retaking in july; application cycle advice

[drval111]

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I took the MCAT in may, and received my scores: not too hot. Way below my AAMC practice tests. I am planning on studying for 5 weeks and retaking the exam. However, some DO and MD schools suggested I should submit my application now and state that I am retaking the exam. I am wondering if this is a good idea or not: if i should just wait to submit everything with the new good scores in ate August?
Advice is appreciated! 🙂

 

[anhnen5]

How bad is "not too hot"? I personally don't think it is a good idea. Wait until you have a great MCAT score and then apply, possibly next year. Don't limit yourself to 5 weeks just because you want to make this cycle. What happens if you don't do well on the MCAT again? You'd be DOA probably depending on how low we're talking about. You HAVE to do great on this next test. Some schools may not even wait for the score to come back.

It really just depends on how competitive you are in your overall application. If everything else is solid except for the MCAT score, I'd say go ahead and apply to 1 throwaway to get verified, pre-write your secondaries, and submit immediately once your new score comes in. If there's weaknesses still and/or your practice scores aren't improving close to the test date, I'd say wait till next year.