Secondary app “on hold” till the MCAT retake scores is out ????

[Nina95]

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Hey guys! I have gone over almost most of the threads discussing that problem. However, I could not find a customized answer for my question. So, I decided to write my question in here.
Actually, I have submitted my primary app on July 14 and took the mcat on July 20, but I am not expecting a good result for this exam because it was my first attempt and I just not sure of how it will go. So I have registered for a retake on Aug 31. I know that my primary will be verified by Mid to end of August. So, do you guys think that retaking the mcat on Aug 31 (with score release on Oct 2) will be a good move? I mean, should I wit for my score first, then decide whether to retake it or no?
My dilemma is that I have read in a different thread that medical school will place your app in hold till they get your second score, by then I will be really late as it’ll be mid october, but then I found others commented that med schools do not wait for the retake score ( if your score from the first attempt is good, they will take it. if not, they will reject you straight a head without any wait!!). So, I am worried that I will lose my chance in getting accepted if I have a good score from the first attempt ( in case of I wait till my second score) due to being late. Or, If I get a bad score from the first attempt and not retest, then I will waste a whole year to reapply for the next cycle. So Please tell me what do you guys think about my situation??

P.S: I have a GPA of 3.98, I have 1000 hours of shadowing and volunteering combined in addition to 3 honor societies recognition.

 

[theKingLT]

Hey guys! I have gone over almost most of the threads discussing that problem. However, I could not find a customized answer for my question. So, I decided to write my question in here.
Actually, I have submitted my primary app on July 14 and took the mcat on July 20, but I am not expecting a good result for this exam because it was my first attempt and I just not sure of how it will go. So I have registered for a retake on Aug 31. I know that my primary will be verified by Mid to end of August. So, do you guys think that retaking the mcat on Aug 31 (with score release on Oct 2) will be a good move? I mean, should I wit for my score first, then decide whether to retake it or no?
My dilemma is that I have read in a different thread that medical school will place your app in hold till they get your second score, by then I will be really late as it’ll be mid october, but then I found others commented that med schools do not wait for the retake score ( if your score from the first attempt is good, they will take it. if not, they will reject you straight a head without any wait!!). So, I am worried that I will lose my chance in getting accepted if I have a good score from the first attempt ( in case of I wait till my second score) due to being late. Or, If I get a bad score from the first attempt and not retest, then I will waste a whole year to reapply for the next cycle. So Please tell me what do you guys think about my situation??

P.S: I have a GPA of 3.98, I have 1000 hours of shadowing and volunteering combined in addition to 3 honor societies recognition.

They will not delay reviewing your app if they don't know another score is coming in. I would not retake the exam august 31st unless you are spending the entire month (meaning right now) studying full time. If you actually did poorly on your first take then you need to figure out what went wrong in preparation and do the 2nd one right. The rest of your app looks really good so don't shoot yourself in the foot with 2 bad mcat scores

 

[Nina95]

They will not delay reviewing your app if they don't know another score is coming in. I would not retake the exam august 31st unless you are spending the entire month (meaning right now) studying full time. If you actually did poorly on your first take then you need to figure out what went wrong in preparation and do the 2nd one right. The rest of your app looks really good so don't shoot yourself in the foot with 2 bad mcat scores

So you mean that Med schools do not know that I am retaking the mcat in Aug 31 even though I have registered for it?
Also, I used to get in the range of 503-505 in my diagnostics and practice tests before my first attempt, so do you think I should wait for the result of my first attempt first and cancel that second attempt?

 

[Catalystik]

AI have submitted my primary app on July 14 and took the mcat on July 20, but I am not expecting a good result for this exam because it was my first attempt and I just not sure of how it will go. So I have registered for a retake on Aug 31. I know that my primary will be verified by Mid to end of August.

1) So, do you guys think that retaking the mcat on Aug 31 (with score release on Oct 2) will be a good move? I mean, should I wit for my score first, then decide whether to retake it or no?

