Please rate my retake strategy after a bad MCAT score-

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Are you applying this cycle? Bc if you take Aug 28, you will be too late in the cycle to be competitive unless you have a >3.9 GPA. You are better off studying a lot, taking in January,and applying next cycle. I believe it would be hard to raise your score +5 points, especially verbal in next month.
Just my 2 cents!
 
I am applying this cycle. I do have a 4.0 GPA along with very good ECs.
I just want to get done with MCAT this calendar year and I feel that it is the most rational plan for me because I have tried Princeton MCAT class during semester and I was unable to compartmentalize.

All the content is fresh in my mind and I am planning on diving in my MCAT mode again tomorrow, starting with verbal.

I know verbal has always been a toss up for many students. But I do sincerely believe that once I approach it with some sort of strategy, I can expect at least 8-9 in VR on retake- this past MCAT, I just winged the VR section without any strategy.

Thanks,
 
Also, if you applied already now, the 4.0 24MCAT, shows a big disconnect between your grades and your MCAT. Adcoms mostly believe someone who has a 4.0, has a strong knowledge of coursework and should do well on the MCAT, this is def a red flag on your app.
Im sure you have a good excuse for your bad score....but frankly it doesnt matter, bc almost everyone who did poor has an excuse.
 
I am also very aware that even in this cycle, an acceptance is very unlikely.

But I want to have my MCAT done this year so even if I reapply next cycle, I won't have to worry about it.
 
Kaplan full lengths really were not good indicators of actual performance with me. They really tended to inflate the scores, especially for verbal. I think the best verbal prep and realistic passages and questions are in EK. And if you do decide to do Kaplan full length exams, don't take the last few because they're insanely difficult. Like insanely difficult, and this sentiment has been echoed by many others in the SDN community.
 
You can review my history at "What are my chances": http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1022423

I don't think I have any excuses, I just lacked the duration of practice needed to perform well on the test.

And I feel confident that I can improve my MCAT at my retake since I have content down and was just lacking practice the first time around.
 
texan2414 said:
I am also very aware that even in this cycle, an acceptance is very unlikely.

But I want to have my MCAT done this year so even if I reapply next cycle, I won't have to worry about it.
Click to expand...

If you are unlikely to get an acceptance this cycle, why rush the aug MCAT? take your time and be ready in january.
 
Because with college, I know I will be unable to compartmentalize MCAT study with my senior year biochem classes. I have a heavy courseload for both Fall and Spring semesters.

Also, content is fresh in my mind - I have determined that a lack of practice is primarily to blame for the low MCAT score I received yesterday.
 
gocanes1990 said:
If you are unlikely to get an acceptance this cycle, why rush the aug MCAT? take your time and be ready in january.
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I totally agree with this. I would say don't take the MCAT until you are averaging 30 or above on full length exams.
 
I also forgot to mention my AAMC averages--

My AAMC average for the tests was around a 29.

AAMC 11 score was a 28.

And the last AAMC test I took was a 31 before my real MCAT.

So its not that I cannot make a 30+ on a Full Length, a friend had suggested that I was simply a victim of a bad test day. This is another compelling reason for me to approach the retake in August. I hope this clarifies my situation.
 
texan2414 said:
I also forgot to mention my AAMC averages--

My AAMC average for the tests was around a 29.

AAMC 11 score was a 28.

And the last AAMC test I took was a 31 before my real MCAT.

So its not that I cannot make a 30+ on a Full Length, a friend had suggested that I was simply a victim of a bad test day. This is another compelling reason for me to approach the retake in August. I hope this clarifies my situation.
Click to expand...

Look at it this way, you are probably going to get rejected this cycle, so will have to reaaply next year to a lot of the same schools, why not apply to those schools, so you are not a reaap for those schools. You are gonna waste this cycle with at 24, or a rushed retake. If you buck down and study really hard and get a 33+, with a 4.0 you will be competitive at TOP schools, i.e. baylor and what not.
 
I wouldn't call my MCAT retake a "rush" because I have a good plan to alternate between practice questions/passages and full length MCATs. I don't know why it seems that I am rushing it. Even if I was not applying this cycle, I would've gladly taken the August MCAT because I know that I have a lot of commitments during academic year, and won't be able to do MCAT, classes, research, and volunteer at the same time.

Thus, summer is the most reasonable time frame for me to retake (and hopefully get done with MCAT for good).
 
texan2414 said:
I wouldn't call my MCAT retake a "rush" because I have a good plan to alternate between practice questions/passages and full length MCATs. I don't know why it seems that I am rushing it. Even if I was not applying this cycle, I would've gladly taken the August MCAT because I know that I have a lot of commitments during academic year, and won't be able to do MCAT, classes, research, and volunteer at the same time.

Thus, summer is the most reasonable time frame for me to retake (and hopefully get done with MCAT for good).
Click to expand...

You know your situation best, I hope you ace the mcat. Good luck and keep us updated!
 
Thank you very much gocanes-

Can you provide me with some feedback about Gold Standard FLs? I was a bit unsure about them. I have heard conflicting stories from people. I have checked out their free practice test, and it looks like amazing practice (mirrors what I actually saw on the mcat last month).

For verbal I will be using a variety of sources as mentioned above.
 
texan2414 said:
I also forgot to mention my AAMC averages--

My AAMC average for the tests was around a 29.

AAMC 11 score was a 28.

And the last AAMC test I took was a 31 before my real MCAT.

