Retaking MCAT on 6/28, should I submit secondaries before or after getting new score?

[Shen_qingqiu]

Applied this past cycle with a 508, was waitlisted at 2 MD schools and have basically accepted that I have to reapply. Since I was really hoping to not have to retake my MCAT I didn't start seriously studying until about a month and a half ago, I work full time so 6/28 was the furthest I could reasonably push it. I know schools will be notified that I'm taking the MCAT again, but I'm worried if I submit without my new score my app might be thrown onto a hold pile and not looked at again for a while. Is it better to not submit my secondaries until 7/29, which would be almost 3-4 weeks of having them, or submit ASAP and have schools be notified I have a new MCAT score coming later?

Some additional context; my MCAT score isn't expired but I really think that was the limiting factor for my app. I have +2000 clinical hours, ~1000 research hours, several pubs and roughly 200 combined volunteering hours. School list also was mostly schools where I was within their median with a handful of reaches.

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[Goro]

After. The schools don't need the donations; Take your dad out for dinner on Father's Day instead.

 

[einvincible12]

Interesting that you say "roughly combined 200 volunteering hours". This implies this is spread over multiple activities, likely with less than 100 hours in each. This is probably a bigger factor than your MCAT imo. If you crush MCAT you won't need to be worried, as low service is acceptable at top research powerhouses, but not at mid tier MD schools focused on making good clinicians.

Not the question you asked, but something to consider.

 

[LizzyM]

A couple things.... a less than thorough prep for the MCAT could give you a score that is about the same as your previous score. Furthermore, given that your old score has not expired, taking it a second time and doing about the same -- or worse-- could make things tough for you. If a school learns that a new score is coming, they will put it aside until that new score arrives. No one wants to do a job twice. However, you could/should apply to one throw-away in order to be verified and then submit applications to other schools after your MCAT scores come in. However, I do think that doing a half-way job of writing the PS and completing the Work & Activities section when you should be preparing the MCAT does a disservice to both.

Frankly, as much as you are in a big rush, you should slow down, take a year to prepare of a second cycle, and do it right rather than rushed, the second time.

 

[Shen_qingqiu]

A couple things.... a less than thorough prep for the MCAT could give you a score that is about the same as your previous score. Furthermore, given that your old score has not expired, taking it a second time and doing about the same -- or worse-- could make things tough for you. If a school learns that a new score is coming, they will put it aside until that new score arrives. No one wants to do a job twice. However, you could/should apply to one throw-away in order to be verified and then submit applications to other schools after your MCAT scores come in. However, I do think that doing a half-way job of writing the PS and completing the Work & Activities section when you should be preparing the MCAT does a disservice to both.

Frankly, as much as you are in a big rush, you should slow down, take a year to prepare of a second cycle, and do it right rather than rushed, the second time.

Thank you for the advice! Honestly, I know it would be wise to wait another year to build up my app, but tbh this will be my third gap year and I don't know if I have it in me to do four... Last cycle I didn't apply to any DO schools at all so this year I'm planning on applying to 50/50 MD/DO, I'm hoping my state school I was WL'd at this cycle also looks more favorably on me next cycle since.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I don't see a WAMC profile. Previously,
One gap year or two?

Good luck with the in-state waitlist. What support did you have from your prehealth advisors?

 

[Shen_qingqiu]

I don't see a WAMC profile. Previously,
One gap year or two?

Good luck with the in-state waitlist. What support did you have from your prehealth advisors?

TBH I haven't been very active on SDN until recently,,, most of my application advice & review has been from mentors from undergrad/friends that are M1's.

CGPA 3.7, SGPA 3.6, 508 MCAT. ORM, MA resident

• ~1000 hours working as medical assistant in family medicine, additional 800 in a multispecialty practice (and ongoing as this is my current job).
• ~2000 research hours (I brainfarted in my original post, I worked in a research lab for 2 years part time and then half a year full time as a lab manager)
• 4 pubs (2 first author, 2 middle author) in mid-impact journals, with one more just submitted for review a month ago
• 100 hours volunteering in the ER
• 100 hours hospice volunteering
• 50 hours tutoring underserved kids in my community (had to stop because of new work hours)
• ~30 hours volunteering in a soup kitchen so far, still ongoing
• 400 hours working at my school's service desk, 150 hours working one odd summer as a piano teacher

Compared to last cycle I pretty much doubled my clinical hours and have 2 more pubs under my belt (they were accepted for publication near the tail end of this cycle). I thought maybe my writing was bad, but I had gone through several rounds of revisions with mentors & peers. During my interviews one of the interviewers told me I had a compelling PS, they were probably being nice but I can only assume it wasn't complete trash.

