Reapplying!!!!!!!

[MCAT08]

Hi,
I was told by my advisor that the first time we apply we have a 60% chance of getting in, but the second and third time it goes down to 40%.. I was wondering if you have heard of this because if this is true I am not going to apply this year due to low mcat (spec. verbal) scores but otherwise I am pretty confident in the rest of my application and I was planning on applying for this year (i am done with all my app and amcas has recieved all my transcripts)! I appreciate your input. Thanks!

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[Green Grass]

I'm not sure of the stats, but maybe someone around here does know. I'm also reapplying with a low verbal score, but I'm hoping for the best. Your situation may be different, but I've made some changes this year and I think I'm going to be successful. If you haven't done much in the past year, you might want to reconsider taking the MCAT again.

 

[MCAT08]

I'm not sure of the stats, but maybe someone around here does know. I'm also reapplying with a low verbal score, but I'm hoping for the best. Your situation may be different, but I've made some changes this year and I think I'm going to be successful. If you haven't done much in the past year, you might want to reconsider taking the MCAT again.

I took the mcat for the first time last month (got a 23P) and was planning to apply for the first time this year (finished all my app), I'm a URM and I have a 3.8 GPA and lots of EC's (reserach/volunteer/teaching) but my low verbal score is most likely not going to make it for this app cycle. I really wanted to give it a shot this year and hope for the best sine the rest of my application looks good, and if I don't get in I would apply again next year. I have heard that reapplying shows persistance but if my chances is going to go down from 60 to 40% then I am debating whether I should submit my application this year.. any thoughts?

 

[mbe36]

Hmm the whole %60 -> %40 thing seemes strange to me.

Does this account for students who have improved their app considerably?

What about those who reapply much earlier the second time?

 

[jult24er]

Hi,
I was told by my advisor that the first time we apply we have a 60% chance of getting in, but the second and third time it goes down to 40%.. I was wondering if you have heard of this because if this is true I am not going to apply this year due to low mcat (spec. verbal) scores but otherwise I am pretty confident in the rest of my application and I was planning on applying for this year (i am done with all my app and amcas has recieved all my transcripts)! I appreciate your input. Thanks!

That 'factoid' sounds, to me, like it is based on the fact that 60% of first time applicants get in somehwere, but only 40% of reapplicants do. That discrepancy would not necessarily be because they are reapplicants. Perhaps the reapplicant pool is just made of weaker candidates. So your advisor does not understand statistics and is incorrect to say your chances go down between application cycles.

I'd say, your chances are better the second time if you improved your app, and probably a little worse if not, becasue it gets harder every year ...

could you retake the mcat? i think a strong secondaries-done-by-october app with a solid mcat is better then a week mcat but otherwise strong, secondaries-done-in-august application. just my $.02 ...

 

[Green Grass]

I took the mcat for the first time last month (got a 23P) and was planning to apply for the first time this year (finished all my app), I'm a URM and I have a 3.8 GPA and lots of EC's (reserach/volunteer/teaching) but my low verbal score is most likely not going to make it for this app cycle. I really wanted to give it a shot this year and hope for the best sine the rest of my application looks good, and if I don't get in I would apply again next year. I have heard that reapplying shows persistance but if my chances is going to go down from 60 to 40% then I am debating whether I should submit my application this year.. any thoughts?

Can I ask what your breakdown on the MCAT was?

 

[armybound]

Hmm the whole %60 -> %40 thing seemes strange to me.

Does this account for students who have improved their app considerably?

What about those who reapply much earlier the second time?

It's probably because the people who don't get in the first time have something wrong with their applications, so they're going to have less luck when they reapply because their applications are still weak.

My chances of getting accepted have actually improved every time I've applied (measured by increased number of interviews), but still no luck. Obviously there's something wrong with my application.

 

[186321]

I took the mcat for the first time last month (got a 23P) and was planning to apply for the first time this year (finished all my app), I'm a URM and I have a 3.8 GPA and lots of EC's (reserach/volunteer/teaching) but my low verbal score is most likely not going to make it for this app cycle. I really wanted to give it a shot this year and hope for the best sine the rest of my application looks good, and if I don't get in I would apply again next year. I have heard that reapplying shows persistance but if my chances is going to go down from 60 to 40% then I am debating whether I should submit my application this year.. any thoughts?

Hey, to be honest a 23 MCAT is extremely low for acceptance, even for a URM. Unless your thinking about applying to the Caribbean and maybe Osteopathic, I think it would be best to just retake the MCAT.

 

[MCAT08]

Can I ask what your breakdown on the MCAT was?

PS 10 VR 4 BS 9

Verbal killed me.. lowest of all my practice tests but my highest was not that high either 6-7 so I am scared if I retake the mcat and not do so great on verbal again -def better than this though!
As for EC's I will be continuing on what I have (until present) and I think I have a pretty well rounded EC's I did lots of teaching for last 3 years that I was in school one yr of research in school and more since April of this year, volunteered abroad for 3 months last summer and in ER since Jan of this year. Lots of shadowing too. So MCAT is what is holding me back, I don't know if I should give it a shot this year if the 20% decrease is true!!

