New member, feeling lost

[Forssmann]

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I'm feeling a little bit lost, and I've been really doubting myself lately.

I took, and bombed, the MCAT last august (497), I just graduated in December with a B.S. in biology, minor in chemistry (4.0 gpa). I'm a veteran, have a publication, some research experience, some clinical and non-clinical volunteer hours, and tons of extracurriculars so I FEEL like my application is somewhat solid with the exception of the MCAT. I feel like I wear my previous score like a scarlet letter! I just started TPR self paced study and plan to retake the exam in June.

I know I can bring my score up a little before June, at best I'm hoping for 50th percentile. Do I still have a chance at this career path? Should I be thinking about plan B?

 

[deleted915763]

If I were you I would think about why you did poorly on the mcat when you did so well in school? Identify those problems, and knock them out first.

 

[Forssmann]

If I were you I would think about why you did poorly on the mcat when you did so well in school? Identify those problems, and knock them out first.

Honestly, I think it was 2 things.
1. I didn't prepare for the mcat like I should have
2. I wasn't solid on fundamentals like I should have been

 

[fyang0414]

I'm feeling a little bit lost, and I've been really doubting myself lately.

I took, and bombed, the MCAT last august (497), I just graduated in December with a B.S. in biology, minor in chemistry (4.0 gpa). I'm a veteran, have a publication, some research experience, some clinical and non-clinical volunteer hours, and tons of extracurriculars so I FEEL like my application is somewhat solid with the exception of the MCAT. I feel like I wear my previous score like a scarlet letter! I just started TPR self paced study and plan to retake the exam in June.

I know I can bring my score up a little before June, at best I'm hoping for 50th percentile. Do I still have a chance at this career path? Should I be thinking about plan B?

Personally, I believe you ABSOLUTELY have a future in medicine if it is your passion.

To give some background, I have scored as low as 23 on the old MCAT and 498 on the new. I have taken the MCAT 6 times and I did all of my pre-reqs at a community college and got a 2.9 GPA for those courses.

Currently, I have one DO school acceptance and one MD school acceptance. I say this and try to be as open as possible with my journey because I feel a lot of smart, passionate people get turned away from what are percevied as mistakes that will ruin their chances of becoming amazing physicians, and at least in my case, as well as those in my friend circles who came from similar academic backgrounds, it is still possible.

I agree with the previous post, and it seems like you've identified a couple of key issues with your MCAT in terms of preparation. It is difficult and takes some time. I think you need to figure out how you best study, preferably find a course that will fit you schedule (I worked full time and I did NextStep since they seemed to adapt to my schedule best), as well as maybe invest in the AAMC practice tests. Those practices tests were really good markers for my progress, helped me build my confidence, and from most people I have spoken with, have said they were accurate markers in how they would score on the MCAT.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me! Again, this is largely anecdotal but I want you to know that there is defintiely hope!

 

[Mike Bagwell]

Assuming you are telling the whole truth. If you simply retake the MCAT and get above a 505, you will get into some DO program. If you can get significantly higher than that, some MD programs will look at your application.

If you really have a 4.0 and you studied for and got a 497 on the MCAT, you might want to think about your test-taking abilities and how that could work against you in medical school where you would eventually be taking STEP 1 and 2 where you cannot retake low scores.

Right now, you have to put 100% of your effort into MCAT strategy. If you really want an MD admissions, consider some type of MCAT boot camp or summer program that gets you ready for the September exam.

 

[Forssmann]

Assuming you are telling the whole truth. If you simply retake the MCAT and get above a 505, you will get into some DO program. If you can get significantly higher than that, some MD programs will look at your application.

If you really have a 4.0 and you studied for and got a 497 on the MCAT, you might want to think about your test-taking abilities and how that could work against you in medical school where you would eventually be taking STEP 1 and 2 where you cannot retake low scores.

Right now, you have to put 100% of your effort into MCAT strategy. If you really want an MD admissions, consider some type of MCAT boot camp or summer program that gets you ready for the September exam.

My true gpa recorded on my transcript is a 3.987, I earned an -A in a non-STEM course, which I understand is recorded as an A under on the application. While I obviously could use some test taking pointers, I feel that my weakness was greatest in simply content retrieval, especially with physics. I just started, on monday, TPR self paced study and plan to take the MCAT June 28th.

 

[Mike Bagwell]

My true gpa recorded on my transcript is a 3.987, I earned an -A in a non-STEM course, which I understand is recorded as an A under on the application. While I obviously could use some test taking pointers, I feel that my weakness was greatest in simply content retrieval, especially with physics. I just started, on monday, TPR self paced study and plan to take the MCAT June 28th.

Do what you have to do but that next MCAT score will decide the trajectory of your future so plan accordingly.

 

[futuremdforme]

I think you should aim for way above 50th percentile MCAT. With a 4.0, if you got a great MCAT score this time, you'd be fine (even taking into account averaging).

I would recommend Exam Krackers for MCAT studying, I found it amazing (although this was the old test). The others had a lot of minutiae that was not relevant on the actual test. There were a lot of tricks, like using the 10 minute intro period to write down all the equations. I found that content was less important than critical thinking (although probably applies less to physics) and with your 4.0 GPA, I tend to think there is definitely an MCAT approach issue. You should make sure your MCAT is solid because that is literally the only thing holding you back.

