but here goes.

I have read here many times to only take the test if you are prepared. That, while you may see significant improvement in August, they will still see your April scores and wonder what you were up to. Just one more thing you have to explain at interviews.

Things to consider: why would you pay almost $200 to "practice" and why would an advisor advise you to do so??

When is the cut off to get your partial refund. If you don't plan on doing your best for April, I would withdraw and try to get your $100 back.

While applying late is not ideal, if you can just take it once and get a good/competitve score you will still stand a decent chance especially if you have a decent GPA to go along with it.

 

[bigdan]

r-
I'm still debating taking the exam in a couple of weeks. You can still back out and get your refund now (in fact, as long as you don't take the test on the 17th, I think you can submit for your refund up til then).
Anyways, various schools do various things - most of them are pretty upfront with what their policy is. Some will consider the highest score, some will "look at" all, and some even average the scores.
I'd try some of the AAMC tests, and get a feel for your practice range. If you're not comfortable with that score range, wait til August.
Best of luck in whatever your decision is.

dc

 

[MeowMix]

Your advisor gave you crappy advice. You still don't have time to study for April, and you aren't prepared at all. Don't take the test until you are ready and certain that you will score in your target range.

But, here's a positive: you can take the test and void your score. You do this by sitting through the whole test with everyone else. Then, at the end of BS, the proctor will tell everyone that it's your last chance to void the test. You get up and go to the front and they write "VOID" across all your answer sheets. The schools never know you took the test, but you get to experience the real thing. Unfortunately, you never find out how you would have done.

I did this last April because I wasn't ready to take the test (not enough time to prepare). It sucked to never get my score, but I definitely learned from the experience. You have to avoid all temptation to think "wow, I am doing really well on this test" and go ahead and score it anyway. Good feelings don't necessarily mean high scores; sometimes they mean low scores.