Retaking the MCAT and applying

[TheBoneDoctah]

I took the MCAT a few days ago and don't feel too hot about it. On my practice exams, my scores ranged from 28 in the beginning to 33 near the end. My verbal is the only reason I am not scoring 35+ on the practices. That being said, I feel as though my verbal on the real exam was worse that usual and I don't feel good at all.

My GPA is around 3.3, so I need a great MCAT (33+) to have a chance at any MD school. By the feeling I got from the exam, I don't think I broke 30. I feel if I had another 1-2 months to study and do more reading, verbal passages, and biology passages, that I could do better. Even if I didn't get my goal score of 33 on my retake, a higher score would still raise my chances at DO schools with a higher MCAT.

My question is this: If I register for the July 2, 2014 test date, will this yield my scores too late for this cycle? I still plan on applying June 1st to both MD and DO, but I think I am going to only apply to one school till my second MCAT comes in (if I were to retake). This way at least I would be verified by the time my scores came in.

Thank you for your time. I really appreciate the help!

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[Pacna]

Were I you, I'd sign up for the July 2 date and just wait to see what your score is. You've got time still. Study yo' butt off in the mean time. If you get a great score, well great you know MCAT stuff a little better. If it sucks, you're ready to take the exam again. I don't think a June 2 MCAT score will hurt your application much.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Were I you, I'd sign up for the July 2 date and just wait to see what your score is. You've got time still. Study yo' butt off in the mean time. If you get a great score, well great you know MCAT stuff a little better. If it sucks, you're ready to take the exam again. I don't think a June 2 MCAT score will hurt your application much.

Thank you for your post! Anyone else

 

[lmn]

If you don't mind possibly losing the money, sure go ahead and sign up and just drop it if your scores come back good enough.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

If you don't mind possibly losing the money, sure go ahead and sign up and just drop it if your scores come back good enough.

My question is whether it will really hurt my chances because of late application.

 

[mrh125]

It's all up to you, if you feel like you really have a chance at getting a higher score, go for it, but it all depends on where your skill level caps out (I took the mcat twice and did worse the second time. arguably I should have stuck with the first score). Just remember the second time AAMCs exams and stuff you've already went through will be far less reliable indicators of your actual performance. Also, remember that there is a lot of randomness on the mcat, on the march 22nd test a lot of us were dealt a very difficult hand as well and many of us got 6s, 7s, and 8s regardless of how well we prepared, something similar may happen with another section. I knew my verbal score would be low, but I wasn't expecting to receive a 7 the second time around it. It's all up to you and whether or not you want to chance it.

Also, note that the AAMCS makes a lot of money off of people being worried and re-registering for exams. If you can study lightly each day and wait for your score then if it's worse you can go from there that might be a very good idea.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Bump

 

[lmn]

My question is whether it will really hurt my chances because of late application.

All depends on how you do. If you score a 33+ compared to a first score of 28, it will greatly help you. If you score the same score after you put off applying the whole time, it will hurt you more by further delaying your application. Like I said before, if you have the money and want to secure the chance to retake the test if need be, go ahead. You can always decide not to, and to apply completely asap, if your first score comes back good. Early august date isn't extremely late, but if you do choose that route, I would would pre-write all your secondaries so you can turn them in the second you get them and not allow any further delay to your full application getting in.