Retake advice please!

[desphil]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here hoping for any advice on what I should do!

I took the MCAT for the first time on 5/21 and got a 28R -- 9PS/11VR/8BS. I was really surprised because I had been scoring averages of 32 on Kaplan tests and 31 on AAMCs, with my scores being pretty evenly spread between the sections (though I do tend to score better in VR than the sciences). My test was really heavy on organic in BS and I think that did me in.

I have a 3.76 cGPA and a 3.54 sGPA, which has been trending upward since a rough freshman year. I have a fairly standard amount of shadowing/clinical volunteering and a ton of non-clinical volunteering through my service fraternity. I'm a KS resident but was hoping to also apply to OOS schools, public and private.

My question is - should I try to retake in late July/early August and apply late in this cycle, or wait a while on the retake and just apply next cycle? How completely terrible does this 8 in BS make me look to schools?

(Also, if anyone has advice on what the best books to use for more content review are, please share! I have the full set of Kaplan books already and am looking to mix it up.)

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[flodhi1]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here hoping for any advice on what I should do!

I took the MCAT for the first time on 5/21 and got a 28R -- 9PS/11VR/8BS. I was really surprised because I had been scoring averages of 32 on Kaplan tests and 31 on AAMCs, with my scores being pretty evenly spread between the sections (though I do tend to score better in VR than the sciences). My test was really heavy on organic in BS and I think that did me in.

I have a 3.76 cGPA and a 3.54 sGPA, which has been trending upward since a rough freshman year. I have a fairly standard amount of shadowing/clinical volunteering and a ton of non-clinical volunteering through my service fraternity. I'm a KS resident but was hoping to also apply to OOS schools, public and private.

My question is - should I try to retake in late July/early August and apply late in this cycle, or wait a while on the retake and just apply next cycle? How completely terrible does this 8 in BS make me look to schools?

(Also, if anyone has advice on what the best books to use for more content review are, please share! I have the full set of Kaplan books already and am looking to mix it up.)

I took the Kaplan course too so maybe I can be of some help. With that being said I feel like Kaplan does an average job on the BS and does a pretty descent job on the PS. I would suggest reading Berkley for the PS that would definitely boost your score big time!! All I can tell you is Berkley helped me raise by PS score by 2 points in 3 weeks. I would suggest also reading Examkracker for the BS, not the best but combined with Kaplan should give you a vast grip on the BS. I can't give you any advice on the VR since you already scored well and I'm horrific at it lol scored a 7 even after having 9 AAMC averages.
I think your Sciences score is pretty weak considering you were averaging in the low 30s you definitely needed above a 10 on both PS and BS. So even though the PS is not horrible it fell slightly short and the BS fell short significantly. I would suggest you retake, I have a feeling your 28 score is a fluke and you can score way better. Considering your GPA I would go ahead and just retake and reapply this year if it doesn't work out reapply next year early as hell. You must make sure though that your sciences are above 10s. By the way great job on the VR man

 

[desphil]

I took the Kaplan course too so maybe I can be of some help. With that being said I feel like Kaplan does an average job on the BS and does a pretty descent job on the PS. I would suggest reading Berkley for the PS that would definitely boost your score big time!! All I can tell you is Berkley helped me raise by PS score by 2 points in 3 weeks. I would suggest also reading Examkracker for the BS, not the best but combined with Kaplan should give you a vast grip on the BS. I can't give you any advice on the VR since you already scored well and I'm horrific at it lol scored a 7 even after having 9 AAMC averages.
I think your Sciences score is pretty weak considering you were averaging in the low 30s you definitely needed above a 10 on both PS and BS. So even though the PS is not horrible it fell slightly short and the BS fell short significantly. I would suggest you retake, I have a feeling your 28 score is a fluke and you can score way better. Considering your GPA I would go ahead and just retake and reapply this year if it doesn't work out reapply next year early as hell. You must make sure though that your sciences are above 10s. By the way great job on the VR man

Thanks! Would it be worth my while to get the Examkrackers and TBR books for both physical and biological? Or should I stick to EK for bio and TBR for physical? I'm pretty much just trying to focus on science content for the retake, I think I just happened to get a test that was heavy in my weak areas - so next time I don't want to have ANY weak areas!

 

[flodhi1]

Thanks! Would it be worth my while to get the Examkrackers and TBR books for both physical and biological? Or should I stick to EK for bio and TBR for physical? I'm pretty much just trying to focus on science content for the retake, I think I just happened to get a test that was heavy in my weak areas - so next time I don't want to have ANY weak areas!

To be honest the EK Physical Sciences is weak EXCEPT for General Chemistry. TBR is great with Physical Sciences. If you have the time I would just do both of them. I mean content review especially when you have done it before does not take a lot of time. The reason why TBR will be wonderful for you on the PS compared to EK is because TBR has tons of practice passages which are key.
By the way don't order EK right this second PM message me.... ASAP

 

[desphil]

To be honest the EK Physical Sciences is weak EXCEPT for General Chemistry. TBR is great with Physical Sciences. If you have the time I would just do both of them. I mean content review especially when you have done it before does not take a lot of time. The reason why TBR will be wonderful for you on the PS compared to EK is because TBR has tons of practice passages which are key.
By the way don't order EK right this second PM message me.... ASAP

Just PM'ed you back... I think?? Haha.

 

[MDminded]

My suggestion for books:

Physics: TBR for content and passages, NOVA for supplemental passages (more basic, helps drill in concepts)

GChem: TBR for content and passages

Biology: EK Bio for content, TBR for passages

Organic: TBR for content and passages

Verbal: EK for strategies, TPRH for passages