 

[jult24er]

PS 10 VR 4 BS 9

Verbal killed me.. lowest of all my practice tests but my highest was not that high either 6-7 so I am scared if I retake the mcat and not do so great on verbal again -def better than this though!
As for EC's I will be continuing on what I have (until present) and I think I have a pretty well rounded EC's I did lots of teaching for last 3 years that I was in school one yr of research in school and more since April of this year, volunteered abroad for 3 months last summer and in ER since Jan of this year. Lots of shadowing too. So MCAT is what is holding me back, I don't know if I should give it a shot this year if the 20% decrease is true!!

Are you reading the posts? Your advisor's 20% decrease statement is very dubious. How could he ever know that? I call BS.

Are you a non native speaker? Your app seems really great besides that VR score. Get it up to a 9 or 10 and you seem in great position, even with a late app!

 

[bcat85]

That 'factoid' sounds, to me, like it is based on the fact that 60% of first time applicants get in somehwere, but only 40% of reapplicants do. That discrepancy would not necessarily be because they are reapplicants. Perhaps the reapplicant pool is just made of weaker candidates. So your advisor does not understand statistics and is incorrect to say your chances go down between application cycles.

I'd say, your chances are better the second time if you improved your app, and probably a little worse if not, becasue it gets harder every year ...

could you retake the mcat? i think a strong secondaries-done-by-october app with a solid mcat is better then a week mcat but otherwise strong, secondaries-done-in-august application. just my $.02 ...

This was exactly what I was thinking. I think that the reason that reapplicants don't get in as often is that they weren't as good of applicants the first time around. It's not like people are shooting down reapplicants because of their application status. While this is probably a decent estimate, it depends on you as a person. Which leads me to my next point..

Hey, to be honest a 23 MCAT is extremely low for acceptance, even for a URM. Unless your thinking about applying to the Caribbean and maybe Osteopathic, I think it would be best to just retake the MCAT.

PS 10 VR 4 BS 9

Verbal killed me.. lowest of all my practice tests but my highest was not that high either 6-7 so I am scared if I retake the mcat and not do so great on verbal again -def better than this though!
As for EC's I will be continuing on what I have (until present) and I think I have a pretty well rounded EC's I did lots of teaching for last 3 years that I was in school one yr of research in school and more since April of this year, volunteered abroad for 3 months last summer and in ER since Jan of this year. Lots of shadowing too. So MCAT is what is holding me back, I don't know if I should give it a shot this year if the 20% decrease is true!! sd

If you bring up your VR score to a 9 or 10, you should be able to get in as long as your gpa isn't bad.

 

[MCAT08]

Thanks for all your replies! and yes english is my second language!
so either way I should NOT apply with this mcat score? have you heard of anyone who got in with that stat and the schools overlook the low score?

 

[armybound]

It's such a tough decision.. your other scores are very good.

If I were in your shoes, I would probably apply to a small number of schools (5-6) that I have the best chance at and focus most of my attention on retaking the MCAT and preparing to reapply next year.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Thanks for all your replies! and yes english is my second language!
so either way I should NOT apply with this mcat score? have you heard of anyone who got in with that stat and the schools overlook the low score?

First off your advisors statement is incorrect, the latest stats Ive seen do show that first time applicants have a slightly greater chance at accpetnace than reapps...like 2 or 3%, but this is not significant and may be due to the quality of the applicants rather than the whole reapp stigma

If I were you, I would not apply with a 4...Even if you had a 34, 15, 4, 15..I just dont see any school willing to take that risk. If you wanna apply to only your state schools, I dont see any problem and you wont take too much of a financial hit...maybe 200 or 300 bucks, not too bad.

 

[gasdf1234567]

Thanks for all your replies! and yes english is my second language!
so either way I should NOT apply with this mcat score? have you heard of anyone who got in with that stat and the schools overlook the low score?

You shouldn't apply with that score...4 on verbal will most likely screen you out of every med school in the U.S. Raise your score and and then go for it. And don't pay any attention whatsoever to the 40% re-applicant admission rate.

 

[jult24er]

Thanks for all your replies! and yes english is my second language!
so either way I should NOT apply with this mcat score? have you heard of anyone who got in with that stat and the schools overlook the low score?

Thats great that English is your second language - means that there should be tons of room for improvement in your Verbal score!

I would spend all my time trying to get that up rather then worrying about whether to apply or not. Practice, read, learn more vocab. If you can get it to an 8 by the latest allowed mcat (sept i tihnk), then id think about applying, even if its late this cycle, much better then having a 4. Then you could keep studying and maybe even get it up to a 10 if you find yourself on waitlists ...

 

[armybound]

the problem with the verbal score is that it's really a test of critical thinking and understanding instead of vocabulary.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

the problem with the verbal score is that it's really a test of critical thinking and understanding instead of vocabulary.

Perhaps he still reads relatively slow?? That can definitely be detrimental to your score.

But OP dont worry about it too much..improve the verbal up to atleast a 7, preferably a 9+ and then apply.