Postpone MCAT?

[Fishy fish]

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Hi everyone,

So I'm scheduled to take the MCAT on May 19th (in less than a month). I'm considering postponing that date to sometime in mid-late June. I am aiming for at least a 511 and so far these are my scores on practice exams:

NS FL1: 506
NS FL2: 507
NS FL3: 505
NS half length: 505
Kaplan FL 1: 505

I made the mistake of taking AAMC FL 1 early on in the prep process (about 2.5 months ago) and scored a 500. This was prior to doing any practice problems.

I've heard that Kaplan and NS tend to deflate scores but am not sure what that will mean for me. I still have the AAMC FL2 and 3 but plan on taking those closer to the date.

Any recommendations on what to do?

 

[Deleted member 737595]

All of those companies deflate scores. Take another AAMC and you will probably surprise yourself.

 

[Altius Premier Tutor]

Hi everyone,

So I'm scheduled to take the MCAT on May 19th (in less than a month). I'm considering postponing that date to sometime in mid-late June. I am aiming for at least a 511 and so far these are my scores on practice exams:

NS FL1: 506
NS FL2: 507
NS FL3: 505
NS half length: 505
Kaplan FL 1: 505

I made the mistake of taking AAMC FL 1 early on in the prep process (about 2.5 months ago) and scored a 500. This was prior to doing any practice problems.

I've heard that Kaplan and NS tend to deflate scores but am not sure what that will mean for me. I still have the AAMC FL2 and 3 but plan on taking those closer to the date.

Any recommendations on what to do?

Hi Fishy fish,

If you were to take another AAMC exam, you might see a bit of a score increase, but almost certainly not all the way up to a 511. Also, having tutored for the MCAT for several years, I always tell my students to expect to do 1-2 points worse on their actual MCAT than they do on their most recent AAMC exam before the MCAT (I advise them to take this about three days before their actual MCAT so that they know exactly where they stand). This is mostly because of test day nerves. Before you take another practice test, I would highly advise reviewing and dissecting the practice exams you've already taken. Go over each and every question and figure out what went wrong. Did you simply misread the question stem? Did you miss a detail in the passage? Was it simply a concept that you had forgotten? Whatever it is, take note of it. When you finish reviewing an entire exam, you should be able to see a trend (or two). If the problem is conceptual, seek out resources to help you master that topic. If the issue is reading comprehension, focus all of your energy on reading carefully and thoroughly on your next exam.

Can you get up to a 511 by May 19th? Probably, but it will take dedication and time. If you were one of my MCAT students, I would encourage you to postpone the exam, study hard throughout the summer, and aim for 515+. This would necessitate waiting to apply until next year, but if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right the first time. Hope this helps!

 

[Dr. Meliodas]

You shouldn't have taken the AAMC test until after being done with content review. They are the most accurate to the test. This being said taking the full length before you start reviewing is expected. Take the 2nd full length after you finish content review to see where you are then. If you still have a very low score then you should consider postponing your test if you have a decent score then keep working on your weaknesses. I would suggest taking the second AAMC full length latest 1 month before you exam. This will give you a month to work on your weaknesses. As said above take the last AAMC full length a couple of days before your test to get the most accurate sense of where you are.

 

[platty]

I never scored above 506 on Kaplan or 507 on NS. I would go for it as long as your scores are balanced and you are consistently scoring in that range. If it isn't going to be a huge deal for you to postpone, like if you're ok with possibly waiting until next year to apply, then it can't hurt to postpone. You can definitely still get in this cycle if you test in June but I did that and I had to watch a lot of peers get interviews and acceptances while I was going crazy waiting. I still got in, but I feel like it was more stressful than if I would have applied earlier..

 

[Fishy fish]

I never scored above 506 on Kaplan or 507 on NS. I would go for it as long as your scores are balanced and you are consistently scoring in that range. If it isn't going to be a huge deal for you to postpone, like if you're ok with possibly waiting until next year to apply, then it can't hurt to postpone. You can definitely still get in this cycle if you test in June but I did that and I had to watch a lot of peers get interviews and acceptances while I was going crazy waiting. I still got in, but I feel like it was more stressful than if I would have applied earlier..

