question

[mk2009]

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Hey guys. I took the may 31st mcat, and received 34Q (10v, 10ps, 14bs)
After much deliberation and advices from people, I decided to retake it on August 15th.
My cGPA is ~3.57 and my sGPA is ~3.58 with a strong upward trend (junior and senior year >3.9)
(I did horribly in half of pre reqs that were taken fresh/soph year due to family issues and working... I even failed an ochem class. then I did well on the rest of pre reqs then took a lot of upper division biochem, physiology, virology, immunology, etc)
I go to a california school and am a resident.
I have received couple scholarships and stipends for research, I worked couple jobs to support myself throughout college, I tutored for minority students, I have researched for over 2 years now (30 hours per week). I have a publication and couple more in progress as well as couple poster presentations. I have shadowed doctors as an intern (only 40 hours) and worked as a volunteer at hospital for about 8 months. I was a coordinator for fundraising projects for the needy. I'm starting work as a lab technician this august.

#1. If I fill my secondaries and send them out, will all schools hold it until September 15th to view my new mcat scores or would some even consider me with the original 34 that I have?

#2. I have only entered couple schools in my application because I couldn't decide on the schools that I want to apply to. I have 30 on my list right now including most of the low tier schools. How many "higher tiered" schools do you guys think I should apply to maximize the chance of getting in somewhere?

#3. Would my PI's letter count as a rec letter from a science faculty even if I only took independent research class with him?

Thank you so much!

 

[Mobius1985]

You do not need to retake the MCAT if you are applying primarily to low and mid-level selectivity schools. You got bad advice.

With an MCAT of 34, you should apply to 15-20 schools, of which 3-4 should be reach schools with the highest level of selectivity (California schools are probably on this list).

Your PI is definitely science faculty and you should get a letter from him.

It sounds like you'll have a solid application, considering the upward trend of your GPA. Nicely done!

 

[Dulcina]

My advice would be to not retake the mcat. I think there is pretty much no score in August that would increase your chances. A 34 is a great score, and I think adcomms would be a little confused/put-off by the fact that you retook it wiht such a high first score.

 

[JDOC13]

I agree with the above posters. Applying right now will outweight taking a 2nd MCAT by far. And what if you do worst on the 2nd test? You will be applying late and with a drop in the MCAT. Right now, your app is very strong so don't mess it up by trying to do something like that.

 

[mk2009]

thank you for the advices.
the only reason that I think I am going to retake was because I was doing much better on all of my practice aamc tests and felt that I could do better. But I do realize that there is a huge chance that my score will go down.

Is it really true that if I submit secondary and put that I'm retaking the mcat, all schools will hold my application until they get the new score? I heard that lower tier schools will still consider my mcat score from 5/31 because it's still a good score and make a decision so I won't even be at disadvantage at those schools unless I do significantly badly on the second one. Can anyone verify this

Thank you.

 

[useatoothbrush]

I seriously would not recommend you retake. I don't know about the technical details of retaking the MCAT during the app season but think about what kind of message you're sending to lower tier schools who have avg GPA's near your's and a much lower MCAT. You might say that I'd be honored to go to your school but by retaking the MCAT you're telling them you have other plans. No body likes to be second choice, especially med schools. The situation may be a lot different if you had a 30 or below.

On a related note, any ideas of what schools the OP should apply to outside of CA? I'm curious. Thanks.

 

[Bacchus]

Jefferson, Temple, Drexel, GWU, Tufts, Rosalind Franklin, EVMS are just a few choices that I would apply to if I was in the OP's boat.

OP do NOT retake. The chances of doing better than a 34 are highly unlikely. To wait until September to give schools all your information just to tell them your score went down will be the "death" of you.

Even if you get a 36 or a 38 or higher, I don't think its going to help you anymore.

 

[Bacchus]

thank you for the advices.
the only reason that I think I am going to retake was because I was doing much better on all of my practice aamc tests and felt that I could do better. But I do realize that there is a huge chance that my score will go down.

Is it really true that if I submit secondary and put that I'm retaking the mcat, all schools will hold my application until they get the new score? I heard that lower tier schools will still consider my mcat score from 5/31 because it's still a good score and make a decision so I won't even be at disadvantage at those schools unless I do significantly badly on the second one. Can anyone verify this

Thank you.

If they decide to interview you, etc and don't make a decision before your scores are returned and you do worse you may have a very, very rough road ahead.

 

[TheElement]

I did better on my practice tests as well and got a score similar to yours. I think retaking would be a waste of time and will give you diminishing returns at this point. Some adcoms might even ask you why you decided to retake with a great first score when you could have spent your time doing other things.