I took it my first time in april, bombed it cause of lack of good preparation and taking 18 credits. I am scheduled to take the 6/30 MCAT. Submitting AMCAS in the next two days and due to working on it, haven't been able to give my full focus to MCAT so I feel like one more week of preparation would be huge for me. Is taking the 7/7 exam late/pushing it? Also, in regards to applying, should i only list one school and add more later when i get my score back? Or if i list all of them now, will they hold my application until they get my second score?
Question about when to retake MCAT and still apply for the 2019 cycle
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This is not a sound strategy.
We are under no obligation to wait for another MCAT score.
You will not be able to come up with a tailored list of schools.
You are likely to rush the second exam. The MCAT is as much a test of judgement as knowledge.
We are under no obligation to wait for another MCAT score.
You will not be able to come up with a tailored list of schools.
You are likely to rush the second exam. The MCAT is as much a test of judgement as knowledge.
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So does pushing back a week from 6/30 to 7/7 make a difference?
If you bombed the previous MCAT, what makes you so sure you are ready to retake just 2 months later without your full focus? A second bad MCAT score will be visible to all medical schools and be terrible for your application. Take your time studying and do well on practice test. Apply next cycle - don't rush your app.
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Not if you are confident of a score consistent with success (plus some, given what you have said about the first result).
Two weak scores are to be avoided at all cost, though.
The AAMC recommends that we average scores.
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If you want to attend medical school whatsoever, bombing two consecutive MCATs is a good way to derail your plan or end up in the Caribbean. Wait a year and prepare properly.
So my main issue was content review. I was scoring well on practice exams because the exams were testing some of the things i had prior knowledge on. That nailed me on the actual mcat because on the actual mcat i was ****ed over with everything that I hadnt studied lol content review-wise, has been much much better this time around. Can someone just answer my question tho? lol assuming a ~510 score, will pushing it back from 6/30 --> 7/7 make a big difference?
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I think what everyone is saying is that an extra week isn't going to cause a score increase, and neither is 2 months of non-focused studying. Most likely, you will get another subpar score.
Assuming you get a good score, 1 week will not make a difference.
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Let’s say you take the July MCAT.
Assuming you don’t submit without the score, you are looking at mid-late August submission at the earliest. That’s verification by early-mid September. By the end of September nearly 40% of interview slots have already been given out for the entire cycle. This is without factoring in secondary application time, screening, or time for your app to be reviewed.
Let’s say that you submit with your current score and state you have another one on the way. You have to split your time between mcat study and applications while having no control over whether or not schools review your app as it is, that is without the second score.
If I were you I would sit out this cycle, put in the hours to do really well on the McAT, and take the year to work on beefing up your app in addition to the better score. I’m not saying that it is impossible to submit now and get a better score, but without knowing EXACTY how prepared or not you are for the McAT, i am very wary of advising you to do so.
Assuming you don’t submit without the score, you are looking at mid-late August submission at the earliest. That’s verification by early-mid September. By the end of September nearly 40% of interview slots have already been given out for the entire cycle. This is without factoring in secondary application time, screening, or time for your app to be reviewed.
Let’s say that you submit with your current score and state you have another one on the way. You have to split your time between mcat study and applications while having no control over whether or not schools review your app as it is, that is without the second score.
If I were you I would sit out this cycle, put in the hours to do really well on the McAT, and take the year to work on beefing up your app in addition to the better score. I’m not saying that it is impossible to submit now and get a better score, but without knowing EXACTY how prepared or not you are for the McAT, i am very wary of advising you to do so.
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Based upon your track record and the way you're ignoring good advice from the people here, I'd say no.
Pay careful attention: The MCAT is a career-deciding, high stakes exam. Take it ONLY when you're 100% ready, even if it means skipping an app cycle.
Quoting the wise Homeskool: Taking the MCAT is like getting married: ideally you only do it once, and the more times you do it the worse you start looking to suitors with good judgment.
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I’m in your same situation except I never took the MCAT. I was originally supposed to take it in May but now have a June test date and will void the exam. I went back and forth on this for a couple weeks but have decided to apply next cycle and take the MCAT later in the summer or fall when I am absolutely ready.
I felt bad at first because didn’t want to wait another year but now I feel so good about my decision. The thought of simultaneously working on primary and secondary applications along with the MCAT didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to rush and the quality of my test prep and applications was going to suffer. Like you I didn’t master the content review well enough. Now I’m taking my time through the content with Khan Academy and Kaplan books and am already seeing how I missed things on different practice exams and how this will be much easier. Also I’m changing up my study plan and after trying different resources I know which work best for me.
Another year of research, volunteering, and shadowing sounds good the more I think about it. But most importantly you don’t want to rush the MCAT or your applications. I would say this is even more important for you since you’ve already taken the test once and didn’t do well.
Plus what if everything does work out? You are still going to be late. As others have said a lot of interview slots will have already gone out. This can play a big role in your application cycle. Give yourself your best chance. Don’t apply now because you think you can’t wait another year or because other people in your life are applying. Give yourself your best application.
At the end of the day I just didn’t see any upside in doing this. You will be that much more competitive with another year of extracurriculars, more time on MCAT, more time on applications, and there will be no doubt in getting your application submitted early. I suggest you take your time and apply next cycle but this is your decision. Just wanted to give you my 2 cents. Good luck on whatever you decide.
I felt bad at first because didn’t want to wait another year but now I feel so good about my decision. The thought of simultaneously working on primary and secondary applications along with the MCAT didn’t feel right. I felt like I was going to rush and the quality of my test prep and applications was going to suffer. Like you I didn’t master the content review well enough. Now I’m taking my time through the content with Khan Academy and Kaplan books and am already seeing how I missed things on different practice exams and how this will be much easier. Also I’m changing up my study plan and after trying different resources I know which work best for me.
Another year of research, volunteering, and shadowing sounds good the more I think about it. But most importantly you don’t want to rush the MCAT or your applications. I would say this is even more important for you since you’ve already taken the test once and didn’t do well.
Plus what if everything does work out? You are still going to be late. As others have said a lot of interview slots will have already gone out. This can play a big role in your application cycle. Give yourself your best chance. Don’t apply now because you think you can’t wait another year or because other people in your life are applying. Give yourself your best application.
At the end of the day I just didn’t see any upside in doing this. You will be that much more competitive with another year of extracurriculars, more time on MCAT, more time on applications, and there will be no doubt in getting your application submitted early. I suggest you take your time and apply next cycle but this is your decision. Just wanted to give you my 2 cents. Good luck on whatever you decide.
