Should I keep or void this Friday, August 14?

[look595]

Here's my dilemma:

So I got a 31R when I took the MCAT last January. My GPA is rather low with the overall of 3.6 and a science GPA of 3.4 at an Ivy-league level institution. I am president of a Division II Club Sport (2009 Conference Champions), have 300+ hrs of clinical experience at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, have hundreds of hours of HIV/AIDS education/volunteering in Ghana, coordinated grassroots fundraising of millions of dollars for a cancer organization, and am a second author for one paper (and soon two papers) in HIV research. My mom was recently diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, so I'm now planning on applying in the 2011 cycle, and I'm aiming for at least a top/second tier school.

When I took my MCAT in January, I did not feel as prepared content-wise as I am now. I took most of my AAMC practice tests and got an average of about 33 with a high of 36.

Nevertheless, the score disappointed me, so I then decided to dedicate the entire summer to MCAT and studied my ass off. I feel much more prepared with the content but was not able to do as many AAMC practice tests, since I had taken most of them before. I recently did AAMC4 and got a 33S, and just today I did AAMC6 and scored a 32.

I am desperate for a score of at least 35. I am just so afraid of not meeting this goal and having to take the MCAT yet another 3rd time (4th time including my voided first time), which would not look great on my record. I'm thinking about voiding the score when I take it this Friday, but the thought of preparing and taking the MCAT again in January (I started last June) makes me want to shoot myself.

I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[DOC209]

Here's my dilemma:

So I got a 31R when I took the MCAT last January. My GPA is rather low with the overall of 3.6 and a science GPA of 3.4 at an Ivy-league level institution. I am president of a Division II Club Sport (2009 Conference Champions), have 300+ hrs of clinical experience at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, have hundreds of hours of HIV/AIDS education/volunteering in Ghana, coordinated grassroots fundraising of millions of dollars for a cancer organization, and am a second author for one paper (and soon two papers) in HIV research. My mom was recently diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, so I'm now planning on applying in the 2011 cycle, and I'm aiming for at least a top/second tier school.

When I took my MCAT in January, I did not feel as prepared content-wise as I am now. I took most of my AAMC practice tests and got an average of about 33 with a high of 36.

Nevertheless, the score disappointed me, so I then decided to dedicate the entire summer to MCAT and studied my ass off. I feel much more prepared with the content but was not able to do as many AAMC practice tests, since I had taken most of them before. I recently did AAMC4 and got a 33S, and just today I did AAMC6 and scored a 32.

I am desperate for a score of at least 35. I am just so afraid of not meeting this goal and having to take the MCAT yet another 3rd time (4th time including my voided first time), which would not look great on my record. I'm thinking about voiding the score when I take it this Friday, but the thought of preparing and taking the MCAT again in January (I started last June) makes me want to shoot myself.

I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks.

If your dead set on trying to get a 35 then i would say void and take the September exam... however, i think you need to get to the point where you establish that what you get is what you go with... It seems to me that a boost of confidence might be what you need.

Good luck.

 

[planktonelement]

I'd advise you to score your MCAT this time and keep the score unless something crazy happens that day. It sounds like your preparation for this coming time is excellent with solid content review and lots of practice tests. You might just have to accept that you're not going to break 35 on the MCAT. The rest of your application sounds solid, so it's not like you'll be depending solely on your MCAT and GPA to get into a med school.

 

[snipermonkey]

wow.
my goal is getting a 35.
and you want to get at least a 35..