what is your thought for those who have taken the MCAT more than once? what is your take on applying to med schools as a multiple test taker?
If you take the MCAT more than once, AMCAS studies show that there is a more-or-less equal chance of scores increasing as decreasing. Most scores change very little. Significant improvement is much less common. Whether or not to repeat requires a judgement call, best made after consultation with YOUR premedical advisor. The answer depends not just on the scores you have, but how good you are as an applicant to begin with. Some excellent candidates waste time and jeopardize themselves by striving unecessarily for a higher score. How do the medical schools look at repeats? Some look ONLY at the second set. Some will zig-zag looking at the high scores in each category from both sets. Otherwise, there seems no general bias against repeaters.
I went up two points in both Physical and Biological Sciences (double digits), up one letter score to an "S," and down one point on Verbal. I studied more the second time around. Together
If you plan on re-taking, you should plan on altering your prep strategy drastically. The best way to increase your score is to approach the material differently. I tried it on my own & did okay, but in just 2 weeks working at Kaplan, I already think I'll do better in August. I couldn't afford the test prep course last time (really I can't now), but it really is a great way to prepare. Remember, the material is secondary -- they want to test how you think, and learning the rules of the game is an important part of doing well.
The first option mentioned here is more likely. It is very rare for schools to take the highest from your subsets, and not very likely. More often, they either take the best overall score, or the most recent.
I went up four points. Yep four points. How? I bought materials from Kaplan and Princeton Review on Ebay for very cheap. I supplemented that with my own Berkeley Review material, basically only took practice tests (timed of course) for three months. BAM! Four points. Don't waste your time memorizing anything the second time. It's all still fresh in your head. Just learn to take the test. Good luck!
i took it twice, 32 1st time 31 second time. i got in the second time. i think the key if you did okay the first time is to show consistancy if you don't increase. at least on my 31 i got at least 10s in all sections, but with my 32 it was 9 11 12. who knows, but i didn't take a review course the second time (it was four years later) and learned everything from review books and practice tests.
