Non-Trad/ late MCAT retake/ should I just wait?

[dallowac]

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Hi all,
I know this is a topic covered all the time, but I would really like personalized input so I can finally get some sleep at night.

I graduated a rigorous liberal arts college last year with a low GPA. I did not do well my first year, due to family illness and personal health issues. However, I steadily improved throughout my time at school and my last two years I was on the Deans list and had a combined ~3.7 GPA. I also volunteered ~ 600 hours at a hospital for a clinical study in an ICU where I was able to shadow ICU MDs, and worked as a Red Cross blood drive coordinator. To bring up my GPA, I completed a DIY- one year post-bacc at the local state university and received a 4.0. My combined GPA is now 3.3.

My question: I have my SOP (which according to other people is very good), I have transcripts, and all my LORs are in. However, on my most recent practice MCAT I scored a 29. Should I wait to take the exam and risk:
1. submitting too late, wasting my time and money on spots that are not there
2. studying more but not improving my MCAT score
3. or waiting too long after graduating college to apply. If I do wait until next year, will my grades even matter? Will I have been out of school for too long?

I am prepared to wait if it will really help my chances. It is possible I can get a great LOR from my current PI, and will have one year of seeing clients at a free clinic under my belt. However, I really worry about waiting too long.

Thank you all in advance. I hope to finally sleep this week.

 

[StephBee]

My advice (and this is moreso from personal experience) is if you aren't happy with your MCAT, i'd wait a year and retake it when you feel more confident in your application. Although there are definantly people who get in with a 3.2 / 29, it's fighting an uphill battle. Are you adverse to DO? I would take s'more classes, especially those that you had Cs in before.

And for the record, you can work your parents illnesses into your PS if it's important to you. I mentioned my mom's recent cancer diagnosis in mine. All of your other ECs look good, just keep them up!

 

[kcin]

If you don't mind DO, you should toss a few applications out and see what happens. Just try to be productive over the next year in case you have to reapply.

 

[dallowac]

Thanks for the advice. I would prefer to not apply DO, so it sounds like I should wait one year? Does it help to reapply? I'm interested in OHSU and USC and I heard that OHSU looks upon reapplicants favorably?

For reapplication, would I have to completely rewrite my SOP?

 

[KLycos]

29M BY ITSELF is not completely laughable, just to be honest. Just look at this chart and make your own decisions about whether you should apply.

https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/app...mcat-gpa-grid-by-selected-race-ethnicity.html

29 combined with your low GPA means you are not competitive for admissions to medical school, just based on those two factors alone. As you well know, these are not the only factors taken into consideration, and schools may vary, but they are among the most important factors taken into consideration for an interview/acceptance.