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Safe to Reapply?
Started by flyingturtles
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Taking the mcat in June is going to make you a late applicant again.. maybe not as late but still
A modest but acceptable score is not improved by another modest score.
Do not re-take unless there is a strong reason to believe that you will substantially improve.
Do not re-take unless there is a strong reason to believe that you will substantially improve.
QofQuimica
Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....
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You should focus more on the soft aspects of your app, as your stats should be fine for our state schools. Your GPA is strong, and your MCAT is reasonably competitive already. A 507 equates to around a 29 on the old test and puts you at about the top quartile. I agree with gyngyn that you shouldn't retake the test unless you are doing significantly better on your practice tests.
Also, you need to apply early this time. Early means being verified in June, not in August. All of our state schools are rolling, both for admissions and for interview invites. The later you apply, the fewer invites are left to be given out.
I like your plan to apply more broadly also, including to DO schools.
When you ask your recommenders for letters, make sure to specifically ask if they can write you a STRONG letter. The fact that you got no invites at all last time suggests that there may have been a lukewarm letter in the bunch. Make sure to have someone critique your PS as well, as this could have also been an issue.
To answer your question, no, I don't think you need to shadow on top of scribing, although you may need to spend some time shadowing a DO in order to get a DO LOR, which is required by some DO schools.
Hope this helps, and best of luck with your apps. 🙂
Also, you need to apply early this time. Early means being verified in June, not in August. All of our state schools are rolling, both for admissions and for interview invites. The later you apply, the fewer invites are left to be given out.
I like your plan to apply more broadly also, including to DO schools.
When you ask your recommenders for letters, make sure to specifically ask if they can write you a STRONG letter. The fact that you got no invites at all last time suggests that there may have been a lukewarm letter in the bunch. Make sure to have someone critique your PS as well, as this could have also been an issue.
To answer your question, no, I don't think you need to shadow on top of scribing, although you may need to spend some time shadowing a DO in order to get a DO LOR, which is required by some DO schools.
Hope this helps, and best of luck with your apps. 🙂
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If you had substantive evidence that 512 was likely, it would be worth it.
Your score is ok (not great) but nobody expects folks with an ok score to necessarily re-take. A re-take with a similar score is viewed poorly, though.
The biggest issue I can see here isnt really the MCAT(3.85/507 can work in FL) it's that you are now a reapplicant at all these state schools but you never gave yourself a fair chance being so complete to begin with.
Between the ECs you have added on during your gap year and what you had before, everything looks more or less alright on that front. And you still have USF you could give a shot and be a first time applicant. But you've in many ways created a burden on yourself that you need to show improvement from your first to second app. State schools in particular can vary in how they view reapplicants, but you are still a reapplicant nonetheless.
Ideally, if this was your first time applying coming up it'd probably be best to just leave the MCAT as is. But since you are a reapplicant at almost all your state schools, you probably need some "boost" and Im not sure those one year of ECs is it. So an MCAT retake if you can hit 512+ is a good thing to consider; however as others have cautioned your only making things worse if you retake and dont show that improvement.
Expand your OOS list also. You only had 5 OOS schools last cycle where you had a shot(and you never gave yousrelf a fair shot being complete so late). That number should go up 2-3X as much this cycle; you have to put some focus into OOS schools because that's where you wont be a reapplicant. Having said all this, if you apply broadly and early this time I think there's a reasonable shot you can find IIs even with this current MCAT and especially if you hit 512+ on the retake.
Between the ECs you have added on during your gap year and what you had before, everything looks more or less alright on that front. And you still have USF you could give a shot and be a first time applicant. But you've in many ways created a burden on yourself that you need to show improvement from your first to second app. State schools in particular can vary in how they view reapplicants, but you are still a reapplicant nonetheless.
Ideally, if this was your first time applying coming up it'd probably be best to just leave the MCAT as is. But since you are a reapplicant at almost all your state schools, you probably need some "boost" and Im not sure those one year of ECs is it. So an MCAT retake if you can hit 512+ is a good thing to consider; however as others have cautioned your only making things worse if you retake and dont show that improvement.
Expand your OOS list also. You only had 5 OOS schools last cycle where you had a shot(and you never gave yousrelf a fair shot being complete so late). That number should go up 2-3X as much this cycle; you have to put some focus into OOS schools because that's where you wont be a reapplicant. Having said all this, if you apply broadly and early this time I think there's a reasonable shot you can find IIs even with this current MCAT and especially if you hit 512+ on the retake.
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