Thanks for your feedback! If you don't mind me asking, did you end up scoring higher than you were scoring on these practice exams?

 

[Fishy fish]

You shouldn't have taken the AAMC test until after being done with content review. They are the most accurate to the test. This being said taking the full length before you start reviewing is expected. Take the 2nd full length after you finish content review to see where you are then. If you still have a very low score then you should consider postponing your test if you have a decent score then keep working on your weaknesses. I would suggest taking the second AAMC full length latest 1 month before you exam. This will give you a month to work on your weaknesses. As said above take the last AAMC full length a couple of days before your test to get the most accurate sense of where you are.

Thank you! That's the plan. I'll be using my AAMC FL 2 to decide whether to postpone or not.

 

[Fishy fish]

All of those companies deflate scores. Take another AAMC and you will probably surprise yourself.

Hope that will really be the case! Thanks!

 

[Fishy fish]

Hi Fishy fish,

If you were to take another AAMC exam, you might see a bit of a score increase, but almost certainly not all the way up to a 511. Also, having tutored for the MCAT for several years, I always tell my students to expect to do 1-2 points worse on their actual MCAT than they do on their most recent AAMC exam before the MCAT (I advise them to take this about three days before their actual MCAT so that they know exactly where they stand). This is mostly because of test day nerves. Before you take another practice test, I would highly advise reviewing and dissecting the practice exams you've already taken. Go over each and every question and figure out what went wrong. Did you simply misread the question stem? Did you miss a detail in the passage? Was it simply a concept that you had forgotten? Whatever it is, take note of it. When you finish reviewing an entire exam, you should be able to see a trend (or two). If the problem is conceptual, seek out resources to help you master that topic. If the issue is reading comprehension, focus all of your energy on reading carefully and thoroughly on your next exam.

Can you get up to a 511 by May 19th? Probably, but it will take dedication and time. If you were one of my MCAT students, I would encourage you to postpone the exam, study hard throughout the summer, and aim for 515+. This would necessitate waiting to apply until next year, but if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right the first time. Hope this helps!

Thanks for your advice!!

 

[platty]

Thanks for your feedback! If you don't mind me asking, did you end up scoring higher than you were scoring on these practice exams?

Yes, 127,125,127,130 on test day. Which brings up something important- I did 5-20 CARS passages daily and never scored that low on CARS until test day so be ready for anything with CARS. It took me a long time to recover from that 125 and I almost did a retake because of it but decided to ride it out. Ended up getting accepted but I was really expecting AT LEAST 127 in CARS and didn't even come close.

 

[mariposas905]

I never scored above 506 on Kaplan or 507 on NS. I would go for it as long as your scores are balanced and you are consistently scoring in that range. If it isn't going to be a huge deal for you to postpone, like if you're ok with possibly waiting until next year to apply, then it can't hurt to postpone. You can definitely still get in this cycle if you test in June but I did that and I had to watch a lot of peers get interviews and acceptances while I was going crazy waiting. I still got in, but I feel like it was more stressful than if I would have applied earlier..

Would the June 16th MCAT date really be that late? Considering AMCAS is submitted and verified, and secondaries pre-written?

 

[platty]

Would the June 16th MCAT date really be that late? Considering AMCAS is submitted and verified, and secondaries pre-written?

I took mine on that exact date lol. Meh it’s not THAT late, but I felt late. I didn’t get interviews until January while other students that applied earlier interviewed in the Fall and had acceptances by October. It was really frustrating and difficult to be patient. If you have your application verified and secondaries prewritten, that will help to an extent. Even though I took my MCAT June 16th, I still got accepted to my first choice. I applied to 15 schools and had 3 interviews. All of my interviews were within the last ~3 interview days offered. One school only had a single spot left for an interview. If I could do it over again, I would have applied earlier. But I was in the same boat as you are. I had my MCAT date scheduled for mid May and postponed to June. When I chose to postpone, I was scoring 500-503 on practice exams.