2) My dilemma is that I have read in a different thread that medical school will place your app in hold till they get your second score, by then I will be really late as it’ll be mid october,

3) but then I found others commented that med schools do not wait for the retake score ( if your score from the first attempt is good, they will take it. if not, they will reject you straight a head without any wait!!).

4) So, I am worried that I will lose my chance in getting accepted if I have a good score from the first attempt ( in case of I wait till my second score) due to being late.

5) Or, If I get a bad score from the first attempt and not retest, then I will waste a whole year to reapply for the next cycle.
P.S: I have a GPA of 3.98, I have 1000 hours of shadowing and volunteering combined in addition to 3 honor societies recognition.

1) If you get a good score from test 1, you can cancel the retake and lose the money. If you get a poor score on test 1, you won't have been studying hard over this next month until the score release approximately Aug 20, and the ~10 days before the retest date will not be enough to prepare well. This was a good decision only if you had a good reason for poor test performance, like being ill, or if you study full-time until the second score release.

2) & 3) If you enter the 2nd test date into the AMCAS application, it's my experience that most schools will wait for the final score release before completing the evaluation of your file. But all schools may not wait, as you said. And yes, October would be very late for your file to become Complete. If you don't enter the second test date, schools will not wait to evaluate your file. They won't know about the second date until the score arrives.

4) If your first score is good, you can cancel test 2 and go back into the AMCAS application and remove the second test date. This is one part of the application you can change. Then all schools can proceed with your file evaluation.

5) If you have to wait for a second score release, your chances at a successful application cycle are much reduced (due to lateness) and chance of needing to reapply is significant.

Edit: From p 57 of the AMCAS Application Guide
Postsubmission Changes
Before submitting your application, you should review it thoroughly. After you submit your application,
you may make changes only to the following sections:
• ID numbers
• Name, including Legal Name, Preferred Name, and Alternate Names
• Contact Information, including Permanent and Preferred Mailing Addresses
• Alternate Contact
• Birth and Sex
• Letters of Evaluation (addition of no more than 10 letter entries and notification to AMCAS
of a letter no longer to be sent)
• Next MCAT test date
• Addition of medical schools and change(s) to existing program type (deadlines, fees,
and restrictions apply)
• Release of application information to your prehealth advisor
After you submit your application, the Submit Application button will change to Resubmit. A time stamp
will appear noting the date and time of submission. The Resubmit Application button will remain
inactive until a permitted change is made to the application. Once you have edited a permitted field,
the button will become active.

 

[theKingLT]

So you mean that Med schools do not know that I am retaking the mcat in Aug 31 even though I have registered for it?
Also, I used to get in the range of 503-505 in my diagnostics and practice tests before my first attempt, so do you think I should wait for the result of my first attempt first and cancel that second attempt?

See catalysitk's post above. Assuming you don't know exactly what went wrong on the first one, and are not studying full-time to correct it, my advice is this: wait for your score to come, and apply to schools based on your score. if you get a 503-505 you have a good shot at DO and maybe some lower tier MD's (depending on URM status, quality of EC's, mission fit, etc.). If you think you can improve significantly and are dead set on MD, then make a plan for re-taking with proper preparation and apply next cycle

 

[Nina95]

1) If you get a good score from test 1, you can cancel the retake and lose the money. If you get a poor score on test 1, you won't have been studying hard over this next month until the score release approximately Aug 20, and the ~10 days before the retest date will not be enough to prepare well. This was a good decision only if you had a good reason for poor test performance, like being ill, or if you study full-time until the second score release.

2) & 3) If you enter the 2nd test date into the AMCAS application, it's my experience that most schools will wait for the final score release before completing the evaluation of your file. But all schools may not wait, as you said. And yes, October would be very late for your file to become Complete. If you don't enter the second test date, schools will not wait to evaluate your file. They won't know about the second date until the score arrives.

4) If your first score is good, you can cancel test 2 and go back into the AMCAS application and remove the second test date. This is one part of the application you can change. Then all schools can proceed with your file evaluation.

