Reapplicant, non-trad

[Spoonbig21]

Any advice would be appreciated...

I applied last year MD only and am currently on two state school wait lists,
MCAT = BS 13, PS, 8 VR 8, WS M science and cum GPA = 3.7

I spent 4 years in the air force after high school, shadowed an MD for about a month, worked at a pharmacy as a tech and am state and national certified, volunteered at the red cross a long time ago, and have done honors research.

I've been studying for about a month to retake the MCAT and just took the AAMC #7 practice test and got BS 12, PS 9 and VR 8 ... I'm also scheduled to take the MCAT june 18th... less than a week! The only additional item to my application is volunteer work at a free clinic and a different author on one LOR...

Do I have a chance at MD?? Should I even take the MCAT again if I'm going to recieve the same score... or worse, lower?!

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[anxiousteen]

you need to raise your mcat.

if you study the right way, you can easily gain 4 points by getting 10's instead of 8's. 8 is a realy low score. if you got 8 in each section, that would be the national average score.

i don't think you should take the mcat now. instead,you should just reschedule for july and take it then. why are you scoring so low? if you got a 13 in bio, you should be able to do well in the other sections. you can still apply this year. just don't submit your secondaries until after you get your score. also don't apply to schools that screen primaries.

 

[Stratego]

The lack of clinical experience and community service was a huge weakness in your application. Now that you've fixed that hole, assuming you did a decent amount of time, I do think you have a chance at MD. If you could get your MCAT higher, especially the verbal subscore, your chance would be even better. If you're not scoring better on practice tests at the deadline for recheduling, I'd suggest you plan on a later date.

 

[Spoonbig21]

The lack of clinical experience and community service was a huge weakness in your application. Now that you've fixed that hole, assuming you did a decent amount of time, I do think you have a chance at MD. If you could get your MCAT higher, especially the verbal subscore, your chance would be even better. If you're not scoring better on practice tests at the deadline for recheduling, I'd suggest you plan on a later date.

It's not a lot of time I've been at the free clinic... about 20 hours. And my test is next Wednesday... how long do you have until you can't reschedule?

 

[Krisss17]

you need to raise your mcat.

if you study the right way, you can easily gain 4 points by getting 10's instead of 8's. 8 is a realy low score. if you got 8 in each section, that would be the national average score.

i don't think you should take the mcat now. instead,you should just reschedule for july and take it then. why are you scoring so low? if you got a 13 in bio, you should be able to do well in the other sections. you can still apply this year. just don't submit your secondaries until after you get your score. also don't apply to schools that screen primaries.

You read my mind , I was just going to suggest this when I read the OP's initial thread!

 

[student1799]

I would strongly advise you NOT to take the MCAT next month, or even in August. Those practice scores are functionally equivalent to your old score, and--as you yourself say--you run a risk that you could do the same or even worse, which would not help you at all.

I think you need to postpone applying for another year, to give yourself plenty of time to really diagnose your problem with the MCAT and prepare thoroughly before taking it again. I wouldn't recommend retaking the test before September, or maybe January of next year. With this timing, you'll be able to get your apps in nice and early in June '10, which will give you the best possible chance. This will also give you a chance to build up some high-quality volunteer time, which will really strengthen your app.

I know this sounds harsh, because you just want to reapply ASAP and get it over with. But I really think that would be risky in your case, because the MCAT was probably a major reason that you were WL'd this year, and you have no indication right now that your MCAT will improve if you take it soon.

Applying to med school is painful enough, so you want to slow down and do this right so you won't have to do it again. Trust me. (I applied this year with an unbalanced MCAT and got in, but it was a huge ordeal. I can tell you more about it if you PM me.)

Good luck.

 

[Stratego]

You don't have enough clinical experience, or even close to it. Student1799 is completely right. I would follow this excellent advice.

Go on the MCAT website and see if you can reschedule for September or January.

 

[flip26]

I would strongly advise you NOT to take the MCAT next month, or even in August. Those practice scores are functionally equivalent to your old score, and--as you yourself say--you run a risk that you could do the same or even worse, which would not help you at all.

I think you need to postpone applying for another year, to give yourself plenty of time to really diagnose your problem with the MCAT and prepare thoroughly before taking it again. I wouldn't recommend retaking the test before September, or maybe January of next year. With this timing, you'll be able to get your apps in nice and early in June '10, which will give you the best possible chance. This will also give you a chance to build up some high-quality volunteer time, which will really strengthen your app.

I know this sounds harsh, because you just want to reapply ASAP and get it over with. But I really think that would be risky in your case, because the MCAT was probably a major reason that you were WL'd this year, and you have no indication right now that your MCAT will improve if you take it soon.

Applying to med school is painful enough, so you want to slow down and do this right so you won't have to do it again. Trust me. (I applied this year with an unbalanced MCAT and got in, but it was a huge ordeal. I can tell you more about it if you PM me.)

Good luck.

I agree with all of this, and I emphasize the underlined. Do NOT take the MCAT this year - you are not ready to take the MCAT, and you are not ready to reapply. Take it next January. Get your ECs cranking. Apply next year.