Need Advice, 20R MCAT and 3.58GPA, what are my chances of acceptance?

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TXBrother

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Hello everyone, I really need some counsel.
I am still in utter shock at my MCAT scores and need advise. I'm really in no position to retake, unless I pay a very steep price, however, what are my chances of acceptance in US MD, Puerto Rico MD, DPM or Caribbean MD schools.

I speak very fluent spanish, english, and french. I have lots of volunteer hours (20,000+++), own my own business, and I'm a supplementary instructor at a university (ironically upper level bio courses), great LOR's, in 4 honors societies, & married. I had already sent out apps to several schools before recieving my scores, completed 3 supplementary apps so far...inlcluding YALE and John Hopkins.

Please need help on what to do next? Is there still a chance somewhere?? Counsel welcomed.

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If you don't retake the MCAT your chances at a US MD school are slim to none assuming you are a non-URM (>10%). What was your score breakdown? I'm finding it hard to believe also that you did that poorly given your GPA and the fact that you teach upper level bio courses. :confused:

But never and I mean NEVER apply to the Caribbean. You will probably be able to get into a DO school given your EC's and GPA.

Did you take an MCAT prep course or even study for it?
 
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Even if money is a concern, retake. Your current score puts you in the 20th percentile of test-takers.

A 20 might not even be competitive for Puerto Rico, and those schools are generally the most lenient of the US LCME-licensed programs (next to the HBCs). Hopkins and Yale won't even look at your supplementary essays before they toss them in the trash.

I disagree with Tapepsi. The OP's GPA might be a little above the average for DO schools, but that MCAT is still far below the average for DO programs.
 
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Tapepsi, what is your beef with the Caribbean? Just curious.

I don't see anything wrong with applying offshore as long as you are aware of the drawbacks in terms of money and residency placement statistics.
 
Hard Truth: Your MCAT will keep most MD schools and a good portion of DO schools from looking at your app. The average low for some MD school is 24-25. Most schools also require at least a 7 in each section too. Retake the exam. I'm not even sure if some Carribean schools will take that low mcat. Retake it.
 
Tapepsi, what is your beef with the Caribbean? Just curious.

I don't see anything wrong with applying offshore as long as you are aware of the drawbacks in terms of money and residency placement statistics.

Uh...well I guess if neither of those factors bother you then go right ahead. I just don't see why anyone would want to go to a for-profit med school that requires costly private student loans just to come back to the US and struggle getting into a decent residency.

Everything in your app minus your MCAT score is good. You will be doing yourself a favor if you just retook it. Trust me.
 
Uh...well I guess if neither of those factors bother you then go right ahead. I just don't see why anyone would want to go to a for-profit med school that requires costly private student loans just to come back to the US and struggle getting into a decent residency.

Everything in your app minus your MCAT score is good. You will be doing yourself a favor if you just retook it. Trust me.

Agreed. What did you get on your practice exams? I don't understand how an upper-level biology teacher did so poorly. Was it the timing that got you?
 
I speak very fluent spanish, english, and french. I have lots of volunteer hours (20,000+++), own my own business, & married.

Serious question: Why medical school then?

I had already sent out apps to several schools before recieving my scores, completed 3 supplementary apps so far...inlcluding YALE and John Hopkins.

This will be the reaction of Yale or JHU adcom: :eek:, :confused:, :smuggrin: (in that order)
 
Wow, thanks for the input fellas.
Yeah I am just as shocked as you are about my score, it has thrown off my game plan quit a lot.
On the practice tests I first got an 18, then a 22, then a 31, and my last one I got a 28, but personally I think my actual exam was a lot harder than the AAMC practice tests.:(
I just studied on my own for about 2.5 weeks, between the end of May and start of summer school. SO I think that has a lot to do with it as well. Should I retake, I will give myself ample time for study and probably take a prep course.

So no MD or DO school will even look at my app huh? And someone said not even Puerto Rico? :confused:
 
Serious question: Why medical school then?