So its not that I cannot make a 30+ on a Full Length, a friend had suggested that I was simply a victim of a bad test day. This is another compelling reason for me to approach the retake in August. I hope this clarifies my situation.
Click to expand...

Those verbal passages vary a lot imo. Some tests seem to have really damn hard verbal sections with easy bio or physical sciences, or vice versa (I came to this conclusion after seeing results after taking the MCAT last year. There were two different times for the test on the same day and apparently the general consensus was that the tests were different, with one verbal being easy and the other excruciatingly boring and difficult.)

For people that are already bad at verbal, getting a hard verbal section can break you.

I suggest trying again as you have planned. Keep studying to have it all fresh in your mind, and focus on memorizing those chemistry and physics equations, as well as your general chemistry trends! Do what you can with verbal, but don't stress too much. Try whatever you can to convince yourself the things you're reading are of interest to you and you want to understand what the author is saying.

:luck:
 
Thank you pathologyDO for your advice! Advice I intend to follow!!
 
And you're right, I would take a difficult sciences section over a difficult verbal ANY day lol
 
It seems like you are only praising the advice that you want to hear but here it goes anyway....

I'm going to jump on the January test date bandwagon. Don't apply this year because when you are a reapplicant ADCOMs will look at you much more stricter (not only will you need at least a 4-5 pt boost on the mcat but you would have to add on to your ECs).

Now you say you want to take it in August before senior year begins because of difficult courses. That's one month of cramming. If you took the January test you have a whole semester to review as much as you can in between studying (you have a 4.0 I'm pretty sure you can manage this) and then bam winter break comes and it's one month (oh look just like the August test date) to go crazy with your studies. Then since January MCAT is at the end of the month you have another couple of weeks to review even more and with the beginning of the semester and a couple of holidays your course load will not be strenuous.


Whether you have a plan or not, doesn't change the fact that you are rushing a retake. Why take the chance of only improving by a couple of points?
 
if you were averaging <30 on practice tests what makes you think you would break 30 on the real deal!?

Please wait a cycle to apply and save you (or your parents) $1-$3k . Besides what have you done from the past test to when you received your score that makes you think you will be ready. Take a test every week for the next 8 weeks imo. I've seen a bunch of posts on sdn with people taking less than 5 FL's before their real test. I really don't get how people can go into the test with confidence with <5 FL's under their belt. I took around 12 tests in a span of 3 months (TPR Hyperlearning course btw) and I still didn't feel ok going into the test. Maybe its just the LA area but my TPR teachers were phenomenal (cept O-chem she seemed like she was just their to pay the bills)! TPR course and self practice raised my score from baseline 30L to a 40Q on the real deal.
 
Your plan seems good, but you really should just apply to only one school to get verified, and then decide if you want to actually send your app to schools once you get your scores. Applying late is so taboo on this site, but people do it every year and still get in.
 
IMO you should not take the Aug test. Given your aamc avg's it's hard to say that you'll 30+ on the real thing... especially if you've run out of aamc tests to take. I would wait until next may/june to take the mcat (if school is too much to handle). Apply next cycle, and get everything in asap.

Ideally, waiting till spring will allow you to forget most of content on the aamc tests you've recently taken. That way you can retake them with somewhat less bias. I also think the added pressure of taking it in Aug will not work in your favor. At any rate, good luck.
 
I don't know why you're arguing with people who are giving you honest advice, OP...but anyways, it's your money and your time. A second re-take can be forgiven by many schools, but a third retake will NOT look good for you. With a 24, your 4.0 means nothing. If you end up in a position where you have to retake a 3rd time, your GPA will not save you. Especially if your senior year courseload is difficult, you want to try and keep that 4.0 with NOTHING in your way. If you re-take later on when you have the TIME and the ENERGY to prepare, then your stats will be impeccable for pretty much all med schools.
 
I disagree with the others here... a month of studying for the MCAT after already having studied and taken the test recently, is not rushing it. Much can be done in a month of studying. You know yourself best, and if you were averaging 29 on the AAMCs but scored 24 on the real thing, something went wrong on test day, and again, it looks like that was a bad verbal score.

What I do agree with the others about is that you should expect to receive your average AAMC practice test score on the MCAT, not your highest score of the AAMC practice tests. If you're going to consider retaking this (which again, I don't think is out of the question) then you need to be scoring in the range you want. If you're okay with a 29 MCAT score and are averaging that then take it. If you want a 32 but are averaging 29, wait to take next year.

As others have said though, sometimes adcoms will look down on multiple retakes, although retaking the exam is by no means a deal breaker. Be sure that you're ready this second time whenever you take it!
 
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Little Update------

I have since gotten over the misery of receiving a bad score and I am RIGHT into the MCAT mode again.

Already started EK 1001 Physics, doing about 100 FSQs a day, alternating between Berkeley Review..

I am astounded how quickly Physics and G-Chem seeped back into my mind as I was doing MCAT practice questions. Will start taking FLs later this week. My goal is to do AS MUCH practice as I possibly can.

Still going for Aug 28th MCAT retake. Also, I do not care if I go through this cycle or not. I evaluated my profile again, and after a discussion with advisors, parents, and friends, the most straightforward route for me is to move with the retake now as content is still fresh in my mind. I'm not focused on getting an acceptance this year, but I do want to perform well on the MCAT as this testing year closes.

Good luck to all applying or taking this test this cycle!!
 
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