5) If you have to wait for a second score release, your chances at a successful application cycle are much reduced (due to lateness) and chance of needing to reapply is significant.

Edit: From p 57 of the AMCAS Application Guide
Postsubmission Changes
Before submitting your application, you should review it thoroughly. After you submit your application,
you may make changes only to the following sections:
• ID numbers
• Name, including Legal Name, Preferred Name, and Alternate Names
• Contact Information, including Permanent and Preferred Mailing Addresses
• Alternate Contact
• Birth and Sex
• Letters of Evaluation (addition of no more than 10 letter entries and notification to AMCAS
of a letter no longer to be sent)
• Next MCAT test date
• Addition of medical schools and change(s) to existing program type (deadlines, fees,
and restrictions apply)
• Release of application information to your prehealth advisor
After you submit your application, the Submit Application button will change to Resubmit. A time stamp
will appear noting the date and time of submission. The Resubmit Application button will remain
inactive until a permitted change is made to the application. Once you have edited a permitted field,
the button will become active.

Thank you so much for the detailed information. I really appreciate that.
I think I will just go with cancelling the Aug attempt and cross my fingures hoping that I will get a good result from my first attempt.
Thanks once more

 

[Nina95]

See catalysitk's post above. Assuming you don't know exactly what went wrong on the first one, and are not studying full-time to correct it, my advice is this: wait for your score to come, and apply to schools based on your score. if you get a 503-505 you have a good shot at DO and maybe some lower tier MD's (depending on URM status, quality of EC's, mission fit, etc.). If you think you can improve significantly and are dead set on MD, then make a plan for re-taking with proper preparation and apply next cycle

Thank you so much for your help. I guess I will just cancel that second attempt and hope for the best as I figured out taking a second exam now will not make that much of a difference.

 

[Catalystik]

Thank you so much for the detailed information. I really appreciate that.
I think I will just go with cancelling the Aug attempt and cross my fingures hoping that I will get a good result from my first attempt.
Thanks once more

How many schools did you apply to on the Primary application?

 

[Nina95]

How many schools did you apply to on the Primary application?

I have applied for 18 schools, 3 of them are from my state NJ.

 

[Catalystik]

I have applied for 18 schools, 3 of them are from my state NJ.

You might want to hold off on submitting Secondaries and paying their fees until you know for which schools your MCAT is in a competitive range, if cost is an issue. (Some schools send out Secondaries even before the MCAT is known.)

 

[Nina95]

You might want to hold off on submitting Secondaries and paying their fees until you know for which schools your MCAT is in a competitive range, if cost is an issue. (Some schools send out Secondaries even before the MCAT is known.)

Well, Actually I want to know whether I can submit secondaries without formal invitation sent from those schools, or should I wait for their invitations?
I have a fee waiver in my AMCAS so money is not an issue for me regarding those secondaries as their fees will be waived as well. But, I thought that I can’t fill secondaries till they send me invitations for it, right?

 

[Catalystik]

Well, Actually I want to know whether I can submit secondaries without formal invitation sent from those schools, or should I wait for their invitations?
I have a fee waiver in my AMCAS so money is not an issue for me regarding those secondaries as their fees will be waived as well. But, I thought that I can’t fill secondaries till they send me invitations for it, right?

Correct. Do not fill them out until invited.

 

[theKingLT]

Well, Actually I want to know whether I can submit secondaries without formal invitation sent from those schools, or should I wait for their invitations?
I have a fee waiver in my AMCAS so money is not an issue for me regarding those secondaries as their fees will be waived as well. But, I thought that I can’t fill secondaries till they send me invitations for it, right?

You can start pre-writing though. Start with the state schools and ones which you would still apply to with a low mcat

 

[Catalystik]

Correct. Do not fill them out until invited.

@Nina95 I just saw information that Baylor and few of the Texas public schools allow one to fill out Secondaries without invitation.