Should I apply this cycle or wait?

[wonder12]

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I am a nontraditional applicant and am having trouble deciding if I should apply this cycle or wait. I am taking the MCAT in June, and am concerned about applying "late." I know I could become a stronger applicant by waiting another year but feel that since I am an older student, it might be better to apply this year. I am also currently taking my last pre-requisite class and expect to get an A.

I plan on applying MD and DO, and my top choice is my state school. Any advice?

 

[DrMidlife]

what are your reasons to wait? other than an MCAT score, what are you missing?

imho get your amcas done in June for one school you don't care about, pending MCAT. if your MCAT is strong, then go nuts.

 

[MD89]

I'm facing a similar dilemma. I actually took the MCAT already but my clinical hours are pretty low. I think my gpa/MCAT combination are high enough to land a bunch of acceptances if I wait a year so at the moment, that's how I'm leaning. It is so hard to have to push everything off for another year but I just don't have the time to try to cram things in during the next 2 months.

 

[wholeheartedly]

@wonder12 what are you concerned about that makes you think waiting would be better?

 

[hopefuldoc97239]

the year i applied, i didn't end up taking my MCAT until late july (july 31 maybe?). it's possibly that my late MCAT prevented me from getting an interview at stanford, but not at my other top three (UCSF, UCSD, or oregon). if all your other pieces are in place, i wouldn't let it stop you from applying.