School list from last cycle: (maybe this was also a problem, but location was really important for me, I want to be relatively close to my family so no west coast/midwest schools)
UMass Chan -> II -> WL
UConn School of Medicine -> II -> WL
Hackensack
Eastern Virginia Medical School
New York Medical College
Drexel University College of Medicine
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Chicago Rosalind Franklin
Lewis Katz
University of Vermont (Larner) Medical School
Virginia Commonwealth University
Tufts Medical School
Quinnipiac School of Medicine
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Virginia Tech
Dartmouth Medical school
Renaissance Stony Brook
University of Rochester
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Hofstra University
Boston University School of Medicine
Western Michigan School of Medicine -> WL for II -> R
West Virginia University School of Medicine

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Your lack of service orientation activities likely got your screened out at most schools. 30 hours of food pantry work is well below the 150 hours we recommend to avoid getting screened out. If you're still below 150 at submission, you take your chances.

Now I don't know your mission fit. But you did well with 3 interviews. But everything can count in final review.

 

[Shen_qingqiu]

Your lack of service orientation activities likely got your screened out at most schools. 30 hours of food pantry work is well below the 150 hours we recommend to avoid getting screened out. If you're still below 150 at submission, you take your chances.

Now I don't know your mission fit. But you did well with 3 interviews. But everything can count in final review.

I tried applying to more research-oriented schools for this reason but those schools also happen to love high stats :') are there any schools from the list above that are more service-oriented I should take off for next cycle?

 

[LindaAccepted]

A few thoughts:

1. I completely agree with @LizzyM who advised you to retake the MCAT with focus and less time pressure and apply for the 26-27 cycle.
2. I'd also ask, what are you going to change about your prep that will improve your score? (You don't have to answer that here, but you should answer for yourself.) You don't want your score to go down.
3. Apply also to DO programs, if you apply this cycle or if your MCAT doesn't go up.
4. If you take another gap year, submit your primary in June and pre-write secondaries so that you can turn them around quickly.
5. Take the time to volunteer with the underserved unless your work as a medical assistant give you a lot of contact with that population.

Former director of Pre-medical post-bac programs at Cal State San Francisco and current Accepted consultant, Dr. Barry Rothman, likes to say that "the fastest way to medical school is slowly. "

I agree. Set yourself up for success.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I tried applying to more research-oriented schools for this reason but those schools also happen to love high stats :') are there any schools from the list above that are more service-oriented I should take off for next cycle?

Your MCAT already put you behind the 8-ball for many "research oriented" schools.

Schools that are more "research oriented" also like their students to serve the community. If you bank on research too much, you might as well apply to research MS or PhD programs run by the medical schools/university.

 

[Shen_qingqiu]

A few thoughts:

1. I completely agree with @LizzyM who advised you to retake the MCAT with focus and less time pressure and apply for the 26-27 cycle.
2. I'd also ask, what are you going to change about your prep that will improve your score? (You don't have to answer that here, but you should answer for yourself.) You don't want your score to go down.
3. Apply also to DO programs, if you apply this cycle or if your MCAT doesn't go up.
4. If you take another gap year, submit your primary in June and pre-write secondaries so that you can turn them around quickly.
5. Take the time to volunteer with the underserved unless your work as a medical assistant give you a lot of contact with that population.

Former director of Pre-medical post-bac programs at Cal State San Francisco and current Accepted consultant, Dr. Barry Rothman, likes to say that "the fastest way to medical school is slowly. "

I agree. Set yourself up for success.

To answer a few questions, I was studying for the MCAT after the death of two close family members- I probably should have pushed it back thinking about it now, but it really wasn't a priority at the time. This time around I'm trying to just grind as many practice problems as I can (UWorld/AAMC).

Both of my work experiences as an MA have significant underserved patient populations, the primary care served a lot of the surrounding rural areas and now I'm working near my hometown in a very underserved urban area. I'm not sure how much more time I have to commit to volunteering than I already am due to my work schedule and other commitments. From the consensus of this thread I probably hurt a lot of my chances at MD but I've given all I can give :') I'm going to apply to a bunch of DO for sure. Thank you everyone for your advice

 

[LindaAccepted]

To answer a few questions, I was studying for the MCAT after the death of two close family members- I probably should have pushed it back thinking about it now, but it really wasn't a priority at the time. This time around I'm trying to just grind as many practice problems as I can (UWorld/AAMC).

Both of my work experiences as an MA have significant underserved patient populations, the primary care served a lot of the surrounding rural areas and now I'm working near my hometown in a very underserved urban area. I'm not sure how much more time I have to commit to volunteering than I already am due to my work schedule and other commitments. From the consensus of this thread I probably hurt a lot of my chances at MD but I've given all I can give :') I'm going to apply to a bunch of DO for sure. Thank you everyone for your advice

If you are currently serving underserved populations in a professional capacity or did in the past, make sure that's clear in your app.