Retaking a 514? Sounds pretty silly, right?

[laballsummer]

Sorry in advance if this is the wrong forum/location for this post, but I was unsure.

Just got my score back, and it's a 514 (130/127/129/128). I know by most standards I got a pretty good score, but I'm aiming at mainly top 20 schools because I have specific interests in basic research (not planning on MSTP though).

Other stats: double major (biology/statistics), 4.0, 1 first author pub, 2 "prestigious" research fellowships (one amgen), lots of posters, 150hrs clinical volunteering, 50 ish hours shadowing, big midwestern state school.

The thing is, I think my app is competitive for top-tier schools save for this MCAT. What do you think? Worth a retake? I'd be shooting for 520+.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[el_duderino]

Getting an extra 3 or 4 points on a retake won't make you much more competitive. It's also very unlikely; very few people who retake score much higher. If you retook a 514 and got another 514 it would look very bad.

Keep your 514.

 

[kitkat13]

I'm aiming at mainly top 20 schools because I have specific interests in basic research

Kind of same boat as you, but was wondering how are you planning on articulating why you want an MD vs MD/PhD?

 

[NextStepTutor_3]

I would almost definitely not retake if I were you. Your stats "other than the MCAT" are awesome (and I put that in quotes because your MCAT is good too), and more importantly, a significant majority of people who retake the MCAT get the same score or lower. And that's for the entire MCAT pool - as original score goes up, it becomes more and more unlikely that any particular repeat test-taker will score even one or two points higher than their previous attempt.

I also agree with @jonnythan in that even if you score 2-3 points higher, it'll give your application only a negligible boost at most schools. It's similar to someone who scored a 33 on the old test retaking and getting a 35 - it doesn't tell the admissions committee anything new. Exceptions exist, especially for students who have lower GPAs (and who then need to "make up for" their stats with a high MCAT score), but you don't fall into that boat. Now, if you did retake and get 520+, would that help? Definitely! But it's unlikely, and that brings us to the #1 question that EVERYONE should ask when they're thinking about retaking:

What could you do differently if you took the test again? To score >5 points higher, unless you had some sort of major setback when you took the MCAT recently, you generally need to revamp your strategy significantly. A lot of top students think that they could boost their score by that amount just by shoring up on the material (or that since they prepped for the test so recently, they don't have to put in as many hours studying for a second try), but that's almost always untrue. If you really want to retake, isolate at least one major flaw in your previous prep and plan how to avoid it. Did you not take enough practice tests? not focus enough on timing? Did you only prep for a month or two, or were you distracted or busy with other work during your studying process? If you can't find and fix a "big issue" with how you prepped before, you'll likely retake and perform similarly.

But anyway, good luck!

 

[laballsummer]

Thanks for the advice, guys! I do remember having some time issues on CARS, which is probably why it was my lowest. I remember finishing with like 45 seconds to go, whereas I had around 15 minutes left on all other sections to check my answers.