 

[DokterMom]

Could you take the MCAT a month earlier? I'm not sure when the June 28th score will be released, but it sounds like it would delay your application.

 

[Forssmann]

Could you take the MCAT a month earlier? I'm not sure when the June 28th score will be released, but it sounds like it would delay your application.

The score will be released July 30th for that test day. Many of the schools I am interested in have application deadlines in October or later.

 

[Campana]

While I didn't read it in your posts, I'm guessing you didn't know going into the MCAT that you would score in that range. That right there is a dead giveaway on the preparation.

There are some excellent threads over on the MCAT sub-forum detailing preparation plans. It's a great step to start TPR, but you need to have a very thorough plan for yourself and stick to it. For myself, I mapped out three scenarios, each giving me my minimum, middle, and ideal number of hours of study. I scheduled all my practice tests, each taken under conditions meant to mimic the real thing (packed a lunch, left the house, timed, no phone, etc.) I used a combination of Exam Crackers books, Next Step practice tests and all the AMCAS material. Those all together, I went into the MCAT knowing my range and I scored right in my range. If i were to do it again, I'd spend more time on the AMCAS materials - all of them.

I won't reiterate all the details here, but spend some time perusing the MCAT study plans (they have them for working folks too if you need it!) and make your own, then stick to it. Not knowing the rest of your schedule, I think it's possible that you could map out enough hours to take it late April, early May. That way you're done with MCAT and can focus on AMCAS app while waiting for your score...and you don't have to hit Submit if you don't like the score that comes back.

I agree with @DokterMom - I'd bump up the test date if possible; June 28 will get your results back end of July - still early in the season, but SDN convention is to apply as early as possible. But, by all means, don't take the test until your practice tests are scoring in the range you want.

 

[Goro]

I'm feeling a little bit lost, and I've been really doubting myself lately.

I took, and bombed, the MCAT last august (497), I just graduated in December with a B.S. in biology, minor in chemistry (4.0 gpa). I'm a veteran, have a publication, some research experience, some clinical and non-clinical volunteer hours, and tons of extracurriculars so I FEEL like my application is somewhat solid with the exception of the MCAT. I feel like I wear my previous score like a scarlet letter! I just started TPR self paced study and plan to retake the exam in June.

I know I can bring my score up a little before June, at best I'm hoping for 50th percentile. Do I still have a chance at this career path? Should I be thinking about plan B?

Yes, you still have a chance. But you do need to do better on MCAT.

And more importantly, many thanks to you for your service!

 

[Forssmann]

While I didn't read it in your posts, I'm guessing you didn't know going into the MCAT that you would score in that range. That right there is a dead giveaway on the preparation.

There are some excellent threads over on the MCAT sub-forum detailing preparation plans. It's a great step to start TPR, but you need to have a very thorough plan for yourself and stick to it. For myself, I mapped out three scenarios, each giving me my minimum, middle, and ideal number of hours of study. I scheduled all my practice tests, each taken under conditions meant to mimic the real thing (packed a lunch, left the house, timed, no phone, etc.) I used a combination of Exam Crackers books, Next Step practice tests and all the AMCAS material. Those all together, I went into the MCAT knowing my range and I scored right in my range. If i were to do it again, I'd spend more time on the AMCAS materials - all of them.

I won't reiterate all the details here, but spend some time perusing the MCAT study plans (they have them for working folks too if you need it!) and make your own, then stick to it. Not knowing the rest of your schedule, I think it's possible that you could map out enough hours to take it late April, early May. That way you're done with MCAT and can focus on AMCAS app while waiting for your score...and you don't have to hit Submit if you don't like the score that comes back.

I agree with @DokterMom - I'd bump up the test date if possible; June 28 will get your results back end of July - still early in the season, but SDN convention is to apply as early as possible. But, by all means, don't take the test until your practice tests are scoring in the range you want.

I really appreciate the response. TPR course I just started has a very detailed schedule laid out that I am capable of maintaining. Part of my problem with my prep for the previous mcat was a terrible schedule. I will have taken around 7 practice tests by the end of this prep course. With the schedule already set, I'm actually on track to complete the course on May 6th, so it would be possible to take the mcat earlier, though I was planning to utilize a little extra time to really hone in on weaknesses

 

[MusicDOc124]

I'm feeling a little bit lost, and I've been really doubting myself lately.

I took, and bombed, the MCAT last august (497), I just graduated in December with a B.S. in biology, minor in chemistry (4.0 gpa). I'm a veteran, have a publication, some research experience, some clinical and non-clinical volunteer hours, and tons of extracurriculars so I FEEL like my application is somewhat solid with the exception of the MCAT. I feel like I wear my previous score like a scarlet letter! I just started TPR self paced study and plan to retake the exam in June.

I know I can bring my score up a little before June, at best I'm hoping for 50th percentile. Do I still have a chance at this career path? Should I be thinking about plan B?

Just do better on the MCAT next time around. Looks like you already figured out what went wrong. You still have a great chance as long as the MCAT goes up. Apply as you see fit based on your scores and what you get back on the next take. Apply both MD and DO - DO tends to be extremely friendly to vets in general, so it will just broaden your chances. And yes, always have a back up, and a back up to the back up. Has nothing to do with your scores. Just good to have an idea of what you'd do if things didnt work out for any reason at all.