This will be the reaction of Yale or JHU adcom: :eek:, :confused:, :smuggrin: (in that order)


tttttc with all due respect your comment comes a little unclear to me. How does my lifestyle and source of income have anything to do with my desire to practice medicine???
 
If you don't retake the MCAT your chances at a US MD school are slim to none assuming you are a non-URM (>10%). What was your score breakdown? I'm finding it hard to believe also that you did that poorly given your GPA and the fact that you teach upper level bio courses. :confused:

But never and I mean NEVER apply to the Caribbean. You will probably be able to get into a DO school given your EC's and GPA.

Did you take an MCAT prep course or even study for it?


Tapepsi, thanks for the honest assessment and to everyone else too. What really killed me in the MCAT even in the practice tests was the verbal resoning. I think it has a lot to do with my background with English and how I was raised to interact with it. I was born and raised in africa, went to a Brittish High School, and came to the US right after graduation. Reading 7 passages at 100mph and answering questions was just out of my league...for now, I need to work on it. So in a nut shell, the VR weakness affected all my other sections because the principle is sort of the same for PS and BS.
 
Tapepsi, thanks for the honest assessment and to everyone else too. What really killed me in the MCAT even in the practice tests was the verbal resoning. I think it has a lot to do with my background with English and how I was raised to interact with it. I was born and raised in africa, went to a Brittish High School, and came to the US right after graduation. Reading 7 passages at 100mph and answering questions was just out of my league...for now, I need to work on it. So in a nut shell, the VR weakness affected all my other sections because the principle is sort of the same for PS and BS.

I think you are an excellent NT candidate with the exception of that score. I know two people going to school at SABA, which is offshore, and they both love it. On the other hand, both of them admitted to not having great numbers. I don't know much about offshore medical schools and did not apply to any myself.

The cost of retaking the MCAT is a drop in the bucket compared to what you will inevitably take out in loans to pay for school. That said, I'm also a little freaked out by application costs, but it's a reality. Retake the test- may do about 5 practice tests beforehand so that you're consistently averaging in the upper 20s/30s. Best of luck to you!
 
HatWobble I did full time volunteer work for 24 straight months. Away from school, home, and family. Every day during that 2 year period was spent volunteering and offering service. Its actually more than 20,000, :)
 
HatWobble I did full time volunteer work for 24 straight months. Away from school, home, and family. Every day during that 2 year period was spent volunteering and offering service. Its actually more than 20,000, :)

Just want to point out that even assuming you were volunteering around the clock (on-call =/= actively volunteering):

365 days per year * 2 years * 24 hours per day = 17520 hours.

However, you're a non-trad, so it may be possible. It your calculations are correct, that's pretty impressive.

Still, you need to retake the MCAT.
 
Wow, thanks for the input fellas.
Yeah I am just as shocked as you are about my score, it has thrown off my game plan quit a lot.
On the practice tests I first got an 18, then a 22, then a 31, and my last one I got a 28, but personally I think my actual exam was a lot harder than the AAMC practice tests.:(
I just studied on my own for about 2.5 weeks, between the end of May and start of summer school. SO I think that has a lot to do with it as well. Should I retake, I will give myself ample time for study and probably take a prep course.

So no MD or DO school will even look at my app huh? And someone said not even Puerto Rico? :confused:

Heres the thing, you want to take the MCAT as seriously as you would take a job. 2.5 weeks IMO is not really enough time set aside to study for it. IF and when you retake it, dedicate much much much more time. Follow the guides that are in the MCAT forum here and you can help yourself.


Good luck
 
I say you have no chance at US MD, DO, nor Caribbean big 4 (maybe SABA). Puerto Rico is tough to get into. Go look at their actual applicant vs accepted number. They get hundreds of OOS applicants and very few are given a seat.

Your best bet is going to Podiatry school if that interests you.
 
Over 9000 volunteer hours, okay. Retake that MCAT. It's way too low. Nobody is really gonna consider you, not even DO's. They are getting more competitive each year.
 
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