 

[mariposas905]

I took mine on that exact date lol. Meh it’s not THAT late, but I felt late. I didn’t get interviews until January while other students that applied earlier interviewed in the Fall and had acceptances by October. It was really frustrating and difficult to be patient. If you have your application verified and secondaries prewritten, that will help to an extent. Even though I took my MCAT June 16th, I still got accepted to my first choice. I applied to 15 schools and had 3 interviews. All of my interviews were within the last ~3 interview days offered. One school only had a single spot left for an interview. If I could do it over again, I would have applied earlier. But I was in the same boat as you are. I had my MCAT date scheduled for mid May and postponed to June. When I chose to postpone, I was scoring 500-503 on practice exams.

I'm confused why your interviews were so late. Is it because you didn't submit AMCAS until after receiving your score, and didn't pre-write secondaries? When were you complete at most of your schools?

Also, would you be willing to share what your MCAT score was and how you managed to improve from 500-503 to an acceptable score within one month of postponing the exam?

 

[platty]

I was complete at most schools with secondaries done by end of July. I waited to get my score before submitting to AMCAS. I didn't want to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on the application if I didn't have a competitive score because I knew I wouldn't really have time to retake that cycle. It may have been different if I submitted earlier to be verfied earlier but still wouldn't have hear back until much later than most of my peers who were complete by the time I took my MCAT.
I just took a lot of practice exams in that time. I reviewed the stuff I didn't know. I wrote down everything I didn't know from the Kaplan books on Flashcards and went through them until I knew them all. I made my own quick sheets and carried them everywhere.

 

[platty]

I'm confused why your interviews were so late. Is it because you didn't submit AMCAS until after receiving your score, and didn't pre-write secondaries? When were you complete at most of your schools?

Also, would you be willing to share what your MCAT score was and how you managed to improve from 500-503 to an acceptable score within one month of postponing the exam?

Yes, 127,125,127,130 on test day. Which brings up something important- I did 5-20 CARS passages daily and never scored that low on CARS until test day so be ready for anything with CARS. It took me a long time to recover from that 125 and I almost did a retake because of it but decided to ride it out. Ended up getting accepted but I was really expecting AT LEAST 127 in CARS and didn't even come close.

My score is in this post.

 

[mariposas905]

I was complete at most schools with secondaries done by end of July. I waited to get my score before submitting to AMCAS. I didn't want to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on the application if I didn't have a competitive score because I knew I wouldn't really have time to retake that cycle. It may have been different if I submitted earlier to be verfied earlier but still wouldn't have hear back until much later than most of my peers who were complete by the time I took my MCAT.
I just took a lot of practice exams in that time. I reviewed the stuff I didn't know. I wrote down everything I didn't know from the Kaplan books on Flashcards and went through them until I knew them all. I made my own quick sheets and carried them everywhere.

I'm still confused lol

If you took your MCAT June 16 and then waited to submit AMCAS until after getting your score in mid-July, doesn't that mean you weren't verified until mid-August? How could you have been complete at all schools by end of July?

 

[On_The_Way_Up]

Kaplan test are deflated however Next Step tests are not deflated. I fact they’re a little bit inflated.

 

[platty]

I'm still confused lol

If you took your MCAT June 16 and then waited to submit AMCAS until after getting your score in mid-July, doesn't that mean you weren't verified until mid-August? How could you have been complete at all schools by end of July?

It only took me about 2 weeks to get verified and most schools send secondaries out almost simultaneously with the verification or within a couple days, some schools sent them even before being verified. Time to get verified varies. I got lucky. A few of my secondaries didn't get sent out until a week or so into August. There was one school that waiting to send their secondary and I didn't get it until September. But the bulk of them were sent once I got verified.