Please HELPPPP: 25 then 21 MCAT and 4.0 GPA

[roose911]

Please guys help me! I'm a new member. I'm from a middle eastern country where protesting and revolution and I came here as a refugee so I struggled a lot with language when I got here. I have a 4.0 GPA which is really surprising. bio major. I took the MCAT twice. First I got a 25 (8 PS, 6VR, 11 BS) and retook it before it changes and that's why I panicked in January and I got 21 (8PS, 5VR, 8BS). I don't know what to do. Pre health advising director told me you are gonna be fine if you explained that that is not your native language and that the real reason I panicked in the end of January because of the new MCAT. I have good shadowing experience like about 150 hours in the ER and trauma and OR.
2 years of volunteering in the hospital.
2 months volunteering in really poor areas in The middle eastern country.
Tutoring as a job for 3 years.
2 years of research with a director of a college writhin the university.

I really struggled and blended int he culture.
Please I really appreciate your responses. I don't mind DOs or MDs. The MCAT is really a pain to prepare for. What should I do?

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[JessebenBenjamin]

That low MCAT is really going to hurt your chances... especially that 5 in verbal.
I'm sorry to say this, but I believe you will probably get screened out from most places.

 

[JessebenBenjamin]

Are you open to re-take?

 

[ZedsDed]

If the AdCom's would be so kind they can help you a lot better than us premeds can @gyngyn @LizzyM @Goro
(Though something tells me that the advisers, as usual, have no idea what they're talking about)

 

[LizzyM]

I'm going to be blunt. The GPA of 4.0 becomes very puzzling in light of MCAT performance like this. If language is the issue, how did the OP manage a 4.0 in undergraduate classes? The MCAT taken twice and worse the second time around and averaging 23 is of concern. Experience tells us that while the majority of students who are admitted to medical school with such a score are able to successfully complete medical school, the proportion who do so is less than the proportion of students with scores of 26 or more who graduate. Many (most?)schools won't take a chance on such a applicant.

The MCAT is a pain to prepare for and so are the Board exams and the re-certification exams that you will be taking for the rest of your life if you become a licensed, board certified physician. Maybe a different career is a better fit given your test taking skills.

 

[Faha]

You would have a chance for a DO admission but you would need to apply broadly to at least 20 schools and submit your application in June and complete all your secondaries by July. DO schools where you would have a chance include:
ATSU-SOMA
RVUCOM
ATSU-KCOM
KCUMB-COM
WCU-COM
ACOM
VCOM (all 3 schools )
LMU-DCOM
UP-KYCOM
MU-COM
WVSOM
LECOM ((PA and FLorida)
LUCOM
CUSOM
PNWU-COM
Burrell (new school)

 

[Goro]

I agree 100% with my learned colleague. OPs scores are a rick factor for failing out of med school, and/or boards. If you have test-taking anxiety issues, those can be fixed.

I'm going to be blunt. The GPA of 4.0 becomes very puzzling in light of MCAT performance like this. If language is the issue, how did the OP manage a 4.0 in undergraduate classes? The MCAT taken twice and worse the second time around and averaging 23 is of concern. Experience tells us that while the majority of students who are admitted to medical school with such a score are able to successfully complete medical school, the proportion who do so is less than the proportion of students with scores of 26 or more who graduate. Many (most?)schools won't take a chance on such a applicant.

The MCAT is a pain to prepare for and so are the Board exams and the re-certification exams that you will be taking for the rest of your life if you become a licensed, board certified physician. Maybe a different career is a better fit given your test taking skills.

 

[roose911]

I'm going to be blunt. The GPA of 4.0 becomes very puzzling in light of MCAT performance like this. If language is the issue, how did the OP manage a 4.0 in undergraduate classes? The MCAT taken twice and worse the second time around and averaging 23 is of concern. Experience tells us that while the majority of students who are admitted to medical school with such a score are able to successfully complete medical school, the proportion who do so is less than the proportion of students with scores of 26 or more who graduate. Many (most?)schools won't take a chance on such a applicant.

The MCAT is a pain to prepare for and so are the Board exams and the re-certification exams that you will be taking for the rest of your life if you become a licensed, board certified physician. Maybe a different career is a better fit given your test taking skills.

Thanks for your response! But I thought the 4.0 GPA would really balance out the MCAT. The MCAT is my first standerized used test here in the U.S. What should I do?

