Retake Mcat? or roll with it

[monkey9898]

So I recently took the MCAT again, previous score 501 126/123/127/125, new score is 505 126/126/126/127, I thought I was gonna get a much better score but I messed up bad in bio. Anyways I am worried that the 4 point increase doesn't look like a good enough increase for a reapplicant. Last year I interviewed at 5 schools and at my target school Touro Nevada. Waitlisted to all of them. I am really gunning to get into Touro. Should i retake the MCAT or go with the application now?

Asian male
State: TX
Graduated: fall 2016
3.47 cgpa
3.49 sgpa all with upward trend
Only one mcat score 501 (126, 123, 127, 125)
My ECs are avg, 1000 hours research in Lyme disease, shadowing nephrologist, good amount shadowing a DO, Vp of a club for a year, random volunteering here and there and 40-50 hours in habitat for humanity and 4 letter, two professors and one md and one DO. Lot of flag football IM championships and coached and played for our regional and national representating team men's women's corec, I don't know if that stuff is worth mentioning though. Worked as an assistant in a private practice Neuro Oncology for 8 months but left to focus on MCAT. Currently working part time in an internal medicine practice.

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[BobbyKoch]

here is my uninformed premed opinion:

great job boosting your CARS and P/S! don't be so hard on yourself for "only" a 4 point improvement. I would postpone a retake for now and move forward with an application to a wide variety (read: old and new) DO schools.

your previous cycle shows that you look good on paper but perhaps you falter a bit in person. I would pull out all the stops for interview prep: ask for interview feedback from each school that interviewed you. make an appointment with a career counseling center at university if possible. ask the physicians you have access to for a brief (20-30 min) sit down where you can run through your answers to the basic questions (why medicine, why DO, tell me about yourself, etc). set up a video record/webcam and record yourself answering these questions alone...this is the hardest thing I did and was very instructive in terms of body language, cohesiveness, etc.

feedback from others may be useful, or it may not. I found that simply going through the motions of my "interview spiel" allowed me to work out many kinks and fine-tune the language. it made me feel more confident in interviews.

I was ultimately waitlisted, though, so take this with a grain of salt.

 

[gensurghopeful]

You are ORM, which makes it tougher.
A 4 point jump on MCAT is still pretty nice. A 501 vs a 505 is a whole different ball game.
Honestly you should get into TouroNV (I have a friend who's finishing up second year there now)
But apply BROADLY and you will be in med school for the class of 2023

Second point - def read up on interviewing skills, even hire someone to help you out. The fact that you had FIVE interviews and couldn't gain an acceptance to ONE, points to a problem with your speaking skills. Resolve that, otherwise it will haunt you again.

 

[monkey9898]

here is my uninformed premed opinion:

great job boosting your CARS and P/S! don't be so hard on yourself for "only" a 4 point improvement. I would postpone a retake for now and move forward with an application to a wide variety (read: old and new) DO schools.

your previous cycle shows that you look good on paper but perhaps you falter a bit in person. I would pull out all the stops for interview prep: ask for interview feedback from each school that interviewed you. make an appointment with a career counseling center at university if possible. ask the physicians you have access to for a brief (20-30 min) sit down where you can run through your answers to the basic questions (why medicine, why DO, tell me about yourself, etc). set up a video record/webcam and record yourself answering these questions alone...this is the hardest thing I did and was very instructive in terms of body language, cohesiveness, etc.

feedback from others may be useful, or it may not. I found that simply going through the motions of my "interview spiel" allowed me to work out many kinks and fine-tune the language. it made me feel more confident in interviews.

I was ultimately waitlisted, though, so take this with a grain of salt.

Thanks for the response! I have been working on my interview skills. My first 3 interviews I actually did pretty bad but improved a lot toward the last two, I also thought the 123 in cars was a redflag to them so hoping that that really helps. Will definitely keep working on my interview skills.

 

[Goro]

So I recently took the MCAT again, previous score 501 126/123/127/125, new score is 505 126/126/126/127, I thought I was gonna get a much better score but I messed up bad in bio. Anyways I am worried that the 4 point increase doesn't look like a good enough increase for a reapplicant. Last year I interviewed at 5 schools and at my target school Touro Nevada. Waitlisted to all of them. I am really gunning to get into Touro. Should i retake the MCAT or go with the application now?