 

[roose911]

I'm going to be blunt. The GPA of 4.0 becomes very puzzling in light of MCAT performance like this. If language is the issue, how did the OP manage a 4.0 in undergraduate classes? The MCAT taken twice and worse the second time around and averaging 23 is of concern. Experience tells us that while the majority of students who are admitted to medical school with such a score are able to successfully complete medical school, the proportion who do so is less than the proportion of students with scores of 26 or more who graduate. Many (most?)schools won't take a chance on such a applicant.

The MCAT is a pain to prepare for and so are the Board exams and the re-certification exams that you will be taking for the rest of your life if you become a licensed, board certified physician. Maybe a different career is a better fit given your test taking skills.

Are you open to re-take?

I am but I'm just burnt out from the MCAT preps. I have been maintaining 4.0 and I don't know how they are gonna interpret the new MCAT scores (if I retook it like next month or after 2 months) along with the old MCAT scores.

 

[JessebenBenjamin]

I wouldn't apply this cycle. Wait another year, improve youe English skills and retake the test. I honestly believe it's your best shot. From one non-english native to another.

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks for your response! But I thought the 4.0 GPA would really balance out the MCAT. The MCAT is my first standerized used test here in the U.S. What should I do?

How did you get into college without taking a standardized test? I guess there are some schools that don't require SAT or ACT ...
I am still baffled that you have received straight A's in college but can't manage to score better than 6 out of 14 in a reading comprehension test. That you score declined the second time argues against the fact that you were nervous or unfamiliar with the test leading to a poor result. If so, you would have done as well or better the second time around.

This is a marathon, not a sprint, and you need not apply this year. Plan a master's degree or a gap year in a lab or clinical setting (if you can legally work here) and prepare at least 9 months before taking the new MCAT. There is no point in applying for a 2016 start. Your GPA will not balance out a poor MCAT unless you are eligible to apply to a Puerto Rican school and given your experience in the Middle East I would wager that you are not.

 

[ZedsDed]

How did you get into college without taking a standardized test? I guess there are some schools that don't require SAT or ACT ...
I am still baffled that you have received straight A's in college but can't manage to score better than 6 out of 14 in a reading comprehension test. That you score declined the second time argues against the fact that you were nervous or unfamiliar with the test leading to a poor result. If so, you would have done as well or better the second time around.

This is a marathon, not a sprint, and you need not apply this year. Plan a master's degree or a gap year in a lab or clinical setting (if you can legally work here) and prepare at least 9 months before taking the new MCAT. There is no point in applying for a 2016 start. Your GPA will not balance out a poor MCAT unless you are eligible to apply to a Puerto Rican school and given your experience in the Middle East I would wager that you are not.

I know 2 individuals with stories similar to the OP's. Both individuals had 3.9+ GPA's at top-tier UC's. In both cases, they were very good at memorization and rarely studied. They would cram concepts and flush everything at the end of the semester/quarter. That, coupled with them cherry picking easy instructors resulted in their high GPAs. I know all of us would like to think that it is impossible to ace undergraduate classes largely through memorization alone, but it happens. Both of them struggled with english, which compounded with their lack of knowledge on the MCAT; the house of cards fell apart. There is a reason many call the MCAT the great equalizer. I'm not saying any of this applies to you OP, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Either way OP, I think you are going to have a hard time arguing that you have mastered the material with a 21.

 

[ZedsDed]

I am but I'm just burnt out from the MCAT preps. I have been maintaining 4.0 and I don't know how they are gonna interpret the new MCAT scores (if I retook it like next month or after 2 months) along with the old MCAT scores.

There is no way, at all, that you are going to be ready to retake it next month. Next year maybe. But you need to spend some serious time reviewing

 

[roose911]

How did you get into college without taking a standardized test? I guess there are some schools that don't require SAT or ACT ...
I am still baffled that you have received straight A's in college but can't manage to score better than 6 out of 14 in a reading comprehension test. That you score declined the second time argues against the fact that you were nervous or unfamiliar with the test leading to a poor result. If so, you would have done as well or better the second time around.

This is a marathon, not a sprint, and you need not apply this year. Plan a master's degree or a gap year in a lab or clinical setting (if you can legally work here) and prepare at least 9 months before taking the new MCAT. There is no point in applying for a 2016 start. Your GPA will not balance out a poor MCAT unless you are eligible to apply to a Puerto Rican school and given your experience in the Middle East I would wager that you are not.

I came from a middle eastern country as highschool. From a really higher education than the U.S high school one.

 

[LizzyM]

I came from a middle eastern country as highschool. From a really higher education than the U.S high school one.

You need at least a year improving your English language skills before you will be ready to apply to medical school. The secondaries will be your downfall if the MCAT does not screen you out.