Asian male
State: TX
Graduated: fall 2016
3.47 cgpa
3.49 sgpa all with upward trend
Only one mcat score 501 (126, 123, 127, 125)
My ECs are avg, 1000 hours research in Lyme disease, shadowing nephrologist, good amount shadowing a DO, Vp of a club for a year, random volunteering here and there and 40-50 hours in habitat for humanity and 4 letter, two professors and one md and one DO. Lot of flag football IM championships and coached and played for our regional and national representating team men's women's corec, I don't know if that stuff is worth mentioning though. Worked as an assistant in a private practice Neuro Oncology for 8 months but left to focus on MCAT. Currently working part time in an internal medicine practice.

Do NOT retake!!@!!

 

[DrGainzzz]

So I recently took the MCAT again, previous score 501 126/123/127/125, new score is 505 126/126/126/127, I thought I was gonna get a much better score but I messed up bad in bio. Anyways I am worried that the 4 point increase doesn't look like a good enough increase for a reapplicant. Last year I interviewed at 5 schools and at my target school Touro Nevada. Waitlisted to all of them. I am really gunning to get into Touro. Should i retake the MCAT or go with the application now?

Asian male
State: TX
Graduated: fall 2016
3.47 cgpa
3.49 sgpa all with upward trend
Only one mcat score 501 (126, 123, 127, 125)
My ECs are avg, 1000 hours research in Lyme disease, shadowing nephrologist, good amount shadowing a DO, Vp of a club for a year, random volunteering here and there and 40-50 hours in habitat for humanity and 4 letter, two professors and one md and one DO. Lot of flag football IM championships and coached and played for our regional and national representating team men's women's corec, I don't know if that stuff is worth mentioning though. Worked as an assistant in a private practice Neuro Oncology for 8 months but left to focus on MCAT. Currently working part time in an internal medicine practice.

Shoot your shot! Your 4 point jump looks real nice. Apply broadly and you’ll be good.

 

[monkey9898]

Thanks for all the responses! will Definitely work on my interview skills and probably not retake the MCAT lol thank god

 

[dial1010usa]

Thanks for all the responses! will Definitely work on my interview skills and probably not retake the MCAT lol thank god

4 point difference from 501>505 will get you in TUNCOM this time as your gpa is good too.
Do not re-take instead start adding more non clinical volunteer and get comfortable on interviews.
I'm sure you have DO LOR?
All the best!

How about if you send LOI to TUNCOM that you have increased your MCAT even though you took it late and add what else have you done?
Or email all 5 schools?
Chances are that you will get off waitlist at TUNCOM.

 

[Magus5454]

5 schools was your issue, with your stats you cant be super picky. As noted apply broadly

 

[monkey9898]

4 point difference from 501>505 will get you in TUNCOM this time as your gpa is good too.
Do not re-take instead start adding more non clinical volunteer and get comfortable on interviews.
I'm sure you have DO LOR?
All the best!

How about if you send LOI to TUNCOM that you have increased your MCAT even though you took it late and add what else have you done?
Or email all 5 schools?
Chances are that you will get off waitlist at TUNCOM.

Yeah I have letters from professors, MDs and DO's, I recently sent them an updated MCAT even though there's only one month to go. They stated only Academic updates and no LOI or anything else

 

[monkey9898]

5 schools was your issue, with your stats you cant be super picky. As noted apply broadly

I received 5 II, not that I applied to only 5 schools

 

[Magus5454]

Ah I see. 5 interviews leading to 5 waitlists sounds like either bad interview skills a bad letter or some other application flaw

 

[dial1010usa]

Yeah I have letters from professors, MDs and DO's, I recently sent them an updated MCAT even though there's only one month to go. They stated only Academic updates and no LOI or anything else

Did you email them or what?
I would simply email them that i'm very very interested and these are the updates.
Who did you send updates to?

 

[John1513]

Apply, broadly to DO schools.

Good luck!! Get a nice tailored suit!

 

[monkey9898]

Did you email them or what?
I would simply email them that i'm very very interested and these are the updates.
Who did you send updates to?

I emailed the Admissions, all she told me was send the MCAT score directly to them. They didn't respond much after that

 

[dial1010usa]

I emailed the Admissions, all she told me was send the MCAT score directly to them. They didn't respond much after that

After sending your score just check with them if they received it. Just a way to find out what are they saying.

 

[monkey9898]

Ah I see. 5 interviews leading to 5 waitlists sounds like either bad interview skills a bad letter or some other application flaw

Yeah to be honest I messed up on the first 3, didn’t prepare enough and the last two were really late in the cycle, hoping prepare a lot more and redeem myself this cycle.